I grew up literally in the shadow of Holy Family Catholic Church, in Mason City, IA. Every time I walked out of our home's back door, the steeple would be in my site. Everyday I could hear the church bells ringing at noon and on Sundays as a call to Mass.

I come from a practicing Catholic family. My father joined the church from his Baptist/Methodist background during the 1960's when he married my mother. Interestingly enough, some people didn't talk to his family for years after allowing him to marry a Catholic.

I was raised to be participant in the daily life of the church. Against my will sometimes, as a youngster, I was pushed into being an altar boy. My mother actually worked for the church as a pastoral associate and my father served on many committees. Dad is also a member of the Knights of Columbus as was my maternal grandfather.

Given all this upbringing, when I went to college, I separated myself from the church.
I'd never really studied the Catholic faith except for the mandatory classes which didn't add up to much. By college I was on my own at the time felt it was better to shelve it all together. Ignorance was bliss and I didn't want to hear all of the morality. I thought I was smarter than everyone else. I was having too much fun to be bothered with it.

After college I continued my ways until I was sent by my employer to Milwaukee, WI.
I was there without family or friends and it gave me a chance to start to reflect on the way I was living my life. A friend at a wedding challenged me during this time, calling me hypocrite and he made a lot of derogatory comments about the Catholic faith which I still claimed to be a part of. That struck my soul. I began going back to church and with all the free time I had, I began to research the claims of the Catholic faith. I wanted to know why they taught the things they did and I wanted to know the answers to common anti-Catholic arguments. Wow, were my eyes opened. With the multimedia assets at our disposal today, it's a better time than ever to learn about the faith.

When I returned after three years in Milwaukee, people didn't know what to make of me. I was completely different person. I never would miss a Sunday mass and began to speak openly about my faith. So much so, I started a local "Theology on Tap" group in Des Moines that brought people in their 20's-30's to a bar and grill to hear Catholic speakers explain the faith. I quickly found out that young people are hungry for the faith. They want to learn about what the church actually teaches and not what a third party interprets the church to be saying. By bringing these young adults together it provided encouragement for all. I also joined the Knights of Columbus and began to participate in Mass.

In 2006, my new bride and her brother both joined the Catholic Church coming from non-churched backgrounds. Our parish in Altoona, IA, outside of Des Moines, is thriving right now. It's alive in so many ways. It's sad to hear the media say some parishes are dead and dying in the US. I belong to a parish that people drive 45 minutes to get to. My friend says, ?A parish alive is worth the drive?.
I would like to mention that the appropriate title for our church is the Catholic Church. The word Roman was added as a negative during the Reformation. You won't find official church documents identifying itself as "Roman Catholic."

The faithfulness to Jesus Christ and our 2000 year history anchors me. The most important thing is that we worship and celebrate Jesus. We honor him for the sacrifice he made on our behalf. Furthermore, he left us a church and the apostles who have handed down the faith over the ages as we wait for his glorious return. The Holy Spirit is still very much alive with us. I have the most personal relationship possible with the lord everyday during Mass as he becomes truly present in the Eucharist.

Our church's history is filled with good and some bad stories but if the church had not existed, we'd live in a radically different culture today. We owe much to the church. I believe that due to its history, our church has a unique perspective on a wide range of issues and on modernity itself.
I'm really grateful to have such a wonderful shepherd as Pope Benedict as the leader. He is wonderful thinker and a true believer in Christ. He also makes a point that we should use faith and reason together.

I see the future as very positive for our faith. Over that last few years, Catholic media has expanded and is reaching people with the message of Christ that never would have heard it before. I believe more people from other Christian backgrounds will continue to learn to appreciate the Church and will choose to join it.

The church doesn't move with the times. Truth is truth! It's not decided by majority vote. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, ?He has come too near to the truth, and has forgotten that truth is a magnet, with the powers of attraction and repulsion. . . . The moment men cease to pull against [the Catholic Church] they feel a tug towards it. The moment they cease to shout it down they begin to listen to it with pleasure. The moment they try to be fair to it they begin to be fond of it. But when that affection has passed a certain point it begins to take on the tragic and menacing grandeur of a great love affair. . . . When he has entered the Church, he finds that the Church is much larger inside than it is outside.?

There are still certain aspects of the faith that are difficult to reconcile with my personality but I understand that the church is not a "right or left," "red or blue" church. It's encompasses a lot of issues from both sides of our political spectrum and therefore, we should try to shoe horn the church into the political labels.

Of course all is not perfect in the Church and I'll be the first to admit that. However, there is much more good happening every day then the news media will ever be able to share with society.

Finally, I'd like to share that I'm grateful for the church's stand on the dignity of life from the moment of conception to natural death. I was a product of an unplanned pregnancy and I was given up for adoption immediately after birth. After spending some time in a foster home I was adopted by my parents who raised me. I don't believe it's a coincidence that they raised me in a faith that strives to protect the most innocent among us. As a result of the actions of several people back in 1975, I was allowed to live. 32 years later my two young sons were given a chance as well.

I'd be happy to share a lot more of my story with you. Thank you for opening up this forum for us to share our thoughts about the Church and the historic visit by Benedict XVI.