A Brief Bio

I grew up in the northern prairies in Canada where it’s very cold and barren. Both of my parents grew up on farms but I was born in the city. I grew up going to the Catholic Church but it didn’t really mean anything at the time. I found it quite boring but made sure never to miss a Sunday. My schooling was done in French. I even knew the Our Father and the Hail Mary in French before I knew them in English.

I didn’t read the Bible growing up for two main reasons. I didn’t have one and I wasn’t encouraged to get one. I simply went to church and that was all. On the day of my high school graduation, which also happened to be my birthday, my Protestant cousin gave me a Protestant NIV Bible. I was shocked! I now had a Bible. I didn’t read it immediately but after about two years, I decided to pick it up and read.

Reading the Bible brought my faith to life. Jesus Christ spoke to me through the pages of Scripture.  I loved the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commission, the Prologue of John, the letters of Paul, and the great stories and prophetic writings of the Old Testament. When I graduated from University in the Faculty of Engineering, I didn’t go into engineering immediately but worked for the family business, which was accounting.

While working in accounting, I read Confessions by St. Augustine. It really moved me. In that book, I learnt that the faith I was part of was a living faith, even though I didn’t experience it in Church. On August 5, 2012, something very special happened, I attended the Traditional Latin Mass for the first time in my life. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Just as beautiful as the liturgy was the homily. The Priest quoted St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Gregory the Great and St. Ignatius of Loyola. Not only did he quote them, but he quoted them with authority! I thought that these were stale names that one read in a history book, not people to be listened to. This was new to me and I wanted more. Less than two weeks later, I got a job much further south, in Calgary, where I live to this day. I found a Traditional Latin Mass community there and continued to grow in my faith.

With this new job and faith community, I decided to spend a little money upgrading my religious literature. I replaced my Protestant NIV Bible with a Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible. I replaced my Catechism of the Catholic Church with the Catechism of the Council of Trent. I replaced my Novus Ordo Missal with a Tridentine Missal. I then bought a Benedictine Rosary to top it all off.

After about three years, I decided to share my knowledge and started this blog. It’s been quite a journey. I want to share my knowledge of Christianity with all who need it.

The most important thing that I’ve learnt is that when dealing with obstacles in faith, the best thing to do is to go back to the sources. Go back to Sacred Scripture. Go back to the Ecumenical Councils like Nicaea and Trent. Go back to the writings of the Saints such as Augustine, Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Ignatius of Loyola and many more. The Catholic Church is a family. A 2,000 year old family that I’m happy to be a part of. The Saints, being great members of the family are here to help us. We can read their writings, learn from their example, and ask for their prayers.

God wouldn’t give us problems if He didn’t give us a way out. The way out is always to turn to the treasure chest of Scripture and Tradition. They never fail to give us the correct answer, and they never will. Today, I see so many religious people who don’t know where to look. They’ll look everywhere else because let’s face it, the secular world doesn’t respect Scripture and Tradition. It’s not popular, but being popular with God is more important than being popular amongst men.

I look around at the Canadian prairies where I was born and still live. It’s very secular here. Most people don’t have God in their lives. Still, I see hope. I see hope because the secular world is failing to give answers to the most important questions in life. This is where Scripture and Tradition need to fill the void.

I hope that you’ve learnt a bit about me and my journey. I want to help other Christians who are struggling. You can always find me on this blog or at alruhl25@gmail.com.

Lord, whether I have a long life or a short life, whether I am healthy or sick, whether I am rich or poor, is a matter of indifference to me, as long as I am following your will.

– St. Ignatius of Loyola