One-hundred percent of the time, God speaks to us through our encounters with reality. After all, God created reality. He made us a part of reality. He oversees reality. So the more observant, reflective, and reasonable we become, the more we will recognize what God is trying to say to us.
I’m a Catholic, so I don’t accept the doctrine of sola scriptura. But when it comes to the Bible, I do accept the doctrine of omnes scripturas, etiam arduum.
Marcus Aurelius wrote: “The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.” And they didn’t even have the internet back then.
Catholics have these prayers we call the “Liturgy of the Hours”. Basically we pray through a different selection of biblical Psalms each day. We don’t get to pick and choose. We reflect on the Psalms that deal with anger and joy, desperation and hope, defeat and victory, weakness and strength, poverty and prosperity, pain and relief. We do it this way because the world is a boxing ring, not a massage parlor.
I keep hearing that a number of Gen-Z folks are converting to Catholicism, including former atheists, former Protestants, and former non-denominational types. To the extent that it’s true, I’m all for it. But I’m careful about such things. I don’t want to celebrate prematurely. So I’ll wait to see how many of these converts are still practicing the Catholic Faith years from now. Time is the litmus test. And patience is still a virtue. And being a long-term Catholic will take perseverance.
A priest friend asked me: “We know that the Catholic Church is not a denomination, but if you had to choose a denomination, which one would it be?” I responded: “I think I would join the ‘Non-Reformed Curmudgeons’.”