My Experience Going to Catholic Mass as a Protestant

Something I'm incredibly passionate about is dialoguing with those I disagree with and doing my best to learn from them despite our differences. When it comes to branches of Christianity that I disagree with, my passion is even more increased. I simply love learning from Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. While we don't see eye to eye on everything, there is so much that we do agree on that can form the basis of great unity between Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox.

A little over a year ago I attended a Catholic men’s group for several months, and recently I made a video describing some of the things I learned with the goal of promoting healthier and more productive dialogue between Protestants and Catholics. It has quickly become my most popular video to date, and I’ve absolutely loved many of the conversations that it has sparked. It has over 1,000 comments so far, and one of the most common pieces of feedback I received, aside from enough book recommendations to fill a library and more than a small army of people encouraging me to subscribe to Lizzie Answers, was that I should go to a Catholic Mass. I love trying and learning new things, and it seemed like good advice given the kind of videos I make, so I decided to do it. Plus, I’m so grateful for all the encouragement you all have given me from that video, so taking a piece of your advice as a gesture of goodwill felt like the least I could do.

The first matter was figuring out where to go. I live in downtown Chicago, so there’s really no shortage of options. Initially, I wanted to check out an Eastern Catholic Church because I find them particularly interesting, in no small part due to the fact that two of my favorite Catholic YouTubers, Matt Fradd and Trent Horn, are of that persuasion. After a quick Google search, I came across St. John of Cantius Church which Google tried to tell me was Eastern Catholic, though it turns out they’re Roman Rite. Anyway, I decided that on account of it being both beautiful and close by, I’d go with that one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the final decision I had to make. Because of COVID-19, I had to RSVP for a service, and then I realized that they had different kinds, which forced me to google what on Earth Extraordinary vs Ordinary Form was. After some more googling, I felt like I had it vaguely figured out, and it worked out that on Saturdays they only had Extraordinary form in the morning, so that eased my decision making. I’m sure some people will tell me that I picked the wrong church or service or both, and that’s totally fine, but you have to start somewhere, right?

I'm truly so grateful for all of your support for this channel, and I hope that this video can continue to promote healthy and productive dialogue between Christians of various branches. May we all strive for unity in Jesus.

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About me:
Hey! My name is Austin, and I'm a 21 year old guy with a passion for people. I believe the good news is that God is better than we could've ever hoped, and I love sharing this message of grace and love with anyone that will listen. I'm the former Digital Marketing and Video Production Coordinator at a large, evangelical church in Frederick, MD, and I'm currently a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL. When I'm not writing papers or making YouTube videos, I do freelance work as a Wedding Photographer/Videographer and social media consultant. On any given day you can find me with my nose in a book or a guitar in my hands. Want to get to know me more? Follow me and say hi on Instagram at: @austin.suggs

Video Stuff:
Camera: Canon 80d
Lens: Sigma 17-50 F2.8
Edited in FCPX

Music:
Bowmans Root - Isaac Joel
When the Rain Comes - Tide Electric
Look to the Sky - Joshua Spacht

Видео My Experience Going to Catholic Mass as a Protestant канала Gospel Simplicity