Why I am a Catholic

I think some of my friends were surprised when I converted to Catholicism four years ago. Even as recently as a couple of days ago, one of them asked me why I became a Catholic, saying that he never knew the reason for my decision.

I'm always reluctant to tell people why I decided to become a Catholic, not because I don't wish to share with them my experience. It's just that I feel whatever I say will not only fail to capture the reality of how I feel but, worse, will inevitably sound trite to the other party.

But if I have to say something, I guess I would say that it was gradually becoming clear to me then that God was never far from everything that had happened to me. I believe everything happens for a reason. I may not understand the reasons, but I was certain that God had His reasons, that even when things didn't go my way, God was taking care of me. It's not that I never knew that before, but there is always a gap between knowledge and reality. I believe it was God's grace that allowed me to see the knowledge as reality, to experience it rather than merely to know it.

When I came across Psalm 139 - "Oh God you have searched me and you know me" - where David dwells on God's intimate knowledge of him, I was intensely moved, and it brought me to the realisation that God could well be the soulmate I was searching for. After all, isn't everyone looking for someone who really understands them?

And when it comes to soulmates, isn't God the perfect One? He may not do it deliberately, but imperfect Man is perfectly capable of letting one down when one is in need. Everyone can be there for me sometimes. But God is the only one who will be there for me all of the time.

For me, then, the decision to become a Catholic can be described as a decision to commit to the One whom I know loves me, takes care of me and will always be there for me.