Welcome to Basilica Blog. My name is John Morris. I am a 30-year-old who joined the Church at age 22. I will introduce myself at a later time. For now, a story.

On the 2rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in 2014, I attended Mass at St. Olav’s Cathedral in Oslo, Norway. Through the course of that Mass, my mind was opened and I began to perceive the Church in a different way. An amazing way, more beautifully than ever before.

“I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”

The word “catholic” is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning “about” and ὅλος meaning “whole.” The modern translation is “universal.” The Roman Catholic Church is the universal church, encompassing all those who profess the faith and believe in the apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.

Universality understood

I am a traveler and have attended Mass in more countries than I can count. But it was not until that Mass in Oslo that I truly understood what universality means.

As a visitor to Oslo and to that parish, I was an outsider. But I was also home. Every person gathered there — the English priest, the immigrants from the Philippines and Vietnam, the Australian family on holiday, and me — was united in Christ, gathered around a common table, partaking in a celebration that was familiar to us all. We found comfort, safety, love and nourishment in the house of the Lord, who welcomes everyone.

Conceptually, this universality was one of the major reasons why I was drawn to the Catholic faith. But it wasn’t until that moment that I realized just how all-encompassing our Catholic faith truly is. Jesus Christ is adored and glorified the world over.

God’s love and this blog

In the introduction of his first Encyclical, Deus caritas est, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

When I contemplate a “decisive direction,” movement that is oriented toward God, I cannot help but recall Romans 12:11, which reads:

“Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

For me, this is the greatest challenge — to be energetic in pursuit of the Lord, and to be diligent in my service to Him.

But I have felt God’s encouragement to share the beauty and love that I have found in His universal Church. And here, on Basilica Blog, I hope to do that.

The truth is, I’m not sure what this will look like. But I promise to use this space to glorify God and to share His love as I have encountered it. And, as someone who attends Mass at a different parish almost every weekend, I look forward to sharing God’s churches, cathedrals and basilicas with you. They are all beautiful.

Thank you for reading, and May God bless you.