Why I Am a Catholic

The truth is that I’m a Catholic, I’m tired of hiding it. Perhaps it’s because of all the shame generated by all those sex scandals. Or perhaps at the same time its fear about what my friends and family will say. There is just something special about being connected to 2000 years of unbroken tradition that ancient faith delivered to us once and for all by the apostles. I have a particular love of being able to partake in the Lord’s Supper and receiving the real presence of Christ every week. Alas it is about time that everyone be aware that I, Justin am a Catholic.

Wait… I should probable let you know that when I use the word Catholic I do not mean Roman Catholic. I regret that Roman Catholics have somehow received the monopoly on the word Catholic because Catholic they are not. What Catholic simple means is universal.  So really Roman Catholic is a bit of an oxymoron, it would be like referring to the Universal Church of Long Island. I remember in High School when I underwent confirmation in the United Church of Canada I received a form referring to the Catholic Church. This was confusing for me and several other people, as we recalled not being in a Roman Catholic Church but a United Church. When most people hear the word Catholic they automatically think of Rome and Popes and smells and bells.

What is mean when I use Catholic is that there exists a link of affirmation with 2000 years of faithful Christianity. That what the Apostles believed and taught is what I believe and teach, that what the Church Fathers believed and taught are what I believe and teach. What the faithful believers in the medieval Church believed is what I teach and believe.

It is at the Reformation that the road divides a bit. I think many are often mistaken into thinking that the protestant Reformers were trying to reform the church to its original form as we see it in Acts, rather the Protestant Reformers were trying to reform the church back 300-400 years when much of the corruption and false teaching in the church started. Now before I go on it is perhaps important that I define what I mean by Protestant, since it too is often misconstrued. Often Protestant is used to mean someone who is not Roman Catholic. When I use it I use a more precise definition of those original groups in conflict with Rome, the Lutherans and Reformed/Presbyterians. I think this is a good definition as the majority of Christians who think they are Protestants believe very different things from the Protestant Reformers.

The Reformers were very much well read in the Early Church Fathers and Medieval theologians. Most of their theology came from them and for that reason they saw themselves in harmony with the true Catholic Church going all the way back to the Apostles. The Roman Catholic Church and its teaching was an innovation that was simple a couple hundred years old. In the reformation and specifically at the Council of Trent in 1545 the Roman Catholic Church broke away from the Catholic Church in order to follow a 300 year innovation. So one of the big differences is that the Catholic Church is ancient the Roman Catholic Church on the other hand is a relatively young sect.

It’s for these reasons why I’m a Catholic, perhaps Reformed Catholic is a better term. You will seldom see me refer even to the Roman Catholic Church, I might call them the Roman Church, Romanists, or Papists. But Catholic I cannot call them because Catholic they are not.

What Do Early Scottish Settlers and Internationals Have in Common

I have recently been doing some reading on early Canadian Presbyterianism, mixing several of my favorite topics (dangerous I know). Something has stood out to me and that is the general struggle that early settlers to Canada had in forming churches and finding pastors to lead them. You see the Scottish were coming in droves, Nova Scotia virtually had no Presbyterian ministers, and really no Christian pastors to oversee there spiritual needs, the Canadian colonies were a spiritual wasteland. They petitioned Churches in Scotland to send ministers to combat what seemed like a spiritual famine. The motherland often replied no, but most often simple would not even reply back. In their mind they had to worry about Scotland, Nova Scotia the colonies was not there problem. Few if any responded to the call, one stands out James MacGregor a Presbyterian pastor who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1786 after being sent by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland. MacGregor become known as the Apostle of Nova Scotia. He traveled when roads had not yet even been considered. Originally visiting Scottish families, this quickly changed as he saw that the need was felt by all regardless of where they originated. It was not until the Glasgow Missionary Society was formed in 1796 by the efforts of Lord Dalhousie who had previously been Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia that the Church of Scotland really even turned an eye to the need to send minister and establish churches in the colonies.

This bit of information stood out to me because it reminded me in some ways of the current status of internationals who find themselves overseas. I spoke more at length about this in my post "Strangers in a Strange Land: A Plea for the Planting of International Churches Overseas" Much like these early settlers people who find themselves living in China, Japan, Thailand, Germany etc. are in spiritual wasteland where there is no option for Church and then options they do have are questionable at best. In some ways North American churches can have an attitude much like Scotland to the early settlers, thinking they might be there but, we are concerned with reaching our people in North America not reaching our own people in Asia, or Europe. The truth is that as the world becomes more global the need to reach out to these Global Wanderers will only become more. Statistics show that this group of people is on the rise. I truly believe that people often called Internationals, expats, or Global Nomads are one of the most unreached people groups. Now I know that is a weighty statement. What I mean simple is that the need is great, the need is increasing but the knowledge is little to none and there is a certain amount of apathy. But just like the needs of the early settlers did not go away they simply became greater. So too the spiritual needs of the international looms over the Western Church. The question is will we turn a blind eye like the Church of Scotland or start doing something about it.