Why are you a Catholic?

I was asked this question recently.

My answer: "I don't know why. God is playing a game with me".

Seriously, I cannot explain why I am a Catholic. I wouldn't not be one. The lack of explaination doesn't bother me, but it appears to bother other people.

The thing is, I think that Catholicism is primarily a way of life. It's not meant to be just a theory you study (although study is part of it). So asking me why I am a Catholic is like asking me

• Why are you Irish?
• Why do you get the tube to work?
• Why do like reading?
• Why do you have eyes?

Sure, in some ways I can answer these questions. I'm Irish because my parents and my whole extended family are. But being Irish is more than that - it's about the history, the traditions, the language, the attitude and on and on. There is a quality to being Irish that I can recognise, but I can't quantify it. I know people whose parents are Irish, but they are not. They don't carry it with them.

Being Irish is part of who I am. As is being a Catholic, a librarian, an alto etc.