Why Do Catholics Do THAT?!

Scientific research suggests that up to 65% of people are visual learners and thinkers. A much smaller percentage of the population does best with auditory instruction, text-based information, or kinesthetic learning.

Basically, most people love to look at things. Would you rather SEE the Grand Canyon or just read about it? I rest my case.

I don’t know this for certain, but maybe for Catholics, visual preference is even higher than 65%. Think about all the symbols on display inside a church: crucifixes, monstrances, statues, portraits, painted ceilings, ornate vestments, stained glass windows. The list of things to feast on with your eyes in a Catholic Church is long! Not to mention, there’s more symbolism in a church than in a college freshman lit class. The Catholic Church has had 2,000 plus years to perfect how to communicate the glory of God through symbols. It’s pretty sweet.

But, I’d like to talk today about perhaps the most powerful of symbols in a church, one that is literally everywhere inside the house of God – the candle.

One of the earliest memories in my life is being at midnight Mass on Christmas eve and getting to hold a small lit candle with all the lights off singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". I can still close my eyes and picture the entire church bathed in candle light. As a little kid, I could just feel that God was present.

Of course, the most significant candle is the one that, when lit, indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. Even today, that’s one of the first things I look for when I enter the nave of any Catholic church.

Then, there’s the votive candle station. The tiered candles, each lit one represents a single prayer made by a member of the faithful. I have always found this area of the church to be intensely powerful.

I often think about the individuals who return week after week to keep the flame alight. They are expressing their deep and abiding faith in the Lord by this simple act of devotion.

From the time we were children, we learned that Jesus is the light of the world. John 1:4 says “In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.”

In the end, the presence of a lit candle brings me into a place where I can feel God right next to me. Of course, I know, in my brain, that God is ALWAYS right next to me, but it’s a whole lot easier to tune in when I’m basking in the gentle glow of a solitary flame.

I guess I’m one of the 65% who love to look.