A Word on Evangelization

33rd Sunday, Ordinary Time, November 17, 2024

Deacon Mike Meyer

     Some years ago, a recruit was undergoing basic training in the Army. He had no actual religious background, but when told to list a particular denomination, he identified himself as Catholic. The reason he did so was that all soldiers were required to attend church services of their choice each Sunday, and since no Catholic chaplain happened to be available, he—unlike his Protestant buddies—had the freedom to sleep in on Sunday mornings! Eventually a Catholic priest was assigned to the base, and when he began meeting individually with all his parishioners, the soldier-in-training admitted his reason for claiming to be Catholic. Father chuckled appreciatively and then invited the young man to consider joining the Church for real. The recruit thought about it and agreed; he took instructions, was received into the Church, and became a firmly committed Catholic.

   There are probably almost as many different reasons for being Catholic as there are members of the Church, including varying degrees of chance, choice, and conviction. Some of us were born Catholic, others joined the Church later in life, still others left the Church at one point but then returned. We hear stories of persons who were born Catholic and who remained fiercely loyal to the Church throughout their lives. We read the accounts of people of great intellectual gifts and learning, or of great moral courage, who freely entered the Catholic Church, often at considerable personal cost—persons such as John Henry Newman and G. K. Chesterton in the past, and, in our own day, Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Marcus Grodi, and Richard John Neuhaus. Why? Catholicism is only one of many different Christian religions. What is it the Catholic Church offers to its almost one billion members that cannot be obtained anywhere else?

   In the coming weeks I am going to attempt to describe ten of the unique characteristics of the Catholic Church that set it apart from other Christian denominations.  Some of these characteristics, though not all, also apply to the Orthodox church, which, of all religious bodies, is among the closest to the Church in belief and practice.  Protestant churches are unquestionably accomplishing much good in the world.  Nevertheless, it is in and through the Catholic Church that the fullness of God’s revelation is to be discovered and experienced.  Next week I will share with you reason number one.  In the meantime, feel free to do your own research and see if we can come up with the same reasons.  God bless always!  

                                            Deacon Mike