A Reflection on the Catholic Church

The Following is an excerpt from Catholic Apologetics: God, Christianity, and the Church by Fr. John Laux, M. A.  He is quoting writer John L. Stoddard from the book Rebuilding a Lost Faith. 

"When I am asked what I have found within the Catholic Church superior to all that Protestantism  gave me, I find that language is inadequate to express it.  One thinks of the familiar metaphor of the stained-glass window in a vast cathedral.  Seen from without by day, this seems to be an unintelligible mass of dusky glass.  Viewed from within, however, it reveals a beautiful design, where sacred story glows resplendently in form and color.  So it is with the Church of Rome.  One must enter it to understand its sanctity and charm.  When I reflect upon that Church's long, unbroken continuity extending back to the very days of the Apostles; when I recall her grand, inspiring traditions, her blessed Sacraments, her immemorial language, her changeless creed, her noble ritual, her stately ceremonies, her priceless works of art, her wondrous unity of doctrine, her ancient prayers, her matchless organization, her Apostolic authority, her splendid roll of Saints and Martyrs reaching up like Jacob's ladder, and uniting earth and Heaven; when I reflect upon the intercession for us of those Saints and Martyrs enhanced by the petitions of the Blessed Mother of Our Lord; and, last but not least, when I consider the abiding Presence of the Savior on her altars; - I feel that this One, Holy, Apostolic Church has given me certainty for doubt, order for confusion, sunlight for darkness, and substance for shadow.  It is the Bread of Life and the Wine  of the Soul, instead of the unsatisfying husks; the father's welcome, with the ring and the robe, instead of the weary exile in the wilderness of doubt.  It is true, the prodigal must retrace the homeward road, and even enter the doorway of the mansion on his knees; but,

within, what a recompense!"