The Universality of the One True Church.

The third mark of the true Church as professed in the Nicene Creed is that it is ‘Catholic’, from the greek καθολικός, meaning ‘universal’. This is what I love about her, she is the universal Church, a church for all. She provides a means of salvation for everyone, sinners and saints, regardless of colour, language, culture, or depth of depravity. To each one of these, she provides the same means of salvation: the thrice holy sacrifice of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, in the Mass.

Many, many people with good intentions misunderstand this one fact of the universality of the one true Church. They understand the term to mean ecumenism, acceptance, multiculturalism and plurality of practice. Many of the Catholics I have spoken to keep this weird notion of many roads to salvation, many different spiritual practices. For those enjoy it, there is the Latin Mass, and the rest who want to understand what is going on can attend Mass in the vernacular. Those appreciate it can have chant at Mass, the rest can have praise and worship songs or hymns. Even worse are the ones who don’t believe in the superiority of the Catholic Church over all other religions.

I had a very disturbing conversation with a priest about the starting a Catholic Society in School, and he was not to happy that I wanted to make the liturgy and prayer the foundation and cornerstone of the group. He was worried that people with other spiritual inclinations, like providing care for the others, and corporal acts of mercy would get side lined. The childish pluralistic idea that Catholicism is a buffet with something for everyone!

No, the universality of the Church is not a buffet with things to chose from, the universality of the Church is that there is one sure way to salvation, the cross. To put God at the centre of one’s life, to be completely obedient to the divine will, to go for Mass and receive communion. ‘He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day’. That is the Holy Mass. The religious orders are all the same, the Mass and prayer, and obedience to the divine will are at the centre of these orders, regardless of the minor differences in their expression of spirituality. The Little Sisters of the Poor, in keeping Christ at the centre of their lives, would put down their spoons during feeding time when the bell for prayer rang. In a letter to her sister, there is evidence that St Thérèse of Liseux put down her pen in midstroke to obey the bell.

That is the true universality of the Church, the one means to salvation, through Christ, her spouse. It doesn’t matter if one attends the Novus Ordo in English or the Tridentine Mass in Latin; they are the same Mass. That sacrifice is the one and the same sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. And, there could never be anything less exciting than the Mass. The Mass is where one finds Christ, truly present, in the most Blessed Sacrament! Assisting at Mass is where we participate together with the Christ in the salvation and conversion of souls! The Mass is where you get to meet your God, the God who created everything and everyone in the world, with love, regardless of their belief in Him. If anyone is to be converted to the truth, to belief in Christ, it would not be through endless hours of theological debate, it will be through the graces earned the Holy Mass.

And that is what we as youth need! What we want! Enough of this nonsense of making Mass accessible to youth! Enough of appealing to our hormonal emotions and desire for endorphins. Give us Christ! Give us His Mass in all its splendour! Teach it to us! Enough of bishops, priests and religious camouflaging themselves in civilian attire! Are they not the spouses of Christ, why do they not wear the very wedding gowns and collars that symbolize their fidelity and submission to Him? People complain that they won’t be able to appreciate chant, they won’t be able to understand the Mass if it was in Latin. Then learn about it! Listen to it, read up about it. We live in a world where all these things are accessible to us via a few keystrokes. So if it is inaccessible to you, it is only because you are lazy. That’s why. Why do you not make the effort to learn about the most exciting thing in your life: Christ? And if you are not excited, perhaps you should ask yourself, is Christ really the centre of my life?

Stop waiting around for Christ to come down and teach it to you Himself. He has already come once for our redemption. The next time He comes will be at the of time, to judge the living and the dead. Do really want to wait that long to learn more about Him? It will soon be a lent, what a better time to reconcile with Him and learn about his sacrifice!

‘Ask and ye shall receive’.