Did you know that there are over 23,000 churches in the U.S. alone who call themselves Christian? How do we know which church to belong too? They are all basically the same aren’t they? Absolutely not! Jesus started one Church and He prayed for unity not discord. He stated that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church. So what happened? Here is some food for thought. We belong to the only Christian Church that can trace its roots directly back to Jesus Himself.
We have an unbroken line of succession from Jesus Christ through Peter all the way down to Pope Francis. No other Church can claim that. We are not a Bible based Church. We were a Church 25 years before one word of the New Testament was ever written. The Bible is a Catholic book. Our Church put it together and decided what books went in and what books stayed out. We are the largest denomination in the world. We have over a Billion people in our Church. We started more schools, hospitals, hospices, food banks and shelters than all other denominations. We preserved the arts and sciences through the dark ages and invented the Scientific Method. Our missionaries went throughout the entire world spreading the good news of Jesus Christ hundreds of years before any protestant reformation existed. Why do I share these things with you? It is simple. Catholics have to know who they are, and to be proud to be Catholic. This week we celebrate the Epiphany, and I thought that on this day when wise men from different lands honored our Lord with gifts, I would tell of the ways in which our Lord and His Church have honored those lands and the entire world with its gifts for all to partake of. We need to share the riches and beauty of our Faith with others. So this week, take some time to reflect on being a part of the Church that is 2000 years old filled with art, history, tradition, beauty and prayer, and oh yeah, was started by Jesus Christ Himself. It’s cool to be Catholic!… May God richly bless you always…