At the “Where Peter Is” blog, also known as “Where Francis Was” Pedro Gabriel has a video on why he is a Catholic and remains so:
Pedro Gabriel shares his personal faith journey, as a gradual process shaped by study, experience, and a desire for intellectual coherence.
Pedro talks about the moments that forced him to take his beliefs seriously again: his growing up in Portugal, the 2007 abortion referendum, his work in medicine, and his encounter with the writings of Pope Benedict XVI. He also reflects on how his faith was later challenged and refined during the papacy of Pope Francis.
This is a reflection on faith and reason, authority and conscience, and what it has meant to remain Catholic while trying to think honestly and consistently.
My response:
For me, the hierarchy of reasons why I remain a Catholic consists of the four or so most important reasons:
1. Jesus is One Divine Person, with two natures, Human and Divine
2. In His public Ministry He began to found and form His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
3. By the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and and mediated through the Catholic Church, which the Risen Lord founded, I can experience salvation through God’s grace that enables me to repent of my sins, and to strive to know, love and serve Jesus Christ in this world and to be happy with Him forever in heaven and with the communion of saints and angels!
4. I am a Catholic because I want God forgives the Original Sin of Adam and Eve and my own personal/actual sins through the ministry of the Church He founded and through that Church leads me to eternal life in heaven won for us by the same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In other words I want to go to heaven. That’s why I am a Catholic.
Everything else, faith and reason, nice liturgies, popes that look like popes in dress and manner, are all icing on the cake but not essential to me remaining a Catholic. Because Jesus founded the Cathoic Church is the only reason I remain a Catholic. If that wasn’t true and heaven is an automatic thing, I’d be a none and practicing pagan in every aspect of the word.
7 comments:
Because is the only sure and certain path to salvation.
1. … I firmly believe the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ and willed by God to be the sole instrument of salvation for all humanity (1).
2. … I firmly believe that the fullness of the means of salvation can be found only in the Catholic Church (2).
3. … I firmly believe that there can be no salvation for those who, knowing this, would refuse to enter the Catholic Church and remain in it (3).
(1) Lumen Gentium, 8: “The one mediator, Jesus Christ, established and forever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men . . . This is the sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Savior, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (Jn. 21:17), commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it (cf. Matt. 28:18, etc.), and which he raised up for all ages as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15).”
(2) See, Dominus Iesus, 22: “It is also certain that objectively speaking they [i.e., those outside the visible bounds of the Catholic Church] are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.”
(3) See, Lumen Gentium, 16: “Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.”
Or, putting it another way:
What if Jesus looked you in the eyes - looked into your heart - and told you that he wants you to be in full membership of the Church he founded? What if he told you that it saddens him that you are not fully united with his Church? That his Church needs you and your talents to evangelize the world? That staying separated from his Church is a wound to unity and impedes his Church’s mission? That he is sad that you don’t receive the grace that flows out through the sacraments, which would otherwise bring you closer to him?
What would you say to him? What would you do?
I remain a Catholic because it is in the Catholic Church that the fullness of the Apostolic Faith is believed, professed, and taught.
I would hesitate to say that God is "saddened" by our actions since this implies that God is mutable and subject to human emotions.
Heresy alert,‼️ Is not Jesus Christ God, One Divine Being with two natures, Human and Divine, and as such, even in His Glory in heaven, can be saddened and being made sad, angry and happy is the nature of God and we humans made in the image and likeness of God?!
Thank you, Father. Given your helpful reply, I would revise my comment to read as follows:
What if Jesus looked you in the eyes - looked into your heart - and told you that he ardently desires for you to be in full membership of the Church he founded? What if he told you that he personally desires you to be fully united with his Church? That his Church needs you and your talents to evangelize the world? That staying separated from his Church is a wound to unity and impedes his Church’s mission? That he wants you to receive the grace that flows out through the sacraments, which would bring you closer to him? What would you say to him? What would you do?
Here is what Google AI says. I have not attempted to verify it.
Yes, according to Catholic theology, the glorified Jesus can be "saddened" or "offended" by sin, though not in a way that causes passible suffering, corruption, or diminished joy. While his humanity is glorified and impassible (unable to suffer pain or decay), he retains a perfect, glorified human nature that can feel sorrow or displeasure, as shown in devotions to his Sacred Heart.
Here is the breakdown of this, based on Catholic teaching:
Impassibility vs. Affectivity: Impassibility does not mean a lack of emotions. It means the glorified body cannot be damaged, feel pain, or suffer death. Jesus’ human nature is perfected, and thus his capacity for emotional, intellectual, and spiritual responses is also perfected.
Sorrow for Sin: As God, Jesus has perfect knowledge of all sins, and in his humanity, he understands the damage sin causes to his human creatures. The “offense” or “sadness” is not a disruption of his divine bliss, but a proper, loving, and intellectual reaction to the violation of love.
The Sacred Heart: The devotion to the Sacred Heart reinforces that Jesus’ human heart, even in glory, continues to love and to be hurt by human indifference and sin, inviting reparation.
In summary, Jesus's impassibility means he cannot be hurt by us anymore, but his glorified human nature allows him to be "offended" or "saddened" for us and by our actions, as an act of perfect love.
Don - Despite Fr. ALLAN McDonald revealing comments about heresy, I think your refinement of your notion of Jesus' desire for us fits the bill.
Fr. ALLAN McDonald - You have told us repeatedly of the paucity of your theological formation at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore. In your "Heresy Alert" post, the weaknesses show forth.
First, to be made in God's image means that we have the ability to make choices, not that we can become angry or sad or happy.
Second, the human nature of Christ is now glorified in heaven in a way that it was not whilst he walked upon the face of the earth. There's a difference.
Third, as Don has wisely pointed out, God is impassible. To say or suggest otherwise is tending toward . . . heresy.
Post a Comment