Mark A. McNeil - All in the Name: How the Bible Led Me to Faith in the Trinity and the Catholic Church

Mark A. McNeil

All in the Name

How the Bible Led Me to Faith
in the Trinity and the Catholic Church

2018 Mark A. McNeil

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Acknowledgements

The sounds of a quiet beach have a healing effect on me. I sometimes think of our lives as a journey to a faraway beach we have only heard of but never actually seen. Imagine that you had never directly experienced the waves, the birds, the sand, the warm waters, or the occasional jumping fish. As you drive toward this beach, there are many temptations to settle for something less. Perhaps a swimming pool at a hotel or some other attraction. But you persist in your journey. When you finally arrive at the beach, you dont stick your toe in the waters, look around and then declare, Time to go homeweve now seen the beach! The journey has only just begun. There are new experiences to be had as you explore the waters, soak in the sun, play with your family members, and take walks as the sun sets or rises.

We are always in motion. The difference between now and what we call heaven is that we now live in faith and hope, moving toward a happiness that we cannot find in any created thing. Heaven is our final arrival at the reality that we were always desiring, whether we realize it or not. Once we arrive, however, we are not finished. Knowing and loving God is never static or boring. To say one is bored with God is to admit that he does not know what God means. In my parable, God is the boundless ocean in which we will endlessly wade throughout eternity without ever exhausting its riches and joys.

A good part of this book will focus on the mystery of the Trinity. As hard as it may be to grasp, God is love. God is radical, self-giving love. To be God is to exist in supreme happiness on account of this perfect love. The Father is self-emptying love, and that is the reason why there is a Son. The Father and Son together are self-emptying love, and that is why there is a Holy Spirit. The core of heavenly life is to see and understand that the only thing that must always be is infinite love. Since we are made in the image of this God, until we learn that the key to happiness is love, we are unhappy and confused. The constant tension between settling for something less and entering into the eternal mystery of trinitarian love is a big part of what creates the drama of each of our lives.

It is also true that we cannot know our own selves without reference to those persons who journey along with us in this life. It is a deeply trinitarian truth that we cannot understand or even have a real sense of ourselves without the other persons in our lives. The potentialities within us are actualized as we are challenged, taught, disappointed, encouraged, rebuked, consoled, loved, and even, on occasion, rejected.

The list of those persons who have enabled me to have a sense of my own identity is a long one. This includes not only those who supported my journey to the Catholic Church but also those who deeply disagree with me. The influence of family, friends, colleagues, ministers, priests, fellow parishioners, and students has been and continues to be inestimable.

The community of Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston is not merely my place of employment but also truly my vocational home. The many people that make that community so great have a very special place in my heart. Our parish community of St. Luke the Evangelist includes some of the finest Christians around and brings great joy to our family.

To all my companions in life who may read these words, thank you.

I offer a special thanks to those many friends I only know through their written words. Books have long had a special place in my life, and the many minds I have encountered through their writings have had an immeasurable impact. For their willingness to leave their ideas behind in the form of words, even when I disagree with them, I am grateful.

Finally, I wish to express the highest gratitude to my family. Our daily journey together is my greatest joy. The greatest treasure I have to give you is Jesus Christ. My life will have been a success if you always embrace this treasure with me.

To my wife, Patti: Thank you for sharing your amazing heart of love with me. Im so grateful we are able to help each other to heaven each day. Words are too weak to express how much your husband, children, and countless others love you.

Introduction

A Conversation and a Conversion

In 1983, at thirteen years of age, I walked into a United Pentecostal church and had the experience of speaking in tongues. I was then taken, along with my mom and sister, to a baptismal tank and baptized in the name of Jesus. All of this took place at a revival service we attended at the invitation of a lady my mother knew from work.

My family attended a Southern Baptist church in those days. Although we were not associated with a church in my earliest years, I heard the story of Gods love for us, demonstrated in Jesus Christ, and fell in love with it. This led to a passion to read the Bible and, encouraged by the Baptists in my life, to look for opportunities to share the good news with others. I was heavily involved in our youth group, and my pastor very much encouraged the call to preach that I had recently professed. The call to preach is a Baptist way of talking about a vocation to ministry.

Another similarly minded youth at the church, Ronnie, shared my enthusiasm. We could be seen at school carrying our bibles and, when the opportunity presented itself, sharing our understanding of the Christian faith. My experience of speaking in tongues and my rebaptism in the name of Jesus were tucked away in my memory, but they did not immediately affect my church attendance or growing desire to spend my life in ministry among the Baptists. I was simply not sure what to make of this experience.

Some months later, shortly after I began high school, another freshman youth, Ricky, noticed I had a Bible. Ricky was an enthusiastic, albeit somewhat mischievous, young man. After initiating a conversation on religious matters, he invited me to a church he had recently begun attending with his family. It turned out this was the very church at which I had the experiences mentioned earlier (speaking in tongues and baptism in Jesus name). He invited me to a youth service at the church the upcoming Friday evening. I talked my mom into allowing me to attend.

When I walked into the building, I found no youths. I questioned a middle-aged, balding man whose office door was slightly ajar. He explained that the youth were meeting at someones house that evening and then questioned me about my background.

I go to a Baptist church but was invited by a friend of mine at school to come to a youth group meeting here tonight, I explained. He then questioned me about my Baptist faith. I did my best. I had memorized a small arsenal of texts supporting basic theological claims we made.

The subject quickly turned to baptism. He gently asked, Did you know that the early Christians baptized in the name of Jesus only ? I was able to locate Matthew 28:19 and explain that this text indicates baptism is performed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He patiently explained, with a grin, The name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is Jesus! Father is not a name. We call many people fathers. This is a title , not a name, he reasoned. According to John 5:43, the Fathers name is Jesus! Who would argue against the conclusion that the Sons name is Jesus? He cited Matthew 1:21 in support.