Three Reasons I Love Catholicism

There's a great new monthly link-up at California to Korea: Three Reasons  I love Catholicism. Many different bloggers are linking up to share three things they love about Catholicism. I've decided to join the fun. Keep in mind that these are not the TOP three reasons I love Catholicism, there just three reasons. Trying to pick the TOP three reasons would land me in analysis paralysis Purgatory.

1. The Mystery of the Incarnation

Incarnation means en-flesh-ment. Specifically, it refers to the en-flesh-ment of Jesus Christ. Catholics often speak of "the Mystery of the Incarnation;" in fact, it's one of the "Joyful Mysteries" of the Holy Rosary. The Mystery of the Incarnation centers on astonishing implications of the teaching that our God, a Spiritual Being, took on human flesh, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was conceived as a physical being in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother.

In the west we are overly familiar with this idea: we often think of it as just a Christmas thing. The Incarnation is a HUGE DEAL though. It is one of the things that makes Christianity different from other major religions. In some religions, since God is above humanity it is considered insulting to God that He would condescend to become a physical human person. That is not what Christianity teaches: our God is above humans but He did not stop Him from humbling Himself to become one of us:

⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8 (NASB)

This reality has enormous implications for the inherent dignity and value of humanity, the body, and the created world. God Himself entered into humanity, into a body, into the created world. Catholicism, taking its cue from this mysterious reality, and affirms life, the body, and humanity vigorously. We are not hesitant to get physical with our spirituality. Posture, motions, verbalizations, fasting, feasting, work, water, oils, smoke, incense, wood, stone, bread, wine, etc., the physical world is incorporated into our spiritual life because it is part of our life, our world: like Christ who incorporated (the word means "embodied") Himself into our world which He created.

2. The Catholic Understanding of Salvation

Catholics, like other Christians, affirm that salvation is a gift that comes from Jesus Christ and that nothing we can do could ever make us deserve to receive it. Jesus gives that gift despite that fact that we don't deserve it, never will, and never could. We differ somewhat with many other Christians in how Christ gives us this most precious gift. A key to my conversion was realizing that Catholics define the very nature of salvation differently than the way some other Christians do. All Christians agree that all people are in need of salvation in order to go to Heaven. Salvation, is "that which makes us fit for heaven." Many Christians believe that faith alone makes one fit for Heaven, many would go on to state that a one-time declaration of belief that Christ alone can get them to Heaven is all that is needed to be saved. This view is sometimes called "justification." Christ "justifies" you and makes you fit for Heaven just because you ask Him to do so. Sanctification (becoming holy) is a separate - though important - matter.

Catholics have a different understanding. Salvation does not consist only in being declared holy by God because of an act of faith (such as saying "the Sinner's Prayer). Rather, the Catholic view is that Salvation is "being made holy." Nothing that is not holy will enter into heaven. Catholics do not believe that God pretends we are holy simply because we have faith in Jesus. Protestant reformer Martin Luther famously compared salvation to dung being covered by snow. That's a pretty crappy concept, in my opinion.

God doesn't ignore the fact that we are sinners just because Christ died for us, rather, because Christ died for us He makes us Saints (sanctified, or "holy ones"). The grace of Christ doesn't just "cover over our sins" but also transforms our very nature. We are not merely pardoned, we are also rehabilitated. I don't have time to go on now, but this understanding flows right into the Catholic understanding that both faith and works are part of becoming holy (and therefore, part of being saved) and also why we believe that God finishes the process of making us holy after we die - if necessary - in Purgatory (Purgatory means "purification.") 

3. The Holy Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist is "that which is received" during Holy Communion, also known as "the Lord's Supper." The "bread and wine" thing. During a Passover meal the night before He died, Jesus Christ took bread and wine, said "This is my body, this is my blood" gave it to His disciples to eat and drink, and told them "do this in remembrance of me." He also said at another time that to gain eternal life one had to "eat his flesh and drink his blood" and that His flesh was real food and His blood was real drink.

Many other Christians (strangely, most of those who pride themselves on taking Scripture literally) going out of their way to not take Jesus at His word. They don't believe that Jesus really meant what He said.  Catholics do. For the past two thousand years, we have understood that when a priest prays over the bread and wine, it becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, although it still looks and feels like bread and wine. It's a hard teaching; but it's also an astonishing blessed privilege. God not only humbled Himself to become a man, God humbles Himself to become our food and drink, He hides His Glory under the forms of bread and wine.

It is difficult to explain how amazing and precious the Holy Eucharist is in Catholicism. The Eucharist is Christ. Through the Eucharist, Christ is physically present with us. Through the Eucharist, Christ is working on making us holy. The Eucharist is so precious, that consecrated Bread, the flesh of Christ is always kept in reserve in every Catholic church, in a cabinet called a tabernacle.

When I became Catholic, the greatest desire of my heart came true: I was able to sit at the feet of Jesus and adore Him, simply by sitting by the tabernacle. 

The Spirit of Christ is present everywhere in the world. The Body and Blood of Christ is truly present in every tabernacle of every Catholic church, and on every Catholic altar during every Catholic Mass.