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Inner Life of a Catholic

The Profession of Faith 

We look at the doctrines of the Catholic Faith, the Teachings of Christ as passed down to us through Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition, the Sacraments of the Church and how modern changes in the Church have coincided with modern changes in society during the 20th century, not all of them for the good!

Divisions

We are living in a world of constant division even within the church that Christ started almost 2000 years ago. Satan loves to divide and will try in every way possible to so so because in division there is anger, pride, dissent, violence etc. and a complete move away from the true teachings of Jesus Christ. My own Church, the Catholic Church has seen the 'best of times and the worst of times', has experienced division and heresy, has had its own catalogue of scoundrels and scandals, and yet still survives. As Jesus said Himself: "..... the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it". So, regardless of what happens we know that our Church is covered by that guarantee given to us by our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Being a Catholic

As a Catholic I am a Christian and as such:

• Believe what Christ taught
• Obey what He has commanded
• Offer the sacrifice and receive the sacraments which He instituted.

The Church is the organisation or organism which Christ Himself founded to continue His work of sanctifying, ruling and teaching all men and women, bringing them to the fruits of Redemption. Christ commissioned the Apostles, under the primacy of Peter, to rule and teach His Church; and He instituted the Mass and the Sacraments, by means of which they were to sanctify all. Therefore, the Church is that unification with Christ in a hierarchical organised society - the Mystical Body of Christ. It includes all those who are baptised, profess the true faith, and are in lawful communion with the Pope as Peter's successor.

The Church founded by Christ must be one, with all the members united in recognition of the same authority and in the profession of the same faith. "There shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John 10:16).

• It must be holy because it is sanctified through its union with Christ.
• It must be catholic or universal because Christ founded it for all men.
• It must be apostolic, preserving intact and propagating the truths revealed to the Apostles and receiving its authority from them and their successors.

The Church was born at the moment of Christ's death on the cross, when the Old Testament was succeeded by that of the New Testament. It was made manifest to the world on the first Pentecost, when the Apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, went forth to obey Christ's command to teach all nations.

Catholic Action

This is the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy and has been the case since the very beginning of the church. Under the guidance and approval of the local Priests and Bishops groups work together doing apostolic work, either specialised or general. Specialised means youth with the youth, farmers with the farmers, black priests for the black nations etc.

The purpose of Catholic Action is the purpose of the Church itself, which is to bring about the reign of Christ in individuals, families, and in society. Its aim, therefore, is spiritual and religious, not temporal or political. Love of God and of one's neighbour is one foundation on which is based the obligation of all, the laity included, to engage in the apostolate. It is founded also on the membership of all in the organic structure of the Mystical Body of Christ (the Church).

For the laity, by reason of the sacramental character of Baptism and Confirmation, they participate in their own way in the priesthood of Christ and are called to the apostolate of prayer, sacrifice, example and works. Modern changes have increased the role of the laity, often actually taking over the role of the priest. Liberalist agendas place pressure on Church leaders to bring about changes that are not in keeping with the Teachings of Christ. Ecumenism is seeing the watering down of our Traditional Catholic beliefs and practices to accommodate other churches. Is it not ironic that those churches that broke away from the Catholic Church due to heresy are now being placated towards Ecumenism by offering changes to the Truths that we, as Catholics, have held dear since the Church first began! All of these topics are discussed within the 'Catholic's Corner' and are issues that are leaving many good and loyal Catholics not a little worried. Forty years on since Vatican II 'opened the windows and let in the Spirit' we have seen such enormous changes and some folk are beginning to question the validity of some of them and the real reasons behind them. It seems it was more than just the Holy Spirit that entered! 

History

The early history of the Church is contained in the Acts of the Apostles. It spread from Judea to Samaria to Asia Minor, to Greece and to Rome where Saint Peter set up his See, probably about the year 42 AD. From Rome the Church spread to the whole world. During the almost 2000 years of the Church some 264 Popes have succeeded Peter, most of them really good men, some of them real saints and a few of them scoundrels, highlighting the human nature of man and the need for constant prayers for our Pope and Bishops at any given time. During this time the Church's doctrine and discipline have withstood countless persecutions, heresies and other perils to which any but a divinely instituted society would have secumbed.

Now, at the start of the 21st century and for the past 50 years or so, we are seeing, yet again, attacks on the Catholic Church, both from within and without. It is interesting to really open the eyes and ears and actually see what is going on! Were the Traditionalists like Archbishop Lefebvre wrong as we were led to believe or did they see what was coming? To my mind his mistake was not in trying to preserve the authenticity of the Latin Rite Mass but in breaking away from Papal Authority by ordaining his own Bishops. Not unlike Martin Luther, who probably had some sound reasons for dissenting but did his pride drive him away from the True Church of Christ?  I leave the conclusions up to you, the reader.

Heresy

The Oxford Dictionary describes Heresy as:

"A belief or practice contrary to the Orthodox Doctrine of the Christian Church"

Because this is such a broad subject and led to many Schisms within the Roman Catholic Church, we have allocated a complete page to the topic, listing 33 of the better-known heresies with links from each to the 'truths' they espoused.

Schism

Again quoting the Oxford Dictionary, Schism is:

"A division of a group into opposing sections or parties; the separation of a church into two churches or the secession of a group owing to doctrinal disciplinary etc. differences".

Schism (from the Greek schisma meaning rent, division) is, in the language of theology and canon law, the rupture of ecclesiastical union and unity, i.e. either the act by which one of the faithful severs as far as in him lies the ties which bind him to the social organization of the Church and make him a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, or the state of dissociation or separation which is the result of that act. As with heresy, this topic has been given a page of its own as it might offer some light into the break-away Christian groups and churches from the Church as founded by Christ and brought to us by the Apostles.

Sharings

Gary Hoge is a convert to Catholicism from Evangelical Protestantism, and before he became a follower of Jesus Christ in 1986 he was an atheist. So he's covered a lot of theological ground in his life. He's not a scholar, and doesn’t pretend to be, but he's learned a lot along the way. If you’re interested, you can read more about him and his sharings here: http://catholicoutlook.com/. He's got some brilliant insight about what being a member of the Catholic Church means, often the way with converts as we who have had the faith handed down to us generally take it all very much for granted.

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