Episode 49: Why Should I Be Catholic?
“Why should I be Catholic?”
This is not an uncommon question that Catholic parents might face as our children grow up and grapple with the concept of faith and God.
How do we know if what we know about Jesus from the Gospels is true? And how can we be sure the Catholic Church is indeed the one true Church that God has willed to continue His saving mission on earth?
We explore these questions and discuss why the Catholic Church provides the surest way of helping us find true happiness, and ultimately to get to Heaven.
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One of the many questions that Catholic parents might face from our children would be this: “Why should I be Catholic?”
The short answer, I would suggest, is simply this: we want our children to find true happiness, and ultimately to get to Heaven. And the Catholic Church provides the surest way of helping them, and us, attain these.
If we wish to elaborate on our response, we could consider the following:
- God exists. We can prove that, for various reasons;
- Jesus, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, came to us in history to show us who God is, to save us from our sins and give us a share in His divine life. The Gospels were not fairy tales invented by some ancient writers, as some would like to have us believe, but true biographies of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, as recorded by His apostles and their close associates. We know this from history and Bible scholars who have proven that the many manuscripts of the Gospels were authentic and consistent with the style of biographies written at that time in history;
- Jesus established His Church, the Catholic Church, to share His life, love and graces with us, and He promised to be with us all the way till the end of time;
- He gave the Church the Sacraments as the means to fill us with His life and grace, and as means to heal us and to feed us on our journey to our eternal home;
- He instituted the priesthood and apostolic succession to make sure there would always be validly ordained ministers who can administer these sacraments to us, namely His bishops and priests.
From the time of the early Church, through the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, ministers were chosen and empowered to continue His saving ministry. This has happened from generation to generation from the time of the apostles to our present day, through one long uninterrupted chain of apostolic succession. - Jesus gave us the Magisterium, the Church’s teaching office, to guide us in the faith and morals; He gave us sacred tradition as part of our rich heritage, and from these His Catholic Church authoritatively and definitively confirmed the books that make up the Bible through the councils of Hippo and Carthage in the fourth century. These three aspects – the Bible, sacred tradition and the magisterium – like the legs of a three-legged chair, work together and have been indispensable in guiding us in the Christian life through the centuries, and continue to do so.
Put in another way, the Church may be compared to the safest cruise ship that will bring us safely on the long journey to Heaven despite the rough and dangerous waters that surround us in life. And she feeds us with the best spiritual food imaginable.
Maybe the cruise ship isn’t the best example we can use, since the Christian life is not supposed to be one of comfort always, but one where we are invariably called to share in our Lord’s cross and suffering as we answer His call to Christify the world, beginning with our own families. Perhaps an aircraft carrier might be a better example, since we are called to be constantly in combat mode and need to continually keep ourselves trim and fit to fight the spiritual battle, with each other and for each other, with the armour and weapons Jesus wants to give us.
This is a huge topic that cannot be covered in just a few minutes, so we have included some other resources below from more prominent and accomplished individuals who can enlighten us further.
Resources
Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too), Brandon Vogt
3 Reasons Why You Should be Catholic, Matthew Nelson
What’s So Great About Being Catholic?, Jason Evert
The Case for Jesus Course, Dr Brandt Pitre
The Case for Jesus, Dr Brandt Pitre