Good Friday is the darkest and most sombre day of the year. Actually, it is the only day our Church asks us to be mindful and contemplative and quiet for the remembrance of our Most Blessed Lord's death. We get to celebrate Him all year and think, if we choose, of only the lovely salvific things He did and said. For three days, three holy days, and one wretched morning and afternoon, we are asked to enter into His sufferings and humiliations and desolation, to be one with Him and be like Simon, and help Him carry the very burdens we inflicted upon Him. A book I recently read said it is like asking the murderer to touch the wounds of his victim--go, lay your hands into those deathly blows, so you appreciate what you've done. I don't exactly look forward to doing this, but I know my salvation rests upon this very acknowledgement of my sins and my desperate plea to His oceans of forgiving mercy.
I wish everyone could be Catholic. I wish everyone was. Our faith is so rich, so deep, so meaningful. The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the history of humanity. It is the only institution of human beings that has lasted over 2000 years. Led and inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Church offers us innumerable gifts, tools, guides, lessons and opportunities for sanctification. Though I am not qualified or nearly educated enough to list all the reasons I wish people would be Catholic (there are RCIA programs near everyone! :)), I call to mind today, on this most Holy and beautiful days of forgiveness and compassion and patience, my
Top Ten Reasons I love the Catholic Church.
10. The smell of incense. Ellie asked me what this was last night. I told her "It's the smell of Jesus." It is the most wonderful, heavenly smell on earth (close second is the gardenia). Incense is the sacred oil, offered to Jesus, we believe, at his Nativity. To think He might have known this scent is a great comfort to me. That and chrism oil. Anyone who's smelled a newly baptized baby knows what I mean. Smell of angels. And to think you'd go your whole life and not be captivated by these scents is a catastrophe. Truly. They are gifts from heaven, little glimpses into what the holy gardens must be like!
9. Traditions. Texas A&M thinks it has the copyright on "traditions." 2000 years gives you a leg up in that category! Often, the Church receives criticisms for its traditions that are not found in scripture. Of course, where in scripture does it say everything has to be from scripture? I like to think of our traditions as those practices a family enjoys, the little but meaningful things a family does, every year or every day or every evening that reinforces its beliefs and values. We dress our little girls in beautiful white dresses for their First Holy Communion. We build our churches in the shapes of crosses. We walk the Way of Sorrows, the Via Dolorosa, the Stations of the Cross, each Lent and especially each Good Friday. We venerate Mary, the saints in heaven and the angels who aid them and us. There are so many, and such good traditions! What a sacred richness they add to our worship of Jesus.
8. The Vatican. Ok, so it's the smallest country in the world, the guards have to speak seven (at a minimum) languages, and its museum houses some of the greatest art in the world. Michelangelo painted its ceilings, the garden looks like a picture book and people live there in constant prayer. Of course, anyone can enjoy its historical significance and marvel at its size and prominence, but Catholics call it home. I love that I have a home with everyone else in the world. The Catholic church (another thing I love about it that I'm squeezing into a related topic) is universal, by name and definition. I can go to church anywhere I want and it's the same Mass said everyday, everywhere. It's a body of Christ that only depends on its head, Christ. No pastor, assistant pastor, organist, lector, teen service makes or breaks the church. So, Mass in Italy, Mobile, and Johannesburg are all the same. I love that. And we all call the same place, the same building, the same collection of grottos and altars home. Yessssssssss.
7. So, speaking of Rome, my next reason is Jesus speaking to Peter. Matthew 16:15-19 says, "He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind
on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall have been loosed in heaven.'" This is the birth of the Church. This is also the institution of the sacrament of reconciliation. Though the Church has convened councils and issued official papal encyclicals, nothing has ever changed. No word issued officially has been contrary to sacred scripture and Church teaching. The Catholic bible (now it has to be distinguished as such since there are so many "versions") has not changed. I love that.
6. The Saints. America has its heros. Those men and women who we believe were exceptional Americans, who might have even died for the beliefs they knew were right and true for a good government! We honor them with days of the year, commemorative stamps and songs trumpeting their heroism and dignity. The Church has her saints. We pray to them, we ask for intercession, we want to be like them! We read about them, we study their faults, their failings, there unending dependence and trust in Jesus and we pray to emulate their struggles to heaven. Help me be like them! Their stories are so rich, their persons are so real. Surely, in 2000 years, we could come up with some wonderful people who have followed Jesus so fully that they are granted immediate and pure access to Paradise. Shouldn't we study them? Shouldn't we think of them and pray to them? St. Teresa, St. Anthony, St. Michael the Archangel (defend us in battle!), St. Gianna, St. Paul, St. Joan. Yes, Lord, make me like them!
5. The rosary. I would have to write and think and pray for a long time to do this reason justice. Suffice it to say (but not really) that this one is a biggie, and I could not live without it. One writer puts it, "The Holy Rosary is considered
a perfect prayer because within it lies the awesome story of our salvation.
With the Rosary in fact we meditate the mysteries of joy, of sorrow
and the glory of Jesus and Mary." Jesus gave the public world and His apostles three years. He gave His mother 30. He lived with her, in perfect obedience and love for 10 times as long as He lived with His followers. He made her important in every way. God deemed her worthy to carry His Son in her womb; therefore, we pray this beautiful meditative prayer to her, thinking on the life of her Son and the stories of His life with her and with His apostles. The grace and peace that flows from this little circle of beads is unparalleled.
4. Speaking of the rosary, how could one go one without the next reason? Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven. This one boggles me--why don't more religions and faiths love her?? Why don't people talk about her? No human being has been given the honor and grace and sinless state Mary was. No other person was chosen by God Himself to bear His Son. She is the only created human who can understand every emotion we experience. She is considered the queen of all martyrs--can any of us imagine enduring the sword that pierced her soul, watching your son, not just your Savior, but your son, your baby, be humiliated, tortured, beaten, unjustly treated, scourged and crucified like a common criminal? She is the greatest of all saints and she is the mother of us all. By the final act of Jesus, she was given to us, as a mother. It is written, "When Jesus saw his mother, and the
disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman,
behold, your son!'. Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!’"
(Jn 19:26-27). Another author writes, "Jesus' words acquire their most authentic meaning in the
context of his saving mission. Spoken at the moment of the redemptive
sacrifice, they draw their loftiest value precisely from this sublime
circumstance. In fact, after Jesus' statements to his Mother, the
Evangelist adds a significant clause: 'Jesus, knowing that all was
now finished....' (Jn 19:28), as if he wished to stress that he had
brought his sacrifice to completion by entrusting his Mother to John,
and in him to all men, whose Mother she becomes in the work of
salvation." She loves everyone and is available (clearly!) to anyone who wants her friendship and her intercession (didn't Jesus demonstrate to us in scripture that whatever she asked of us, He would do?). As mothers in this world of chaos and sin, we need her! Badly.
3. The Holy Father and his legion of priests. The priesthood is a holy vocation. That does not mean I think they are perfect! But I do think they take holy vows and are united to Christ and His Church in a most special way. They are direct descendents of Jesus and His Apostles. Direct lineage. They are imperfect men, entrusted as shepherds to the Body of Christ. They take various vows, depending on the order to which they belong, but all are chaste in physical body and obedient to his bishop. Their life is a very gift to others. They are servants, striving for sainthood like us all.
2. The sacraments. A concise and clear quote comes from the USCCB website:
"We recognize that the Sacraments have a visible and invisible
reality, a reality open to all the human senses but grasped in its
God-given depths with the eyes of faith. When parents hug their
children, for example, the visible reality we see is the hug. The
invisible reality the hug conveys is love. We cannot 'see' the love the
hug expresses, though sometimes we can see its nurturing effect in the
child.
The visible reality we see in the Sacraments is their outward
expression, the form they take, and the way in which they are
administered and received. The invisible reality we cannot 'see' is
God's grace, his gracious initiative in redeeming us through the death
and Resurrection of his Son. His initiative is called grace
because it is the free and loving gift by which he offers people a share
in his life, and shows us his favor and will for our salvation. Our
response to the grace of God's initiative is itself a grace or gift from
God by which we can imitate Christ in our daily lives.
The saving words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the foundation of
what he would communicate in the Sacraments through the ministers of the
Church. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church recognizes the existence
of Seven Sacraments instituted by the Lord. They are the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist), the Sacraments of Healing (Penance and the Anointing of the Sick), and the Sacraments at the Service of Communion (Marriage and Holy Orders). Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier."
They are the cornerstones of our faith. They allow us to receive undeserved graces and to grow closer to Christ. They are based in scripture, instituted by Christ. They are pathways to heaven.
1. The "sacraments of sacraments" is the Holy Eucharist. It is the most important reason why I love being Catholic. It is THE reason. John 6:22-59 is commonly called the Bread of Life Discourse. In this section, Jesus uses the word "eats" or "feeds" four times. He says in verses 54 through 56, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." Afterwards, many of His followers left Him. If they had misunderstood the severity of His words, wouldn't He have corrected them? What is said is not easy, but He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! Happy are we to be called to the Supper of the Lamb! I cannot imagine living without this heavenly food. It is a mystery, for sure, and as I stated earlier, I am no theologian. The Real Presence involves the doctrine of transubstantiation, and is most easily understood (if at all) by speaking of a property's accidents and substance. The accidents (those qualities we perceive through our senses) all remain the same, but the substance, through the consecration by the priest, changes from bread and wine to Christ's body and blood. This I believe. And though no one is worthy to receive Him, we beg of His mercy and ask Him to allow us to be a member of His mystical body on earth. John 6:51 states, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will
give is my flesh for the life of the world." Alleluia!
I wish everyone I know and love could experience these lovely and true realities. I wish they could experience the deep richness of the Catholic faith. It is so generous and wide and good! Have a blessed next few days and a joyous Easter Sunday!
