{"id":994,"date":"2011-01-20T13:12:31","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T19:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=994"},"modified":"2011-01-20T23:11:02","modified_gmt":"2011-01-21T05:11:02","slug":"the-real-truth-about-grace-and-which-church-ha-the-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/20\/the-real-truth-about-grace-and-which-church-ha-the-most\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Truth About Grace and Which Church Has the Most"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

This video reminded me of something I alluded to in my last post regarding the presentation of a Catholic gospel message<\/a>. Many Catholics don’t recognize the distinctiveness of the Catholic Church in the plan of salvation.<\/p>\n

Is the Church Dispensable?<\/h2>\n

Fr. Barron talks about a common misconception among Catholics that the Church is relatively dispensable<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

Confusion in the Ranks<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This is not the Catholic viewpoint. The Church is not an add-on<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Real Story on Salvation<\/h2>\n

Within the Catholic Church subsists the fullness of the means of salvation, the grace that makes us holy.\u00a0Other faith traditions have pieces of this but the fullness resides within the Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church is where we find the fullness of the life Christ wanted to give to us,\u201d<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

Evangelization is Necessary<\/h2>\n

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!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Image: Simon Howden \/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Catholics are tempted to believe the Church is just one option among many. 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