Catholic . . . again

Nobody on Earth knows if God exists. People can only have faith. Which is just as good as concrete fact, to a faithful individual. But my point is that, if God does indeed exist and I've decided to ignore that possibility, I may be doing so at my own peril.

After a lot of thought, I decided there is nothing I've seen, heard, read, or thought of that proves a God does not exist. Certainly, there is room for God in the universe. This leads me to the question "So if God is real, what do we know about Him?"

So I studied. I reviewed all I learned back in my Lutheran confirmation classes. And I learned about the Catholic church. After a bit of reflection and study, I can look around me and see God's grace all around.

I have a lot to learn. And I still understand most of this on a mainly academic level. But I felt comfortable making a proclamation of my faith, in the sacrament of confirmation. So today I came back to the Catholic church.

I chose the confirmation name of St. Thomas Aquinas. This means I was inspired by my cursory knowledge of this saint's life story, and hope to emulate it in at least some way. I was impressed by the idea that reason and logic can be used to explain or understand God. St. Thomas, as I understand him, used his mind to think very logically about the existence of God in a concrete, realistic way. That said, I haven't yet read any of his writings. I'm told they are not easy to read, but some day I'd like to try.

My confirmation mass was very private. There were eight of us present in the small chapel at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck. My cousin, Father Kenny Phillips, led the mass. My grandpa, Robert Brunelle, was my sponsor.

Following the mass, we took the usual group photos. Pictured below, left to right, are my good friend Cat, myself, another friend Melanie, my mom, Father Phillips, my grandma, and grandpa. Kenny's parents, Audrey and Gary, were also present. But they didn't get into the picture.

After the group photos, everyone migrated to my house for dinner before parting ways. Thank you everyone who came to show their support. And thanks to Cat for the photos.