Forty Reasons I Am a Catholic

Since I have ADD and get bored very easily, I believe books should be short.  Since introductions are almost always boring, I also believe introductions should be short.

My title explains itself.  But it is misleading: there are more than forty reasons.  In fact, there are at least ten to the eighty-second power, which (I am told) is the number of atoms in the universe.  And that's just in ordinary matter, which makes up only 4.9 percent of the universe, the rest being dark matter (26.8 percent) and dark energy (68.3 percent).

Each of my reasons is an independent point, so I have not organized this book by a succession of chapters or headings.  Most readers remember only a few "big ideas" or separate points after reading a book anyway.  I've never heard anyone say, "Oh, that was a good continuous-process-of-logically-ordered-argumentation" or "Oh, that was a good multiple-headed-and-subheaded-outline," but I’ve often heard people say, "Oh, that was a good point."

"Why are you a Catholic?" is a good question.

The Catholic Faith is not the default position anymore anywhere in the world, as it was in Christendom during the Middle Ages, and perhaps it was never supposed to be.

A good question deserves a good answer.

Here is a sample, reason thirty, of the forty reasons of mine you'll find in this book.

30

I am a Catholic because only the Church can Whup the devil. 

Whenever anybody gets really serious about exorcism, they go to a Catholic priest.  Did you ever see a movie with a Protestant exorcist?

The Catholic Church is an "expert" in the most dangerous war of all, spiritual warfare.  Why?  For these reasons:

1. Jesus was.  He performed many exorcisms in the Gospels.  And His Church does His work.
   
   
2. She has the experience of two thousand years of this work.
   
   
3. She has the supernatural power to do this work, given to her by the Holy Spirit.
   
   
4. The Devil is an “expert” at attacking his holiest and most formidable enemies.
   
   
5. Almost nobody in our culture today believes the Devil even exists anymore, and in any war, ignoring your enemy makes him invisible and ten times more powerful.
   
   
6. Natural weapons alone are insufficient against a supernatural enemy.
   
   
7. We have a nuclear arsenal in Mary, who is more powerful in gently protecting her beloved children than the Devil is in attacking them.
   
   
8. The Devil loves to target women and children, especially in our culture today.
   
   
9. The Devil really, really resents being smashingly whupped by a woman, especially a womanly woman, holy and humble and (therefore) happy instead of an Amazon full of anger and resentment and belligerence like himself.  Just look at all Mary has done in recent history, from Guadalupe to Fatima and Zeitoun. (Never heard of it?  Google it.)