How to Share the Catholic Faith

I have been asked by former Protestants more than once how to share the Catholic faith. There are at least two reasons why the former Protestant -- now Catholic -- has some kind of hesitation or reservation as to the "how to" of sharing their Catholic faith. For starters, the road to Rome is littered with theological jargon and the exploring of theological issues not theretofore experienced. Thus, one comes under the rightful impression that the Church has been thinking about what she believes for 2,000 years, and that such an extended thought has yielded enough to ponder for a thousand lifetimes. I mean, She is older than plastic unlike at least 10,000 or so Christian denominations -- so it is kind of what you would expect.

The Vatican Library

This perceived complexity leaves the new convert stultified, thinking that by saying "x", they open up can "a" which necessarily leads to opinion "b-1", and we all know that "b-1" leads to what is behind door #2, and so on. This is only reinforced by spending more than a half an hour in a Protestant-Catholic combox on an article about the Papacy. Not to mention, that to the modern mind, St. Thomas Aquinas can seem pedant -- not his fault -- but still a problem nonetheless. All of this reinforcing the observation of how the modern convert to Catholicism struggles in the ocean that is Catholic theology.

Which leads to the second problem: an oversimplified Gospel. Now, I don't mean to say that the story of Christ's passion is not simple. It is. As we say every Sunday at Holy Mass, "We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again." This is truly good news! So, the message of the story of our redemption is simple. However, the message of the Messenger was not. Of course, one is always free to go buck-wild and redact the New Testament to something like "Jesus loves me this I know", but that is a far cry from the demands, commands, and instructions Our Savior gave us while on earth. In fact, Christ is the Message, the logos, of the Father. All the books in the world -- even the Bible -- cannot contain the totality of His message. He is the Infinite Word. Thus, it is His message planted in His Church that lives, grows, and is protected by the Holy Spirit. It is the life of the Church -- the Sacred Living Tradition -- that is the continuation of the Incarnate presence of Our Lord on earth.

Yet there are those that think that the promise of the Holy Spirit was a movement, a dispensation even, that de-incarnated Christ. However, it was just the opposite. The Holy Spirit did not come as a ghost in the machine, instead He came as an indwelling presence in...The Church! This dynamism of Church/Spirit concretely gave the Spirit proximity. Men could not say, "The Spirit is here, or the Spirit is there! Go and find the Spirit". Despite the modern chari-evangelicostals insistence that the Spirit is all over the place, the Spirit is not all over the place. The Spirit is in Christ's Church. Why? Because that is where Jesus sent His Spirit.

Let me get back to the two horns of the new convert's dilemma. How can he overcome both the complexity of Catholic theology and his own inclination to oversimplify the Gospel (e.g. "The Roman Road")?

It is actually quite simple.

The story is the same as before only better!

Think about it. Before, the message went something like this (or at least by implication):

Option 1: Jesus died for your sins. He then sent the Bible as your roadmap to heaven. You now must become a Bible scholar, learn Hebrew and Koine Greek, and know the Reformed rules of hermeneutics lest you become a reprobate and go to hell. Isn't this great news! Oh yeah, and you might not be in the elect, but it is fun believing that you are.

"It's all in here, I promise!"

Option 2: Jesus died for your sins. He established a Church that quickly went apostate. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For about 1,000 years, Christians were very ignorant because the Bible was only translated into the language everyone used for about half that period of time. Then, while on the toilet, this guy name Luther had this idea that changed the world. We are now inheritors of that great idea. Come join us on the crusade of truth!

Option 3: Jesus died for your sins. He loves you. If you died tonight, where would you go? Despite what it looks like on television or on your street corners, Christians are all together. The Church is the collection of all the people that really love God. No one can actually identify who that group is, so you are left joining a church that you like. You should probably make sure they are "Bible believing", which means they have a retired engineer who teaches a Sunday School class, Awana, and NO bongos in the worship service. I repeat: NO BONGOS!

Option 4: In order to be saved you must speak in tongues. Not really. But, everyone who really loves Jesus will speak in tongues one day. Jesus loves you and died so that you can own a Rolls Royce, a suburban, horizontal, zero-lot line apartment, and have a trophy wife.

OR

Catholic Option: Jesus died for your sins. He established a Church. He vested that Church with His authority. He gave that Church his Mother and His Spirit. While it is full of broken people, He has protected the Church from teaching error for 2,000 years. She still exists today. Through unbroken apostolic succession and in union with the See of St. Peter -- the "prime minister"  and prince of the Apostles -- The Catholic Church exists as The Church that Jesus established. This is fantastic news! You are not alone. 

Christ is with us to the end of the age, Alleluia!

That is how you share the Catholic faith.

Peace to you on your journey.