Day 117: The Church Is Catholic (830-838)

• It’s Day 117!!

• THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC

• WHAT DOES “CATHOLIC” MEAN?

• Paragraph 830 says, “The word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal,’ in the sense of ‘according to the totality’ or ‘in keeping with the whole.’”

• HOW is the Church catholic?

• Paragraph 830 continues, “The Church is catholic because Christ is present in her…this implies that she receives from him ‘the fullness of the means of salvation.’”

• That’s UNIVERSAL

• That’s ACCORDING TO THE TOTALITY

• That’s IN KEEPING WITH THE WHOLE

• Paragraph 831 says, “Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race…”

• So the Church is CATHOLIC in two senses

• It has the FULLNESS, in keeping with the whole, OF REVELATION

• THE FULLNESS OF GRACE

• THE FULLNESS OF THE MEANS OF SALVATION

• Secondly the Church is CATHOLIC because She is meant to go out to the whole world

• Does that make sense?

• EACH PARTICULAR CHURCH IS “CATHOLIC”

• Paragraph 833 says, “The phrase ‘particular church,’ which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession.”

• So that is every diocese throughout the world

• We profess THE SAME THING

• We worship THE SAME WAY

• Paragraph 834 says, “Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of the, the Church of Rome ‘which presides in charity.’”

• There are some really incredible quotes from St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, and St. Maximus the Confessor

• From the very beginning, all Christians understood that they were united with the Church of Rome

• So the big question is WHO BELONGS TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

• There are three groups of people who belong to the Catholic Church (this is what is called a TEASER 😉)

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you. We thank you and give you praise. We thank you for the gift of Faith, Hope, and Love. We ask you to please increase our Faith so we can trust you all the more. Not only trust what you have done, but also trust what you are doing. Give us Hope not only to belong to you today, but to belong to you in the future. And give us Love, the Love that will never end. The Love that will last and endure and be alive forever in Heaven. Lord God, we ask you to give us these incredible gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love. Keep us deeply rooted in you, in your heart. Keep us deeply rooted in your Church. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• SO PROFOUND

• The Catechism has clarified a lot of things in these paragraphs

• For example, WHAT DOES “CATHOLIC” MEAN?

• Every Apostles’ Creed states ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH

• Paragraph 830 says, “The word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal,’ in the sense of ‘according to the totality’ or ‘in keeping with the whole.’”

• What does that mean?

• The Church is “catholic” in TWO SENSES

• Paragraph 830 continues, “First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. In her subsists the fullness of Christ’s body united with its head…”

• This is the KEY THING to hold on to

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!!

• Other non-Catholic Christians have grace and truth

• They have many books of the Bible

• We have 73

• They have 66

• They have Baptism

• We have 6 other Sacraments

• So they have means of grace

• There is goodness in all non-Catholic churches

• BUT…

• When we say the Church is CATHOLIC, we say, “in her subsists THE FULLNESS of Christ’s body united with its head…”

• Paragraph 830 continues, “This implies that she receives from him ‘the fullness of the means of salvation’ which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession.”

• Not just 1 or 2 sacraments

• ALL 7 SACRAMENTS!!

• THE FULLNESS OF THE MEANS OF SALVATION

• Fr. Mike is now telling a story about one of his non-Catholic students so pay attention!!! 😉

• Basically, why should she be Catholic?

• One answer is that when it comes to the Catholic Church we have received from Jesus the FULLNESS of the means of Salvation

• Not just the CORRECT profession of faith

• BUT…

• The COMPLETE profession of faith

• THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!

• If you know something about the one you love

• BUT…

• There is MORE to know about them

• Then wouldn’t you want to know MORE?

• If you want to be able to say something about God, wouldn't you want to be able to say ALL THERE IS TO SAY about God?

• Knowing that it is not only COMPLETE but CORRECT

• We also have the SACRAMENTAL LIFE

• Christians have access to the Father’s heart through BAPTISM

• BUT…

• Wouldn’t you also want to have access to God’s Grace that He has given to us through the OTHER SIX SACRAMENTS?

• SEVEN SACRAMENTS TOTAL!!

• Wouldn’t you WANT that?

• Do we want ADEQUATE means of salvation?

• OR…

• Do we want the FULLNESS OF THE MEANS OF SALVATION?

• There are wounds to the unity of the Church

• That wound is sin

• It is not a great and glorious thing that the Church is divided

• Jesus’ prayer from His heart was that we would be ONE

• That’s another reason to want to be part of His ONE CHURCH

• Paragraph 831 says, “Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race…”

• There is NO ONE who doesn’t belong in the Catholic Church

• EVERY SINGLE PERSON belongs in the Catholic Church

• Fr. Mike is talking about that non-Catholic student again…

• There are so many things that people misunderstand about the Catholic Church

• The Church is CATHOLIC because EVERYONE BELONGS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

• EVERYONE!!

• There is no BACKGROUND…

• There is no ETHNICITY…

• There is no LANGUAGE BARRIER…

• There is no TEMPTATION TOWARDS SIN…

• THAT EXCLUDES ANYONE!!

• There is no HISTORY OF BROKENNESS that excludes ANYONE from God’s embrace

• The Church is Catholic because EVERYONE BELONGS THERE

• Remember what Jesus said about the mustard seed?

• The SMALLEST SEED that grows into this LARGE TREE and EVERY BIRD OF THE AIR can find a nest in its branches

• EVERYONE BELONGS!!

• EACH PARTICULAR CHURCH IS “CATHOLIC”

• Paragraph 833 says, “The phrase ‘particular church,’ which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession.”

• We profess the SAME THINGS

• We worship the SAME WAY

• That’s what a diocese is

• Paragraph 834 says, “Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome ‘which presides in charity.’”

• From the very beginning, they already noted that the Church in Rome has a UNIQUE ROLE of presiding in charity over the other diocese and other churches

• Paragraph 834 continues, “‘For with this church, by reason of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord.’”

• We have these Church Fathers professing this UNION we HAD TO HAVE

• WHICH IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• IT IS PRETTY PRETTY IMPORTANT!!

• WHO BELONGS TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

• Paragraph 836 says, “‘All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of the God…And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation.’”

• THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!

• THIS IS POWERFUL!!

• It’s CATHOLIC so it is for EVERYONE

• Paragraph 837 says, “‘Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who-by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion-are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops.”

• WHO is Catholic?

• THAT!! ⬆️

• People might CLAIM to be Catholic but if they reject any of those things they are living in this irregular relationship

• They are imperfectly in relation to the Church

• Even if we are in perfect relation right now, we can step out of that

• Paragraph 837 continues, “Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but ‘in body’ not ‘in heart.’”

• This means we can turn away

• We can LEAVE the Church

• We have to ask ourselves if that is us

• We might show up but we might pick and choose

• We might see the Church as a buffet

• We may accept things we like and reject things we don’t like

• ALL OF US are called to persevere in LOVE

• If we don’t persevere in love, we are NOT SAVED

• THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!

• All the Sacraments are FREE GIFTS

• Baptism is a FREE GIFT

• None of us did anything to deserve it

• None of us earn it

• BUT…

• WE CAN REJECT IT!!

• THAT IS A SCARY THOUGHT!!

• Paragraph 838 says, “‘The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of CHristian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter. Those ‘who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.’ With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound ‘that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist.’”

• We see ALL CHRISTIANS as brothers and sisters

• Those who are baptized and have faith are SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE FATHER

• So we are in a CERTAIN relationship

• BUT…

• We are not in a PERFECT relationship

• There is so much similarity between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches

• There is little that would have to happen to unite us

• Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI longed for the East and West to be united once again

• THE TWO LUNGS OF THE CHURCH TO BREATHE FULLY IN UNISON

• We pray for that UNITY

• Tomorrow we will talk about the Church and non-Christian religions

• What is our relationship with Jewish people, Muslim people etc?

• Today we recognize THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC

• God has given the Church the FULLNESS of the means of grace and sanctification

• The Church is called to go out to EVERYONE

• There is NO ONE that does not belong in the Catholic Church

• NO ONE is excluded

• NO ONE is disqualified

• EVERYONE IS NOT JUST WELCOMED!!

• EVERYONE IS INVITED!!

• Because God LONGS for us to have the FULLNESS OF HIS GRACE

• God LONGS for us to be able to say fully YES to HIm and all that He has revealed about Himself

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!