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Cindi,
Thanks for the question--but what
a huge amount of information is required
to fully answer it. I will give a
few thoughts for distinction and
common ground.
Baptists and Catholics both believe
that Jesus is God, that He saved
us from our sins, and that without
Him no one goes to Heaven.
That being said, Baptist and Catholic
beliefs about who holds Jesus' officially
sanctioned authority on Earth differ.
- Baptists claim there is no real
authority sanctioned by Jesus
other than the Bible, and some
vague notion of Church where you
couldn't actually point to any
one person and say he definitely
has authority given by Jesus himself.
- Catholics say that Jesus definitely
left certain individuals in charge,
namely the Apostles, and that
they held his authority, with
Peter, who held the keys of authority
in particular (cf. Mt 16:19) having
a unique place of primacy.
We believe that Jesus built his church
on the Apostles (cf. Eph 2:20), and
they weren't merely given honorary
titles, but a vital role in Christs'
own mission to the world (cf Mt 28:18).
For better or worse, we are married
to the "one" Church that
Christ himself established. And we
don't run any from it even when scandal
and evil seeks to tear her down and
destroy her, because Christ warned
us that Satan would seek to sift
us like wheat (cf. Luke 22:31). There
are many sinners amongst us, but
many saints in the making too: the
small, the quiet ones, that make
no headlines. Often they are our
leaders, like our current Pope, or
here in Boston, our Archbishop Sean
O'Malley. He had a terrible job being
appointed to come here after the
scandal, but this humble Franciscan
exemplifies what true "servanthood" leadership
consists of. We are blessed to see
in our own day Christ's call being
lived out.
Sorry, I'm getting a little away
from my point...
Without an authoritative Church we
couldn't even tell "authoritatively" which
books would belong in the Bible,
that which the Baptists claim is
their authority. The Bible was put
together by the Catholic Bishops,
successors to the Apostles, who were
given their authority by their predecessors.
So, because we view the Bishops,
and Pope (who succeeds Peter) as
our authority, we believe the Bible
and all that Jesus taught us. We
have the Blessed Sacrament, not watered
down and abandoned in its authenticity.
That means we believe 100% that the
bread and wine become Jesus' own
body and blood. And this fact of
the faith has been unchanged for
2000+ years. It has been a defining
characteristic of Christians from
the beginning. Only Catholics and
Orthodox churches (basically Apostolic
churches) still hold true to this.
Read John's Gospel, chapter 6, and
see how when Jesus challenged people
that they would have to literally
consume his flesh and blood, they
abandoned him. He didn't water the
teaching down. He wasn't speaking
merely symbolically; they were actually
accustomed to Him speaking in allegories,
parables and symbols. But here he
blew their minds because he didn't
explain how it was going to happen;
he merely insisted that they give
their assent. And many stopped following
him. I probably would leave a leader
that insisted I eat his flesh too--unless
by the light of God I saw he was
going to do something miraculous.
That is what really should humble
us about the disciples--the twelve
stayed and didn't abandon him, and
they finally got to see the fulfillment
of Jesus' words in the Blessed Eucharist
at the Last Supper, which is where
Jesus' first gave himself as part
of the paschal feast (the passover).
He became the Lamb of God, a sacrifice,
which when consumed, gives the very
life he possesses. The Eucharist
is the Bread of Life, because it
is Christ himself. How does he do
it? He is God. No one completely
gets this, but we trust Jesus, and
have seen the miracles follow the
Eucharist throughout history.
I better stop here because I'm not
sure if I am overwhelming you with
too much already. This is so important
to us Catholics, because it is the
central reality of our faith. Baptists,
while they have communion, only have
a symbol, not the real deal. They
do not have a valid priesthood descended
from the Apostles which can confer
the Eucharist. We love them, but
they are missing the most important
piece Jesus left us--himself in his
fullness. If they knew what we had,
they would be pounding at our doors.
But sadly, Catholics don't often
witness well about our faith. Please
study the Christian faith well, and
don't ignore history, because you
will see the continuity of the Catholic
faith all the way through on such
important matters.
Peace,
Bob Kirby
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