A Deo et Rege

It’s a common myth that Catholics aren’t supposed to read the Bible or that the Church actively works to keep Bibles out of the hands of the laity. This myth, of course, is false. Here is what the catechism says about the reading of Scripture:

“And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.” Hence “access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful” (#131)

“Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture” (#132)

“The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (#133)”

So, the Catholic Church not only doesn’t prohibit her members from reading the Bible, but she forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful to read the Bible! Plus, unlike many Protestant Churches, a large amount of Scripture is read during the Sunday mass. Each service has an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a reading from an epistle, and a section of a Gospel. This works out to about 2-4 chapters from the Bible each week. Also, the whole liturgy of the mass is filled with references to the Scriptures.

I must add one thing, though. I thought of calling this post: “Catholics Don’t Read the Bible.” However, that would not be much of a myth, which is quite unfortunate. Statistically, 59% of Protestants read their Bibles weekly (86% of Evangelicals) vs. only 28% of Catholics. Given the pronouncement in the catechism, that number (even outside the weekly worship) should be 100%.

Photo of the Douay Rheims Bible from: FSSP

I’ve heard it said many times: The Catholic Church believes everyone else is going to hell.  Unfortunately many Protestants are more than happy to return this supposed favor.  However, the Catholic Church does not teach that all Protestants are going to hell.  Nor does she teach that all non-Christians are going to hell.  Regarding other Christians the Catechism says:

"However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers …. All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church." (#818).

and

"Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity." (#819).

So, the Catholic Church recognizes that many in other churches, by their baptism, are rightly called Christians.  These communities have elements of the Truth and God can use them as a means of salvation.

The Catholic Church even recognizes that non-Christians who have not heard the Gospel may be saved as well:

"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation" (847).

Of course, the Catholic Church has (fortunately) not embraced the heresy of the modernist ecumenical movement which seeks to blend religions and offend no one.  The Catholic Faith is the beginning and end of all interfaith and interchurch discussions and there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.  The grace of non-Catholic communities is bound to their communion (however imperfect) and shared beliefs with the see of Rome.  Again the catechism says:

"For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God." (#816).

So, the Catholic Church doesn’t believe all non-Catholics are hellbound.  Those who legitimately don’t know the necessity of joining the Catholic Church and don’t reject her can be saved even while in their own communities.  Yet, this salvation and grace come from the Catholic Church and does not negate missionary activity towards Protestants and non-Christians.  Above all, we must remember that the Catholic Church often tells us who is in heaven (the Saints), but isn’t in the business of telling us who is in hell.  That’s God’s call.

Image from: CGFA (Obviously, I enhanced the photo).

John Kerry doesn’t seem like an awful guy and on many issues I could support him. Even on abortion he certainly doesn’t have militantly pro-choice rhetoric. Yet, John Kerry suffers the fate of Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Dennis Kucinich, and Richard Gephardt: if you want to be ’somebody’ in the national Democratic party you have to support abortion on demand. John Kerry has the enthusiastic endorsement of Planned Parenthood, an organization that promotes and profits from the slaughter of millions on innocents. Planned Parenthood is so rabidly pro-abortion they opposed the partial birth abortion ban (truth in advertising would call it the infanticide ban). Any restrictions on abortion are opposed by Planned Parenthood and other feminist groups. And these same groups are the powers behind the throne (ok one of many powers) in the Democratic party. Look at how pro-life Democrats fare at national gatherings: marginalization, censorship, and ridicule. So much for tolerance. I really don’t care much for most of Bush’s policies and voting for him will require the holding of my nose. In the abstract, I could see myself voting for John Kerry, but I could never vote for Planned Parenthood. And a vote for one is a sure vote for the other. Unless there is a viable pro-life, anti-war third party candidate, I’m going to end up voting for Bush.

This is another biggie, especially since many fundamentalist or evangelical Protestant groups say they “believe in the Bible.” So, anyone who doesn’t believe like they do automatically must “not believe in the Bible!” It’s not that simple of course. The Bible is a diverse collection of books full of diverse stories, concepts, and ideas. It is not a systematic theology. Thus, it must be interpreted. Catholics do believe the Bible and have the highest regard for it; we just interpret it differently than the evangelical Protestants. Here is what the catechism says about the Scriptures:

“In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, “but as what it really is, the word of God”. “In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them”" (#104).

“For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself” (#106).

“The inspired books teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures”" (#107).

So, according to the catechism, God is the author of Scripture, it is God’s word, it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it teaches God’s truth without error. This sounds like Catholics have a pretty strong belief in the Bible to me! Of course, the Catholic Church believes that the Bible is interpreted by the Church, but this is not arbitrary. The Scriptures are interpreted by the Spirit working through Christ’s Church, the same Spirit who inspired the writers of Sacred Scripture, the same Advocate whom Jesus promised would guide us into all Truth (John 16:13). Catholics believe that promise was fulfilled and is still being fulfilled today.

For more information, check out: Objection: Catholics Don’t Believe the Bible!

I had to start with the biggie, a common charge: Catholics worship the Blessed Virgin Mary. And of course, we all know that worship is due to God alone! Catholics know that too and we emphatically do not worship Mary. The catechism says:

“This very special devotion [to Mary]…differs essentially from the adoration given to the Incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #971, emphasis mine).

So, we greatly honor the Blessed Virgin Mary but do not worship her. Adoration is due to God alone, but Mary may be honored. And, as the Mother of the Word Incarnate, she is accorded the highest honor due a creature. Yet, she is still a creature and cannot be worshipped as the Holy Trinity is worshipped. It seems like a fine line to many people, but it’s still a line the Church draws. I see many Protestant men and women who are totally devoted to their husbands or wives. Does this detract from their worship of God? It shouldn’t! In fact, many married people find that the deeper the devotion and unconditional love they give to their spouse, the deeper the love and adoration they develop for the Church’s Spouse. As the Church document Behold Your Mother states: “the more we know and love Mary, the more surely will we know and love Jesus and understand His mission in the world.”

Note: The photo is of an old church in Lifou, Loyalty islands, New Caledonia

Even as an Anglican, I heard all of the Catholic misconceptions. Sometimes they came from honest, charitable people who had simply uncritically believed all they had read on the internet. Many times they came from people whose hatred of the Catholic Church was thinly veiled. Unfortunately, anti-Catholicism has a long history (especially in the USA) and with that comes a long list of lies, half truths, and distortions. For the next few weeks I’m going to start posting some “Catholic Misconceptions” and tell what the Catholic Church really teaches. Although I may elaborate, I will largely post official documents and let them speak for themselves. If in doubt, just go to the source! This won’t be the sole purpose of this blog, but it should be interesting.

I worked a summer as a sales associate at a local Super KMart.  In order to keep us on our toes they would bring in a “mystery shopper” every now and then.  A person, posing as a shopper, was really coming to evaluate how well we followed the company guidelines for customer service.  The idea was to instill a sense of fear, but also to make us treat every customer like he was a mystery shopper (i.e. according to the guidelines).  The good folks at Ship of Fools have created a new concept, that of a Mystery Worshipper.

This incognito worshipper, visiting a new church, evaluates it on certain criteria.  That person then fills out a questionaire giving answers that may be relevant to others who want to visit the particular church.  The questions are related to several topics, but they mainly deal with how welcoming and hospitable the congregation is to visitors.  These are then posted for the rest of the world to see.  They visit all kinds of churches, although the bulk looked to me like Episcopal/Anglican.

In spite of some obvious drawbacks, I actually like this idea.  First, some of the drawbacks.  I don’t think it’s fair to evaluate a church based on one visit (fortunately many reviewers make this same admission).  I also think the idea of a traveling ‘church critic’ is a tad bit arrogant, especially since some of the reviewers are clearly snobs in certain areas (like music).  I am a liturgical snob, but recognize that my tastes would probably cause the average person to lose interest.

In spite of these drawbacks, I think the concept of a mystery worshipper is very healthy for churches and a great idea overall.  This would not be to ‘test’ a church, but to allow a church to see how it is perceived by an outsider.  Since we are in a post-Christian age, we have to start caring about evangelism and this especially applies to making visitors feel welcome.  This is not about some namby pamby greeter program, but about helping people feel at home as they enter, providing non-members with an idea of how to follow the service, and some sort of after church followup by the priest or a parishoner.

Most churches get so insulated they have no idea how to reach out to visitors.  They also have no idea how to make visitors feel the least bit welcome.  Sometimes even when we think we are welcoming, we fail miserably.  A little outside constructive criticism could be helpful.  I have been in the situation many reviewers describe: standing alone at the church coffee hour being totally ignored, being completely lost in the service, and wanting to talk to a priest/minister and having none in sight.  Believe me, it’s not a feeling that makes a person want to come back.  And if we do not practice sufficient hospitality to our visitors to make them want to come back, how will they ever hear the saving message of the Gospel and know the true Faith?

I remember when I first read the Church Fathers, the excitement I felt.  They opened up a whole new world to me, a whole new way of understanding my faith.  Prior to this I had been experiencing a profound spiritual dryness and an overall lack of direction.  I was being taught a do-it-yourself form of Christianity that left me feeling alone.  The Church fathers and my study of Church history showed me, above all, that Christianity was not only about “me and God,” but was about “us and God,” the Church.  The Church was more than a local community, but all of the saints past and present, including those I was then reading.  This laid the foundation for my current journey to Catholicism.

I converted to Anglicanism in 2000 and found this to be a good home on the journey.  I met many people to whom I will be forever grateful and indebted.  I see going to Rome however in a sense as going home, as Rome really is the spiritual ancestor of all the Western Protestant Churches.  I have loved and cherished the traditions of the Church for a long time now.  I finally want to formally submit to them, which I see also as a submission to Jesus who founded the Church.  After much prayer and study, I’m happy to announce that I am going to be received into the Catholic Church on the Eve of the Assumption (August 14th).

I remember the first time I seriously engaged the concept of the rosary.  I always felt the pull to the rosary itself, but was rather afraid of the content.  As a Protestant my head was filled to the brim with preconceived notions: it was vain repetition, Mary worship, a sly form of idolatry (why would anyone need beads to pray?), etc.   Of course I knew absolutely nothing about the rosary itself!

The word ‘rosary’ means crown of roses and comes from the concept that whenever we pray we are giving Mary a bouquet of roses.  The first clear reference to the rosary comes from St. Dominic.  Catholics believe that Mary, in several appearances, has decreed the rosary as a way to combat sin and evil.
 
As a devotion the rosary is unique in that it is supposed to keep the one praying from distraction.  It gives us something to occupy the body (beads), our speech (the prayers), the imaginitive mind (the Mysteries), the emotional heart (the awareness that we’re praying with Mary), and the depths of our soul (consciousness of God’s presence).  The change of mystery after 10 Hail Marys helps to keep it fresh because all minds wander even a little. (taken from the excellent book Pardon and Peace: A Sinner’s Guide to Confession by Fr. Francis Randolph).
 
In the rosary we meditate on the life and work of Jesus Christ.  Catholics do not worship Mary or pray to her.   We ask Mary to pray for us, as the Hail Mary says.  The rosary is joining our voices with the prayers of Mary, who is in the presence of her Risen Son.  God is the God of the living, not the dead, so we truly believe that all who die in the peace of Christ are with him.
 
My personal experience with the rosary has been incredibly positive.  It’s been a huge blessing in my life.  I find that as I meditate on the mysteries I get new insights not only into the life of Christ, but how his life speaks to me today.  In the joyful mysteries I feel the joy Mary felt; in the sorrowful mysteries I feel the pain of losing a son and the incredible sacrifice he made for sinners like me.  The luminous mysteries bring out Jesus’ true light and glory, a glory we experience in the Eucharist.  And meditating upon the glorious mysteries makes them more than just faraway history and written Church doctrines, but living events for all of us today.  That is of course what they are!
 
The rosary helps me to get closer to Jesus in amazing ways.  That may sound strange to Protestant ears, but remember, the Catholic Church teaches that all devotion to Mary must lead to greater love for and glorification of her Son.
 
For more information on the rosary please visit: www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm

Every now and then I read something that I think has the potential to completely revolutionize the way we practice and spread our faith.  The principles outlined in Evangelical Catholicism (by Father Jay Scott Newman) have that potential.  They uncompromisingly proclaim the one ancient Faith once delivered while reconizing the need for this faith to be living.  Every Catholic (or Christian) should read what Fr. Newman has to say and make it his or her own.  America is a country of revivals and is now ripe for a revival.  Let’s make this the first mass Catholic ‘revival’ on these shores.  Equipped with knowledge of the ancient Faith, a living relationship with Jesus, and with God’s grace, anything can happen!  Thanks to Pontificator and Charles for pointing me to this article.

How can anyone justify the killing of a human being, especially the most vulnerable and powerless among us?  How especially can anyone, in a civilized, let alone supposedly Christian nation, justify a procedure like this (warning: graphic drawings)?  Apparently large numbers of senators, representatives, judges, and activists can.  They may call it a "fetus" but to any rational person it’s a baby.  And the fact that many leaders of the mainline churches can support this abomination known as partial birth abortion is nothing sort of demonic.  Lord, have mercy!

I fly alot and reading an article like this one doesn’t exactly inspire confidence! In fact, it is downright terrifying! Political correctness has already killed our biggest Protestant churches and now it seems to be killing our government as well. Scary stuff.

At left is a photo I took of beautiful St. Mary’s Cathedral (Catholic), Syndey, NSW, Australia. It looms large over Australia’s largest and most well-known city. Although the actual building is imposing on the Sydney skyline, how much does the Catholic Faith, or general Christianity for that matter, influence Australia? In the interest of disclosure I haven’t studied Australian religious trends in depth. This article is just based on my personal observations after three trips to Australia, incidentally a country I admire and love very much.

According to adherents.com Australia, at least in 1996, was 70% Christian. That statistic isn’t too bad. The second place “religion” was surprisingly not Islam (1.12%) or Judaism (.45%), but Non-religious at 16.48%. This includes diehard athiests, agnostics, rationalists, and the vast majority, not surprising in post-modernism: no religion. Other surprises: Australia had 7,615 witches/neopagans and 8,140 spiritualists.

Another site, reporting 2001 census trends, describes 73% of Australians affiliating with a religion (any religion). This contrasts to the pre-1971 rate of around 90% and the 1976 rate of 80%. That’s an amazing drop in only 30 years. Another interesting Australian statistic is that only 23% of adults surveyed had participated in a church/religious service within the three months prior to the interview. So, not only is Australia less religious in general now only 23% can be found in a formal religious setting on a given sunday throughout a three month period.

During my time in Australia, I took notice of this lack of interest in Christianity. One area this manifested itself was in everyday life. I noticed while having coffee at Starbucks the books the Aussies were reading. I saw several people reading New Age type books and one reading the DaVinci code. At nearly every bookstore I visited (and I enjoy visiting many), the New Age section was much larger, often by several shelves, than the Christianity one. At one bookstore, Christianity got half a shelf while the Dalai Lama’s works alone took up one full shelf. These are not indicative of anything in and of themselves, but are consistent with Australian religious trends.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoy visiting churches. There was a steady stream of people at many of the churches, but most of them (by their accents and cameras) were tourists. I attended a eucharist service at St. Paul’s Cathedral (Anglican), Melbourne, VIC. While the staff was friendly and the congregation was diverse (old, young, poor, rich), it was pretty empty for a cathedral. It was obvious 2004 wasn’t their zenith. With only 23% of Aussies in church, this situation is pretty typical. It sounds like the major draw from the churches in Australia isn’t some strange cult, but rather people just staying home to sleep in or watch TV. It does seem that seeking Australians are looking to more unorthodox religious expressions like New Age, Buddhism, and even Wicca.

I don’t intend this as a criticism of Australian Christianity. The same problems plague the USA and Europe (the latter even more so). I think it shows that Western society is generally becoming post-Christian and all of us who espouse the Faith need to think of ways to evangelize and reach out in this new environment. It doesn’t mean altering the ancient message, rather it means proclaiming it in a way that reaches the new generation. We should not dumb down or give in to secular trends, but recognize that we are no longer in a setting where everyone is a Christian because he is an Australian (or American). We need to learn how to evangelize in a skeptical and often hostile society at large. This isn’t a new problem, but an old one. The earliest Church Fathers and Mothers were in the exact same situation. They can be our guides. Given the changing nature of our world, these are issues the Church must confront if we wish to truly fulfill the Great Commission.

Outside of St. Mary’s, the open courtyard is often full of skateboarders (in spite of a carefully placed sign prohibiting it). I often thought that if we could reach them we could reach anyone in the post-Christian generation.

The Sacred Heart Cathedral of Port Vila, Vanuatu reminded me more of poor downtown Church than the stately seat of the bishop. However, this reflects my Western bias, namely that a cathedral has to be in the Gothic style with lots of ornate carvings and a high altar. In many ways the Sacred Heart Cathedral reflected the local culture (as it well should!): simple (not in a bad way), dignified, and sacred.

It had all of the statues of Jesus, the Saints, etc. but with local flavor. For example, the Saint to the right has the string of flowers around his neck, a very island touch (if anyone can identify him for me, please leave a comment). The holy water containers were large shells and one of the crosses had more traditional images from the Vanuatu culture. I like to see these kinds of things. Are they for me? Not really. Give me a Gothic cathedral any day. But, I’m a Western American. I don’t want them pushing their style on me, but I won’t push mine on them. The One True Faith is not completely joined at the hip with Western Culture. In fact, it is now thriving outside of Western culture, especially as Western culture becomes more secular and immoral. The Good News of Jesus and the Catholic faith can and must exist within the local culture. I saw a good example of that at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vila, Vanuatu.

While visiting the tropical islands on my recent trip, I was simply taken by the incredible beauty of the places. The white sandy beaches, the clear water, the colorful coral and fishes, and the diversity of the plant life all enchanted me. They reinforce the Christian idea that God’s existence is revealed through nature. These sights declare his wonderful handiwork about as much as any! The photo on the left is the Isle of Pines, a part of New Caledonia. I took this photo while visiting, so if you want to use it, please get my permission first. Also, I’m going to start adding photos to this blog; it looks nicer that way!