“ten lepers met him”
Ten lepers met him. Ten is a number of completion of wholeness, but yet the lepers are not “one”. They are divided. Nine are Jews. One is a Gentile. Not only are they not united in religion, but they also are not united in faith. The nine Jews hold fast to their “name” and the fact they are children of Abraham, but it is the one lone Gentile that through faith is a true child of Abraham. “ ‘All are not Israelites, that are of Israel; neither are all they who are the seed of Abraham, children; ‘but’, says the Scripture [Gen. 21:12] ‘in Isaac shall thy seed be called’; that is to say, not they who are the children of the promise are counted for the seed;’ [Rom. 9:6-8] they are born of the faith of Abraham, and are, in the eyes of the Lord, His true progeny.”[i]
Are there Catholics that are “in name only” but truly are not believing or living the Catholic faith? Yes. This was a danger for the Israelites and it is for Catholics and any community of believers. There are many that were Israelites but in heart were not of Israel. There are many that were in the line of Abraham but did not live as a child of Abraham in faith. It seems to be human nature that a person finds security in the “group” they belong to and believe just being a part of the group is enough. This was not enough for the people of Israel, for the children of Abraham, and neither is it enough for us.
What Groups do we hang on to in life?
Give examples of how we live our Catholic faith only in a “bodily manner”. Give examples of how we live our faith “in his heart”. The Council of Vatican II is very clear about the fact that we cannot be Catholic only in a “bodily manner”. “He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a "bodily" manner and not "in his heart." All the Church's children should remember their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged.”[ii] In the Gospel, it was the nine Jews that were more severely judged than the one Gentile. The Jews had the “exalted status”, they were the chosen ones, yet it was the exalted that did not return, and the foreigner returned and was told it was his faith that saved him.
Why is it so easy to take our faith and our “exalted status” for granted?
There are two groups, the Jews and the Gentiles. Of the ten leapers, nine are Jews and one is a Gentile. It is the Gentile that comes back to thank Jesus. Through the mercy of God, there is no longer one race, one people, which have access to salvation. Through the mercy of God, all people “born of the faith of Abraham” are called children of God. Jesus declares the fact that yes, this one man is a Gentile by calling him a foreigner; it is not the fact that the man is a Jew or a Gentile that he is saved. Jesus says, it is his “faith” that saved him. It is through “faith” that this Gentile is “born of the faith of Abraham” and thus, a child of God. It is clear that access to salvation is through faith. Although salvation is through faith, the Grace of God goes before our faith. As Saint Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God”[iii] Faith is our free and firm response to God’s free gift – Grace.
Where do we find this “faith of Abraham” that brings salvation? Isn’t the “faith of Abraham” the Jewish faith? God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”[iv] “Our holy mother the Church is never tired of this subject, the comparison of the two Testaments, and the contrast there is between the two peoples.”[v] We cannot just look at part of the picture, not just the Old Testament, not just the new; we have to see the full picture, the full history of Salvation and God’s plan. If God’s plan would have only included Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and extended only to the Jews, then there would be only salvation for the Jews. Jesus was a Jew and Jesus is not only part of Salvation History, He is the center of the story. Everything before Him, points to Him and everything after Him, points back, as a reminder of Him and a continuation of His life. “He [God] manifested the great mystery of godliness in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16); the Word became a living soul (Gen 2:7); eternal Truth assumed to Himself a Body, that so He might converse with men (Baruch 3:38) and grow up like on of themselves (Luke 2:52). And when that Body, which eternal Truth was to hold as His own for every, was taken up in glory (1 Tim 3:16), the Church, the bride of the Man-God, continued in the world this manifestation of God, by the members of Christ; she continued that historical development of the Word, which is only to cease when time is no more.”[vi]
Salvation History begins with the Eternal Word. The Eternal Word is present in creating the world and mankind, is spoken through the prophets, becomes flesh in the person of Jesus and continues to be manifested through the Body of Christ the Church. This Body is neither Jew nor Gentile but, instead, is called “ONE”. “One,” is one of the four marks of the Church which we profess during the Profession of Faith, the Creed at Mass “And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” The oneness of the Church is the fulfillment of God’s plan in salvation history to bring all to the knowledge of truth. We come from Jewish roots. We cannot deny our roots or our history, but we also cannot deny the growth of the tree as well as the fruit of the tree. The faith has grown from Jewish roots into the “fullness” of the Catholic Faith and the full fruits of the New Covenant. “Many give the impression of living without spiritual roots and somewhat like heirs who have squandered a patrimony entrusted to them by history.’”[vii]
Is there only one Church, one Body of Christ? Yes. Christ cannot have two bodies, just as you and I cannot have two bodies. There is one Body, Christ is the head and the members of the Church are the body. “The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter’s pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it…. This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.”[viii] “The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism explains: “For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God.”[ix] The world “alone” is essential. The Catholic Church alone is the help toward salvation. The Catholic Church alone has the fullness of means in which salvation can be obtained. The Catholic Church alone was entrusted with the blessing of the New Covenant.
See the Mountain Chart
The chart explains how any help toward salvation or means of salvation flows from Christ and His Church
Search: Fullness of Truth [Part II]
What is Ecumenism? Ecumenism is the evangelization of non-Catholic Christians. How are we to evangelize, reach-out and interact with non-Christian Catholics? What truths must we as Catholic hold to? There are three main principles of ecumenism: 1. Christ established his Church on the Apostles and their episcopal successors, whose visible head and principle of unity became Peter and his successor the Bishop of Rome; 2. Since the first century there have been divisions in Christianity, but many persons now separated from the visible unity with the successors of the Apostles under Peter are nevertheless Christians who possess more or less of the fullness of grace available in the Roman Catholic Church; 3. Catholics are to do everything possible to foster the ecumenical movement, which comprehends all “the initiatives and activities, planned and undertaken to promote Christian unity, according to the Church’s various needs and as opportunities offer” (Decree on Ecumenism, I, 4).[x]
People of God – A biblical term popularized by the Second Vatican Council to describe the members of the Church. The expression brings out the fact that those who belong to the Church form a visible society that they are distinctive, specially chosen by God, and composed of all baptized believers in Christ throughout the world. Their degree of membership depends on their degree of faith, obedience to the Church’s precepts, and sanctity or union with God.[xi]
Should all the People of God (Christians), belong to the Catholic Church? Yes, of course. That is the Goal. Baptized believers should be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ. There should be no partiality. Why would we want anyone to have part, when they can have all? Our separation as Christians is a mockery to the unity of the Trinity and a scandal to the unbaptized, non-Christians.
Where does real unity come from? What are the bonds of Unity? Above all, charity “binds everything together in perfect harmony.” But visible bonds of communion also assure the unity of the Pilgrim Church: 1. Profession of one faith received from the Apostles; 2. Common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments; 3. Apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family.[xii] This is not a new teaching. During the rise of Protestantism in the sixteenth century Saint Robert Belarmine said, “The one and true Church is the assembly of men, bound together by the profession of the same Christian faith, and by the communion of the same sacraments, under the rule of legitimate pastors, and in particular of the one Vicar of Christ on earth, the Roman Pontiff.”[xiii]
The perfect harmony of which the Catechism speaks of can only come from the Holy Spirit which Christ said He would send to guide and protect the Church. The Holy Spirit would bear witness of Christ.[xiv] Saint Benedicta of the Cross, in her Novena to the Holy Spirit describes the harmony of the Holy Spirit and its effect on the Body of Christ the Church. “Are you the sweet song of love, And of holy awe, That eternally resounds around the triune throne, That weds in itself the clear chimes of each and every being?
The harmony, That joins together the members to the Head, In which each one, Finds the mysterious meaning of his being blessed, And joyously surges forth, Freely dissolved in your surging: Holy Spirit eternal jubilation!”
MOVIE – “The Power of One”
In this clip the boy, through music unite several divided tribes. It is through “oneness” that perfect harmony is found.
MUSIC – VIDEO “Viva la Vida”
Every music part must be in sync and work together for a perfect harmony for “oneness”
Are all Churches the same? No, Absolutely not. There is only one Church, the Catholic Church. Christians, those who are baptized, which Vatican II called “the People of God” are a part of the Church, but only partially based on their profession of faith, celebration of liturgy, reception of the sacraments, and fraternity through apostolic succession in Holy Orders. So what do we call other Christian Churches? They are a community of believers, but not a Church. We call the Catholic Church, holy mother Church. There cannot be two mothers. There is one mother and her children are united to her by their faithfulness and participation in her life.