This video reminded me of something I alluded to in my last post regarding the presentation of a Catholic gospel message. Many Catholics don’t recognize the distinctiveness of the Catholic Church in the plan of salvation.
Is the Church Dispensable?
Fr. Barron talks about a common misconception among Catholics that the Church is relatively dispensable. Since God’s grace is everywhere, not exclusively within the confines of the Catholic Church, why not seek it wherever you can find it. It’s okay to leave the Church if you have problems. Whatever church works best for you is where you should go. Kind of like saying the best diet plan is the one you’ll actually follow.
The danger with this kind of thinking is people think we don’t need to evangelize or tell people about the Catholic Church. The Church is reduced to one option among many, and they’re all equal. It’s also a way of comfortably bowing out of the responsibility to talk about the Church to non-Catholic friends or family.
Confusion in the Ranks
I think most Catholics just aren’t sure where the Church fits into the big scheme of things. They know Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection give us forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but then it sort of stops there.
Many Catholic evangelization programs do the same thing. They present the gospel as the saving work of Jesus Christ, but the Church becomes sort of an add-on or addendum.
This is not the Catholic viewpoint. The Church is not an add-on. It’s not just a way of governing Christians that developed over time. It’s not just a support group. The Church is part of the plan from the beginning, integral to salvation. You see, if the Church was not established by Jesus and is not integral to his saving plan, then it can be optional or one option among many.
The Real Story on Salvation
Within the Catholic Church subsists the fullness of the means of salvation, the grace that makes us holy. Other faith traditions have pieces of this but the fullness resides within the Church.
“The Church is where we find the fullness of the life Christ wanted to give to us,” Fr. Barron says in the video. This is the way Catholics must learn to think and believe. God’s grace can be found in other faith traditions, but not in the way it can be found in the Catholic Church.
Evangelization is Necessary
Don’t ever think people are just fine if they’ve left the Church because all churches are basically the same. They’re not! Don’t ever think we don’t need to evangelize people and tell them about the beauty and richness of the Catholic Faith because God’s grace is found everywhere in equal measures. It’s not!
Have you seen this attitude in your students or fellow parishioners? Why do you think people are unclear about the Church’s role in salvation? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
Nice post, Marc.
I think we need to acknowledge, though, that many of us in the pews don’t make it easy for others to see the grace present in the Church. In fact, sometimes it is hard to blame people who walk away from the Church when we don’t help them see its beauty. When we fail to welcome visitors (or, worse, get upset when they take up “our pew”), don’t support our priests, sit glumly during the homily — in short, when we fail to witness to the joy of the faith — we help others see the worst in the human institution, rather than the grace of the Body of Christ.
Those are good points Jonathan, especially given the message of my last couple of posts that talked about how important the human connection is and how those are the kinds of things that people first notice. I suppose it’s also true that people who leave do so mostly because of concerns on a human level and the theological consideration of which Church has the fullness of the means of grace would never enter into their minds. The interesting thing is that most likely things won’t be much different in other churches they to to after they leave the Catholic Church. There’s always human conflicts and difficulties no matter where you go. There’s sinners in those other churches too. 😉 The only difference is it’s very easy to leave those churches and move on to another one. I think the thrust of my post (which I know you understand) is directed to those of us educators who have the responsibility to teach these differences to people. Children need to understand there’s a difference and not all churches are equal so that when they do have a problem with someone or something in the Church (and they probably will), they won’t leave. There’s a disconnect in how we present the role of the Church and as long as that continues, people won’t have a problem leaving because they don’t see any difference. I think we need to actively work to give people a correct ecclesiological understanding. Then they can ground their belief in the spiritual reality of the Church while trying their best to deal with the earthly aspects.
I must say my neighbors in the pews share none of the blame for my leaving the church 35 years ago. It was 100% my fault.
I have to say, I agree with you on that one. I’m not sure anyone is to blame for my leaving the Church either. Although, I’d like to blame those adults in my world that didn’t engage me enough to make it matter, but that’s probably not right.
Also, I think I probably drifted away because of doctrinal issues not the bad witness of people…not wanting to follow the Church’s sexual morality and the demands of the gospel were more likely the culprit.
Great post, and nice follow-up from Jonathan. This all reminds me of what Matthew Lickona says in Swimming with Scapulars – “Listen. I have a secret. I eat God, and I have his life in me. It’s the best thing in the world.” The Eucharist as “source and summit” of our faith and the Sacraments can draw people to the Church and speak to their hearts, even more than apologetics can appeal to their heads, you know? (and I say that as a big fan of apologetics).
Great thoughts Dorian. I absolutely agree!
Great post Marc! Jonathan, I think you have a point but I also think of what I read from George Weigel’s book “Letters to a Young Catholic” about Evelyn Waugh, when he had someone question him about his bad witness and he spoke about the reality that yes, this may be true “but without the [Catholic] Faith I should scarcely be human”.
Thanks for the comment William.
That remind ME of the story Fr. Barron told in the video about the discussion between Hans Kung and Henri de Lubac. Yes, there are problems in the Church, but still, she’s our Mother! I think if only people could learn to love the Church for who she is in herself, the spotless Bride of Christ, and understand how much she truly offers, they wouldn’t think so easily of leaving.
Great post, Mark. I live in a town with a “megachurch” that is probably 70% “previous” Catholics (I say previous because once Catholic, always Catholic. Stronger catechesis from the pulpit will yield much fruit. We, as educators, definitely need to make sure our students know why we are the Church that Jesus Christ established.
Well said Rich! I heartily agree. That is our sacred task as religious educators.
Confusion is everywhere. And I’d love to know your thoughts on a much less common issue: I saw some Catholics online quite upset about another Catholic becoming Orthodox. I am always sad to see someone leave the Church, but to me there is a tremendous difference between becoming Protestant and abandoning the Real Presence and valid Sacraments, and becoming Orthodox and abandoning Rome, but keeping the Sacraments and obedience to a real bishop. Your thoughts?
I would agree. I think it would be much better to become Orthodox if you left the Church than to become Protestant. You have the sacraments and the guidance of a hierarchy.
But you know, it still stings. I remember a few years back, a couple showed up in the parish that had newly converted and they were really on fire. Then about 3 months later, they went to the Orthodox Church. The husband said he saw it as going all the way and not stopping at Catholicism. I was sad about it.
I thought about it and I get so much from the Magisterium. I just can’t see doing it, even though it’s so close. All the guidance we get from the Pope and the whole Peter and the keys thing. I don’t think we should just be content if someone leaves for the Orthodox Church either. We should still pray for them to return to Rome because there’s so much benefit from allegiance to Peter.
I emphasize during the catechetical year through numerous examples in the Gospels and Acts that Jesus went to a lot of trouble to set up a visible, authoritative church.
That’s the way to do it! Absolutely agree with that method.
Thanks Christian!
No, I can’t blame them for being upset about the divisions in the Church. No one should be really.
I always say that the fullness of the means of grace subsists in the Catholic Church but there is grace in other churches as well. The Church, as in the body of all Christians joined to Christ by Baptism, is like a family. And, there’s degrees of membership in the family.
Think of it as concentric circles. In the middle is the Catholic Church centered around the Pope. All in union with him form the nuclear family. Then there’s all the extended family. The Orthodox are in the next circle. They have all the same means of grace except the leadership of the Pope. Then imagine the denominations, the more traditional churches like Lutherans and Anglicans are one more rung out. They have baptism, the Bible, common prayer and liturgical worship. It it goes on.
We’re all connected through Baptism, but the closer you are to the center, the nuclear family, the easier it is to know the Father, share a meal with the family and get the right guidance for life within the family. That’s a big deal! Those other churches do make an honest effort to embrace Jesus. Why are there so many denominations? Because it’s difficult to know the truth and interpret it for our times. Humanity is fallen. We need divine help to be able to clarify divine Truth.
Jesus established a Church and gave the apostles his own authority and power to run it. He also gave them the ability to pass on that authority and power so we could know and follow him. If you think about it, he had to make a way for us to know the truth 2,000 years later. He had to make a way for us to get the message with the same rigor and vigor that the first century disciples got it from him. Otherwise, what good was his mission? It had to endure and so he made a way.
Yes, these divisions took place because of human frailty and weakness. They continue because of the same thing. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we know truth with absolute certainty. Through apostolic succession, that certainty resides within the Catholic Church.
Hope that answers your questions. Thanks for the comment!