Is life better as a Catholic or as a non-Catholic? Is life better with Jesus or without Jesus? When people decide to become Catholic, they’re saying, at least implicitly, that life is better as a Catholic than what they were before (otherwise they wouldn’t become Catholic). We all know Catholics who have left the Church (our children, brothers and sisters, friends): they’re saying, at least implicitly, that life is better not practicing the faith. Is life better for us going to Mass or better when we don’t go? What about Confession?

These questions make us reflect and they’re critically important. We should be more open about asking them because, believe it or not, all of us already have answers to them, even our children.

Today, the Gospel says, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ” (Mk 1:1). When I was praying over this, it hit me hard and made me excited because I love Jesus and I really believe that Jesus, Catholicism, the Mass are all good news, so much so that I want to share it with other people.

But most people don’t see it that way. Catholicism isn’t good news. We’re stereotyped badly as an ancient institution with rules and traditions that make no sense.

So why the difference? Why do I and others love the Church, but so many don’t? The answer is that most people have never really encountered Jesus and don’t know what Catholicism’s really about and don’t know what the Church really teaches.

Last month, almost all the media said that Pope Francis had finally accepted evolution as a legitimate theory. But when I read what he said, it didn’t shock me because he said nothing new. He said what I’ve always been taught. Ven. Pope Pius XII in 1950(!) said there was no conflict between evolution and Catholicism. To claim that this is something new is absurd and demonstrates that most of the media doesn’t know what we really believe.

Ven. Archbishop Sheen, the great American preacher, said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” That makes a lot of sense. The same applies to Jesus.

But there are tons of people who believe Jesus and the Catholic Church is good news. Here are two:

Matthew Kelly grew up Catholic, went to Mass every Sunday, went to a Catholic school, prayed before meals, but never got it. When he was 15, one idea changed everything for him and helped him to make sense of Catholicism. The idea was that God calls us to holiness. This means that everything in life, whether it’s a triumph, trial, or tragedy is an opportunity to grow in holiness; every moment has meaning. “This was the idea that captured my attention and led me to truly embrace Catholicism for myself, because it revealed the true meaning and purpose of life” (Matthew Kelly, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, 77). Now he spends only four days a month working as a business consultant, and the rest of his time helping others embrace Catholicism through his organization Dynamic Catholic.

Christopher West grew up in 1970s and 80s and had lots of objections to the Church’s teachings on sex and marriage. While in college, he was sexually promiscuous and saw so much hurt, men treating women like objects. This made him get angry with God and so he started searching for answers (“What’s this sex thing all about?”). When he discovered St. John Paul II’s teachings on sexuality, it answered every question he had asked and now devotes his whole life to passing on these teachings, i.e. sexuality is about loving as God loves and being loved as God is loved (Christopher West, Good News About Sex & Marriage, 13-14).

I could tell you about many others, but I want to tell you why I think Jesus is good news for me. I wasn’t raised Catholic. When I was 13, my mom started going back to Mass, and I followed along. My first experience of Mass was really strange: I didn’t know what was going on: people were standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down. I didn’t know any of the responses and felt like a stranger. The only thing I liked was the sign of peace because people were friendly. I went through what many people went through and I didn’t really have a strong relationship with God. This wasn’t great news; it was just news, neutral.

But when I was 14 and I met my first priest in confession, I thought he was going to be terrible; he looked so mean and serious when he offered Mass. But when I met him face to face in Confession, I was so impressed! He was smart, wise, kind, and funny. He showed a dedication to a kind of life I had never seen before. He was really serious about life, wisdom and loving everyone! And that inspired me. He showed me a depth of Catholicism that I never knew was there—that was good news.

When I was 16 I made another Confession and it changed my life. I’ll tell you more about that, I think, in Lent. I encountered God’s love in a tangible way. For many people, Confession is bad news. For me, feeling God’s love is great news.

A few months later, I went to Westminster Abbey in Mission, BC, and the monks showed me another level of Catholicism that I had never encountered. They were talking to me at a philosophical/theological level and answering all my questions. They were all sincerely trying to be great people with all their strength. The way they celebrated Mass, their getting up at 4:45 a.m. to pray (you can tell what’s important to a person by what they get up for), the silence deeply touched me. Now you may think: what’s so special about that? It’s special because I went to public school all my life, I watched more TV than most, I was never raised a Christian and I had never seen people truly and consistently trying to be virtuous people. In public elementary school I remembering seeing through the so-called “rules.” Teachers would tell us not to swear, but everyone knew teachers and everyone else swore outside of school. When we were told to be kind to other people, we were never told to love people without exception, favouring some people was normal and accepted—that was inconsistent to me. Because of things like this, I saw our society as very shallow, and more concerned about image and money. No one ever taught me to aim to be humble, polite, courteous, patient, pure, self-sacrificial, or disciplined. So, when I went to the abbey, I subconsciously realized that the Christian faith is all about doing what’s right, what’s moral and doing the most we can. That was life-changing news for me!

Is Catholicism good news for you? What about Jesus? If so, great. If not, it’s my job and joy to explain the good news. We’re going to tackle this during Lent. I’ve got something up my sleeve.

When you get it, it’s really powerful. I love being Catholic. It made me more peaceful, made me a better person, kinder, and more virtuous. That’s why I became a priest. Jesus and Catholicism are really good news.