It is no small secret that the Roman Catholic Church is experiencing tremendous pressure to change, structurally and doctrinely. For many, the Roman Church is simply becoming a non-issue. Many published surveys indicate that the vast majority of Americans in the United States state that faith is important to them; they believe in God, they call themselves spiritual but not religious. So in the face of an evolving church, what does it mean to look for a new way to be Catholic?
Let me start off by doing some level setting. In my discussions, Catholic refers to a standard set of beliefs, (the Nicene Creed and Apostolic Succession), that identifies Catholics apart from our other Christian brothers and sisters. For reasons of clarification and understanding in my discussions, I will refer to the individual Catholic churhes by name as appropriate, ie Orthodox Catholic, Roman Catholic, Coptic Catholic, Old Catholic, National Catholic, Independent Catholic etc.
I am a Catholic priest of the Independent Catholic Church within the jurisdiction of the United American Catholic Church. All Catholic Churches in substance are the same, their expression of that substance varies. In today's modern society of the 21st Century, the historical church paradigms are being called into question. People are seeking out new ways to live their Catholic faith in light of their reasoning and inner sense of the divine. So what does it mean to find a new way to be catholic?
The answer to that question is multi-faceted. There is no one answer. The new way to be catholic is as evolving as humanity and spirituality itself. For me, the first step on this new journey is to gain a wider understanding of the man that our religion purports to follow, Jesus of Nazareth. All Christians need to take a critical look at the historical Man-God and seek to understand him in the context of our human experience. We need to change our posture from being a religion about Jesus to a religion of Jesus. That is the focus of this UACC Blog. I invite your comments, thoughts, questions, critiques, and above all, your prayers. God Bless. Fr. Tom
Let me start off by doing some level setting. In my discussions, Catholic refers to a standard set of beliefs, (the Nicene Creed and Apostolic Succession), that identifies Catholics apart from our other Christian brothers and sisters. For reasons of clarification and understanding in my discussions, I will refer to the individual Catholic churhes by name as appropriate, ie Orthodox Catholic, Roman Catholic, Coptic Catholic, Old Catholic, National Catholic, Independent Catholic etc.
I am a Catholic priest of the Independent Catholic Church within the jurisdiction of the United American Catholic Church. All Catholic Churches in substance are the same, their expression of that substance varies. In today's modern society of the 21st Century, the historical church paradigms are being called into question. People are seeking out new ways to live their Catholic faith in light of their reasoning and inner sense of the divine. So what does it mean to find a new way to be catholic?
The answer to that question is multi-faceted. There is no one answer. The new way to be catholic is as evolving as humanity and spirituality itself. For me, the first step on this new journey is to gain a wider understanding of the man that our religion purports to follow, Jesus of Nazareth. All Christians need to take a critical look at the historical Man-God and seek to understand him in the context of our human experience. We need to change our posture from being a religion about Jesus to a religion of Jesus. That is the focus of this UACC Blog. I invite your comments, thoughts, questions, critiques, and above all, your prayers. God Bless. Fr. Tom