Expert: Sal - 11/28/2008

Question
Dear Sal,

Why do people say this:Most people who've been educated in American public schools, who've have had a steady diet of Hollywood, PBS, NPR, and the like, or who have received an education at the typical university, will end up with at least the "sense" of the following equations: Catholics=bad, Jews=good; Catholics=persecuters, Jews=persecuted. They will end up acquiring a blend of very Anglo-centric, Protestant, secular, Jewish, and Marxist views of such things as the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, the role of Pope Pius XII in WWII, etc. -- views "supported" by wildly exaggerated statistics, omitting context, ignoring the Catholic view of these incidents, out and out blatant falsifications, and by simply not having a clear understanding of political theory (along with, in the case of members of Protestant sects, not having a clear understanding of orthodox Christian teaching).

Ignorance of the true nature of "Jewish-Catholic relations" goes deep. Very deep. Writing about it will involve revisiting over 2,000 years of history, taking what we think we know and turning 90% of it 450 right-side up. Just have an open mind and conduct your own research into the things I write about.

One's basic religious assumptions act as a lens onto the world; like the proverbial rose-colored glasses, they color everything one sees, and the Protestant and Catholic lenses are no different. From what I've seen, the differences between these worldviews boil down to differences in the following:

our various perceptions of the Incarnation
sheer scope, i.e., the Catholic sense of time, space, and supernatural, preternatural, and natural orders
our respective views of our co-operation with God and our interconnectedness
the common Protestant “either/or” phenomenon -vs- the Catholic "both/and" way of dealing with various concepts

One of the basic distinctions between the two views of the world is that the Catholic worldview is grounded firmly in the reality and ramifications of the Incarnation. God's universe, created perfect, is now broken -- but it is marbled with sanctification, especially since God Himself took on flesh. Many brands of Protestantism, on the other hand, tend to see (or at least behave as though they see) matter as evil and man only as "utterly depraved," leading to a Puritanism that strips Christianity of its rich lushness and very humane-ness. The soul is seen as totally distinct from the body, the latter being a prison to the former and a hindrance in every way to the desire to become holy. For Catholics, this dualism does not exist.

There seems to be great offense taken, for example, at the Catholic use of Crucifixes instead of Crosses, of statues and icons instead of bare plaster walls, our use of "mere things" to enhance our relationship with God. This reaction, sometimes hysterical on the part of members of certain denominations, is the product of a religious outlook that would almost have to be scandalized by the Second Person of the Trinity's very Incarnation to be consistent. He "came eating and drinking," He wept, He bled, He died! "Yes, yes," they might say, "but He rose again! Why don't you focus on that instead of all that other -- dirty -- stuff?"

First, the very reason we worship on Sunday instead of the old Shabbat is because the Resurrection happened on Sunday! Second, the main Mystery of Christianity, however, is not His Resurrection, but His redemptive Sacrifice -- that same Sacrifice whose fruits are offered to us in an unbloody manner at the Mass. This is the key to understanding Catholic spirituality: Protestants (and many neo-Catholics) focus only on "the Paschal Mystery," on Christ's having walked out of His tomb. But it wasn't His Resurrection alone that saved us; it was, and is, His Blood that redeems.

At any rate, even though it's obvious that the Resurrection is central to the faith (um, isn't that the greatest evidence of the Truth of Christianity?), neither do Catholics gloss over the Incarnation, or try to "prettify" it, because it is an essential Mystery of the Faith. God became man!

God became man...

Meditating on the Mysteries of His incarnate life (in addition to His glorious Mysteries) 1 is to dive into a profound sea of riches. It is in imagining God Himself as a tiny baby in Mary's arms that we understand humility and the wonderful graces given to our Blessed Mother. The Second Person of the Trinity, helpless but for her and Joseph! Incredible! In meditating on the various stages and events of His life, we learn how to live, how to act, how to react, how to be. And in empathizing with the sufferings He endured on the Cross, we learn to offer our own sufferings up, joining them together with His own. Colossians 1:23-24: "If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven: whereof I Paul am made a minister. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church. "

Why doesnt the Protestants understand Jesus was Catholic and that He founded our church? Why dont they understand that we are the spiritual israelites and that they are the Pharisees!  

Answer
Dear Jacqueline:

I believe that the number one reason that Protestants don't understand the obvious is because the Devil has blinded the world to God's truth. Reason number two is that some Protestants are too proud to admit that they are wrong. Reason number three is that some Protestants are too ignorant and lazy to check what the false preachers tell them.

God Bless You,
Sal