Catholicism: the Beliefs and Practices of the Catholic Church - Essay Example

I am a Catholic in the Modern World This paper outlines my discovery of my role as a Catholic in the modern world and how important it is to live andpractice the faith in a way that contributes to my happiness and sense of fulfillment. Based mainly on research and an interview of a long-time Catholic missionary, I made a number of personal discoveries into the nature, roots, and purpose of religion, helping me rediscover the goodness and love of God and encouraging me to learn more about my faith and how to use it for my own perfection and for the good of others and the making of a better world. I interviewed Fr. Bernard Martin, a Redemptorist missionary for 44 years now. It may seem ironic that when I began the journey to rediscover the practice of my Catholic faith in the contemporary world, I decided to ask a missionary instead of a layperson. My reasoning is simple: if there is someone in the world who has experienced dealing with the two extremes of the faith, utter coldness and zero knowledge on one hand and loving warmth and zealous idealism on the other, that person would be a Catholic missionary. Think about it. A missionary priest launches himself into one of the most daring adventures a human being could ever experience. Armed with the zeal of faith, an intensive and extensive doctrinal preparation, and God’s grace, a missionary dedicates himself to an ambitious and often thankless enterprise. A missionary opens himself to ridicule, premature death from sickness or martyrdom, and tremendous sacrifice, getting out of his comfort zone and settling into a harsh and cruel world full of dangers to body, soul and mind. And all these for what? The missionary through his work desires non-believers to experience the joy of loving God and Jesus Christ. This was the first major insight I learned from Fr. Martin. Like most missionaries, Fr. Martin fully felt the joy of loving God that it led him to discover his vocation to share that joy with others. I asked myself: what have I done? This led me to ask how I could feel that same joy, and how I could sustain it. The answer came from an anecdote of Fr. Martin when he was still a young missionary in Asia. Led to believe since childhood that loving God and living the faith were a matter of performing rituals and following a set of laws and rules, Fr. Martin’s eureka moment came when he asked a lady what she planned to do on the feast of her town’s patron saint. She answered that she would cook food and throw a party to share the joyous feast, welcoming other people to her home, so that she could share God’s love and care for them (Martin 1). God’s love and care: was this not one of Christ’s main teachings, that we love one another and that by this all would know that we are his disciples? It was a powerful message that hit Fr. Martin straight in the heart and gut. As I listened during the interview, this insight had a similar powerful impact on me, leading to a significant personal discovery. God is a father who loves us! He wants only the best for us, so all his laws, all those rituals, all those guidelines that come down from the Pope, his bishops, and his priests are meant to show God’s love. They are all for our own good, and if we love God back the same way we show our love for someone – a girl, a father or mother, a brother or sister, or a friend – who loves us, we are happy because our beloved is happy. This led me to my second insight: sharing the joy of faith is a sign of faith itself. If I believe that something is good and brings joy, say a restaurant, a book, or a video game, it would only be natural for me to share it with my friends. If I believe in something good and am happy because of it, I would tell others about my belief, hoping they too would feel the same joy and satisfaction I felt. Again, I asked myself: what have I done thus far? Faith is shown in works, but these need not be limited to mere fulfillment of rituals for the sake of fulfilling them, such as going to Sunday Mass or saying long prayers. In fact, I asked myself, how many hours does God ask from me each week? Sunday Mass (an hour at the most), prayers before and after meals (a few seconds each time), and caring for those in need through works of mercy (a few hours each year) are the minimum that God asks of me, but why do I find it difficult to give him these? It then dawned on me that if I find these small demands difficult to fulfill, the reason is that I have not felt the joy of God’s love, and if love is the secret to joy and fulfillment in one’s faith, how then do I grow in love? Once again, Fr. Martin led me to the ways to grow in love for God. Love grows with knowledge: the more I know something, the easier it would be to love it, so to grow in love for God, I must grow in the knowledge of God and his love for me. I can do this in many ways, as I learned from the way Fr. Martin prepared for his missionary work. The first is through the study of scripture, doctrine, and Church teachings. Scripture is God’s “autobiography” as written by humans inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament chronicles the history and trials of the chosen people through whom God gave the world the Savior, Jesus Christ, whose life on earth two thousand years ago is the focus of the New Testament (Richert). A lot could be learned from the way God and his Son interacted with humanity and the world, so if I want to know God better, I must learn from scriptures. Church doctrine and the teachings of the Popes reflect the traditions that are a part of God’s legacy to the world, long-held beliefs not put in writing or declared by the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church, as taught by Christ (Richert). Reflection and study on these would help increase my knowledge of God and how much he loves me. The second is prayer, the intimate conversation I could have with God. Long before the Internet gave us 24/7 access to global information, prayer gave us a direct private line to God. Prayer goes beyond the recitation of formulas or mouthing of words empty of meaning. Prayer opens the soul and heart to divine inspirations, a deeper understanding of the faith, and a supernatural force that can lead me to practice what I believe in the face of overwhelming difficulty. As Fr. Martin (2) emphasized, being a Catholic is “really about one’s relationship with the Heavenly Father” and “having compassion or unconditional love for all mankind.” Prayer would help me renew my zeal to grow in the knowledge of God so I can share this with others around me, and although Fr. Martin never mentioned it explicitly, he helped me recall the value of sacraments that are visible signs of God’s love shown in grace (Richert). Sacraments and grace give me the strength to go on in the face of difficulties and discouragement. Like the food that keeps my body strong, grace helps my soul become strong in virtue to root out the sin and vice that keep my soul away from God’s love. A Catholic like me who wants to be happy in love with God needs the sacraments to keep my faith alive and burning. This is the same fire that Fr. Martin shared through the example of his life, an enthusiastic, overpowering, but gentle fire that made me feel God’s love. Among the sacraments, those whose fruits I could enjoy more often are Penance and the Eucharist. The first restores my soul’s purity in a state of grace, while the second being Christ himself fills my soul with fervor and strength, giving me the power to attain the highest degree of perfection. If my soul were properly disposed to receive an overwhelming inflow of grace, I could accomplish much by way of sharing God’s joy with other souls. These considerations led me to discover a final insight into my role as a Catholic in the modern world. As a Catholic, my example of joy and virtuous living is not only a sign of God’s love for the world that I can share. That is much, but it is not enough. That joy must be shared. Sharing God’s love and joy is not a mere option, but a command. Unlike in the past, the Church does not look kindly now on compelling souls to convert or believe in Christ. The Church has learned from the lessons of history not to tread that same path of converting by force of the sword. The emphasis now is on love and kindness, understanding and patience, so that souls may love God freely and responsibly, without coercion or violence. Nevertheless, the need to share the love of God and the joy of faith is a duty of the Church, of every Catholic, and of every Christian. It is my duty. As the late John Paul II wrote (131-132): the Church is a “missionary Church” and that “in this mission, received from Christ, the Church must work tirelessly.” All followers of Christ are missionaries, more so a Catholic as I am. I, a Catholic and member of this Church, am a missionary in the modern world, commanded to share the joy of the faith and God’s love wherever I may be: in the university, at home, playing sports, dancing in a party, or at work, in a meeting, or even while walking in the middle of the world. The world then is my mission territory, and wherever I am is my Amazon jungle. For me, the great insight I learned from Fr. Martin the Irish missionary is that I, and all Catholics, have a vocation to be missionaries in the world, a large mission land that is ripe for helping souls discover the joy of God’s love. If I am well prepared through study, prayer, and the sacraments, and my love for God grows, I can be a competent laborer for the great harvest, bringing Christ back to cold and indifferent Christian hearts. My key missionary challenge as a Catholic in the modern world is to show that God loves us and wants all of us to be happy by knowing and loving God. I can accomplish this if I am immersed in God through prayer and the sacraments so I can share my happiness with those I love, whether or not they share my faith. The missionary work I have to do would include growing in understanding those around me who believe differently as I do, in this way learning and practicing ecumenism and living in peace with them for the good of the world and for the benefit of all men and women (Martin 2). The prospect of being a missionary in the modern world is a daunting challenge that I have discovered to be closely linked to my identity as a Catholic at this moment in history. I have likewise realized that if God has given me this task, he would also give me all the graces I need to grow in love and happiness. Lastly, I have discovered that if I am to put back Christ into the world, I have to put Christ solidly at the center of my life. A lot of work lies ahead of me still, but I have learned in this part of my personal journey that I can succeed. Works Cited Martin, Bernard. Personal Interview. 28 November 2008. Paul, John II. Memory and Identity. Great Britain: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2005. Richert, Scott P. “Catholicism 101: An Introduction the Beliefs and Practices of the Catholic Church.” Catholicism.about.com. 27 November 2008 . Read More