On Earth As It Is In Heaven

The word catholic by definition means universal; yet the Roman Catholic Church, staunchly holding on to its ancient practices, including the denial of Sacraments to those who are seen as unfit, hardly fits the mold of a universal church.

I’ve attended some beautiful Catholic masses, even communion masses. I even felt a part of the worship experience. But alas, I was not allowed communion. Funny, though. I was tempted to take part last week when I attended a funeral mass. How would they know I wasn’t Catholic? Probably because I don’t genuflect or cross myself very well.

When Jesus offered the first Holy Communion, he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Notice he didn’t go on to say, “…except for...” Jesus ate with sinners and excluded no one from the Gospel. As we say in the United Methodist Church (and perhaps yours, too), “Christ invites to his table all who repent of their sins…”

Only Jesus Christ was the perfect human being. All of us are sinners. The one who says is not, is actually sinning just by saying so. No number of Hail Mary’s is needed to wash away your sins – God forgives you before you even utter the words. Talk about grace and mercy!

While it has been going on for quite some time in the United Methodist Church – as well as other denominations – the ordination of women into the clergy has been a hot-button issue. I still know of some people who changed churches because they were unhappy about a woman becoming their pastor. I wonder what they think now that the bishop of our conference is a woman. Frankly there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that women should not be ordained. In fact, Galatians 3:28-29 states that all Christians are equally gifted spiritually: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” My personal observations confirm this quite substantially.

Allowing priests to marry is a hot topic in the Roman Catholic Church. This probably originated from the Apostle Paul who stated that being unmarried frees one from concern, and allows one to dedicate their life to pleasing the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:12) That’s quite understandable. However, I think human nature keeps us distracted from doing the Lord’s work anyway, married or not. I also think it would be more difficult for a celibate priest to objectively practice marriage counseling (unless he’s been married before). I also believe that marriage is the best way to practice a covenant relationship with God. In light of the dwindling numbers of Roman Catholic clergy, I think it’s time to let them marry. But what do I know? I’m just an ignorant Protestant.

The Roman Catholic Church wishes to reach out to more people. And I admire that Pope Benedict XVI is vowing to stand up for traditional Christian values. The Church has a deep-rooted tradition of beautiful and edifying art and music. But the fact of the matter is that the Roman Catholic Church is still too inclusive and unforgiving. In order to reach out, the church needs to abandon some of its man-made (dare I say Pharisee-like) practices, and to truly embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ.