Despite the early morning wake-up call for most of us volunteers, there was a lot of hugging and smiling and excitement at Mass this morning! The energy comes naturally as we arrive here in Springfield to experience the gift of serving the teens this weekend. I think we’re as excited as the kids. We’ve been praying, preparing for the part we play in the conference, and reminding ourselves that it is about them – the teens – and their relationship with Christ. One intercession voiced our desires the best, “That we might be the face of Christ to the teens we encounter.”
This afternoon, Fr. Chris Martin spoke to some of the questions that people commonly ask about Catholicism.
He began by reminding us that that it’s all about Jesus, since every single Catholic teaching flows from Jesus. We can neither separate the Church from Jesus nor can we separate Jesus from the Church because Jesus not only founded the Church, but in Scripture, he promised to be with us always, until the end of time.
Fr. Martin set out for us a very important foundation, articulating some of the Biblical and historical reasons why we Catholics reject the Protestant notion that the Bible is all that we need. One of these reasons is that Scripture is actually a product of the Church! And, while we certainly love and reverence the Scriptures, we believe the Church helps us to apply Biblical truth to present day circumstances, which are far different from the historical circumstances of Biblical times.
Throughout his talk, Fr. Martin addressed a veritable plethora of issues, including purgatory, the Eucharist, praying for the devil, hate speech, adopting frozen embryos, salvation of the unbaptized, hell, suicide, mediums, marriage, and discernment of vocations – among others.
Thankfully, the smoke machine went off periodically to help him – and us – transition from topic to topic.
Since our theological tradition transcends the limitations of this blog post and today’s sound bite culture, I would encourage you to listen to the full audio of this talk, and use that audio as a jumping off point to dive deeper into what the Church teaches and why.
Quotables
Jesus makes a claim that no one in human history every made. He didn’t say ‘I know the truth’; He said I am the truth.
Three things reveal the Church’s teaching to us: the true, the good, and the beautiful.
Thoughts of other vocations are a natural part of discernment; after you’ve properly discerned, these thoughts are temptations.
Same-sex attraction is not an easy topic to talk discuss but it’s an important one in our society today. Joel Stepanek tackled this topic at one of our afternoon workshops.
Same Sex Attraction: A Matter of People
Joel started by acknowledging how challenging the topic of same-sex attraction is to talk about. But the heart of this discussion is not a matter of philosophy or politics. When we talk about same-sex attraction, we are talking about people. We must always approach this through the lens of people.
This morning, to help us prepare to head home, the speaking team offered a few thoughts on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit – these gifts that God wants to give us to help us live the life He’s calling us to.
Whether we like it or not, we are very much products of our community.
Just look at yourself: you are the product of the community of your mother and father. We are made to live in union with each other. Unfortunately, where God seeks to unite, Satan seeks to divide. Continue reading
