15 | March | 2014 | Love Being Catholic

This blog was set up to spread the joy and beauty of the Catholic faith. It is for Catholics, fallen away Catholics, or anyone who might be interested in learning more about our faith, and perhaps understand a little bit better what we believe and why we believe it, using faith and reason. Our Catholic faith is attacked on a daily basis by the media, atheists, other religions, organizations, other Christians, and by Catholics who have left the faith, so it is important to be able to answer questions about our faith, and defend it (charitably) when necessary.

All of us know of Catholics who have left the Church for various reasons. Some left, and came back. Others were encouraged to leave and join other churches or religions, or they left religion all together. They left because they did not feel that they had a “personal relationship” with Jesus in the Catholic Church. They left because they were hurt about a particular teaching. They left because they were fed up with the behavior of other Catholics, priests and bishops. They left because they were not taught the true beauty and joy of our faith, even though they may have attended Catholic schools their whole life. They left because they thought the homilies were boring, or the music was not entertaining enough. They left because they didn’t feel welcome in the Catholic Church. They left sometimes for no reason at all – just that God and church were not a priority in their lives anymore. Regardless of the reason, many Catholics have left the Church and we want them to come back home.

When they leave, and go elsewhere, they are often taught that the Catholic religion is wrong, that we worship Mary, that the Pope is the anti-Christ, that we are not Biblical, that we do not need to baptize our babies, and that we are all brainwashed and can’t think for ourselves. They are told that Catholics never read the Bible, that we don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, that purgatory is not biblical and made up, that abortion is okay, that marriage should be re-defined, or not defended, that you should never ask Mary or the saints to pray for you, and that the Eucharist is just a symbol, and not the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.

And why does it matter if they leave the Catholic Church, as long as they are following Jesus? It’s all the same right? Why should we care? Why does it matter?

It matters because as Catholics we think it is important to belong to the Church that Christ founded nearly 2000 years ago. It matters because when you leave the Catholic Church, you leave the Eucharist – and all the sacraments that Christ Himself instituted. It matters because as Catholics we believe the Church contains the fullness of the truth, because it was founded by Christ Himself. This does not mean that we think other religions and Christian denominations do not contain any truth, for they do. But the Catholic Church, since it was founded by Jesus Himself and not a man, contains the fullness of truth, so we think it is very important to belong to the Catholic Church and share our faith with others.

Does this mean that Catholics are better than other Christians, or holier than non-Catholics? Absolutely not. Some of the holiest people I know are Catholic, but some of the most unholiest people I know are Catholic. However, do I believe the Catholic Church is the one true Church founded by Christ Himself and contains the fullness of the Truth? Absolutely Yes.

Think about it. If you didn’t think your church contained the “Fullness of Truth”, why would you want to be a part of it? If it contained “most” of the truth, is that good enough for you? If my child had a teacher at school that taught “half truths” about a subject, would I want my child taking that class? Really think about this.

Truth is not up to a majority vote, where you can just pick and choose what is truth based on how you want to live your life at the time. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus doesn’t change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Truth doesn’t change according to our ability to stomach it, and cannot mean two opposite things. It either is the truth or it isn’t. (For example – the Eucharist either is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, or it isn’t.) There are many, many things all Christians have in common that we should celebrate – mainly our belief in Jesus Christ. Many say as long as we agree on the essentials it’s all good. But who decides what is “essential”? To a Catholic, the Eucharist is essential, to a non-Catholic, it is merely a symbol. To a Catholic baptizing our children and our love and devotion to our Blessed Mother are “essential.” To a non-Catholic they are not. To a Catholic, abortion is not okay, to many others, it isn’t important to defend these little lives who are brutally murdered in their mother’s womb. These “essentials” matter to a Catholic.

The Catholic Church is both human and divine. Because it is divine, it will last forever. Because it is human, it will have scandals, and sinful people in it, just like what you will find in all Protestant denominations,religions, atheist groups, governments, and families. Scandals do not prove that the Catholic Church is false. They only prove what is obvious: that the Church contains sinners as well as saints. Yes there have been terrible things that have happened in our Church – the sexual abuse scandal was horrible. I personally was disgusted with the behavior of some priests and bishops. Unfortunately this is not just a “Catholic” problem – the abuse of children happens throughout every religion, protestant denomination, organization (yes even atheist abuse children), school and family. According to what you hear and read in the media, it is just a “Catholic” problem. Not true. There is Evil everywhere. Evil does not discriminate and has no boundaries. Despite humans messing things up at times, the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, and will forever be guided by the Holy Spirit until the end of time. As St. Teresa of Avila says, “The Truth suffers, but never dies.”

There are over a billion Catholics in the world, many of them holy and devout people, doing their best to imitate and lead souls to Christ. It’s not too often that we hear the good that the Church does to help so many. Among all the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.

Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.

Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches to which door-to-door missionaries belong are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established

The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members—even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy. Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The fact that the Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church (and the largest, with about a billion members) is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.

Church history does matter, because if you study it you will see that the early Church was totally Catholic. The early Church believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; Early Christians did pray for their dead; Christ appointed Peter the first pope as the leader of the early Church; Christ did give the apostles the power to forgive sins; Mary was loved and honored by the early Christians, Whole households (including babies) were baptized, etc. . . Think about it – if you are looking for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can’t get more personal than when you receive His body, blood, soul, and divinity in the holy Eucharist, and are a part of the actual Church that Christ founded. It’s important to know this, know why we are Catholic, embrace the fullness of our faith and then be faithful, holy witnesses to others.

If you have never studied Church history, study it now and see what the early Church was really like, what Catholics believed, and what they practiced. So many protestant pastors have converted to the Catholic Church after studying Church history, particularly regarding the issue of authority. (Two great books to read on church history are: “Four Witnesses”, by Rod Bennett, and “The Father Knows Best” by Jimmy Akin.)

Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa are two Catholics who truly lived their Catholic faith. Their holiness, love for Christ, and devotion to Our Lady set a wonderful example for all of us to follow. Remember – our goal is Heaven, bringing souls to Christ, and letting others know about the Church that Christ founded. As Christians we are all in this together, doing the best that we can to imitate Christ. As Catholic Christians, it is important to know what we believe and why we believe it, so that we can share the joy and beauty of our faith with others and help others on their journey to the Catholic Church. And please teach your children all about our beautiful faith, about Christ and His Church. Be sure to teach them apologetics as well – how to defend their faith using faith and reason. They will definitely come across many attacks and wrong information that others will tell them about the Catholic Church, so be sure to teach them as well.

So welcome to this “Love Being Catholic” Facebook page! Hopefully we will all learn a little bit more about our beautiful faith, and share the love of Christ and his Church with others. Please always remember to love, defend, share and live your Catholic faith humbly, joyfully and charitably. For those who have left, please come back. There is so much that many of us did not know about our faith growing up, and we hope with God’s grace this will touch some of you to at least think about returning to the Catholic faith. For those of you who are just entering the Church – welcome home!

Wherever you are on your journey, know that Jesus loves you. We love you where you are, and our hope and prayers are that you will be led gently and joyfully back to the Catholic Church. Being a part of the Church that Christ founded will bring you much joy, peace and closer to Christ than you could ever imagine.

Why do we call our priest “Father”? Isn’t that going against scripture? “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Mt 23:9)

Not at all.

In this passage, Jesus is teaching that God the Father alone is ultimately the source of all authority. But God is not speaking absolutely here, because if so, that would eliminate even biological fathers, the title “Church Fathers,” the founding fathers of a country or organization and so on.

Catholics refer to a priest as “father” as a term of endearment and respect.

The priests provides for our spiritual welfare just as a father of a family provides food, shelter and love for his family. Priests, through the Eucharist, provide us with our Spiritual food; through Reconciliation, provide us with forgiveness (Christ is working through the priest); through Mass and the Bible, they teach us about God and His teachings; they listen and give us advice; and by their vocation, they sacrifice their life in service for us and our families.

The Priest is our spiritual Father and we are his spiritual children. We are not elevating the priest to the level of God the Father. Catholics recognize the sovereign Fatherhood of God alone.

In the Bible, many men are called “fathers.” Paul and Stephen call religious leaders “fathers” in Acts 7:2 and Acts 22:1. Paul calls himself the “father” of the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:14-15). There are other verses, too… 1 Thess 2:11, 1 Tim 1:2, and Titus 1:4.Jesus himself uses the term “father” in Matthew (15:4-5; 19:5, 19, 29; 21:31), John (8:56) and several other places. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus actually presents Lazarus as using the address “Father Abraham” twice (Lk 16:24, 30 – see also Acts 7:; Rom 4:12; Jas 2:21). St. Paul also uses the term when he writes, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor 4:15 – see also 1 Cor 4:14-16) and refers to “our forefather Isaac” (Rom 9:10).

So, the next time you see a priest, address him as “Father” and thank him for being a priest. Be sure to pray for him too. Our priests are constantly under spiritual attack, and need our prayers. Of course there are some who have not lived up to their call of the priesthood, just like many fathers with children have not either. They all need our prayers. Thank them for their service to the Church, and support them when you can.

Remember – No priests, no Eucharist. No priests, no Reconciliation. No priests, no Confirmation. No priests, No Annointing of the Sick. No priests, No Holy Orders. These men have dedicated their lives to Christ and His Church. Please always remember to pray for them as they do their best to lead souls to Christ.

Let us all pray for our priests, bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis. If there is a special priest you would like for all of us to pray for please write his name below and let’s all offer up our prayers for these men as they do their best to bring souls to Christ. Remember in your prayers all of our deacons, nuns and consecrated too.