Credo: A 12-part series on the creed
Editor's note: This article is the ninth of 12 in a new series on the Creed by Deacon Matthew Newsome. Explore the series.
When the English novelist Evelyn Waugh was asked why he was Catholic, he reportedly replied, “What else is there?” I believe I know what he meant. I had a “what else is there?” moment leading to my own conversion.
I was raised in a non-church-going family, so my introduction to the Catholic faith took place when I dated my wife, who was raised Catholic. I attended Mass with her at first because her faith was important to her, and she was important to me; but I was open to whatever truth and goodness was to be found there.
Being inquisitive, I began reading all I could about the Catholic Church, its history, teachings and traditions. At a certain point I came to understand that Jesus was a real historical figure, that the best accounts we have of His life are the four gospels, and that according to those gospels He established a Church with the authority to carry out His saving mission. To me, it seemed clear that if one wanted to be a Christian, one ought to join the Church that Christ established, and all the evidence I saw pointed to that being the Catholic Church.
I therefore found myself faced with a choice: become a Catholic or become an atheist. Protestantism was no longer a viable option for me as it lacked historical connection to Christ. Atheism offered me nothing, and seemed to require an even greater leap of faith to believe that the universe somehow brought itself into being out of nothingness, with no purpose. So I found myself, like Peter, looking at Jesus and saying, “Master, to whom shall we go?” (Jn 6:68). Or, as Evelyn Waugh succinctly put it, “What else is there?”
In response to Peter’s rhetorical question, Jesus reminds him, “Did I not choose you twelve?” (Jn 6:70). One of the identifying characteristics of the Church established by Christ is that it is built upon the foundation of the Apostles. Out of His many disciples, Jesus chose 12 as leaders of His Church (see Mt 10:1-4). He endowed them with certain authority, including the power to govern (Mt 16:19, 18:18), the power to teach in His name (Lk 10:16), and the power to forgive sins (Jn 20:23). While all the
Apostles received this governing, teaching and sanctifying authority, Peter also had the special role of “strengthening the brethren” (Lk 22:32). He alone was given the keys of the kingdom, signifying his chiefly office in the Church (Mt 16:18).
Jesus promised to be with the Church for all time (Mt 28:20), and that the power of death would not overcome it (Mt 16:18). This means that the Church Jesus established must still be around today. So which Church do we find that continues to govern with authority, has taught consistently in Christ’s name for the past 2,000 years, and sanctifies the faithful through the sacraments, united around the successor of St. Peter? It can be none other than the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church,” as the Creed states.
In Greek, the word for “church” is “ecclesia,” which means an assembly, or a calling out. This is the word used in the gospel when Jesus tells Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18). We have been called out from the world as followers of Jesus Christ. We are no longer citizens of the world, but of the kingdom of God. The word “catholic” comes from the Greek “katholikos” which means “of the whole” or “universal.” It signifies that the Church founded by Christ is not just for one people, tribe or nation, but for the whole world. This is why Christ commissioned the Church to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) and to be His witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The earliest recorded use of the name “Catholic Church” is found in St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Smyrnians (c. 110 AD). St. Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostle John and the successor of Peter in Antioch. Interestingly, it was also in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).
There are two other names for the Catholic Church that speak to the Church’s identity and mission. The Church is called both the “Body of Christ” and the “Bride of Christ.” These names both speak to the same reality. The Church is Christ’s body precisely because she is His bride, and the “two have become one body” (see Gen 2:24). To be a member of the Body of Christ is to be a member of the same Body that suffered and died for the sake of the world. Therefore Christians are called to take up our cross daily and follow Christ (Lk 9:23). It is also the same Body that rose from the tomb and ascended into heaven. Therefore the sure hope of Christians is in the Resurrection. “If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we persevere we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim 2:11b-12a).
We are wedded to Christ through our participation in the sacraments. We are incorporated into His Body in baptism, we receive His Spirit in confirmation, and we are nourished by His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. These sacred signs are the means given to us by Christ of being grafted onto Him, just as branches are grafted onto a vine and receive life from the vine. The life we receive from Christ is nothing other than the divine life of sanctifying grace.
Union with God is the essence of heaven, as we shall see as we approach the end of this series on the Creed. This is why the Church teaches that “outside the Church there is no salvation.”
This does not mean one must be a registered member of a Roman Catholic parish to be saved. But it does mean that there is no salvation outside of God’s grace, and God’s grace comes to us, however it comes, only through Jesus Christ. Anyone who receives it therefore is a part of Christ and a member of His Body, the Church. Jesus tells us, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).
In other words: what else is there?
— Deacon Matthew Newsome is the Catholic campus minister at Western Carolina University and the author of “The Devout Life: A Modern Guide to Practical Holiness with St. Francis de Sales,” available from Sophia Institute Press.