In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (Opening of John’s Gospel)
We’ve just come off of Easter Sunday, when Christians around the world celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We’re looking ahead to Divine Mercy Sunday this weekend, a feast of the Catholic Church celebrating the revelations Christ Himself gave to a Polish nun, St. Faustina Kowalska, promising His unfathomable mercy, for all who will ask for it.
It seems like now is an appropriate time then, for Blue Dog Reaganite to give a concise answer to the question of why we believe what we do. While political questions are this blog’s prime focus, you ultimately can’t separate religious convictions from one’s politics. What one believes ends up having ripple effects that spill into every question in the public sphere.
I believe in the Catholic Church. In a nutshell, here’s why…
*I believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The disciples who followed the Nazarean carpenter were notoriously weak at key moments in Jesus’ ministry. Peter denied him three times. All of them fled when Jesus was arrested, tried and crucified.
Yet, after the period of time when Christians believe He rose from the dead, the disciples were transformed into men courageous enough to go to martyrdom.
What changed them? What gave them the complete conviction that the preacher they had followed indeed was the Son of God? I say it’s that He really did rise from the dead.
*I further believe that Jesus Christ gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, and specifically promised that Peter was the Rock on which Jesus would build his Church. That church is the Catholic Church, whose papal succession can be traced in an unbroken line back to Peter, and whose apostolic succession of bishops can be traced to the other disciples.
This Church carries on Christ’s promise to be with all of us to the end of age, as the dispenser of the sacraments—His healing touch—and as the custodian of the doctrine of faith and the moral code that God wants all to follow.
Even secular historians will acknowledge the Holy Bible is accurate when it comes to reporting historical facts. Though they might take issue with the story of Christ rising from the dead, the Scriptures are a reliable historical barometer of the public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
Therefore, we can conclude that Jesus really said the things attributed to him, one of which was that He would build a Church. The early period of Christianity, after the Resurrection and Ascension, was marked by disciples and new converts who believed in things such as the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, in a hierarchical priesthood and in deferring to Rome. All things that mark the Catholic Church today.
We can further conclude that Jesus was one of three things—Lord, liar or lunatic. He was not simply a good man who said some productive things, and then died a normal death. We conclude this because no ordinary good man would make the claims that he made---that He would come on the clouds in glory, that He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, that He would rise again on the third day. If we saw a street preacher today make those same claims, the only thing we would wonder about is if they were a malicious liar, or simply nuts.
But we don’t believe either about Jesus of Nazareth. And if that’s the case, there’s only one option left—that he was the Lord of all creation.
The salvific work of Jesus Christ today continues in the Catholic Church, After the first four centuries of Christianity, the Church established the canon of books that we recognize today as the Bible. The Church feeds us His Body and Blood in Holy Communion and imparts His mercy in the sacrament of confession. In a world of confusion, His Church provides the certitude of what is to be believed and how life is to be lived.
That’s the short version of why I believe.
But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written (Close of John’s Gospel)
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