It’s an exciting time to be a Christian. A supernatural shift is happening right now. Never before since the Protestant Reformation have Protestants and Catholics been coming together like they are at this moment in history. The Holy Spirit is doing what He does—uniting God’s children back together and mending the mystical Body of Christ. All over the United States, I’m seeing and hearing it happen. God responds to every era differently. This age is one where people very seldom listen to reason, so God is using signs and wonders by the charisms of the Holy Spirit given to us at our baptism to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are returning to early Christianity, not unlike when St. Peter experienced the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles in Acts 10 and all the circumcised Jews were like, “Wait, what? God is using them?!” (that might totally be paraphrased). As Protestants and Catholics, the Holy Spirit is using us together to evangelize, prophesy, pray, heal, pastor a world in need of faith, hope, love, and healing. Let me explain…
“But now, thus says the LORD… Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name: you are mine… Fear not, for I am with you; from the east, I will bring back your offspring, from the west I will gather you. Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the wilderness, I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers…It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” Isaiah 43
When I was in college, I was the President of our Catholic Newman Club for three years. I also attended Campus Crusade for Christ for a bit. The Protestants in that club were always shocked that 1). I loved Jesus and knew Scripture, and 2). that I actually loved being Catholic and felt called to get other Catholics on fire for God. Other Protestants I met around my 30,000-student public university would challenge me on apologetics, try to prove that I wasn’t actually Christian, or maybe even try to “convert” me. Some even tore down our signs promoting our Catholic Club. That was back in 2002-2006.
Fast-forward to 2019, and the world has completely changed. Now, the Catholic students in college aren’t as much challenged by Protestants, but atheists. Now, Catholics and Protestants are both targeted and bullied (being called haters and bigots and losing jobs for not baking wedding cakes/taking photos for gay marriages) for holding fast to the Judeo-Christian view of marriage as being a spiritual-bodily union between a man and woman whose purpose is the union of spouses and procreation. We are both being targeted for not conforming to the political agenda that says that our souls are just trapped in bodies that can be manipulated, (which is just the Cartesian view of “I think, therefore, I am” being reimagined into “I feel, therefore I am”). Thus, if someone thinks they are a six-foot, fourteen-year old Chinese woman when really they are a 5’7″ 60-year old Caucasian man, we just say, “Well, if that’s how you want to identify, then sure, you do you, boo!” But many Protestants and Catholics believe that sex is not “assigned” at birth (which is how the language has been changed), but that God has created us male and female in and through our body/heart/soul/mind/chromosones/DNA, and that is not something to be hated and manipulated, but revered and cherished.*
While the world says that a human “fetus” (which is just a Latin term meaning “little one”) is not a person who has a right to life, we believe as Christians that God has formed us and known us from our mother’s womb, and He has destined each one of us with a purpose from our conception, no matter what the situation or circumstance. We actually believe in science (I know, right?!) which tells us that human life begins at conception, and we believe the Constitution when it says that it is an unalienable right to have LIFE even before we have liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I could go on, but my point is this: as the world gets more anti-Christian, Christians in all forms (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) have to come together to be the light in the darkness, a voice crying out in the wilderness, and prophetic in a time a relativistic chaos. Yes, it’s fine and good to have good and lively and honest discussions about the disagreements that separate us (contraception, death penalty, the papacy, confession to a priest, etc), but I want to tell you that God’s endgame is to join us back together again. In John 17, Jesus’ prayer is that we may be united as one as He and the Father are one. The Holy Spirit’s goal is to unite, but the devil’s goal is to divide. I really believe the greatest achievement of the devil was when Jesus’ One Body and One Bride started becoming two and then four and now over 40,000. But the devil doesn’t have the final word, and I know that Jesus’ broken and wounded mystical body will be mended and healed by his supernatural grace, and His glory will shine in and through those wounds, just as they did in the Body of the resurrected Christ.
I have seen firsthand the shift that is happening tangibly in the United States between Protestants and Catholics. We are praying together, worshiping together, healing together. I have heard the prophetic words of both Protestants and Catholics speaking of how what God is doing is going to require all of us who love Jesus and are willing to lay down our pride, our fear, and hurt at His feet to proclaim and witness God’s Truth, Beauty, and Goodness with unabashed love to the world.
Now when I meet Protestants, they are overjoyed when they find out I’m a Catholic who lives a life in the Holy Spirit, prays over the sick for healing, stands up for life from conception to natural death, defends the Judeo-Christian view of marriage, and won’t give into the bullying of the media or the “left” that tells me I’m a bigot or hater. They’re shocked that I, a Catholic, am a traveling worship leader and speaker who preaches the Gospel as a lay married mama of three. I have had Protestant friends over for dinner and experienced a deep friendship with them, as we recount God’s glory. I have had Protestants pray over me for an ever deeper outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the charisms of knowledge, healing, prophecy, etc. I have wept and rejoiced as I’ve heard story after story of the deep friendships of Protestant Pastors and Catholic Bishops, Protestant and Catholic worship leaders, theologians, philosophers, disciples, ministers, healers, you name it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m perceiving it and I’m excited for it. Let’s continue to pray for and with each other. For an outpouring of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge, wisdom, understanding, counsel, courage, fear of the Lord, and piety. For the Holy Spirit to use us in unexpected ways, and for us to cheer each other on as we seek Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
(And y’all, I wrote this today and then found out that January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, what?!)
Also, here’s Shawn Bolz getting words of knowledge for Catholic Keith Major, a friend who is doing amazing ecumenical things:
*Check out Dr. Ryan T. Anderson’s book, “When Harry Became Sally” which shares loads of scientific studies and prominent psychologists on the topic of gender dysphoria, and also shares testimonies from many men and women who have de-transitioned after feeling lied to and pressured by the medical community to transition instead helping them come to love the reality and beauty of their God-given bodies.
