This poor child could not be further from the truth! Unfortunately, he’s not alone. And, by not alone, I don’t mean the hordes of other protestants with no real understanding of the Church; save the nonsense told them by their pastors which they got from their pastors, who got it from their pastors (who got it from their pastors, who got it from Luther, but I digress). Sadly, there are many of us Catholics out there who think the same way, and they have tried to infuse these protestant ideas into the Church. So, if she might not notice the difference in some churches, we are to blame.
If you don’t believe me, have a look for yourself. Can you guess which one is Catholic?
So here, are three reasons why he’s wrong:
1. The Church was set up by God Himself, and so, is the One True Church. The doctrines, dogmas and traditions that She teaches have been handed to Her by God Himself, and have remained unchanged for almost two thousand years. Therefore, only She possesses the fullest truth. The protestants broke away and started dropping truths and doctrines like hot potatoes. Thus, if you really want to get to know God, you know where to go.
When Luther decided to abandon the authority of the Church and dropped all Her traditions. He then left the poor protestants with just the bible and gave them authority to interpret it. Unfortunately, the bible isn’t a straight forward book to interpret, it’s a literary masterpiece, chock full of large scoops of allegory and metaphor. So, essentially, Luther left the protestants and their descendants with this book of lecture notes from God and without the lecturer to explain it. Just imagine the chaos that transpired, headless students running all over the place, and now you have 38,000 different protestant denominations. They all have differing opinions, so which is the actual truth? They can’t all be true.
That is not to say that one can’t get to know God outside of the Church. You can; which is how a lot of people end inside the Church, but outside, you just won’t get to know Him as well.
Oh ya, The Church is not a denomination. It is THE Church.
He was one of them, decided we had more truth, then, became a Cardinal and a Saint. Hoo-hah.
2. We have the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.
The protestants have all these passionate sermons by their pastors with energetic praise and worship music so that everyone can jump about and then go to their cell groups to discuss bible verses. There, they pray to God and He speaks to them through their feeligns. And then, they go passionately live their lives as Christians. (Also, they might talk in gibberish from time to time)
That’s a pretty attractive and tough game to beat. We only have the Holy Mass after all. It’s so boring and repetitive and I don’t know why mummy drags me there every Sunday. And, the priest keeps giving lame homilies about how the lesson of the gospel is like a highlighter or other various stationary! How am I ever going to get to know God? Besides, he never talks to me like he does to my protestant friends.
But wait….
WE HAVE THE HOLY MASS!
God knows that you need to get to know Him and love Him, he created you for the very purpose! So, out of compassion, He created Holy Mother Church, instituted Holy Mass and commissioned His apostles to say it. Then, He was tortured and nailed to a cross by the very people He came to save (you and me) and died for our sins. This is all well and good you say, but how does the Church help me foster my relationship with God?
She takes you to Him. Yes, that’s right. She takes you right there, right then to the very foot of the cross on Calvary. The Holy Mass also goes by other names, like the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or the Most August Sacrifice. Have you ever wondered why? The altar is the icon of the body of Christ and is a table with one purpose only: to offer sacrifices. And, that is what the priest does every time he says Mass, he offers the sacrifice of Jesus to God in redemption for our sins so we may be saved. Mass is the unbloody re (hypen) presentation of the crucifixion on Calvary (http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1367.htm). Christ has already died for us, but when we are at Mass, we are supernaturally transported to that moment.
What’s more, during every Mass, this re-presentation is made real with the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. When the priest says the words of consecration, there and then the substance of the host is transformed into Jesus HIMSELF. It may look like bread, but it is no longer bread, it is the body of Christ, under the veil of the sacrament! During the consecration you are there, physically with your God, the very Saviour of the World. How personal is that? Tell me, which of your protestant friends can claim such privilege?
‘HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM’, ‘FOR THIS IS MY BODY’
Moreover, Holy Mother Church in Her divine wisdom knows that you cannot be saying your ‘sorry’s and ‘thank you’s to God while distracting loud music is going on, so She gives you silence. She knows you long to be with God in heaven so she gives you the Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, so that you may know what angels sound like. She gives you beautiful sacred pictures and architecture so that you may know what heaven looks like. She knows you cannot read the bible on your own, so she gives you the wisdom and instruction of the Church fathers. She knows you need inspiration to be holy, so she gives the examples of the Saints! Is it not through all these things that God wishes to speak to you? Are you willing to listen?
How compassionate is He to your plight that He is constantly going out His way to find you through so many different avenues? The Mass is all about how compassionate God is to us. The boring homily about how the gospel passage is like eyeglasses is not important! You are there! With God! Why are not speaking to Him? Why are you not asking Him for greater faith?
3. The protestants do it better.
It’s true. You want the modern music, the guitar riffs, the drums, the energy and dancing, go to the protestant…uh place of ‘worship’. You won’t find it in at Mass. See, the Church understands the need for these things for some people…outside of Mass, however some really smart people keep trying to bring it into Mass. The only problem is that is makes Mass boring. It also makes the people who do it look very silly.
- Cathedral of Los Angeles, 2005 (Also top picture)
- Cathedral of Los Angeles, 1945
So, if you really want to get to know God, then you know where to be! See you at Mass later.
No comments:
Post a Comment