TRUE RELIGION

"Of all the many religions and belief systems in the world, how can you be so sure the Catholic Church is the true one?"

Because only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means of salvation (CCC, para 816).

"Could you be wrong?"

I can't see how I could be wrong. Having weighed up all the available evidence, I honestly can't see how Catholicism could be wrong. I am as sure as I can be. Catholicism is, beyond reasonable doubt, the one true religion.

"Do you realise that you sound very arrogant when you say that only Catholicism is the only completely true religion?"

I hope I don't sound arrogant. I certainly don't intend to come across as arrogant. I'm truly sorry if you think that. But, if in a classroom exam, or a sports meet, or a competition of any kind where an undisputed winner results, is it arrogant for the winner to claim to be the winner?

Certainly, a winner should be gracious in victory, but it would be false humility to deny being the best in that particular situation. It's only boasting if you can't back it up, and Catholicism can certainly back it up. But this doesn't mean Catholics are superior. We are all in need of the redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Many Catholics don't adhere to your extreme Catholic views." It is true that today many Catholics do not assent to the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church as enunciated by the Pope and those bishops who are in union with him. This compiler has sought to present only that which the Church authentically teaches (hence the index at the back which provides links to the Catechism of the Catholic Church - CCC).

So, what you are really saying is that the authentic teachings of Catholicism are 'extreme'. Therefore, please first be sure your knowledge of Catholicism is accurate before judging it. There's nothing wrong with being passionate about the truth as long as one's passion does not become fanatical; faithfulness is not extremism.

"How can anyone be sure that the one true religion is not still to come sometime later in the future?"

Because the one true religion (Catholicism) has already proved itself to be true. Your question proceeds from a lack of understanding of the one true religion. When you actually study Catholicism's teachings and those people who fully lived up to its ideals (they're called saints) you will realise that the one true religion is here and so there is no need to look for another. 2 + 2 = 4.

There is no middle-ground to this answer. 4.1 or 3.9 are close but they are not good enough answers; they're not correct. Only 4 is totally right. 4 is Catholicism. It either is or it isn't. Therefore, put Catholicism to the test. Remember, don't judge it by its sinful members. Its teachings, its faith, its morals will reveal its truthfulness. No religion has an all-perfect membership.

"So why then is everyone not Catholic?"

People are not Catholic because: 1) Catholics have not been practicing what their Church preaches and have therefore scandalized others with their sinful conduct; 2) they don't know what the Church teaches and so build up false ideas of Catholicism; 3) they don't want to know what the Church teaches so as to persist in some lifestyle that is contrary to the truth of Catholicism.

"Catholicism is your truth, but it's not my truth. Catholicism is your reality, but it's not my reality. Truth is whatever I believe it to be. Reality is subjective."

The belief that truth is different for different people is false because it is based on an inherent contradiction. What you're really saying is that there is no absolute truth for everyone except the ‘absolute truth' that there is no absolute truth! If nothing is true, then neither is the statement that nothing is true. If the statement that nothing is true is not true, then something must be true. And so, truth must exist, and it must also necessarily exist for everyone.

And since Catholicism alone possesses the fullest measure of truth on Earth, Catholicism necessarily exists for everyone. If reality really was subjective, we could change it by wishing. But we can't. For example, if we think we don't need food, we'll starve. Reality is not ‘all in the mind'. We are (we exist), therefore we think; not vice versa.

"Will Catholicism make me a better person?"

It should. To come into possession of the fullness of revealed truth really ought to make you a better person, since by knowing more truth than before ought to be beneficial to you personally. However, you are still free to refuse to act on the fullness of truth that you acquire by becoming Catholic.

"But I'm a nice, sincere person who doesn't need Catholicism."

Neither niceness nor sincerity fulfills the criteria for our salvation. Being your own judge is a very risky business.

"Am I ever going to give you a question the Catholic Church cannot answer?"

I honestly know of no question pertaining to factors essential to our salvation of which the Catholic Church cannot provide an answer. Wherever possible, reference to original sources of information has been given. The compiler has included personal thoughts from time to time, but most of this compilation is from far greater minds. Please read on and show me where Catholicism is wrong. Everyone wants Truth.

"Why this book?"

Because I don't want anyone to mistakenly believe that any one of the issues this book raises is a reason for not entering the true Church. There really is no good reason for everyone not being Catholic. This book is by no means exhaustive, but it has been compiled in order to give the reader a glimpse of the truth of Catholicism by refuting some of the most common errors and misconceptions that are currently assailing the Catholic Church. Please compare your truth with Catholicism.

"Sum up the teachings of Catholicism in one sentence."

The teachings of Catholicism are the teachings of Christ.

References: SOME USEFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION: ewtn.com contains a Q+A forum in the FAITH section of their menu; JOHN XXIII Fellowship Co-op. Ltd., ph/fx 03 9578 2706; Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants â€" ph/fx 02 4829 0297; IGNATIUS Press, ph 07 3376 0105; St Joseph Communications, ph 08 9572 4343; Paul’s Family Books, ph 08 92791964; San Juan Seminars, PO Box 5253, Farmington, NM 87499-5235, USA, ph (505) 327-5343.

* Please note that this text should be read in the context of the whole work and in recognition of the appropriate paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church highlighted in the index.

HOLY WEEK: JESUS OUR SAVIOUR?

by Kathryn Marcellino, OCDS

Holy Week begins Palm Sunday and goes through Holy Saturday. During this week we are reminded in the Church's liturgy and Mass readings about the passion and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are reminded that Jesus died for us.

Catechism of the Catholic Church #452: The name Jesus means "God saves". The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, "for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21): "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

We often hear people from various churches asking, "Is Jesus your personal Lord and Savior?" I think this is valid question.

God created the world as good and there was no evil in it. Then Adam and Eve sinned, and sin came into the world and brought along with it physical death, suffering and also closed the gates of Heaven so that no one could enter. Jesus saved the world by dying on the cross as the final and perfect sacrifice to make up sin.

God is both just and merciful. His justice required a perfect sacrifice to make up for sin which was only fully accomplished in his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. In God's great mercy the second person of the Blessed Trinity, God himself, became man, lived among us, taught us, and then died a painful death so that we can be restored to full fellowship with God and to have the opportunity to go to Heaven someday.

The door is now open to us through Jesus' sacrifice, but there are requirements and they are laid out in Jesus' teachings which are recorded both in the Bible (Sacred Scripture) and through the oral teachings handed down from the apostles (Sacred Tradition).

Jesus, our Savior

Jesus died for our sins and also taught us what we are to do in this life to be saved. The first step is learning what God wants and the second step is doing it. A part of this is accepting Jesus "as my personal Lord and Savior" as some church's like to put it, but there is more involved. For example, Jesus also said we must be baptized "with water and the spirit" to be saved and taught many other things as well.

He also taught that not "many are called, but few are chosen" and the Bible says we are to work out our salvation in "fear and trembling". (This is a different message from our modern culture which makes it seem like just about everyone is going to heaven. This might make us feel nice but it is not really what Jesus said as recorded in the Bible.) There really is something important to be gained or loss and we really do need to take God and "working out" our salvation seriously.

So have we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and are we his followers? To examine ourselves on this we could ask ourselves: Who are what are we putting our trust in and love above all else? Is it God or money or people or ourselves or something else? This really takes a little thinking about. For example, what if I lose my job, my spouse or other close relationships, my savings account, my retirement fund, or my health? Do I trust that God will still take care of me in any circumstance? Or am I really putting my trust in those things not as one way God is taking care of me, but as if they are almost like a God in themselves? Job in the Bible lost everything including his health but he trusted God and said that even if God kills him, still he will trust in God. This is what we are also called to do. By the way God restored all Job's possessions and health even greater than before.

Can we really say Jesus is our my Lord and Savior and then not really put Him first in our life as our Savior and Lord above all other things? If anything is above Jesus in our life then that thing is our Lord, but can never be our Savior, as Jesus is the only one who can save us. Our priorities should be God first, everything else second... i.e. loving, trusting and believing in God and doing what he says first, and everything else in second or lower place.

During this time of Holy Week, let's do a little meditation to ask ourselves if we are really accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior meaning he is really above all else in our lives and that we are trusting in Jesus. We not only look to God/Jesus to save us in the sense of sin but also to God to take care of all our needs as Jesus said he would. We are to be cooperators and co-workers with Jesus and so we help through our actions and work, but all good things come from God and we should look to God for everything and then thank God for all the things he gives us.

Jesus said that "without me you can do nothing" but "with me you can do all things." This applies to this life as well as the next. We might tend to want to be self-sufficient or rely on other people or money or our job or something else, but these won't save us any more than any other idol made with human hands. Unlike some popular ideas we do not make our own reality--there is an objective reality already made by God. It isn't how we want things to be or wishful thinking. God is real and has come to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ to teach us and show us what he wants and how things are. We need to be careful that we are not accepting the popular myth of our society that everyone is going to heaven or that God doesn't exist or that religion is just wishful thinking. Jesus said that to be his follower we must "pick up our cross" and follow him.

During this Holy Week let's take some time to see if we are following the real Jesus or an imaginary one. Taking time to read the Gospels and Catechism of the Catholic Church on these subjects would be a good review or reflection. God really exists. Heaven and hell are real and eternal. Something is really to be lost or gained. There is serious sin and it leads to eternal death if not repented of. Eternity is at stake and we need to play by God's rules not by our rules or popular misconceptions and wishful thinking. If we sin we are slaves to sin. So how are we to be saved? By cooperating with God's grace and help.

We might have some fear of God "as the beginning of wisdom" but we also know from the Bible that as we grow in love of God that "perfect love casts out all fear." Jesus came to save us from our sins and to give us his peace. The old Baltimore Catechism says: "God made man to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy forever with Him in the next." I pray that we all achieve this purpose for which we were created.

A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON PREDESTINATION

by Rev. Paul Walsh, CSB

The important first step with any theological position or term is to understand what question or set of questions it is a part of. Predestination has to do with questions regarding salvation. In general, it is part of answering the question: "How are we saved?"

How are we saved? This is not a simple question to answer. However, in it's most general perspective we can say we are saved by the grace of God. This grace chose us (or predestined us) from the beginning to live and reign with him in all eternity. But predestination involves more than simply God's choosing us. It also involves the movements of God's grace, which move us to seek God and to find him in faith, in baptism and in the sacramental life of the church. This predestination also involves grace to help us to persevere until the end, providing us with the opportunities and the means to repent and return should we sin and fall away from God. So, in a nutshell, predestination is God's choosing us in love, and giving us the means to attain salvation through a life graced by faith, sacraments, the church, repentance, and perseverance.

It is important to note that salvation occurs first and foremost as God's initiative. The term predestination emphasizes this initiative at every step of our journey. Without God's initiative, we would fail. If God did not choose us, we could not be saved. If God does not draw us through grace and lead us to faith, we could not be saved.

If God does not give us faith, we could never attain it on our own, and we could not be saved. If God does not cleanse us of our sins we could not be saved. If God does not bring us into the life of the church, we could not be saved. If God did not draw us back after sin, give us the grace of repentance, and give us the grace of perseverance, we could not be saved. It is even impossible, ultimately, to lead a moral life without God's assistance. Everything is grace, and without it we would fail.

However, problems arise: does God predestine all people to be saved? Catholics, I think would argue yes. In his encyclical Redemptoris Missio, Pope John Paul II writes: "Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. . . . This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his Sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation." [Section 10.1] Further, Catholics teach that "God predestines no one to go to hell" [See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1037]. Hence, Catholics argue that salvation is made available to all and willed for all, even those who are not explicitly part of the Church; all are thus predestined for salvation.

Another problem then arises: how does it happen that some will not be saved? This is the problem with which Calvinist theology wrestles. If God, in fact, predestines all for salvation, how is it possible for anyone not to be saved? Catholics would answer this question by saying that human beings are given the freedom to choose or refuse God's offer of salvation; or to use the Pope's term above, they are free to cooperate with God's grace or not. In so doing, Catholics do not minimize the need for God's grace, which makes it possible for human beings to cooperate in the first place. However, they recognize that God's plan includes the possibility that human beings could throw away the gift they have been given.

This answer dissatisfies Calvinists. This is the reason for their dissatisfaction: It would seem, that if human beings are able to frustrate God's will and the power of God's grace in bringing all people to salvation, then God's grace and will are not all powerful. Human decisions have the power to overturn God's plans and even God's actions. Thus, human beings, would seem to be more powerful than God in this respect. They have the power to frustrate God's plan and power. This possibility is untenable for many Calvinists. Calvinism grew out of that branch of Catholicism (Franciscan theology) which emphasized how God was all powerful, and that whatever God willed came to pass. It was impossible for any creature to resist God's will or to frustrate God's plan. Thus, for a Calvinist, if any people are not saved, it is not merely because they chose not to be saved. It is also because God willed or predestined it, that they would not be saved.

Clearly, this conclusion does not sit well with Catholics. But the objections of the Calvinists are important theological points, and not to be easily dismissed. We often call God "All Powerful" and "Almighty" ourselves. How is it possible that human beings can frustrate the designs of an all powerful God? Some may argue perhaps that ultimately those who are not saved do not frustrate God's designs because they demonstrate God's justice. This is the Calvinist answer, and it shows that those who reject God have a place in God's plan. The problem with this answer, however, is that it does not clearly establish that God does not want the sinner to die in sin; God does not will the damnation of anyone. If the sinner does not repent and return to God, then God's plan is frustrated with respect to that person. It would seem, then, that God is not all powerful.

Catholics, I think, would then argue: yes, God has freely chosen to limit the sphere of his own power and freedom. Being all powerful, he and he alone has the power to limit the sphere in which his will is effective. By his own will, God freely chooses to allow individual human beings the freedom to choose or refuse him. Thus, Catholics would argue, that in creating free will, God has chosen to limit the realm of his power, creating a being that can frustrate God's will, with respect to that particular person. However, this person cannot frustrate God's overall plan, and this is the truth Calvinists want to protect.

So this is the problem of predestination in summary. There are, as you can imagine, several other wrinkles to the mix. The interplay between grace, free will, and the role of the church and sacraments raises many, many more questions. However, as I understand it, what I have written are some of the principal parts of the difficulties between Calvinists and Catholics on this point of predestination.

Father Paul Walsh, CSB is a member of the Congregation of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers) whose Curial House is in Toronto Ontario

ADVENT

by Kathryn Marcellino, OCDS

Yesterday was the beginning of Advent - Advent (from the Latin word adventus or "coming") is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth (nativity) of Jesus at Christmas. It is also the beginning of the Western liturgical year. This year in the United States it also marks the beginning of the use of the new English translation of the Mass. Some of the new translation is really the same as many of us heard as children many years ago and is a more accurate translation of the Bible verses from which the prayers originated and refer to.

During this time the faithful are admonished
• to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
• thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
• thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. (Catholic Encyclopedia 1917)

The theme of readings at Mass during Advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about "The Preparations" for Christmas:

522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

523 St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.

524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Advent is a time to prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth and also a time to seek a greater coming of Jesus into our own personal lives, minds, hearts, and souls. Some ways to do this are being faithful to daily prayer, spiritual reading, doing works of charity and penance, and going to confession (the sacrament of reconciliation).

One tradition for Advent is the use an Advent wreath. The wreath is made of fresh plant material with three candles that are purple (symbolizing penance) and one pink candle for the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, which symbolizes joy and marking the half way point of Advent. The light of the candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who conquers the darkness of evil and shows us the way of righteousness.

Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and/or prayers which are often said in a family setting. An additional candle is lit each week so that by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. This is one way for families to remember the true meaning of Christmas and is a reminder that Christmas is a holy time of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Children especially seem to like the lighting of candles; praying together and using an Advent wreath are some ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas. Even though our lives are busy, times like Advent remind us to keep our priorities straight, i.e. putting God first and other things second.

A prayer for the first Sunday of Advent: "Father in heaven, our hearts desire the warmth of your love and our minds are searching for the light of your Word. Increase our longing for Christ our Saviour and give us the strength to grow in love, that the dawn of his coming may find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of his truth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."