In our 鈥淲hy I Believe鈥� series, people share their real-life stories about God working in the everyday and why they believe鈥攕hare yours.
Growing up, I attended Mass and Sunday School every week because 鈥渢hat鈥檚 just what Catholics do鈥�, yet I never really understood why. I said prayers, sang hymns, and listened to the teachings of the Church with a blind and child-like faith simply because I didn鈥檛 know any different. As I became older, I began to search for more answers. I wanted to know what made Catholics stand apart and why we believed what we believe. So I took to the internet searching for answers and in my search I found that I only knew a fraction of the vast enormity of our faith. I began learning about novenas and feast days, Saints and their stories, scapulars and miraculous medals, and vocations and discernment. But my heart expanded the most when I learned even more about the Eucharist.
I had always known that the Eucharist was the true body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, but never knew how. When I discovered that the Transubstantiation is not just a representation of the Last Supper but the actual thing itself and that the priest becomes Christ I was completely blown away! The understanding that Jesus is physically there at every mass made me understand even more the importance of it. This teaching is hard for many to accept which is why so many fall away from the Catholic Church, but if we only use our child-like faith to help us comprehend then we will be able to see the beauty of such a thing. I believe because this is the Church that Jesus himself gave to us, and knowing that he is with us at every mass brings me peace that I couldn鈥檛 find anywhere else.
HADLEY ADAIR is a high school student at the Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia.
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