the church is catholic, complete - 21st week Tuesday 2013

The ninth article of the faith affirms that we are a church, that this church is holy and this church is catholic.  Catholic, why do we call ourselves catholic?  What do we mean when we say catholic?  Catholic literally means “about the whole,” “on the whole” or “in general” or we can just simply say “yara ang kabug-osan.”  Yara dira ang tanan, indi ang isa lang ka bahin, indi ang tunga lang, ukon ang gabang lang, ukon ang pila lang ka nahot, kundi ang kabug-osan, ang kabilogan, ang bug-os nga pamaagi agod maagum ang kaluwasan.

A former catholic who converted to another Christian sect decided to go back again to the church.  She said, I love their emphasis on the bible, I love their fellowship but there are times that I hunger, I crave for the Eucharist which they do not have.  May kulang, indi bug-os, indi kompleto. 

Other religions would say, “only faith,” but the catholic church says “faith and good works”; others would say “only the bible” but the catholic church says “the bible and tradition”; Martin Luther would say the Eucharist is just a meal, a banquet, but the catholic church says the Eucharist is a meal and a sacrifice;  others would say only spontaneous prayers coming from the heart but the catholic church says spontaneous prayers and memorized prayers, prayer composed by other people.  Kon kaisa indi ka na makapanumdum, malilipaton ka na, wala na may nagasulod nga tinaga sa imo panghunahuna, blanco na – so what do you do - you get your rosary beads and pray.  It is catholic because it is inclusive, it is all-encompassing.  Wala sia nagasiling amo lang ni, sa baylo nagasiling sia basi puede man na.

The church is catholic because it has all the means and the assurance that the means available for us are true, complete and full.  And to be assured that you always have with you the true faith, the complete truth and the full means for salvation, it is important that we are in communion with or are united with our bishop and especially with the bishop of Rome, the pope.   Where the church is, there is Peter. and his successor the pope.  Where the church is there is the bishop under Peter, the pope.  Never cut yourself from Peter otherwise there cannot be any assurance that what you have is true complete and full.

Our gospel today speaks of Jesus admonishing the Pharisees because they neglected the weightier matters of the law.  Amo ina ang deperesnsya if you have all the means because many times you forget other things, and worst of all you forget the more important things.  There is a tendency to be so meticulous about one and neglect the other.  We emphasize worship, our liturgy, our prayers but we forget charity, we forget to help people in need. We emphasize novenas but we forgot making a stand for justice.  Jesus said you should have done these without neglecting the others.

The church is called catholic because it has all the means.  We have with us full access.  We have with us the fullness of the truth.  But we should not do one and neglect the other.