Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 10)
We have seen that Jesus started a Church and that one way of finding His Church today is to look for a church whose leader claims to be a Successor of St. Peter. The only Church in the world today to make that claim is the Catholic Church. But there are other indicators, signs, or “marks” that identify the Church that Jesus founded two thousand years ago and that still exists today. In the Creed that we pray at Mass every Sunday, we express our belief in the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Those are the four signs that point to the Church of Christ. In this lesson, we will talk about the first two marks: one and holy.
The Church is one. This means that the Church of Jesus must have unity in how it is governed, in what it believes, and in how it worships God. This makes sense since one wouldn’t expect God to create a church whose leaders and members disagreed on important things, such as whether Jesus is really God, or whether there is such a thing as Hell, or whether abortion and divorce are right or wrong. After all, Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that “those who will believe in me…may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be…one, as we are one” (John 17:21). Jesus said that there must be “one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
Thus, Catholics are united under one head, the Holy Father in Rome, who guides the Church to the truth. They believe in the same doctrines — about the Holy Eucharist, about the seven sacraments, about the Virgin Mary, about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. They worship the same way all over the world. If you were to attend Mass at any Catholic church in the world, the language might be different, but there would be the same Bible readings and prayers, the same consecration of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
This same unity cannot be found in the thousands of other churches and religious communities, where people are encouraged to give their own private interpretation of beliefs and rituals. Only in the Catholic Church can we find oneness in government, belief, and worship, and we pray, with Jesus, that someday all will be united in following Jesus, who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
The Church is holy. Since Jesus Himself is holy, one would expect His Church to be holy — in her sacraments, in her members, and in her miracles. The purpose of the Catholic Church is to help her members get to Heaven. What holier purpose could a church have? She accomplishes this through the sacraments given to us by Jesus. Thus, the life of a Catholic begins at Baptism, is nourished by the Holy Eucharist, and is strengthened by Confirmation. Penance takes away our sins, Holy Orders and Matrimony prepare us for priesthood and marriage, and Anointing of the Sick prepares us for death.
The Church is holy in the holy lives of her members, particularly through the extraordinary holiness of her saints and martyrs. From young children to elderly men and women, there has never been a time where there was a lack of saintly souls who not only devoted their lives to bringing others to Christ, but who were willing to give up their lives and die horrible deaths rather than renounce Jesus. Their example follows that of their Savior, who said, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. . . . If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18, 20).
The Church is also holy in its miracles, those spectacular interventions by God in our lives, which Jesus promised would be a sign of His Church when He said that His followers “will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18). Miracles have been a distinguishing feature of the Catholic Church, particularly at shrines like that of Lourdes in France, where thousands have been cured of numerous diseases since the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858.
But what of Catholics who are not holy; in fact, who have been great sinners? We are all sinners, but the Church should be judged by those who live up to her teachings, not by those who fail to do so. You would not judge a college by those who flunk out, but by those who persevere and graduate. So, too, the holiness of the Catholic Church must be judged by those who strive to live holy lives.
List of Answers:
DOCTRINES
FATHER
HATED
HEAVEN
JUDGED
LOURDES
MARTYRS
MASS
MIRACLES
ONE
PETER
SACRAMENTS
SAINTS
SIGNS
UNITY
Quiz:
- Only the Successor of St. __ can lead Christ’s Church.
- There are four _____________or marks pointing to the Church founded by Jesus.
- The Church must have __ in government, beliefs, and worship.
- Jesus said that all must be __ as He and the Father are one.
- The Catholic Church is united under one Holy ______in Rome.
- Catholics believe in the same ________________or teachings.
- Catholics worship at the same _____________throughout the world.
- The purpose of the Catholic Church is get her members to __.
- The seven ____________help us along the way to Heaven.
- Holiness is shown by the lives of _ and .
- Jesus said that we will be _ just as He was hated.
- Jesus said __ would be a sign of His Church.
- Thousands have been cured of diseases at _ in France.
- The Catholic Church should be __ by holy members, not sinners.
