My Debt to Protestant Radio

I have always loved Christmas music, especially the older hymns (and I am not speaking about Frosty the Snowman). Growing up in my neighborhood we would go caroling from house to house and in High School I spent four years in the Choir. This was in the time before the phrase from Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists "Wall of separation between church and state" was invoked as the secular humanist's battle cry. We could still sing Christian and Jewish songs in the public schools without anybody screaming about being offended. Good King Wencelas has been one of my favorites, most likely since I sang a solo part in my freshman year when my voice could still rival Geddy Lee's (at lease in pitch range). I did not know anything about the sainted king or even what the Feast of Steven was. My mother had converted to Catholicism in my high schools years and to please her I would go to church with her. I even started to sing in that church's vocal ensemble, which I thought pretty ironic being an atheist. We sang songs like "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Day by Day" so their was nothing I was singing that bothered me as an atheist. This church was very progressive and I learned absolutely nothing at all about the Christian faith from them. To be fair maybe I was just extremely obstinate to hearing anything, but I had no idea that the Communion Wafer I was receiving was the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. Maybe this was to the better since I would have totally mocked this idea; then again we should always be told the truth so that we can respond to it.

Under my mothers prodding I went to one session with the local priest to learn about the faith. This was the first time I heard the word Catholicism used. It made a lasting impression on me that I never forgot, though it seemed dark and strange. Unfortunately he preceded to explain away every miracle to some natural cause. I already didn't believe in miracles as an atheist so I reasoned I didn't have to become Catholic to not believe in miracles. These early experiences are the root of my animosity towards those who teach a faithless faith and don't teach those hard sayings that challenge us to sanctity. After all, Jesus gave the Apostles the difficult teaching on the Eucharist full on. He was willing to lose disciples rather than to water down the truth or to reduce the full impact of this mystery. We should be trusted with the truth and the ability to reply with Peter and say "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Each Christmas season I always looked forward to hearing Christmas music on the radio and at that time it was played even on the top 40 stations. Over time it was played less and less if at all on a station and by the time the late 90's rolled around you could only find it on Protestant radio and sometimes on NPR (which on principle I loathed to listen to). I started listening to the Protestant radio stations which of course always had an evangelistic message mixed in. I had already started to let God in a little bit and even acknowledged that he was real. Hearing the word preached by people who obviously had a deep faith greatly impressed me. Listening to Protestant radio I also saw all the conflicting messages preached depending on who was preaching at the time. I would hear one preacher and then later on in the day I would hear that preachers ideas being denounced. By grace I was never tempted into Protestantism but always somehow had the conviction that only the Catholic Church was true. Considering my poor past experiences with the Church this is somewhat surprising. I started reading everything I could that the public library had in the religion section. I was like a dried out sponge that thirsted to be filled with the truth. I started with feel good Christianity like Dr. Robert Schuller and then finally came across Augustine, Paschal, and the Catechism. Looking back I was surprised to find that I didn't read myself into the Church, but that I had been given faith and then learned afterwards all of the intellectual reasons that confirmed that faith. It was pretty arrogant to think it was my reasoning alone and not the Holy Spirit that had brought me to that point. Of course I had already started reading the Bible and made the beginners mistake of starting from Genesis and trying to go to the end. In my ignorance of reading apart from the understanding of the Church, I reinvented some of the heresies that have always plagued Christendom. I didn't have too many problems accepting the dogmas of the Church. Once I had gotten over the "there is a God thing" it was theologically downhill to believe in the Eucharist, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the other beautiful mysteries of his Church. I thank God for the examples of many faithful Protestants that I experienced throughout my life and their radio ministry to finally helped me get past the hump of theism into the Catholic Church.