Why we are Catholic

Why We're Catholic?

There is Nothing in the World Like The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church boldly claims to be “The One, holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church”, the only church that teaches the fullness of truth.   Believing the Catholic Church is exactly what it claims to be, this teacher of the Catholic faith finds concern in the form of ensuring The Holy Spirit is the actual teacher of the class.  I fully understand those who attend a faith formation class do not need to hear from me, but rather they need to hear from God.  It is imperative the audience gleans something, even one thing, they may use to help combat the many trials of life.  “May each person meet Jesus in such a personal way that they walk away friends with God forever”, is always my prayer, always the goal.

April 13, 1970 is the recorded date in history when Apollo 13 experienced an explosion on board, crippling the spacecraft.  Jack Swigert notified NASA Control with the now famous words, “Houston, we have a problem.”  The date is unknown, however, the event is recorded in the Book of Genesis, written by Moses.  It clearly records the fall of mankind in the Garden, resulting in all born after Adam and Eve will be born with a sin nature.  This event was not “Houston” we have a problem, but rather, it became “Mankind” we have a problem.

Not only were we born with a sin nature, the requirement for entry into heaven includes holiness.  “Without holiness, we cannot enter heaven”, is how scripture explains it.  They don't seem to be a good mix, man's sin nature and holiness.  If we are to achieve holiness by defeating the sin nature, we need a plan. 

Because we cannot overcome our sin nature by ourselves, God will institute a plan to handle our sin nature, namely, the Catholic Church.  The Church was started when Jesus handed the 'keys to the kingdom' to Peter and said, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Jesus then tells His newly formed Church, “I will lead you into all truth and the gates of hell will not prevail against My Church.”

The question as to why God choose, in His plan, to have mankind born with a sin nature is a mystery that will not be answered until the day we stand before Him, giving an account of our lives, all the while sojourning from earth to eternity.  The Church, however, has been given all the “tools” necessary for our journey from this life to the next.  The tools include:

The church can be likened to a great battle ship, offering safe passage from this life to eternal life

The ship is equipped with all the necessary food (Holy Communion) and weaponry (Sacraments)necessary to complete passage from the shores of earth to the gates of heaven

Giving the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter, a hierarchy/Magisterium (Teaching Authority of the Church) was established & will be in place until the ship docks at the gates of heaven

The church/ship will engage in many battles, many seemingly able to bring much damage to the ship and passengers, but the gates of hell will not prevail against her, even though the Church will appear to be a mess many times over

The church will survive every battle & will stay strong until the angel Gabriel sounds the victory horn, which will usher the Second Coming of Christ (our mystery of faith at each Mass)

This ship will have a surplus of gifts, given to sustain the journey from its inception to the final docking

The great treasure of gifts will include: 

*Jesus, the savior of the world & head of His Church/Ship

*Mary (She will be called the new eve & the ark of the new covenant).  She will be the greatest intercessor known to mankind

*This ship will have three “decks” - Church Triumphant, Church Militant & Church Suffering

*The Ship/Church will be the only voice capable of defining truth.  Many other organizations will try, however, Jesus gave this powerful gift only to His Church, when He said to His Apostles, “I will lead you into all truth & I will never leave you or forsake you”

*The Chair of Peter, an extension of the Chair of Moses, will be onboard, allowing the Magisterium to define doctrine, theology & truth.  This is all a result of Jesus giving Peter the Keys to the kingdom of heaven, Allowing The ship to possess the authority to bind & loose (establish doctrine)

*On board this ship has been given the power to forgive sins.  No other church community would consider claiming they too have the power/authority to forgive sins.  Go and sin no more is the constant charge that comes from the Confessional

*The ship will daily pray The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, enabling the faithful to take part in the Lord's Supper, known as the Holy Eucharist or The Supper of the Lamb

*An outward sign of an inward grace (definition of a sacrament) will be provided on this ship & these signs will be called Sacraments.  There is no greater weapon against evil than The 7 Sacraments

*All 73 books of the Canon of Scripture will be used to ensure the faithful will not be ignorant of Christ.  Protestant bibles have only 66 books, as Martin Luther decided 7 books were not inspired (the books are Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, & Baruch)

*Apostolic succession will be apparent to all,  keeping a log of each person who has held the office of Pope, from Peter until now

*Oral teaching of the Apostles, given before the canon of scripture, will also be used to teach those baptized into Christ.  The oral teaching will be called “tradition”

*This ship will be the surest way of salvation & salvation with any other denomination will be possible only because The Catholic Church exists

*Spiritual & Corporal works of mercy will be defined, allowing the faithful to have explicit instruction on what is expected to continue the rite of passage (see Mt. 25)

*The Lord's Prayer will be said daily on this ship, asking always for God's will to be done in our lives

*The Hail Mary will also be prayed daily, asking The Mother of God to pray for us both daily & at the hour of our death (God only knows just how effective this will be)

*Martyrs, otherwise known as saints, will be called on to intercede for the faithful

*This church/ship will teach the doctrine of Purgatory, which is possibly the greatest gift given to the church, as this “cleaning of the soul” will provide the holiness required for entrance into heaven

*Because there are so many battles to fight on this journey, the church will be given the opportunity to “Offer up” all suffering, resulting in ordinary people having a part in the plan of salvation by offering up all hardships.  These offerings, somehow, will be included in the salvation work of the Cross

*It is important to stay onboard this ship, known as The Catholic Church, as many will abandon the ship, believing a lie, & establish their own “protesting” community

*These communities will be likened to “rafts” drifting alongside the great ship

*Those on each raft will be called protestors of the ship and, thus, will be called Protestants

The Battleship/Church will be given a prayer that will have transformative power and will be guaranteed to work every time it is prayed with a sincere heart.  The prayer has never failed, not even once:

Transformation Prayer – Fighting Our Sin Nature

Here I am, Lord, all that I am and all that I am not.

Transform me!  Transform my life!

I trust you have an incredible plan for me.

Everything is on the table.

Take what you want.  Give me what You want to give.

I make myself 100% available to You today.

Transform me into the person you created me to be, enabling me to live the life you envisioned for me at the beginning of time.

I hold nothing back.

Lead me, challenge me, encourage me and open my eyes to all your possibilities.

Show me what You want me to do and I will do it.

Today, I offer myself to You, to be completely yours.

May the grace necessary for this transformation always be available, so much so that others will no longer see me, but Christ who lives in me, Amen!

There is nothing in the world like the Catholic Church.  How could such a bold statement be made, when there are so many denominations calling themselves Christian?  Because Jesus started only one Church is the short answer.  Additionally, early church historians, known as “Church Fathers” affirm the following facts about the Catholic Church: 

1.  The Catholic Church is the sole representative of the fullness of truth.

2.  The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is the answer to every question life will provide.

3.  The Catholic Church teaches that if you have Jesus in your life, everything will be ok, no matter what hurdles life throws at you.

4.  The Catholic Church is the only church that celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day of the year & will continue to do so until the end of time as we know it.

5.  At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus' sacrifice, death and resurrection, are re-presented in a bloodless fashion & offered to The Father.

6.  This sacrifice of worship, according to the teaching of The Church, is the purest and highest form of worship.  No other Church has this form of worship. 

7.  The Catholic Church teaches when you attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you are actually attending both the Last Supper and the world's greatest sacrifice, Calvary, where the sin nature was faced head on & defeated!

8.  Amazingly, The Catholic Church actually feeds you the 'bread of life' at each Mass.  The Church provides you with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, fulfilling the words of Jesus, “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.”

9.  Astoundingly, The Catholic Church has been given the power to forgive sins.  No other church would dare to claim this power, as it has been given to the Catholic Church only.

10.  There would be no good reason to attend any other Church.  The Catholic Church alone has been started by Jesus, blessed by Jesus and will be sustained by Jesus.

What about the current church scandal?

In spite of scandal, the Catholic Church will remain standing, not because of the people that attend, but because Jesus promised the gates of hell will not prevail against her.  Jesus never promised that His Church would be free of sinners, only that it would provide the means to save sinners, all sinners.

These are the facts:  1)  About 4% of all Priests, serving from 1950 to the present, have been accused of sexual abuse.  Not all accused necessarily means they are guilty.  2)  These same sexual misconduct accusations are found in all other denominations, including every religious setting, from mainstream churches to traveling evangelist & even Rabbis.  Why isn't this reported by all news outlets?  Because only The Catholic Church is Satan's #1 enemy.

The Church is not a hotel for saints, rather, it is a hospital for sinners.  The issue is not whether the patients are sinners, or even if some of the staff are sinners.  The issue is whether the Hospital/Church has the cure for sin, which affects everyone.  We should not slander or abandon the Church because of the sinful actions of a very tiny minority.

The Church is still holy despite having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life than the life of grace.  If we choose to live her life, her members are sanctified (made holy).  If we move away from her life, we fall into sin and disorder, which prevents the radiation of her life-giving grace.

It is the Catholic Church that has given the Western World the first hospitals, universities, orphanages, homes for the dying & will feed and clothe more people per day than all other organizations combined.  Leaving the Church because a priest or layperson committed a serious sin would be like swearing off hospitals because a doctor committed malpractice.

Christ gave His church the means to free us from sin.  We do ourselves no favors if we reject the remedy because some Catholics who fell into scandal refused to take the remedy themselves.

Why we are Catholic?  Explaining how the Church is necessary to handle the fall of mankind:

Imagine this, you're driving home from school or work on Monday, you turn on the radio and hear a short news clip about three people in an obscure village in India who have died of a mysterious flu virus.  This flu has never been seen before, but you don't think too much about it.  After all, it's in some remote village in India. 

However, coming home from Church the following Sunday, you hear another spot on the radio saying this unknown flu virus has spread through an entire village in the Black Hills of India.  It is reported some 30,000 people have died from this virus.  World organizations get involved and send over many medical experts to determine what was the cause and more importantly, what can be done to contain the virus! 

The following morning all news stations report the virus is spreading.  It is now in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, the entire middle east is being affected.  Thousands are dying from this flu virus.  That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks all of Europe.  He is closing the borders.  Nobody is allowed into France and nobody is allowed out of France, however, it is too late. 

That night CNN and Fox News report that three people have died from the virus in the most prominent hospital in Paris.  It has come to Europe.  England now closes its borders.  It is too late their also.  Liverpool has reported many deaths.  London reports the same epidemic has struck their people.  Panic is beginning to set in around the world. 

It hasn't reached America yet, however, all Americans are concerned, with panic taking hold of every household.  Some TV Preachers are suggesting this is the end times.  Get your house in order, as God's judgment is here they are telling their listeners.  The President of the U.S. heeds the advice from his staff and closes the borders of the United States.  Nobody is allowed in and nobody is allowed out.  He apologizes, but for those Americans who had been visiting abroad, they would not be allowed to return home to the U.S. until a cure is found. 

Panic quickly turns into an unheard of fear.  All think they are going to die.  It is reported you will have the virus for a week with no symptoms, then you will get deathly ill for about three to four days & simply die.  There is nothing anyone can do.  There is no cure.  Nobody will survive is the fear that now grips every soul.  Many believe this is the end of the world.

All fears are affirmed when someone reports to CNN & Fox News that three people in a New York hospital have died from the virus.  The mystery flu has come to America and within hours it is reported that the flu is already widespread, with hospitals all over the U.S. reporting they have people sick with the flu and all are dying.  Nobody has survived this flu. 

Medical people are working around the clock, trying to find the antidote, but nothing is working.   Then, when all hope seemed lost, seemingly out-of-nowhere, the news comes out.  The code has been broken.  A cure can be found.  A vaccine can be made, but it's going to take the blood of someone who has not been affected & the right blood type must be found.

 A call goes out to all U.S. citizens.  All must report to a hospital in order to have their blood tested for the potential vaccine.  Virtually, every man, woman & child report to the nearest hospital. 

You report to the local hospital and find the parking lot is full and lines of people are wound around the block.  All Doctors and nurses are working and they begin to come out from the hospital into the parking lot to take names and blood.  They take your blood and instruct you to wait right where you are until they call your name, determining who may have the unaffected, right blood type. 

You get frustrated as they are not calling any names.  They are just taking blood and running into the hospital to test the blood.  Everybody is jittery and begin to shout at the medical personnel, “what are you doing, why haven't you called any names?”  You find yourself waiting, scared & wondering what in the world is going on?  “Is this it?  Is it my time to die?”  Then all of a sudden someone comes racing out of the hospital screaming a name and waving a clipboard.

 You don't hear the name and then you hear them scream the name again.  You still don't hear the name, but then you feel your son tug at your jacket and he looks up at you and says, “that's me Mom, that's my name.”  Before you know it, they grab your son from you and race him into the hospital.  You run after them and scream, “hold on what are you doing...that's my son.”  They tell you it's ok.  The Dr. tells you, “We think he has the right blood type for the cure.  We just need to check one more time.” 

Five tense minutes later the doctor returns.  You notice, for the first time, he is an older doctor with gray hair.  There are many other doctors and nurses with him and they are all crying and laughing and hugging one another, all at the same time.  In your mind you say to yourself, “There has been no smiling and laughing in a long time...this must be good.” 

The old gray-haired doctor comes up to you beaming and tells you, “thank you, your sons blood is perfect.  It's clean.  It's pure.  He does not have the disease.  We will be able to use his blood to make the anti-virus.  We will be able to end this flu completely.” 

As this news begins to spread across the parking lot, with thousands there, a tremendous shout fills the night air.  People everywhere are laughing, crying and praying.  But then the old gray-haired doctor tugs on your shirt and pulls you aside.  He explains they did not know it would be a child with the right blood type.  “You will have to sign a consent form” he tells you. 

You don't think too much about it, but as you look over the consent form you notice a box that is unchecked on the form.  It is the box that indicates how many pints of blood will be needed to make the vaccine.  You wonder why the doctor didn't fill in the amount of blood necessary, so you ask, “how many pints of blood will be needed?”  The doctor looks away from you.  He quietly says back to you, looking at the ground instead of into your eyes, “We didn't know it was going to be a child.” 

You look at the doctor one more time, directly into his eyes and ask with a loud, anxious voice, “how many pints?”  That's when the old doctor lifts his head slowly, no smile on his face this time, and says, “we are going to need it all.  We need all of his blood.”  You say with fear in your voice, “What do you mean you are going to need it all?  He's my only son.”  The doctor grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you and says, “we're talking about the whole world here, do you understand that?”  Please, the doctor says, “we need you to hurry.  We need you to sign the form.” 

What will I do is the thought that invades your thinking.  You reluctantly sign the form because it is the only thing you can do.  One life for many is the thought that carries you through in order to sign the form. 

You hear the doctor say to you, “would you like to have a moment with your son before we get started?”  You walk back into the hospital room where your son is waiting and he says, “Mommy, Daddy what's going on?”  You tell your son you love him...and you tell him again and again, as you realize nothing else matters.  After explaining what is necessary for the salvation of the world, your son says to you, “it's ok Mom, it's ok Dad, I'm happy to give my life for the life of the entire world.  I'm happy to lay down my life so others can live.” 

Then you hear the doctor say,  “you'll have to leave now.  We must get started.  Millions of people are dying around the world & they need this blood.” 

You find you can't leave the room.  You try to turn around and walk out when you hear your child say, “Mommy, Daddy, where are you going?  Why are you leaving?  Why are you abandoning me?”  You mind is spinning a million miles an hour, when your final thought becomes, “I wonder if all those that my child is going to save will be forever thankful...or will they forget about him, becoming selfish instead of appreciative.  How many years will it take before many forget what this precious blood has done?” You find yourself praying silently, “Father, forgive all those that forget, all those that don't know, and all those who don't really understand...for they know not what they are doing.”

What the celebration of Mass is all about:

Then next Sunday when they hold a ceremony honoring your son and his phenomenal contributions to humanity, many people decide not to come, claiming they have better things to do.  Some come that really aren't interested and you can tell by their body language they are only pretending to care.  Still others complain the ceremony is too long, too boring...showing they don't have a clue why this celebration is even taking place.  You are genuinely concerned how many people don't come to the ceremony and even more concerned about those who don't know the price that was paid so they could have life.

Should something be said to the many people who don't understand why they have been given life in the first place?  More importantly, should I be the one to say something to the many people who have stopped attending church, or attend another church?  Shouldn't all be told about this son who died so others could live? 

Maybe we need a new perspective.  A new perspective other than what's in it for me.  There is something about coming before our God on a Sunday with an attitude of thanksgiving verses an attitude of I'm bored, I get nothing out of this.  There is something about coming before our God on a Sunday willing to worship Him for what He has done for us and give him thanks. 

Like the prayer of transformation that we read earlier, that is what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass does for us.  The Mass can transform our lives, if we will allow it.  Only the Catholic Church has the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Only the Catholic Church has the power to forgive sins.  Only the Catholic Church can claim, “Jesus started our Church.”

What are the last words spoken at every Mass?  Thanks be to God!  Why is this important?  Because the church recognizes how powerful and transformative every Mass is...and can be, if we allow it!

This is why we are Catholic!  There is nothing in the world like the Catholic Church!