{"id":5952,"date":"2011-05-18T13:33:39","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T19:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/the-ark-and-non-catholics\/"},"modified":"2017-04-17T22:01:45","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T02:01:45","slug":"the-ark-and-non-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-ark-and-non-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ark and Non-Catholics","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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SO<\/strong>, what about non-Catholics? If the Great Ark<\/a><\/em> is the Catholic Church, what does this mean for\u00a0those who reject Catholicism, if not Christianity itself?<\/p>\n

Before we look at these questions, it is necessary to address the protruding issue of credibility <\/em>in the Church, which today, is in tatters…<\/p>\n

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THE CROSS OF NO CREDIBILITY<\/p>\n

To say that being a Catholic witness today is “challenging” is perhaps an understatement. The Catholic Church’s credibility in many parts of the world today is in shreds whether for perceived or real reasons. The\u00a0sexual sins in the priesthood are a staggering scandal<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0has muzzled the moral authority of the clergy in many quarters, and the coverups that followed have deeply pitted the trust of even faithful Catholics.\u00a0 The rising tide of atheism\u00a0and moral relativism\u00a0have made the Church appear not only as irrelevant, but as a corrupt institution\u00a0that must<\/em> be silenced\u00a0in order for “justice” to prevail. There is\u00a0now what author Peter Seewald, who interviewed Pope Benedict\u00a0in a\u00a0recent book, calls a ‘culture of doubt.’<\/p>\n

Within the Christian world, outside of Catholicism, there are many difficulties as well.\u00a0The aforementioned scandals are a painful stumbling block to Christian unity. Liberalism has also done immense damage in the Western Church. In North America, Catholic Universities, seminaries, and even pre-secondary schools are often the seat of heretical teaching and, for all intents and purposes, are often as pagan as their counterparts. But perhaps as scandalous to evangelical Christians is the lack of fervor and inspired preaching in the Church. In many places, the weak music, zombie-like responses, and coolness of Catholics in the pews has driven hungry souls into more vibrant Christian sects. The lack of preaching\u00a0with substance, zeal, and anointing has been equally disheartening and puzzling.<\/p>\n

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These are all phenomena that one can only observe with sadness. It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this. <\/strong>\u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, <\/span>Light of the World, An Interview with Peter Seewald<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then, within the Church itself, one could almost say\u00a0an invisible schism<\/em> exists whereby there are those who receive and try to live out their Catholic Faith as it has been handed on to them through Sacred Tradition\u2014and those who have decided that we need to “update” the\"\" Church.\u00a0Liturgical experimentation, liberal theology, watered-down Catholicism and outright heresy continue\u00a0to prevail in many places. Today, it so happens that many “diocesan sponsored” events are in fact heretical\u00a0while lay movements in communion with the Holy Father struggle to find ecclesial support. Catechetical programs, retreat centers, and religious orders are often overrun with dissidents\u00a0who continue to promote a liberal agenda\u00a0that disregards the Church’s moral teaching and emphasizes\u00a0ecological, “new age”, and social justice agendas. A priest and former vocations director recently lamented to me that “conservative” Catholics who make even a small mistake in their dioceses are often quickly and mercilessly silenced while heretics continue to preach unabated because we need to be “tolerant” of other’s views.<\/p>\n

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…attacks against the Pope or the Church do not only come from outside; rather the sufferings of the Church come from within, from the sins that exist in the Church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies on the outside, but is born from the sin within the church….<\/strong> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, in-flight debriefing with journalists on flight to Fatima, Portugal; National Cathlolic Register, <\/em>May 11, 2010<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yet, we know that our persecutors will not, ultimately, triumph. For Jesus stated:<\/p>\n

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I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We must be honest about the difficulties in the Church today and recognize the challenges we face. We must be humble in our dialogue with non-Catholics, recognizing our personal and corporate faults, but neither denying the good, such as the vast number of faithful clergy throughout the world and the enormous Christian heritage that has built Western civilization.<\/p>\n

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On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the “discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted.” Only by taking the “way of penance and renewal,” the “narrow way of the cross,” can the People of God extend Christ’s reign.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>, n. 853<\/span><\/p>\n

In one word we have to re-learn these essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues.<\/strong> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, in-flight debriefing with journalists on flight to Fatima, Portugal; National Cathlolic Register, <\/em>May 11, 2010<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Given all of these serious defects\u00a0and challenges, how can the Church be\u00a0an “Ark” in this present and coming Storm? The answer is that truth<\/em> will always prevail: “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it<\/em>,” even if it subsists in a remnant. And every soul is drawn<\/em> toward Truth, for God is truth itself.<\/p>\n

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Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And His body<\/em> is the Church through which we come to the Father.<\/p>\n

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NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH<\/p>\n

It was St. Cyprian who coined the saying: extra ecclesiam nulla salus, <\/em>“Outside the Church there is no salvation.”<\/p>\n

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How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body<\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition,<\/span> <\/span><\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> \u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> (CCC<\/em>), n. 846<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What does this mean then for those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and yet remain in Christian communities that are separated from the Catholic Church?<\/p>\n

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…one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers… All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span> \u2014CCC, <\/em>n. 818<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Furthermore…<\/p>\n

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…<\/span>many elements of sanctification and of truth” are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: “the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.” Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to “Catholic unity.<\/span><\/strong>“<\/span><\/span> \u2014CCC, <\/em>n. 819<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Thus, with joy we can recognize our brothers and sisters who profess Jesus as Lord.\u00a0And yet, it is with sadness that we realize the division between us remains a scandal to unbelievers. For Jesus prayed:<\/p>\n

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…that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.<\/em> (John 17:21)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u00a0is, the world’s belief in Christianity hinges to a certain degree on our unity<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.\u00a0(John 13:35)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Credibility, then, is an issue for the entire<\/em> Christian church. In the face of sometimes bitter divisions, some simply reject “religion” altogether or are simply raised without it.<\/p>\n

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Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience \u2014 those too may achieve eternal salvation.<\/strong><\/span><\/span> \u2014CCC, <\/em>n. 874<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why? Because they are seeking Truth even though they do not yet know Him by name. This extends to other religions as well.<\/p>\n

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The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as “a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life<\/span><\/strong>.”<\/span><\/span> \u2014CCC. <\/em> n. 843<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

EVANGELIZATION?<\/p>\n

One might be tempted to ask, then, why evangelization is\u00a0even necessary if salvation may be reached outside active participation<\/em> in the Catholic Church?<\/p>\n

First of all, Jesus is the only <\/em>way to the Father. And the “way” Jesus showed us was obedience to the commands of the Father in a spirit of \"\"love expressed in kenosis<\/em>\u2014an emptying of self for the other. So indeed, a jungle tribesman, following the natural law written upon his heart [1]<\/sup><\/a>“The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties<\/span>. \u2014CCC<\/em> 1956<\/span><\/span>