That is, we understand, we know the place of Mary, the Theotokos, in the Church.
Mary points to Jesus. However, we are not superstitious or Gnostic about private revelations or unapproved apparitions. If we are, we are in danger of separating ourselves from the Church.
7) Catholics are "Roman" Catholics. Now, there are some American journalists who refuse to use this term.
But, to deny the term, is to deny our identity. We are not Orthodox Catholics. Within this Roman identity is the Universal Church, which is one good reason for encouraging the official language of the Church in Liturgy-Latin.
8) Catholics are not relativists. We do not think that reality comes from our own perceptions and interpretations, but that there is a canon of Truth. We are creedal.
9) To have a Catholic identity means to be counter-cultural. My dad told me this when I was 15. He was literally "stoned" by the Lutheran boys when he walked to his Catholic school in the 1930s, walking through the Lutheran neighborhood. He learned to run fast and ignore the rocks and hurts. This is what the Church Militant is all about. Not being afraid of being Catholic in a pagan, or hostile world.
10) To have a Catholic identity means one believes in a hierarchy of Truth. Some things are infallible, and some are not. It also means that we adults have a duty to pass this Faith and the knowledge of this Faith on to the next generation. From today's First Reading: ‘But take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your children and to your children’s children.’ Deuteronomy 4:9.
11) Catholic identity includes converting the world. We are a missionary Church. We have been commanded by Christ Himself to teach, baptizing all nations in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. No options here.
12) And, there are more, but this is the last one for today--We are also called to community life, to love one another in Christ, to create real communities. This is part of Catholic identity. However, we are not socialists, as shown on this blog so many times-the Church has condemned this over and over again for the past 150 years. Community is not the same as socialism.
13) A Catholic keeps all the Commandments: again, from today's Gospel.
| Matthew 5:17-19 |
|---|
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’