The Everyday Club

11/23/09 Steve, 38
I stopped in Burger King on my way home from work and asked Steve, a truck driver on break with his truck idling outside, if I could ask him a few questions. He looked at his watch and asked how long it would take. We finished our conversation half an hour later. Steve became a devout Catholic about five years ago. The sudden death of a friend in a car accident and the need for some sort of religious upbringing for his four children led him to a period of seeking God. He was especially impressed by the words of Jesus, which were in red letters in his Bible. The teaching that really caught Steve's attention was from Matthew 7: "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." He decided to take serious the Catholic faith that he had married into. Steve was very different from most Catholics that I have talked to. He reads his Bible regularly and tries to share his faith with friends and co-workers. He knows that he can't earn heaven by good works, but "has broken every Commandment" and trusts in God's mercy alone for salvation. However he was slow to make the connection between God's mercy and the cross, so I explained it more clearly and he heartily agreed with our need for God's sacrifice of His Son on our behalf. His main problem with Protestant churches is that they divided both from the Catholic Church and amongst themselves. Steve was glad I stopped to talk to him and clearly enjoyed our conversation, and I think a small part of that division may have been mended.