The Baptists are coming, the Baptists are coming...
A few weeks ago, I met with a large number of Filipino Catholics
from many different parishes in the Archdiocese in order to talk
about how the pastoral mission of the Church here can better meet
the special needs of this Catholic people. Sometimes Catholics
from Filipino families are overlooked in the Archdiocese because
they are not congregated in particular parishes but live out their
faith in many parts of the city.
They bring very special gifts to the Church and to the civil society.
During the course of the conversation, one woman mentioned the
plans of the Southern Baptists to hold their convention in Chicago
in the year 2000. As part of that gathering, the Baptists intend
to put a hundred thousand evangelizers on the streets of Chicago
and the metropolitan area; and I was asked what Catholics should
do, especially if the Baptists try to “convert” us!
First of all, Catholics should welcome Baptists. They are disciples
of Our Lord Jesus Christ and love him deeply. It is always a joy
for friends of the Lord to discover others who also love Him.
Beyond a shared love for Jesus, there is, in most cases, the shared
sacramental bond of baptism. We all live Christ’s life together
through our common baptism. We truly are brothers and sisters
in Christ Jesus. It’s good to welcome a still unknown brother
or sister into your city.
Secondly, we should be happy also that the Baptists’ sense of
what the Gospel demands of a disciple of the Lord brings them
into conformity with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church
on many key issues, especially in the area of sexual morality.
This should not be surprising, since the Gospel is the major source
of moral teaching for both Baptists and Catholics.
Thirdly, the usual Baptist objections to the Catholic faith, the
reasons why many of them are not convinced we really are disciples
of Jesus, furnish good reflection points for us and help us deepen
our Catholic faith. What are these objections? Most basically,
many Baptists think that belonging to the Catholic Church gets
in the way of belonging to Jesus Christ.
Years ago, I was seated next to a Baptist woman on a plane and,
noting that I was a Catholic priest, she asked me if I was saved.
It was the first time anyone had asked me that question so directly.
Almost spontaneously I answered, “Yes, thanks to the sacraments
of the Church.” What I meant was that I was quite certain that
Christ acts through the sacraments. It is Christ who baptizes,
who confirms, who offers himself in the Eucharist, who forgives
sins in the sacrament of penance, who heals the sick, who unites
a man and a woman in marriage, who ordains bishops, priests and
deacons. My faith, which comes from the apostles, gives me absolute
certitude about Jesus Christ and what he has done to save us and
continues to do through the ages. I am less certain of myself;
and I do not rely on my own experience, no matter how blessed
it might be, to give me absolute certitude in matters religious.
I am both free and weak, so the possibility of betraying the Lord
is always there, along with his constant, sanctifying grace given
us through the ministry of the Church.
The Church is full of people both free and weak, and so the members
of the Church, even bishops and priests, are sometimes an obstacle
to God’s grace. Baptists can remind us of that, as can our reading
of history and even our own experience. The Church in any time
or place can act like a mob. Likewise, the Church, in order to
protect Christ’s gifts, can seem to surround them with all sorts
of conditions that seem to take away from the freedom Christ died
to give us. All this is occasion for a constant examination of
our collective conscience. But the Church is holy in her gifts
because she is truly the Body of the risen Christ. Together, as
the Church’s sons and daughters, we find Jesus our savior and
enjoy the means of salvation. In the Church, we live with a kind
of moral certitude, because we have experienced the love of God,
that we will continue to live in God’s love for all eternity.
We are sure that Jesus has saved us; and that is assurance enough
that we are saved, even if, from time to time, we don’t feel particularly
saved.
The Catholic belief in the unity of Christ and his Church explains
also how we read Holy Scripture. Some years ago, in a letter addressed
to the Catholics of the Philippines, the bishops of that country
pointed out that the Gospel was preached for a generation before
it was written. Once written, the books of the New Testament were
recognized as God’s inspired word by the community Jesus began.
How else would we know the Bible is God’s inspired word if the
Church, called into existence by the power of the Holy Spirit
at Pentecost, did not tell us? American religion, because we are
a modern country which presupposes both the invention of the printing
press and near universal literacy, is most fundamentally bible
reading. But the Church of the apostles recognized and read God’s
holy word at the Eucharist, as the Catholic Church still does.
We hear it together and we interpret it together because we are
saved together, in communion with Jesus Christ. This Jesus, who
is our only Savior, never comes alone. He comes with His mother,
the Virgin Mary, and all the saints. This communion is made visible
in the Eucharist.
Baptists, it seems to me, live this mystery of the Church in a
way we can understand when we watch them come forward at the “altar
call” and profess their faith in Jesus Christ. It is beautiful
to see and appreciate. The Catholic “altar call”, if anyone wants
to make the comparison, is that moment when, having heard the
word of God and professed the apostolic faith, we come forward
to receive the Eucharist which has been consecrated by an ordained
priest. We hear: “The Body of Christ” and we respond, “Amen”.
That is the sacramental context which is the Catholic analogue
of the Baptist question: “Have you been saved?” and its sure response,
“Yes”.
The great sorrow in meeting our Baptist brothers and sisters is
that we do not entirely share the same understanding of the Eucharist,
of the communion of Saints, the ministry of Peter and his successors,
the seven Sacraments, the life of grace and other gifts that Christ
wants his disciples to enjoy. The great advantage in meeting them
is that they are men and women of integrity and will not “split
the difference” because they know that the differences are real.
This forces us to be honest and to deepen our own faith. The Baptist
convention next year can therefore be an opportunity. In listening
to and speaking with them about who Jesus is, you might find a
moment to invite them, most respectfully, into the fullness of
apostolic faith. Ask them for their prayers, and invite them to
become Catholic.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
