Masters of Marketing

Learning the style but not substance of Protestants

09/06/2022

Lk 6:12-19 Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

If there is one area of the Christian faith where Catholics are behind the curve compared to our Protestant brothers and sisters, it is in Bible literacy. We have a hard time answering even the most basic questions about the Bible. Some Sunday mornings I have Mass at our mission church in Winslow called Our Lady of the Ozarks. When I drive back to I.C., I pass by a new church on I-540 and Kelley Highway called “Life Church”. And do you know what I see there? The large church parking lot is packed with cars.

These Bible churches do not have all the things the Catholic Church has – no Mass or sacraments, no rosary or Mary, no pope or pilgrimages, no statues of saints. But what do they have? They have a hunger and thirst to learn about the Bible and their pews are packed with ex-Catholics, and maybe even some ex-IC Catholics In other words, they do not have the fullness of the Christian faith like Catholicism does, but they do more with the little they have while we sit on our hands with the fullness of the faith that we have.

That is one reason I am always happy to hear when we start a new Bible study here in the parish. Surennah Werley, our Director of Faith Formation, was telling me she recently started a new study on the book of Hebrews, and we stood in the hallway and had a long discussion about whether St. Paul really wrote it. Imagine that: two Catholics talking intelligently about the Bible! After Mass on Sunday a young father holding his toddler said he had discovered my videos on our church website with four Bible studies.

He asked where he could get the notes to follow along better. He said he didn’t know much but wanted to learn more. His words were music to my ears. He will not need to go to Life Church to learn more about the Bible. Sometimes Ed Winkelman will come to the sacristy after Mass and share his beautiful thoughts about the Bible and what he is learning in our parish Bible studies. Ed is not going to leave I.C. for Life Church.

By the way, do you know who I learn a lot from about the Bible? It is Protestant pastors. Again, on my Sunday drive to Winslow, I listen to Protestant services on the radio (yes, I still have a radio in my car). Now, I am not interested in their substance, but I do want to mimic their style. They have mastered the art of communication, and use it to share the most important message of all: the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Protestants are masters of marketing but we Catholics are selling the best product. We need to learn how to market our product better.

And that brings me to the gospel today from Luke 6, and the list of the twelve apostles. Most Catholics can name one or two, at best three or four, apostles, but rare is the Roman Catholic who can rattle of all twelve and even tell you where to find that list in the Bible. This is where Marketing 101 comes in handy. I recently watched a video with a catchy tune listing the apostles and the Bible verse in the gospel of Matthew where they are also listed (besides Luke 6).

Listen now: “Jesus called them one by one, Peter, Andrew, James and John, next came Philip, Thomas, too, Matthew and Bartholomew. Oh, yes, Jesus called them, yes, Jesus called them. Yes, Jesus called them, he called them one by one. James, the one they call the less, Simon and also Thaddeus, twelve apostles Judas made, Jesus was by him betrayed. But yes, Jesus called them, yes, Jesus called them. Oh yes, Jesus called them. He called them one by one.

Wait, there’s more, oh yes, it’s true. I am one and so are you. Jesus said, ‘Come follow me,’ in Matthew 4 and verse 19. Oh, yes, Jesus called them, yes, Jesus called them. Oh yes, Jesus called them, he called them one by one.” That is why Protestants are the masters of marketing and we are sitting here wondering, “Where did all the Catholics go?”

Praised be Jesus Christ!