The Catholic Thing

Appreciating the universality of the Church

09/07/2019

Colissians 1:21-23 Brothers and sisters: You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds; God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.

I love the word “catholic” – of course, I am a Catholic priest! – but I would like to reflect on it with you today. I don’t just mean in the sense of “Roman Catholic” (the denomination), but rather in the broadest possible sense. As you know, the word “catholic” comes originally from the Greek word “katholikos” meaning universal, or international, or beyond boundaries. Hence, in its widest sense, catholic means unlimited, encompassing everything and everyone.

You get a glimpse of this international sense of Catholicism when you look up at the altar at every Mass. Right now, a priest born in India is talking to you. Yesterday, Fr. Martin Amaro, a priest born in Mexico celebrated the Mass. Recently, Fr. Pius was our associate who was from Nigeria. Before him Fr. Joseph Shantiraj from India stood behind this ambo and this altar. I remember shortly after Fr. Juan Guido and Fr. Mario Jacobo arrived in Fort Smith, they stood for a picture with me and Fr. Pius: four brown-skinned priests. The caption under the picture read: “What can Brown do for you?” That humorous picture captures the catholic character, the international flavor, of our faith.

Of course, we priests see the same kaleidoscope of colors and countries when we look from the sanctuary out into the pews and see the people. We see parishioners with Italian roots, and German ancestry, and Irish forefathers and foremothers, and Laotian and Vietnamese origins. All of y’ll Catholics have last names and accents just a think and long as we priests do. And that’s not a bad thing, that’s just the catholic thing. In other words, to be authentically catholic means not only to love Jesus, but to love the whole world, without exception. Catholics are called to fulfill the two-fold commandment of love of God and love of neighbor because that is what our name means.

St. Paul makes this catholic connection to his own ministry explicit in his letter to the Colossians. We read in Colossians 1:23: “The Gospel that you heard has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.” Paul was not exaggerating. The apostles had literally taken the Good News to India, Africa, Asia Minor, Spain, and especially to Rome, just like Psalm 19 said they would: “Their message as gone out to all the world.” I wonder if the Romans were annoyed with St. Paul’s Hebrew accent when he preached to them in Latin? But there is a deep and abiding sense in which foreign accents are part and parcel of the Catholic thing. In other words, to be irritated by a foreign accent is tantamount to be irritated by Catholicism.

Let me mention a very practical and personal example of this international flavor called Catholicism, namely, marriage. Fewer and fewer couples marry someone inside their own ethic background. It has become common for people to say: I am 25% Irish, and 15% German and 50% Polish. Perhaps without realizing it, they are living the catholic thing, a world without boundaries, encompassing everything and everyone. I am so proud of my little sister, Mary, who when looking for a spouse said her top criteria is that he be a good Catholic man. She married a very humble and hardworking German named Anthony Gulde. When we take family pictures, I point to him and say, he’s the token white guy. My sister hit the nail right on the head of the catholic thing: it includes everyone and everything, without exception. And by the way, they have five really beautiful children! Catholics have the most beautiful children in the world.

Scott Hahn never tires of talking about this catholic thing, the universality of the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church. He wrote: “Jesus Christ, the Son of David, is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. There is not a single square inch of creation that escapes his dominion. As children of the king, we are called to be his servants and his soldiers, to extend his reign into every corner of the world” (A Father Who Keeps His Promises, 212). G. K. Chesterton gave the best definition of Catholicism when he said: "The Catholic Church: here comes everybody!" That is what it means to be Catholic.

Praised be Jesus Christ!