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Hola and welcome to another edition of All Things Catholic. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal, and together we are going to explore what it means to be Catholic. If you have a question that you’d like me to address, send it to me. You may use the comment form on the website or by email to rudy@deaconrudysnotes.org. I invite you to share this podcast with everyone you know!
In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about being a Christian today. I think being a Christian today, or more specifically, being a Catholic today, can be rather tricky. There are so many voices out there all vying for our attention. Some of those voices tell us frightful things like how wrong Vatican II was, or how the “signs of the times” should reshape our entire understanding of the faith and the Church’s teachings.
As an ordained clergy with a graduate degree in theology and currently working on a doctorate in ministry, I’ve got to tell you that it’s often challenging for me to determine which voices are authentic and which are not. I realize that I too am one of those voices, but, paraphrasing Horace Slughorn, myself, I always try to walk within the light of faith in Christ shining through His church on earth.
Friends, adding to the tension, are the painful things I’ve witnessed so far during this election cycle on social media. I’ve seen Catholics using social media to tell other Catholics that they’re not Catholic if they vote a particular way or if they hold to certain beliefs. I’ve even seen and heard priests say similar things, which is shocking, to say the very least.
Painful as it is to admit, I think we need to acknowledge that we live in a post-Christian world, and to my way of thinking, that changes many things (Dreher, 4, et al). First and foremost, we cannot assume the people around us are believers, nor can we believe they are tolerant of believers. We can’t even accept that the people standing beside us in the pews at mass, at an appropriate distance, of course, are true believers. But that doesn’t mean we need to adopt a defensive posture, nor does it mean that we need to insult or berate them.
No, I think the task of the Christian in the world today needs to be that of a missionary disciple. I say missionary because the task of evangelization needs to begin much closer to home. To do that, we need to get back to the fundamentals.
Ok, what does it mean to be a disciple? At a minimum, discipleship means three things: accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, deepening our relationship with Jesus through prayer and study, and sharing the Good News with other people.
First, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that means we not only accept Jesus, but we believe in all of it: that God created this world and created us in His image and likeness; that He sent His only son born of the Virgin Mary, to suffer and to die for us; that Jesus rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father; that the Holy Spirit animates Christ’s church on earth, in the one, holy, universal church founded on Peter and the apostles; that we are forgiven, that the dead shall rise again and that the saved will have eternal life. Sound familiar? When we accept Jesus, then the Creed becomes the foundation of our lives.
Second, what does it mean to grow our relationship with Jesus through prayer and study? Well, have you ever fallen in love with someone? If you never tried to learn more about them and their life story, then you might be in for quite a surprise one day. Right? So, we try to get to know the people we love. The same is true with Jesus. We approach Him in prayer, and we try to learn more about Him through study. Between you and me, I think we overcomplicate the study part. Look, the key to understanding the Ten Commandments and the 613 Jewish commandments is this: they are not merely a list of things to do or to avoid. At their core, the commandments teach us about loving God (Hahn, 235). Once we understand that love is the key, then all the technical stuff is so much easier to understand.
What is love? Well, that’s an uber topic that we can’t possibly address today, but I know this: love has to be shared. If you don’t share love, if you never tell someone you love them, then your relationships will be stunted. That’s the third aspect of discipleship. We are called to share the love of Jesus Christ – the love that is God – with everyone around us. How do I know that? Because Jesus gave us the rubric of judgment.
Read Matthew 25:31-46. I think the sainted Mother Teresa sums it up quite nicely: At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
It’s quite clear that the proof of our conversion is our willingness to dedicate ourselves in service to others. That’s what being a missionary is all about – going out and in love, serve those around us. And by our service, they will know we are Christians, and they will be drawn to the source of our joy. They will be drawn to Christ Jesus.
Being a Christian in the world today means that we need to return to the fundamentals. We need to dedicate ourselves to prayer, study, and service to others, all through the lens of love. That means that if we don’t understand the Church’s teachings, or even if we disagree with the Church’s teachings, we are called to prayer and study so that one day – perhaps years from now – we come to understand. We don’t beat up our fellow Christians on social media. We journey with them. And while we journey, we share Christ’s love in humble service to a world that desperately needs a message of hope.
Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
You’re listening to All Things Catholic. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment – I’d love to consider what you’re thinking. If you’re on the webpage, just click the title of the podcast, then scroll to the bottom and you should be able to post a comment. Do you have a question that you’d like me to address? Please send it to me using the comment form on the website, or send me an email to rudy@deaconrudysnotes.org.
This episode was produced by deacon rudy’s notes. Our theme music was composed by Silent Partner. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal. All Things Catholic will be back next month, and don’t forget to tune in for the weekend edition where we break open the Word. Peace!
References:
1. Dreher, Rod. The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, 2017. Kindle.
2. Hahn, Scott W. and Curtis Mitch. Romans. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academics, 2017. Kindle.