YOUR GUIDE TO THE TRUTH
Who among us can ignore the constant whispers of the secular media that insist “there is no God; or as Karl Marx wrote, “there is no absolute truth.”
None of us can deal with these challenges unless we know that there is real Truth and that it can be learned. There is a repository of the truth and it is called the Church.
Whether or not you are a Christian, you may have questions about what is called “the Church.” There are different meanings of the word, but that is not how it was in the beginning.
The fact is: there is only one Church. It is catholic and it has three major branches. They are Roman, Orthodox and Anglican. They differ little from each other in liturgical style, but they have remained the same in essential belief and differ markedly from Protestant belief.
People issue challenges to us every few minutes it seems. They can come from door-to-door missionaries who ask if you are “saved” or “if you have a personal relationship with Jesus.” It seems like every “church” says that every other “church” is on its way to hell. Do the Moslems have a piece of the truth? How about the Jews? Or Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? What about those Catholics!?
The Church is the only place that has the correct answers to life’s most troubling questions:
Why am I here?
Who made me?
Why?
Do I have to really believe anything?
All of these questions have been asked for centuries by individuals who are seeking. But there IS a catch: The truth that answers these questions requires the grace of God to understand.
You can open yourself to that grace while you read.
AN UNBROKEN HISTORY
Jesus said that His Church would be the light of the world, and that a city set on a hill cannot be hid. His statements indicate that the Church is a visible entity and has characteristics that identify her and distinguish her from other fellowships of believers. Jesus promised to build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The Church would not be destroyed, would not fall away from Him. It will survive until His return.
The Church is the only institution that has existed since the time of Jesus. Protestant Christian groups are offshoots of the original and came about after 1,500 years. The Church existed as a loose organization for several centuries. For the first 300 years it did not have the legal right to exist, but exist it did. After the time of Constantine there were several centers within the Church: Alexandria, Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople. Anglicans stress that Christianity was brought to the island of Britain probably before AD 100 and that the Church on the island developed in a way similar to development in Rome, Constantinople or Alexandria. Rome was in the early centuries considered a kind of “first among equals.”
Rome and Constantinople broke communion with each other even though they did not differ in essential belief after the first thousand years.
Most people outside of England do not know that the Church in England is one of three recognized branches of the Catholic Church, along with the Roman and Orthodox communions.
Tradition teaches that Christianity was brought as far west as Britain by St. Joseph of Arimathea about the year AD 37; there is substantial archeological evidence that a church building was built on the British isle prior to AD 100. Historical records show that three clergymen from Britain attended a church council in Arles, France in AD 314.
When Gregory the Great, Pope of the Roman Church sent the missionary Augustine to Britain in 597 A.D. he was surprised to be met by Catholic bishops, who had already a Church organization in place. It seems that the only real difference in the two branches of the Church then was the date of Easter.
Thus, one can conclude that the independent heritage of the British Church goes back more than 1,900 years. The Church in England entered into communion with the bishop of Rome in AD 597 and remained independent or semi-independent until the time of the Norman Conquest in AD 1215. For political reasons, the Church of England again became self-governing in 1531.
The English Church was acknowledged by five Papal Councils (Pisa - 1409, Constance - 1417, Sens - 1418, Sienna - 1424 and Basel -1434) as the oldest Church in the Gentile world. At The Council of Barri in AD 1098, Pope Urban II seated Saint Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to a place of honor beside him as "the Pope of another oecueme (independent jurisdiction) in communion with Rome." The Second Vatican Council in 1964 said, "Among those Churches of the West which are now separated from the Roman See in which Catholic traditions and institutions continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place." This would no longer hold true since the Anglican Communion has departed from Catholic Faith and Order.
Thus, it appears that the Sees of Rome, Constantinople and historic Canterbury have valid claims to be called branches of the Church Catholic.
Protestantism began in the 1500s partly as a result of the Enlightenment. At that time colleges were discovering learning for the sake of learning. A group known as Anabaptists (for example) concluded that all baptisms of infants since the beginning of Christianity were not valid. There are others who wrote and expressed opinions that are contrary to the Faith.
The Apostle Paul writing in his first letter to Timothy says (3:15) 15 “The church of the living God (is) the pillar and ground of the truth.” The Church teaches only one set of doctrines, which should be the same as those taught by the Apostles. If a teacher teaches that which was taught by the Apostles, he is teaching what the Church teaches. This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us. Take a listen to what you hear from a preacher. If it is that which has been taught everywhere and from the beginning, it is catholic teaching.
The Church has power to decree rites or ceremonies and authority in controversies of faith. The Church is the keeper of God’s written word and does not have authority to decree anything contrary to that word.
The official doctrines of the Church in its three recognized branches have not changed. The Patriarch of Constantinople, the Patriarch of Rome (the Pope) and the Archbishop of Canterbury over the centuries have taught unchanged doctrines.
Over time, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply, but she never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.
THE CHURCH IS ONE
Jesus established only one Church. The word Church itself means the organization that He founded. There is no Jewish Church, there is no Muslim Church, there is only the Church. The Church is One and not many. The Church, according to Scripture is the Bride of Christ or the Body of Christ. A man gets only one bride and a man gets only one body. Only one. The Church is One. She teaches one Truth, then and now.
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
Jesus makes the Church holy by His grace. This does not mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said that there would be good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt 7:21-23). The Church is Holy because she is the guardian of the special means of grace established by Jesus: the Sacraments (cf Eph 5:26).
THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC
The first language of the Church was Greek. In that language “universal” is the word “catholic,” and the Church is a gift to all people. Jesus told His apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20), and the Church has carried out this great commission since Jesus issued it. The message was preached from 50 days after the first Easter and continues in the present, so that all the people throughout time will have the advantage of hearing the Truth.
The Church was known by her most common title (“catholic”) at least as early at AD 107 when Ignatius of Antioch used the word to describe the Church. The title was apparently old in Ignatius’ time.
It means, once again, that faith which was taught from the beginning and everywhere.
THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC
Jesus appointed His apostles to be the overseers of His Church, and but by the year 110 the overseers of the Church were called Bishops. From that early year, and until the present, there has been an unbroken line of succession - bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught. This unbroken line of apostolic succession (bishops laying hands on candidates who have been tried and tested) continues in the Roman, Orthodox and Anglican branches of the Church. That which has been and is taught by these faithful men includes rightly interpreted Scripture and that which is called Sacred Tradition (2 Tim 2:2). They teach that which has been taught from the beginning and everywhere.
These truths include the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the real presence of Jesus (body, blood, soul and divinity) in the Holy Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the liturgy known as the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through an ordained priest, baptismal regeneration, intercession for us by saints in heaven (including Jesus’ mom), and even a place of waiting for the faithful after physical death.
Early Christian writings show that the first Christians in their belief and practice were consistent with what is practiced and believed by modern-day members of all three branches of the Church.
PILLAR OF FIRE - PILLAR OF TRUTH
The Church has remained true to its doctrine and true to its mission for 2,000 years. Man’s ingenuity cannot account for this. But it is not surprising if one realizes that God is in fact God, and that He promised to be with the Church until the end of time. God keeps His promises.
God guided the Israelites on their escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light the way across the dark wilderness, and today He guides His Church.
The Bible, Sacred Tradition and the writings of the earliest believers testify that the Church teaches with the authority of Jesus. In this age of countless competing religions, each clamoring for attention, one voice rises above the din, whether it be pronouncements from the Vatican, the Orthodox see or from Canterbury. Even the bland and mocking voice of the media cannot muffle the Truth.
Jesus assured the apostles and their successors: the bishops, that “He who listens to you listens to me” (Luke 10:16). Jesus promised to guide His church into all truth, and we can have confidence that His Church when in agreement through its branches teaches the absolute truth.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH
Jesus chose apostles, twelve particular disciples, to be leaders of the Church. In the beginning, the apostles were the overseers. We read in Scripture that one apostle was chosen by Jesus himself in a different manner. This was Paul, a dedicated Pharisee, who was on his way to Damascus to ferret out believers and have them arrested. As is described in Acts of the Apostles, Paul was knocked off his horse by a blinding light. The voice of Jesus spoke to him then and there. After a period of three years, Paul emerged as a leader of Christianity, setting up new congregations and teaching new Christians by preaching and by letter.
Tradition tells us that the apostle Thomas went to India, and even today there are two Christian jurisdictions in India that trace beginnings back to Thomas.
Peter went to Antioch and then to Rome. John lived in Ephesus along with Jesus’ mother. Tradition has traced the lineage of most of the twelve. But from about AD 80 to about AD 110 there is no written record of how the Church was organized. We do now that as early as AD 110 a man calling himself a bishop wrote letters to several churches who himself was being led back to Rome for execution. This man was Ignatius. At first apostles led the Church, and 40 years later we see bishops leading the Church. The logical conclusion is that the bishops are successors of the apostles. The logical conclusion is that the apostles handed on their ministry - the fullest degree to bishops and to a lesser degree to priests and deacons.
History indicates that the Bishop of Rome is the successor to the apostle Peter, while the other bishops are successors to the apostles in general.
HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US
As from the first, God speaks to us through Scripture and through Sacred Tradition. To make sure we understand him, He guide’s the Church’s teaching authority, so that the Bible and Sacred Tradition are interpreted correctly.
HOLY TRADITION
Sacred Tradition is not the same as the tradition of man, which are often called customs or discipline. Jesus sometimes condemned customs or disciplines, but only when contrary to God’s commands. He did not condemned Sacred Tradition and He did not condemn all human tradition.
Sacred Tradition and Scripture are not in competition with one another. They are two ways that the Church hands on the Gospel to the next generation. Apostolic teaching such as the Trinity, infant baptism, the inerrancy of the Bible and the perpetual virginity of Mary have been taught through Tradition although they are not explicitly present in the Bible. Note: These truths are not contrary to Scripture either as the Bible itself tells us to hold fast to Tradition whether it comes to us in written or oral form (2 Thes 2:15; 1 Cor 11:2).
Sacred Tradition should not be confused either with customs or devotional disciplines such as the use of stringed beads (as in the rosary) to keep track of prayers, the vow of celibacy in some priestly or religious orders and the discipline of fasting from meat or other foods on certain days of the year. These things may be good and helpful but are not doctrinal. Sacred Tradition preserves doctrine first taught by Jesus to the apostles and later passed down to the disciples of the apostles and then to us through the Church under the leadership of those successors.
SCRIPTURE
Scripture, by which is meant the Old and New Testaments as found in the Bible, was inspired by God. He inspired the authors to write what He wanted written, and the inspired books teach the truth. All of what those authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge that the accepted books of Scripture faithfully and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to those writings.
The Anglican branch of the Church states in its Book of Common Prayer that Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation: so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not required that it should be believed as an article of faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.
Some Christians say that the Bible is all that they need. But this notion is not taught in the Bible itself. In fact the Bible teaches a contrary idea in the second letter of Peter.
The “Bible alone” theory was not believed by early Christians. The idea was put forth in the 1500s by learned professors who were in a minority. They were literate men and who held reading as a value in and of itself. The theory is truly a “tradition of men.” Dr. Martin Luther refused to accept the teaching authority of the Pope and ended up making every man to be his own pope. After Luther’s ideas took hold, every literate man could read the Bible and decide for himself what each word and phrase meant.
This individuality in Bible reading has had its effect, and the effect has not been as Luther had hoped. A glance at over 10,000 denominations of “Bible churches” can tell one immediately that every man sees a little different meaning in his reading of the Bible. There must be a way to get a definitive meaning on the hard sayings in Scripture. Ten thousand different meanings cannot be of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion - another spirit has that job.
The Roman branch of the Church relies on what is calls the Magisterium. It is a Latin word that means “teacher,” and is an agreement among all of the bishops of the Latin rite that a particular teaching is indeed the truth. The idea is almost as old as Christianity itself.
The first such example of the Magisterium is related in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 15) where the matter of circumcision among gentile converts to Christianity was handled by a coming together of the apostles and elders to consider the matter. At the end of the consideration the decision was announced by Peter. The mater was settled then and there, although there are still individuals who can read the Bible and come to the conclusion that all of us gentiles (and all of us who are not Jews fit the category) need to follow the Law of Moses in order to be true Christians - according to that man’s interpretation: Most of us would rather follow the teaching of the apostles as announced by Peter and as recorded by Luke in Acts of the Apostles.
But here is the important principle. The decision is not true because we would prefer to follow it. It is true because it was the product of a council of the apostles and elders. The decision is in line with Christ’s promise to the apostles - the promise that He would be with them as they taught (Matt 28:17-20; and John 16:12-13)
The “council” reported in Acts of the Apostles is considered the first council. The Fathers of the early Church used the same idea in convening what are now called Ecumenical Councils. The Roman branch of the Church recognizes 21 councils as Ecumenical. The Orthodox and Anglican branches of the Church accept the decisions of the first seven Ecumenical Councils.
· Decisions made by those councils focus on truths that are not seen in the plain language of Scripture but which can be proven by Scripture and that which was taught by the apostles and very first Christian bishops. Included in those decisions are these:
* The one God is in fact a trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
* Jesus is both God and man having the nature of both.
* The inspired books of the New Testament are .. (those books which we now know as the New Testament - and decided by the Council of Hippo in AD 393). The Bible as we know it did not exist for the first several hundred years of Christianity. It was an Ecumenical Council that decided which books were inspired and which books were not to be in the Bible. That particular Council was held more than 400 years after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
HOW GOD DISTRIBUTES HIS GIFTS
Jesus promised He would not leave us orphans (John 4:18) but would send the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us. He gave us Sacraments to heal, feed and strengthen us.
Sacraments ordained of Christ are not just symbols but actually convey God’s grace and love to the recipient. They infuse grace into us to strengthen us and assist us in our Christian walk. Jesus did not do away with symbols. He knows that we, in our material bodies, need to experience with our senses His gifts.
During His life on earth, Jesus, strengthened people through elements such as mud, water, bread, oil and wine. As almighty God He could have performed miracles without physical elements, but He chose to use material signs.
There are two Sacraments ordained by Jesus in the Gospel: Baptism and the Super of the Lord of which it is stated are generally necessary for salvation. The Church acknowledges five other Sacraments: Confirmation, Penance, Holy Orders, Matrimony and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick).
Baptism
Because of original sin we are born without God’s grace in our souls, so there is no way for us to have fellowship with God. Jesus became man to bring us into union with His father. He said no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless He is first born of water and the Spirit. This refers to Baptism.
Through Baptism we are born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is infused into us as we are washed in the bath of rebirth. Baptism cleanses from all sin, inherited from Adam or actual sin that we have committed ourselves (Acts 2:38, 22:16). The apostle Peter wrote “Baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism has always been and remains the gateway to the Church.
Penance
At times on our journey to the heavenly promised land we stumble and fall. God is always ready to lift us up and restore us to grace-filled fellowship with him. We really do make mistakes, and there is no such thing as being everlastingly “saved” no matter what you do. One can be saved no matter what he has done, but there must be a reconciliation, a turning, a change in attitude. None of us can stop on a dime and become perfectly Christ-like without slips. You and I both know the wrong we do. It is called sin - missing the mark.
All of us have sinned and will continue to fall. We know the humiliation of confessing our wrongdoing. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gave the apostles the power to remit sin (John 20:22-23). The successors to the apostles have seen this authority come down through millennia as the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament developed as a response to early persecutions and especially in light of how the Church should respond to the repentance of individual Christians who sacrificed to the Roman gods and saved their skins, while others refused to sacrifice and were killed as a result. In this Sacrament, the penitent confesses his sins to a priest, who functions as God’s minister or representative and who pronounces God’s forgiveness.
In the Roman branch of the Church, confession of sin must be at least annually. The Anglican branch of the Church does not require individual confession of sin but does recommend it in cases of serious sin and especially if the penitent desires counseling and guidance. A general confession is said by attendees during each celebration of Holy Eucharist in the Anglican rite. The priest then pronounces a general absolution.
Holy Eucharist; Holy Communion; the Lord’s Supper
Once we become members of Christ’s family, He does not let us go hungry. He feeds us with His own body and blood through the Eucharist.
In the Old Testament as the Jews prepared for their journey in the wilderness, God commanded His people to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts, so the Angel of Death would pass over their homes. Then they ate the lamb to seal their covenant with God.
This lamb prefigured Jesus; He is the real “Lamb of God,” who takes away the sins of the world. Through Jesus we enter into a new covenant with God who protects us from eternal death.
God’s Old Testament people at the Passover lamb, and now we New Testament people must eat the lamb that is the Eucharist. Jesus said (John 6) “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life within you.”
At the Last Supper Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and said, “Take, eat, this is my body which will be given for you; this is my blood which will be shed for you and for many ..” These words of Jesus are reported in the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke and by Paul in his epistle to the Church at ***. From earliest times the Church has taken Jesus at His word: Teaching that Jesus as God spoke the reality of the presence of His body and blood into existence then and there and in a real and literal sense. We do not now how, but we know what He said and heard His following command: “Do THIS in remembrance of me.” In this way Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, the sacrificial mean that members of the Church consume at each Mass.
The Church has taught and continues to teach that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross occurred once for all and it cannot be repeated. Jesus does not die again at each Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar during each Mass. The Mass is not another sacrifice but a participation in the same once-for-all sacrifice.
Paul reminds Christians that the bread and wine really become the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, “Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body and Blood of the Lord, eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Cor 1:27-29). After the consecration of bread and wine on the altar during Mass no bread or wine remains there. From the earliest centuries of Christianity the opinion of Church leaders has been that Jesus himself through the action of the ordained priest, then and there changes the elements into His body and blood. The Anglican branch of the Church does not define how, or what happens, but only says that after the consecrating words of the priest the Real Presence of Jesus (body, blood, soul and divinity) is present on the altar.
Confirmation
As in Baptism, God strengthens us in another way through Confirmation. Just as the apostles received the grace of God before Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit descended on them in a special way only after Jesus had ascended to His father. This new move of the Spirit emboldened them to preach the entirely new message of Christianity.
Confirmation is like that. In this Sacrament, a bishop - a direct successor to the apostles - anoints the Christian, lays hands on the Christian. And through this act the Christian receives special grace from God to embolden him to become a Soldier of Christ - a truly adult Christian.
It is significant that this Christian Sacrament takes place at about the same time in life that the Jewish Bar Mitzvah takes place, and it too marks the leaving behind of childhood and the beginning of adulthood.
Modern psychology recognizes the important steps that we humans take in life. We have special ceremonies to mark graduation from high school and college. We, as humans, need these rites, so that we can in times of solitude of even depression look at the certificate or memory of the event and see that we have actually made some progress in life. The Church came before psychology and knew this too. We as humans need to have rites in order to see that we have made progress in life. Some of us remember our baptisms and our entrance into the Church. Many of us remember the first time we were allowed to receive Holy Communion. Many too remember our Confirmation and the beginning of our gangly path through adolescence.
As we finish our teen-aged years, it is not unusual for us to make truly adult decisions. Sometimes it is marriage, and in the Church it is the Sacrament of Matrimony. This Sacrament provides special graces for married couples, so that they, as they become one in the flesh and one in the spirit, can have the spiritual strength to work out the difficulties that all couples face. Any married can attest to the difficulties of marriage itself and the additional challenges of becoming “like God” in the procreation and raising of children.
Marriage involves three parties: the man, the woman and God. When the man and woman participate in the Sacrament of Matrimony the receive the blessing of God on their marriage covenant. Matrimony is the only Sacrament in which the officiating deacon, priest or bishop is only a witness. A valid marriage must be between a man and a woman and must be witnessed by a deacon, priest or bishop and two other witnesses. It is a public rite which includes vows to God and life-long promises to one another.
Another Sacrament involving a covenant is Holy Orders. Some men are called to share in a special way the priesthood of Christ. Even though Israel was a kingdom of priests, some men were called to a special priestly ministry. In the New Testament, although there is a priesthood of all believers, some are ordained to a unique priestly ministry. Through the Sacrament of Orders priests are ordained and thus are empowered to serve the Church as pastors, teachers and spiritual fathers who heal, feed and strengthen God’s people - an most importantly through preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments.
The three branches of the Church have the same Orders, bishops, priests and deacons. All three receive ordination by a bishop who is in apostolic succession. Only a bishop is authorized to pass along the succession, as it has been since the early years of Christianity. Priests in the Roman branch of the Church are almost all bound by a vow of celibacy. Priests in the Orthodox branch of the Church may be married, but may not marry after being ordained. Priests in the Anglican branch of the Church, following a practice of the Church in England, may marry.
Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction)
Priests care for us when we are physically ill. They do this through the Sacrament known as Anointing of the Sick. The Bible instructs, “Is any one among you suffering? He should pray .. Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters (priests) of the Church, and they shall pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, ad the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sin, he will be forgiven (James 5:4-15).
On the morning of September 11, 2001 in New York City the Roman Catholic chaplain of the New York Fire Department on the street in front of the World Trade Center was anointing a fireman who was on the point of or just had passed the point of death. That Sacrament is called “Anointing of the Sick” in this article. In earlier days it was called “Extreme Unction.” The newspapers called it “The Last Rites.” It’s the same Sacrament but with different title for different situations. Anointing the fireman was the last act the chaplain did, as debris from the collapsing World Trade Center fell on both of them, killing the chaplain.
TALKING WITH GOD AND HIS SAINTS
One of the most important activities for a Christian is prayer. If we do not talk with God, there can be no spiritual life. Through personal prayer and the common prayer of the Church, especially the Holy Eucharist, we praise and worship God, we express sorrow for our sins and we intercede on behalf of others (1 Tim 2:1-4).
All members of the Body of Christ are called to help one another through prayer. This remains true no matter our state of life, whether we be in the Church Militant (here on earth), the Church Expectant or the Church Triumphant (in heaven).
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
For centuries, the faith was taught by catechetical teaching. The clergy or religious taught memorized questions and answers. Any person (and by that I mean ANY person) who was raised as a Roman Catholic and who attended catechism class, even for a short while can repeat almost immediately who made us and why.
1. Who made us?
God made us.
2. Why did God make us?
God made us to know him to love him and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him in the next..
These are answers to the first two questions in the famous Baltimore Catechism. Try it on your friends.
Catechetical teaching is one of the most effective ways of teaching that exists. It has worked for two millennia so far.
In any event answer number two tells us why God made us. Here is 26 words is the whole reason for existence. Jesus was even more concise, “I came so that you may have life and may have it more abundantly.”
God’s plan for you is simple. He wants to give you all good things - especially eternal life. Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross to save us all from sin and the eternal separation from the Father that sin causes. When He saves, He makes us part of His body which is the Church. We thus become united with him and with Christians everywhere (those in this life and in the next).
What You Must Do to Be Saved
This is the bottom line for Evangelical Christians, and, when one thinks of it, the bottom line for every person who has given the purpose of life some thought. “What do I have to DO to be saved?”
The promise of eternal life is a gift, freely offered to each one of us by God. Our initial forgiveness and justification are not things that we earn. Jesus is the mediator who bridged the gap in between us and God; he bridged it by dying for us, and He has chosen us as partners in the plan of salvation. All three branches of the Catholic Church teach what the apostles taught and what the Bible teaches: We are saved by the grace of God.
When we come to God (and it is always at his invitation) and enter a right relationship with Him through the gift of His Grace, God infuses His love into our hearts and souls. We then are expected to live out our faith by performing acts of love as we are led and as we are able by his grace to do.
Even though only God’s grace enables us to love others, these acts of love please him, and He promises to reward them with eternal life (Rom 2:6-7; Gal 6:6-10). Jesus was pretty stern when he talked about refusing to acknowledge alleged followers who did not feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Given Christ’s attitude one can only conclude that some sort of good work is a requirement of Christianity. But then Paul writes clearly that good works done without love or without charity are worthless.
“Coming to Jesus” is a good start, but it is not the end of the road. We must begin by obeying His commandments. We are encouraged to become his disciples, to adopt his discipline, to become more like the Master himself (Luke 6:46). As we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, we can with His help become more like Him.
We do not earn our way into heaven through good works, but our relationship with Christ, through prayer and with the help of further grace enables us to hope with love for that laurel wreath at the end of life’s race.
Saint Paul said “God is the one who, for His good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work” (Phil 2:13). John the Evangelist explained that we can be sure we know him if we [find we] keep His commandments. Whoever say “I know Him” and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.
Since no gift can be forced on the recipient, we can refuse the gift at the beginning or at any time along the way. It is each individual’s choice, and the enemy is at work to deceive each believer into rejecting God’s gift in favor of earthly desire. The war continues, and the battleground is within each one of us. Our enemy is smarter than us, stronger than us and has a lot of time to work on our defenses.
Our defenders (stronger than the powers of hell) are at our disposal but await our permission to interfere. God hears us and acts; angels guard us; the saints in heaven pray for us, so that grace will tumble down upon us and make us impervious to the darts and attacks of the devil (1 Cor 10:11-12). Some of our friends will be lost, and we must depend on God every day for direction, protection and encouragement.
God has given us His Church. If someone asks if you are “saved,” you can answer, “I am redeemed by the Blood of Christ. I trust in Him alone for my salvation”
It is God’s gift of grace that is working in you.
THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
The alternatives to complete Christianity are showing themselves to be inadequate: secularism, propped up by a decaying media has lost its energy and is less and less satisfying. Odd cults and movements that offer temporary community but no permanent home are nice to visit by not a home. Even so the many jurisdictions and congregations of Christianity which offer the social gospel, culture-driven dogma and a 45-minute resounding sermon feel the effects of the “shopping for satisfaction” mentality.
Never Popular, Always Attractive
Why are so many people looking at the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Traditional Anglican branches of the Church for the first time? Something is pulling toward the Church, and that something is the Truth. These seekers are not considering the claims of the Church out of a desire to win friends. No one wins a popularity contest by sticking to the faith of the Church (because hard truths demand that lives be changed). If a member of the Church is praised, it is only for a non-religious reason, and, if he mentions God, the mention is overlooked or met with dead silence followed by a change in the subject.
Have you tried praying at a city council meeting? Get ready to be shushed. But George Washington did it? When is the last time you said at work or at school that abortion is equal to murder? Get ready to be rejected. But William Wilberforce said similar things about a similar belief: slavery. Have you ever stated that women cannot be priests? But John-Paul II has stated categorically that our Lord has not given His Church the authority to ordain women. Have you tried speaking out against homosexual practice and its relationship to AIDS? Get ready for a discrimination lawsuit.
The above listed questions involve hard truths and are stated as such by all three branches of the Church. On top of that, the Church has a weekly worship service that is so antiquated that it has not changed in almost 2,000 years. Anyone who has “been there and done that” would have no reason to go there again.
But they come.
When people contemplate the unbroken history of mankind’s longest surviving institution and the lives of its many saints, they realize that there must be something special, maybe something supernatural about an institution that can foster holy people like St. Augustine, St. Columba and Mother Teresa.
When one steps off the street and into the confines of an apparently empty Church building, they sense, not a complete emptiness, but a presence. He senses sense that someone resides inside, waiting to comfort him. He realizes that the persistent opposition that confronts the Church (secularism, liberal politicians, “reproductive health” groups, Soviet Communism) - whether it be from non-believing pagans or from fundamentalist Christians - is a sign of the church’s divine origin (John 15:18-21). Our church visitor suspects that the 2000-year-old Church, of all things ancient or modern is the real wave of the future.
Incomplete Christianity Is Not Enough
Over the last few decades many Christians have fallen away from belief. Many drop out. Many join other Christian or non-Christian jurisdictions. But the it is not a one-way street.
The traffic toward Rome, Eastern Orthodoxy and toward the traditional Anglican Way has increased rapidly. There over 150,000 coverts to the branches of the Church in the USA every year. In some other places, such as the continent of Africa, there are over 1,000,000 coverts annually. People of no religion and lapsed Christians are coming home to Rome, Eastern Orthodoxy and the Anglican Continuum. They are attracted by a variety of reasons, but the chief reason for conversion is the solid truth of the Faith.
Evangelical Protestants, Latter Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses for example have a piece of the truth but not all of it. We might compare some denominations to a stained glass window in which some of the original panes were lost and have been replaced by opaque glass. Something that was present at the beginning has been lost, and something that does not fit has been used to replace the missing pieces. The unity of the original artwork has been marred. Only the catholic faith remains as the Church founded by Jesus Christ - and many people are coming to see this truth.
YOUR TASKS AS A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH
You have three tasks:
Know your faith. You cannot live your faith if you do not know it. You cannot share with other what you do not know. Your friends .. your children. Learning the faith takes effort. It is effort well spent, because it is literally infinitely rewarding.
Live your faith. Your commitment to Christ is a public thing. No matter what the ACLU and its willing media tell you, Christianity is not to be practiced in secret. But be warned: Being a public Christian will result in some doors being closed to you. You will lose some friends. You will be considered an outsider by some. As a consolation you might remember our Lord’s words to those who are persecuted for the sake of His name: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
Spread the faith. Jesus Christ wants us to bring the whole world into the captivity of the truth, and the truth is Jesus Himself. Truth is unique, because, if you know the truth, you can accept no other answer without also knowing that the other answer s a lie. That is what it means to be a captive to the truth.
If you want to follow Jesus and observe all He commanded and believe all that He taught, there is only one place to be: the Church.