My husband and I recently went to Napa Valley for our anniversary.

I looked up the oldest church in the valley and last Thursday, we stopped in to see St. Helena Catholic Church.

I was going to have my husband take some video and I wanted to get lots of pictures of the inside, but when I opened the door, I saw that Jesus was out for adoration.

People were there in prayer, so I said to my husband, “Jesus is out. I don’t want to take any video or pictures.”

Instead, we went up front and knelt down to spend some time in prayer.

I get told pretty frequently by Protestants that I need to leave the Catholic Church to have “a real relationship with Jesus.”

I have to laugh, because they just don’t get the Eucharist. They think if I leave behind all the “extra stuff” that the “Roman Catholic Church” does, then I’ll have a “real” relationship.

I know what life is like without the True Presence of Christ, I have not always been Catholic.

There just simply is nothing better than Holy Communion and being able to go into our Catholic Churches to adore Christ in the Eucharist. It doesn’t get anymore real than that.

As I sat there, people would come in to pray and be with Christ and I thought to myself, “We show up for Him. We come and take time to be with Him. Yes, I can pray anywhere, but to be this close to the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, I need to be in a Catholic Church.”

If you don’t get that, you might say silly things like, “Leave the Catholic Church to have a real relationship with Jesus.”

I wouldn’t leave Christ in the Eucharist if it was a matter of life or death. Bad example Catholics will not sway me. Troublesome times will not sway me. Confusing popes will not sway me.

After our prayer time, my husband and I walked out and took some pictures. As we were sitting across the street having some gelato, people continued to go into the Church to be with Christ.

It overwhelmed me to think about the humility of Our Lord to come to us in our Catholic Churches so that even after all this time, we too, can be physically close to Him. He loves us that much.

Live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.

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