The Third Mark of the Church: Catholic

     If you had read the previous blog here, then you already know what a Mark of the Church is. Today, Catholic is used to describe specific a group of Christians. Today's use of the word is the exact opposite of what it really means. The word "catholic" means "universal". It comes from the Greek word katholikos.

     The Church is Catholic because it is whole and complete. The Church has been united with Jesus through salvation. Through the unity with Christ, the Church is also Catholic, or universal, because it has a universal authority to preach the good news. All over the world, there can be found the influence of the Church. From big cities to Africa there are churches and service projects funded by the Catholic Church. Even in places where the Church is outlawed like China you can still see its influence. Ever since the day of Pentecost,  when the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and empowered them to spread the good news, the Church has been lead and united by God. No one nation or culture can claim the Church as its own.

Gay Marriage

A very hot topic today is gay marriage today. As of April 2013 nine states have legalized gay marriage: Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington. Yet, 30 states prohibit gay marriage. The church does not view homosexuality itself as wrong. It only considers acting on gay impulses as a sin. The main reason the Church is against gay marriage is because marriage is a covenant  between man, woman, and God. The Church believes that marriage between two people of the same sex is not a marriage at all and devalues the importance of the covenant of marriage. Although the Church views gay marriage as wrong it is still up to each of us to decide our own views.

SJ Service Hours

For my fifteen service hours that I did for Strake Jesuit I volunteered at the Houston Food Bank. While there, I sorted cans and built food baskets for the hungry around Houston. The food baskets consisted of everything from cereal and cookies, to rice and beans.  I found that volunteering at the Houston Food Bank provided a great opportunity to learn and grow. In order to make food baskets at a reasonable pace we had to team up. We formed big assembly lines. One group of people would sort the incoming food donations into different boxes. Then other groups would put the designated amount of their item in the basket. The last group would stack the finished baskets. No work would have gotten done without cooperation. Seeing all the food donations helped me see the value in just donating a bag of rice. Just small donations can help keep a family from starving for one more night. Through volunteering at the Houston Food Bank I saw that we are all called to do service in our communities. Service isn’t supposed to be horrible job. Service is meant to make you feel good about helping others. Through my experiences at the Houston Food Bank I came to see the importance of service and helped me better understand the mission of the Church.  The Church is meant to be a vessel of salvation for all men. Through service we help fulfill the job of the Church. While doing service with my family I grew closer to them. We were united in a common goal of helping others. My family enjoyed the service project. It became a family outing where we would bond and come closer. The fifteen service hours I completed at the Houston Food Bank brought me closer to my family and helped me see the importance of service in the world.

The Fourth Mark of the Church: Apostolic

Before jumping into this, its important to understand what exactly we mean by not only Apostolic, but also Mark.
First, a Mark is an inhierent trait observed in the Catholic Church. Specifically, four Marks are identified: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. What makes these Marks important is the fact that although other religions may possess a few of the traits, only the true Catholic Church can possess all four. Therefore, the Church and its importance derives from these marks, since they are what identify it as the true Church.
Now, we look specifically on the fourth mark: Apostolic. This term derives from the word Apostle, which as we know were the titles of Jesus' closest followers. Simply put, Apostolic means pertaining to the Apostles. The Apostles were entrusted by Christ to teach, sanctify, and govern the Church, which is the general reason why the Church is called Apostolic. However, the actual foundation for this claim can be observed in a set of what is like 3 sub-marks.
The Church was founded upon the Apostles in three different senses. The First pillar is Apostolic foundation, which states the Church is built upon the Apostles by Christ, The second is Apostolic Faith, which is the idea that the teachings of the Apostles are handed down and preserved through the Holy Spirit and the Church. Finally is Apostolic Succession, which states that the authority of the Apostles were handed down in the form of the college of bishops, and the Pope: successor of Peter.
In all of these ways, the Church has preserved the Authority of the Apostles, handed down thier teachings deriving from Christ, and we cannot forget that the entire goal of the Apostles was to establish help establish the Church, which implies we must treat the original Church they established--the Catholic Church--as the Church they originally intended to create. thererfore, the mark of Apostolic proves the Catholic Church is the true Church and most effective mean to achieve salvation.

Marriage

Society does not view marriage as highly as the church does. The United States have some of the highest divorce rates in the world, and over the past decade divorce rates have been higher than ever. Today, sex out of marriage happens all the time. Society has deem it ok to have sex outside of marriage, further devaluing marriage. The Church believes that marriage is sacred. It believes that marriage is for life, only separated at death. The Church believes that sex is only ok in marriage because premarital sex devalues the importance of marriage. Marriage is a covenant and not something to be devalued.