Friday 5th May, 2000

On returning to Melbourne last Wednesday, I visited my Lutheran clergy friend, P. We went for a drive into the city to a second hand book shop he wanted to show me. On the way there and back, we talked over various issues. We started with the issue of divorce and remarriage (one that has been troubling P. since his friend became engaged to a divorced woman) and ended discussing the possibility of becoming Roman Catholic.

Then, tonight, P. came to visit me. We spoke at length, and I have come to see just how close he is to making the same decision. I told him that as I was working on the [LCA] Worship Resources [project, for which I was manager] for this Advent, I found myself wondering if I would actually still be in the LCA to use it. P. said he had a similar experience when a youth asked him if he was going to be leading confirmation camp next year--and he realised he himself did not know.

P. challenged me in an important way. While I was concerned with how I would explain such a decision to others, he said that the only one I was accountable to was God. While I was concerned about the material consequences of such a decision, he directed me to give my attention to the Truth, because I can only be blessed through the Truth. And finally, his struggle with the issue of remarriage heightened for me the place of a good conscience before God.

By the time he left, I had practically decided to make the transition. But I still want to learn more about the Catholic church’s teachings (I know the broad outlines, but not the details and practical applications). So I am reading the dialogue books and also Ratzinger’s Called to Communion. I need to get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well.