Do I have to believe everything the Church teaches?

BY JOHN MARTIGNONI

Question: I have some friends who are Catholic who say that you don’t have to believe everything  the Church teaches, whether it’s in the Catechism or not.  Is that true?

Answer: No, not really.  If you want to call yourself Catholic, but you want to pick and choose for yourself which of the Church’s doctrinal teachings to accept and which to reject, you give everyone else who calls himself Catholic the right to do the same thing.  

For example, you believe women should be priests.  Looking at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1577 states, “Only a baptized man validly receives ordination...For this reason the ordination of women is not possible!”  You don’t believe that?  Well, that’s fine - I’ll tear that page out of the book [RIP] - I just made it a Catechism of your Catholic Church, but not mine.  

Remember, though, if you can throw doctrines out, so can everyone else who calls himself Catholic.  That gives Joe Parishioner over at St. Doubting Thomas Catholic Church the right to throw out the Church’s social justice teachings - he doesn’t feel like feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and all that other “bleeding heart” stuff (Paragraphs 2401 -2463), [RIP] I just made it a Catechism of his Catholic Church, but not mine.

You believe contraception is okay?  Paragraph 2370 says contraception is intrinsically evil! [RIP] Joe Parishioner doesn’t like what the Church teaches on the death penalty (Paragraphs 2364-65) [RIP].  You don’t like what it teaches on pages 220-226, [RIP].  Joe Parishioner doesn’t like what it teaches on pages 334-356 [RIP].  

Can you see what’s happening?  I heard it said once that while there may be a shortage of vocations to the priesthood in the United States, there is no shortage of vocations to the Papacy in the United States.  If we don’t believe in all of it, if we each appoint ourselves Pope and throw out a doctrine here or a doctrine there, then our faith is no longer Catholic.  

About John Martignoni John Martignoni is the Director of the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama and also the President of the Bible Christian Society. John's column, Apologetics 101, appears regularly in the diocesan newspaper, the One Voice.  If you have a question about the Catholic Faith, please send an email to: jmartignoni@bhmdiocese.org.  And check out John's free audio and written apologetics materials at: www.biblechristiansociety.com.

God Never Blinks

BY DAVID O’BRIEN

One of the great benefi ts of being a Christian is to remind people that God never blinks. He doesn’t get distracted or take his eyes off us, ever. In fact, if God stopped thinking about us for one minute, we wouldn’t be in hell, we would disappear.

For me, as a baptized Catholic called to work in lay ministry, I have the privilege and the responsibility of representing God and His Church to others.

Take for example this past weekend. My wife and I visited a friend, Laura, who discovered her faith through a mission trip I led to Mexico nine years ago. When we listened to all that she has endured since we last saw her, our hearts broke.

Over the past few years, Laura has nursed a profoundly sick child. Her sister just died of an overdose. Her father was in jail. And her marriage collapsed- -the divorce was finalized last Friday. She currently goes to counseling with her 7-year old daughter so they can cope with the trauma of the divorce and the younger brother’s illness.

Honestly, I didn’t know how Laura wasn’t sitting in the corner of her living room crying her eyes out.

I stood up at one point and simply hugged her and told her she was "beautiful and a walking miracle". She looked at me like I had just given her oxygen after months of holding her breath.

As my wife and I left, Laura walked us to our car where we prayed over her, reminding her of God’s faithfulness. When we finished, Laura said: "Once before when we were in Mexico together, I felt like God reached out to me when I felt lost. I think that is happening again right now." We left knowing she was in good hands.

A few hours later, we attended a wedding of a young woman, Cathy, who is a spiritual powerhouse. Evidently, her new husband is one too.

The wedding Mass was packed with people--young and old-we knew from my ministry here years ago. With so much faith in the building, the ceremony felt more like a revival than the typical wedding. The priest even commented that he was so inspired by the devotion and Christian commitment of the couple that it made him want to be a better priest. I’m sure many of the couples in the pews, my wife and I included, felt the same way about our vocations.

At the reception, Cathy, her family and several of the guests told us how they missed us at the parish and how much it meant that we were there. One former youth group member in the bridal party mentioned that she cried coming up the aisle when she saw us.

I knew these people weren’t reacting to us this way. We represented the presence of Christ to them because of how we had experienced the love of God together in the years I ministered there. So when they looked at us, they were reminded of how good the Lord had been and still is.

Later at the reception, in a quiet moment, I told my wife that my heart could not absorb it all. It was just too overwhelming. God had taken us in those few hours from the depths of despair to the heights of joy-filled revelry. From sadness and sickness, to sacrament and celebration. And God never blinked.

Through every moment, high and low, God was with us and with our friends. In the morning, we joined Job on the dung hill of asking God "why?". (Job 2-3) And in the afternoon, we danced with Jesus at the Wedding of Cana. (Jn 2:1-11) But one thing remained clear throughout the day. The God of our faith never slumbers nor sleeps. (Ps 121:4) He is with us when we are walking on water. And He is just as present when we start to sink. (Mt 14:22-33) Maybe more.

About David O’Brien David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org.

The Church’s Needed Response to the Modern Media

BY G.P. GALLE

In my last article, it was requested by a few people that I followup discussing how the Catholic Church might respond to the modern media/entertainment industry’s agenda. How might the Church, and for that matter Christianity at large, respond to a narrative that is largely adverse to Her teachings? The answer is as frustrating as it is simple: be proactive. First, why it is frustrating.

Christianity, if it is true (and it is), must hold the keys to all that is true. It claims to, does it not? And if it claims to, and in fact does hold all that is true, then She the Church must have the ability to attract people to Her. She claims that God is beauty, and that God is the key to human happiness, and I believe her. She also claims that man reaches his pinnacle when fully given over to Her. Well said. Then why, one might ask, do we not see new and attractive Churches?

Our Church is rightfully focused on feeding and clothing people, that is providing sustenance to their body. Our Church is also rightfully quick to provide sustenance to the mind, as the intellectual texts the Church contains are fathomless. What the people of Our Church have, as of late forgot, is the sustenance of the soul: splendor. Think about it: when you are down, does not a sunset give you peace? Can you not feel a breeze...or for that matter watch a happy movie and feel better? What about an old familiar song? A great story?

Our Christ was the greatest artist in the History of the world (makes sense doesn’t it?). He knew the power of the story - most of his teachings were memorable parables. He knew the power of Creation: He made the universe. And He knew the power of irony and creativity when He brought forth the most unsuspected artform forever in this world: The Eucharist. It is here that He achieved what every artist’ dreams: to capture truth in it’s purest form. And Christ did this in literally a heartbeat. So what are we doing?

Have we forgotten the excellence of the Gregorian Chants? The power of Order? The splendor and genius of truly good art? How many people would rather download Summa Theologica than go see the pieta in Italy (answer: not many)? We have settled to respond to multi-million dollar productions with things that are second rate. So what do we do? It’s simple: be proactive.

Repeat. The answer is simple: be proactive. Do not settle. And support the arts within the Church. Entertainment can instruct, and the highest of art forms do both says Horace, and I agree with him. It is not enough to feed and clothe people and give them heavy books. Their soul needs splendor, needs to find creativity. People thrive with movies, music, video games, anything that will provide the human soul delight. Even if the Church does not respond, that void will be filled negatively and it currently is.  God is the one, true, good, and beautiful. If we ignore any of these qualities, we create a vacuum by which perversion and problems seep in.

Here is a component to being proactive: be forward thinking. Truly forward thinking. Not the progressive definition (which is actually regressive), but actually be on the cutting edge of discovery in craft. Stained glass is important, but we must also portray through new forms. What does the new stained glass look like? Digitally? Think about it.

And another thought: we need a place for our creative minds. The world’s creative industry is full of money, venues, and ability. But Christians need not apply. If you refuse to compromise, count on being marginalized in academia, count on being scrutinized and having your art torn apart (especially if it is good), count on being accused and looked at suspiciously. Count on carrying a cross. But a cross that is unnecessary. Instead of the marginalization, let us give the creative minds what Thomas Aquinas called all of us to do: to be Christ in their vocation. There is enough brutality in the creative process itself to be a full cross. Let people thrive carrying this Cross. Let the burden be the struggle for artistic perfection for Christ.

It was the de Medici’s, even in their scandal, that enabled some of the greatest innovations in history simply by enabling people like Michelangelo. It was Mozart who was funded by the royal court and the Church. Something else cool: given some of the scandals of old, we have an amazing opportunity: we can move to even greater heights.

There were many scandals in these times during the church. What would a more holy age look like? One that has the discoveries with less scandal? An age with religious fervor, the support of creativity, and the creative minds dedicated to serving the Lord. What a miraculous sight this would be!

So how are we going to go about this? By doing what is above (within all of it prayer), and finally, developing, proactively, new theories on the creative process that reflect the awesomeness of the Church. We must create based on these theories. What of deconstructionism? What of queer theory? These theories are funded with tons of grants and cush academic jobs. We must do more than criticize. Let us show how great the theories of truth are. Let us create a place for our academic minds...and reflect the natural law in modern, marketplace terms. Aristotle is vastly important to the entire western world, but our Church allows us to respond with Her laws to each generation differently. Let us move to grasp the new philosophers as much as the old. Let us embrace what is true progress, what is true response, what is true intellectualism.

So again, the simple but frustrating answer: be proactive. Let’s build.

Straight forward article? Just remember, I was asked.

About GP Galle G.P. Galle, Jr. has spent over 10 years studying the intersection of faith, politics, and pop culture. He is a writer and producer, previous works including A Dream Worth Living a culture of live musical, and vivace, a Christian Art extravaganza. He has a law degree from the University of Alabama Law School, and graduate magna cum laude from Auburn University.

Cars 2: a Telling Film on Hollywood's Agenda

BY G.P. GALLE

In 2006, the animated feature film Cars hit the box office and scored big, nearing a half billion dollars in the box office alone. The much anticipated sequel hit theaters this year, and is testament to the agenda push by powerful Hollywood players against Big Oil...in a kids movie.

Cars 2 director John Lasseter is very forward about the agenda in Cars 2:

"I kept thinking about, "OK. A spy movie in the world where cars are alive. What would be a really good kind of über bad guy? Who is an über bad guy?" I kept going to big oil. This is before what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Why isn't alternative fuel more... Why isn't everybody jumping on that bandwagon? It makes so much sense: Electricity, solar, whatever. There's ethanol. There's all this stuff you could be doing. And so I thought, well, that could be really cool in that you could have big oil versus alternative fuel. That's when we kind of crafted the bad guy's story."

Whether or not your political leanings are for or against the Oil industry, Cars 2 begs a larger question: What is Hollywood teaching our children, and how does this effect families? The question can be answered by looking to a perhaps seemingly odd pair of constituents: stained glass and super bowl commercials.

For the larger part of history, people have been largely illiterate. As a result, people learned visually and orally. In the middle ages and after, Christianity was able to educate through the beauty of the Church. A Blacksmith, hard at work in his shop, would stop at noon and go to receive Communion. While he was probably not allowed into royal houses, he was allowed in a Church. Here this man could feel safe, could know that there was an eternal place for him. He could also be educated on the teachings of the church. This Stained Glass was only the starting point: Gregorian chants, large icons, incense (which was probably a lot more pleasing to an audience without deodorant), and morality plays were just a few things that would help this man find peace in a very tough world. He could know those dedicated Christians. He could aspire to their lives.

Compare this to an explicit commercials during the SuperBowl, ones provocative and overtly sensual. These commercials air during a family event. A very different message certainly...but a similar type of education. People pay millions for a minute of SuperBowl air time. Why? Because they can convince people to buy their product....and it is proven to work. Sales go up with Super Bowl marketing. A great ad can make a product sell.

So what is a compelling television show selling? Think about it: if people will spend so much on an ad for the Super Bowl, because 1 minute will influence buying power, what does an hour and a half message in a movie do to a person? It is a simple connection, and one that Hollywood knows well. They have used it continuously, and Cars 2 is just one example. That is a political agenda on big oil. What about agendas against the Church? Movies like The Da Vinci Code? The Order? Doubt? The list goes on.

We are not using today’s stained glass called modern media. We have the truth, but it has got to get beyond dissertations. We need to speak in current Marketplace terms. Otherwise we will fail to reach a large part of the population. Why not have a Tom Clancy novel with a Christian hero? Why not have Tom Cruise in constant prayer in a Church when he plays a devout Christian World War II hero (a great example of a downplayed faith is Valkyrie).

And at heart, the most important place that we present this new stained glass is to our children. But because we have yet to take a proactive approach, to create new forms of media, we must, Fathers in particular, guard the family and the eyes of the children. They need not be swayed by a false but emotionally stirring presentation of sexuality, or gratuitous violence, or flawed arguments against the Church.

It is our job within Christianity to show people the splendor of the Holy Church, and reach people through the God-given mediums He has bestowed. It is our job as Father’s to protect our children and promote the Culture of Life in new and creative ways.

About G.P. Galle G.P. Galle, Jr. has spent over 10 years studying the intersection of faith, politics, and pop culture. He is a writer and producer, previous works including A Dream Worth Living a culture of live musical, and vivace, a Christian Art extravaganza. He has a law degree from the University of Alabama Law School, and graduated magna cum laude from Auburn University.

Searching for the right person...

BY DAVID O’BRIEN

There are two burning questions that dominate the lives of young adults: what am I supposed to do with my life and with whom should I do it? Mission and community.

For most, the second question is about finding the right person. Will I ever get married? How will I find my soulmate? Has God handpicked one person for me or is the choice up to me? If God is sending someone my way, how do I recognize him/her?

I spent many tortured nights wrestling with these questions. My journey included seven years discerning between the priesthood and marriage, a year in a Franciscan seminary, almost nine years in a relationship that led to a marriage proposal then ended in a painful broken engagement.

Honestly, at that point, I began to lose hope. Was God even listening anymore? Worn out by years of trying, I decided to give up and just be content, if not happy, with being single.

A year later at a young adult prayer group, I saw an unknown face in the crowd. She introduced herself as Rachel from Pensacola, new to New Jersey for a year of missionary work. She mentioned that she was also thinking about becoming a Trinitarian sister.

Intrigued by her beauty, her warm personality and her obvious commitment to her faith, I thought about saying hi during the social hour after the program. But with my heart still too beat up from the end of my engagement, I decided against it. Why bother? She was obviously not in the market for a relationship.

The next day I mentioned Rachel to Kate, a very spiritual friend of mine. Kate seemed to have a special frequency between her and Jesus. She often stopped looking at me when we talked and stared off into the distance, as if she were a dog listening to a high pitched whistle. When I told her about Rachel and how I wasn’t going to bother, she did that Jesus dog whistle thing again.

I asked her, "Kate, what? Why are you doing that?" She responded cryptically: "I would pay attention to this girl, David." I dismissed the idea but deep inside, I wondered.

Some weeks later at a young adult picnic, I invited Rachel to join my team for the volleyball tournament. Being less than 5 feet tall, I thought she could benefi t from my athletic prowess. She declined saying she already joined a team. A little disappointed, I fi gured she would regret her decision when my team slaughtered her team on the court.

I soon found out though that Rachel was an Olympic quality player and her team was decimating all the competition in large measure because of her.

When we finally faced each other in the championship round, she abused us without mercy. Desperate for a way to knock her off her game, I complimented Rachel about her stellar play but then suggested "too bad, once you miss a shot, it’s all down hill from there." Mind games at their worst.

A few points later, Rachel amazingly missed a point, and then another, then another. We mounted a furious comeback and were about to take the lead. Feeling that I was in her head, I eyeballed Rachel and subtly whispered to her: "mental toughness". A final dig, I just couldn’t resist now that I felt like the championship was ours.

The ball was served, back and forth, over the net several times until it rested just above the net between Rachel and me. I catapulted myself as high as I could, only to receive a volleyball sandwich. Rachel out jumped me and spiked the ball right in my face. Her team never lost another point. Game, set, match. I was starting to like this girl.

Later that night back at the missionary house, Rachel shockingly revealed to me that she had been praying and journaling about us. "Us", I thought. There was no "us". But as I listened to her, I felt an emerging love in my heart that I had been suppressing out of fear.

We ended up in the chapel for the next two nights talking until 4 a.m. We talked about our dreams, our families, our faith and our past disappointments. It wasn’t long before we recognized that something was happening, something bigger than either one of us. God’s hidden hand was beginning to show itself.

It was as if we were sitting in a theater watching the curtain open on a new Broadway play. The orchestra played the overture. We knew that behind the curtain the scene had been set. But oh, the wonder and awe of seeing that curtain peel back to reveal what lay behind it.

All these years, God had been arranging the scenes of our lives and now the curtain was finally opening for us to see. It was all there, miraculously.

Neither one of us had been previously married. Both had seriously considered religious life. What she wanted I wanted and my dreams matched hers.

At one point on the second night, out of curiosity, I asked her what kind of wedding she wanted. She responded: "I’d like everyone to be there and maybe there would be a potluck reception." Her words brought me back to the person I had once hoped to be.

For years I had talked about a potluck reception as a way to live the gospel, espousing simplicity and avoiding the excesses of the wedding industry in New Jersey. My ideas though were met by the mockery and derision of friend and family alike. Even my mother once told me that no woman would ever want to marry me if I talked like that.

During my previous relationship, my potluck reception idea was such a source of confl ict, I eventually abandoned it, succumbing to the pressure of the over the top, limited guest list, $30,000+ Princess Di wedding reception.

But here was Rachel, unbeknownst to her, speaking the very words I had once said. I sensed the Lord’s tender love piercing my heart. He said to me: "I know you thought I had forgotten you but I never did. Don’t you know how much I love you? I heard every word you ever prayed."

In that moment, I realized that Rachel was an expression of God’s love for me and that to marry her would be the way God was inviting me to grow in His love. I burst into tears. She was the one. She was God’s gift to me.

Back in the chapel the next night I asked Rachel, again out of curiosity, not as a proposal, "are you going to marry me?" Without hesitation she glibly replied: "I think I am." To which I said, "I think you are."

We will be nine years married this August, with our fourth baby due that same month. But we are no more certain today than we were in the chapel that night. God made it abundantly clear that He had been with us every step of the way. He still is.

I cannot say that the manner in which this played out in my life is the way God will act for others. But I do know this. Single, married, lonely, searching, divorced, hurting or feeling abandoned. You are not alone. God is not only watching you. God is actively working to bring you the love and the happiness you have always dreamed about.

What that will look like, I do not know. But if you can trust Him, God will get you there. Guaranteed. (Jn 10:10) The truth is, God’s dream for you is probably better than anything you could have ever asked for or imagined.

About David O’Brien David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org.

St. Joseph: the Church’s protector and our mentor

BY BILL HARKINS

Times are hard.  But if you look through history, they always are.  The devil is more successful in some eras and some locations than others, but he is always out there stirring up trouble.  Remember how Joseph had to flee with his family to Egypt to protect Jesus from being murdered by Herod?  In America, there is no direct threat like that to our loved ones, but there are still serious problems that we must face.  Take this line from the opening paragraph of an Encyclical from the Pope:

“We see faith, the root of all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity growing cold; the young generation daily growing in depravity of morals and views…”

These words sound like they are coming from a man who was walking through the Mall or watching the news on CNN today.  They aren’t.   They were written by Pope Leo XIII in August of 1889 (http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_le13qp.htm).      

Pope Leo saw the world having real problems as the 19th century was wrapping up.  Though he could not get news from the twittersphere, he had people all over the planet reporting back to him in Rome.  He was deeply saddened by what he and his followers were witnessing.  Through the sadness, he did not give up hope though.  So, what did he do?

One thing he did was encourage all the faithful to pray to God Almighty for strength to endure.  In doing so, he wrote the Encyclical quoted above, Quamquam Pluries (On Devotion to St. Joseph).  In it, Pope Leo reminds us to continue our prayers directly to God but to also continue our requests to Mary for her help, especially through praying the Rosary.  He ups the ante a bit by encouraging us to add a short prayer to St. Joseph at the end or our Rosary, you can see it here: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/stjoe2.htm.

Why did Pope Leo want the faithful to include St. Joseph on their list of saints to ask help from?  The Pontiff described Joseph this way:

“He set himself to protect with a mighty love and a daily solicitude his spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work he earned what was necessary for the one and the other for nourishment and clothing; he guarded from death the Child threatened by a monarch's jealousy, and found for Him a refuge; in the miseries of the journey and in the bitterness of exile he was ever the companion, the assistance, and the upholder of the Virgin and of Jesus…It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.”

As Men of St. Joseph, we should often ask our patron to help us.  This does not mean to ignore our direct line to Jesus Christ, or to avoid asking Mary or other Saints for assistance.  But, we should take advantage of our special relationship with Jesus’ foster father and the patron of the Church.  Joseph went through many of the struggles we go through as men, husbands, fathers, workers and leaders.  He understands what our life is like, though we will never fully comprehend his.

Imagine how challenging everything must have been for this man.  Though a spiritual superstar, he was not sinless as his wife was or divine like his foster Son.  One lesson this gives us is that we can be “less” in many ways than other members of our family and still be the leader.  If God has placed us in this role, there is a reason.  Remember, a good leader does not do everything himself, but taps into others’ talents and manages the situation to accomplish the task at hand.  Certainly Joseph is a model for us in this respect.

Take a moment each day to ask Saint Joseph to support you.  You don’t need any formal prayer to do this.  Start by opening your heart to the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Express praise to God.  Think of your gifts and thank God for them. Briefly think of any mistakes and sins you have made recently, think of what you could have done better and ask His forgiveness.  Offer you life to God, just as Joseph did.  Ask the Holy Spirit to anoint you and your actions.  Ask Mary to help you be pure of thought and action, to help your family.  Wrap up by asking Joseph to pray for you to have the strength he did when he was living on earth, providing for and protecting his family.  Ask him to protect your family, friends and the Church.

Try to offer your prayers without watching the clock.  When you can, pull in some short Bible reading into your prayer.  Even just a few lines of Scripture can be very meaningful.

Our lives today are complicated and fast paced, even more so than during Pope Leo XIII’s time.  It is easy to let trivial things steer us away from what’s important.  We have to take charge of our lives.  We are responsible for fulfilling the roles that God has chosen for us.  If we try to go through life on our own, without any help, we are certain to fail.  Pray often, read Scripture and learn the Catechism so you can better understand God’s plan for you and your family.  Tap into Saint Joseph as a mentor and protector.  He certainly won’t let you down.

Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons, Pray for us.

About Bill Harkins Bill Harkins is a husband and father, retired Marine, theology student, and candidate for the permanent deaconate for the Archdiocese of Mobile. He is an active member of St. Ignatius Parish, Mobile, Alabama.