What Catholics Believe, an Introduction

I have been contemplating how to defend our Faith--the Faith passed down from Jesus Christ through the Apostles down to us today.  I contemplate how fellow Christians, those who belong to traditions that have departed from the Church founded by Christ, or who belong to no tradition at all, can and do believe that Catholics are not Christians.  Contemplating how my journey of faith brought me from an early faith in a Baptist tradition to my passionate love for my Lord as a member of His Body--the Catholic Church, I do not understand the hostility or anti-Catholic bigotry.  Since, I became a Catholic 15 years ago, I have met more "Christian" bigots than in all my 30+ years as a Baptist.  I'm still a Christian.  I still love the Gospel--in fact, I love it even more passionately.  So, I thought I'd begin a series on Christ's Church.  Unlike Protestant Apologists, I don't intend to reinvent the wheel I will be using the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Church documents along with the Scriptures in my articles.

So, to begin.

The Nicene-Constantinoplian Creed

I believe in one God, the Father almighty,

    maker of heaven and earth,

    of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

        the Only Begotten Son of God,

        born of the Father before all ages.

    God from God, Light from Light,

        true God from true God,

    begotten, not made, consubstantial

       with the Father;

        Through him all things were made.

    For us men and for our salvation

        he came down from heaven,

        and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate

        of the Virgin Mary,

        and became man.

    For our sake he was crucified

      under Pontius Pilate,

        he suffered death and was buried,

        and rose again on the third day

        in accordance with the Scriptures.

    He ascended into heaven

        and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

    He will come again in glory

        to judge the living and the dead

        and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

        the Lord, the giver of life,

    who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

    who with the Father and the Son

        is adored and glorified,

        who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic,

     and apostolic Church.

    I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

        and I look forward to the resurrection

        of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

This is what we believe--Catholics.  It is virtually the same as the Orthodox version of the Creed (yes, I do know the difference), and similar to the Creeds used by the Lutherans and many other Protestant faiths.

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son."²⁶ Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.²⁷

26 Heb 1:1-2.
27 St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel 2,22,3-5 in The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD (Washington DC:Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979),179-180:LH, OR Advent, week 2, Mon.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 65 (CCC 65).

Next, a look at the Creed step by step.

"Morally Straight?"

I am so disappointed in the Boy Scouts of America right now.  I can't even imagine who the delegates were who supposedly voted 61% for the resolution.  According to a Scout leader I know, approximately 40% of Boy Scouts are Mormons.  Then next two largest groups are Baptists and Catholics.  Who voted yes on this resolution???  Apparently, the California and New York delegations and their liberal cohorts outnumber the majority of conservative voting delegates.

Will they have to change the Scout Oath?

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Like the movement to ban the "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, will there be a movement to drop "to God" and "morally straight" from the Scout Oath?  Or will relative morality come into play?

It is only a matter of time, then, before they'll have gay men leaders.  I will not expose my sons to such immorality, nor put them in harms' way.  I intend to wait until the 'chips fall' and the USCCB makes a statement.  But, if the vote stands and the scouts change their policy to allow boys who are openly gay, we'll be looking elsewhere for activities for the boys.  Thankfully, my oldest earned his Eagle Scout and is now an adult.  Now we have to decide what to do with our 16- and 14-year old Boy Scouts and our 7 year old Cub Scout.  We can't in all good conscience accept this resolution or the slippery slope the Boy Scouts are now on.  

I certainly will not do any more recruiting for the Scouts.  General Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and Ernst Seton and William Boyce, co-founders in America, are turning in their graves right now.  Any suggestions?

Happy St. Brendan's Day!

One of my favorite saints and my eldest son's namesake.  Happy St. Brendan's Day! 
[Image from facebook]

Ascension Thursday

Today marks the day Jesus Christ ascended back to the Father in Heaven.  He ascended under His own power, as God the Son.  In many dioceses, the celebration of the Ascension is moved to Sunday.  Then, the next Sunday is Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit, sent by God the Son, came upon and gave life to His Church in the Apostles and Mary.

50 Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. 51 As He blessed them He parted from them and was taken up to Heaven.  52 They did Him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53and they were continually in the temple praising God. (Luke 24)

 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after He spoke to them, was taken up into Heaven and took His seat at the right hand of God. 20 But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.] (Mark 16)

6 When they had gathered together they asked Him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.  8 But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight.  10 While they were looking intently at the sky as He was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.  11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?  This Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."  12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
(Act 1)

Appreciation

Today, as I was getting my son ready for school.  I had the tv on to "The Breakup".  Now, while I'm not necessarily a big Jennifer Aniston fan, I watched the beginning of the movie.  If you are not familiar with it, the plot is basically that Jennifer's character and Vince Vaugh's character meet, fall in love, and move into a condo they purchase together.  However, soon they have a huge fight after Jennifer's character spends several hours cleaning and preparing dinner for their family members and he did not pick up the lemons she wanted for a center piece, wouldn't set the table, open the door for their guests, or help her wash the dishes afterward.


All Jennifer's character wanted was for her "boy friend" to appreciate her.  She decorated the condo, kept it immaculate, cooked for him, planned outings for them, even stopped going to the ballet because he hated it.  She gave up all that she was and loved to do for a man who not only didn't appreciate her but didn't marry her. 

I see that a lot in our society today, as Judge Judy calls it, "playing house."  She feels it is not her job to sort out the details when a couple plays house (buys a house and furniture, gets a dog, mixes their finances together) and then tries to sue one another when it "doesn't work out."  That is not what courts are for.  What happened to pre-marital classes/counseling, oh yeah, we don't get married any more--we "try it out," maybe have a baby first, see how that works out.  Not only are women not appreciated in these relationships but they never will be.  When women feel all they deserve is to work full time at a career AND work full time on a home that she either doesn't own or owns half of, makes all the effort to make her man happy, she will never be appreciated, valued, or happy.  A man is not going to marry her.  He is waiting for a better deal to come along.  As long as a woman is willing to do all the work, why wouldn't he "let her" do it all.  He can leave whenever he feels like it, even if there is a child(ren) involved, and he often does.

Appreciation starts with you.  You need to have an appreciation not only for your physical looks and abilities, but for your intelligence, your inner beauty, and your power as a woman.  Woman do do all the work in the home, because they see it.  Men simply don't see it.  They step over, step on, or step around anything and everything.  Sometimes it seems they are incapable of bending at the waist.  Their peripheral vision is much much wider than women's.  Waiting for them to pick up after themselves, or to thank you for picking up, cleaning up, or keeping anything clean is pointless.  You must have an appreciation for your own work and be proud of yourself first.  If your "man" ever expresses appreciation don't faint, just thank God that he got it at least once.  Don't devalue yourself by moving in with a man--he wants sex and a maid, not a life partner.  Do yourself a favor and wait for love and wait for a real marriage.  Don't sell yourself short.


As for the movie, Vince's character finally does learn what it is to show appreciation to someone else.  He works with two of his brothers in a tour company and finally says thank you to his older brother by putting his own books straight and giving him a big hug.  It is too late for his relationship, though.  At the end of the movie, the couple meet on the street one day and share an awkward moment of hellos. Then they walk away from each other.  Sad.  I hate sad endings. 

Now, off to do some thankless jobs around the house.

Just in Time for Holy Week!

Magnificat has posted their Holy Week missal online. Anyone can access it for FREE! So "favorite" it now for use during Holy Week.

Rogier van der Weyden "Angels Carrying the Instruments of Passion"
from the altarpiece "The Last Judgement" (1449)

This is the image used on the cover (this is not the cover image). Go here to access the Holy Week Magnificat free.

Remember we start Holy Week on Palm/Passion Sunday on March 24th.

God Bless Pope Francis!!!

I posted on the other blog I participate on, but did not post anything here.  Here is a picture of our new pope--Pope Francis.  A pope of firsts:  First non-European in about 1300 years (he is the 11th non-European--first since Gregory III in the 8th century), First pope from the Americas, First pope to take the name Francis (from Francis of Assisi, not Xavier as had been speculated).