St. Joseph's God's TYM (Total Youth Ministry) at 10 Croton Falls Rd., Croton Falls, NY 10519 US - Why the Catholic Church?

1. It's THE church founded by Jesus Christ! Jesus founded the church when He named Peter as the rock on which He would build His church. Check out Matthew 16:17-18. Every other church, denomination or sect can be traced back to someone or some group of people BESIDES Jesus! The Catholic church can be traced back from John Paul II to Peter! If you are going to follow Jesus, follow Him in the church He founded. 2. The Eucharist. What better way to strengthen a personal relationship with Jesus than to receive Him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist. He is the Bread of Life. The Eucharist is, for many, a difficult teaching. It was difficult for His own followers. Read John, chapter 6. Better yet, take the Believer's Test. No matter what YOU may think, remember the Word of God, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53) 3. The Pope. What! The Pope?! Absolutely. Consider this - most all Christians (including Catholics) believe that the Bible is the infallible, spirit-breathed Word of God. So WHY would ANYONE want to rely on people's OPINIONS to interpret it? When that happens, the result is obvious today - over 20,000 churches, denominations and sects - all with different interpretations. With the Pope we can KNOW that the truth is being revealed to us AS GOD wants it because He gave that authority to Peter (Matthew 16:19). No matter how holy or "not holy" the Popes have been, 2000 years of Catholic teachings have not changed! (Eucharist, the Trinity, Mary,Sacraments, etc). Throughout all time and all cultures, we can rely on the Chair of Peter to guide us. Whenever someone claims to know "the correct" interpretation of a scripture passage or a matter of doctrine, ask one simple question - why is YOUR opinion any more valid than MINE, or ANYONE ELSE's? We can rest easy that the Holy Spirit guides the Pope in doctrinal matters as He guided the writers of the Bible. 4. Mary. "Behold, your mother!"(John 19:26) These words were spoken by Jesus on the cross to John, and they ring true to us today. In our journey as disciples of Jesus we have an important friend -Mary! Who better to help us follow Christ than the first Christian herself! Yes -Mary was the first person to say "yes" to Jesus.(Luke 1:38) She continually worksto draw us closer to Him - remember herwords at the wedding at Cana, "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:5) She is our ally in the battle against evil, and the rosary a sword against Satan. 5. The Saints. The followers of Christ are either on the earth right now, being purified in purgatory, or in heaven. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 954). When we say the "communion of saints" we mean the joining of these three groups. We are ALL members of the Body of Christ. We rejoice and suffer together! Have you ever asked someone to pray for you? Have you ever offered to pray for someone else? Well, if it's good enough for us, and we are still sinners, how much better to ask those who ALREADY IN HEAVEN to pray for us! We have friends in high places who are pulling for us - ask for their help! 6. Sacraments. Would it be possible to drive from New York to LA without stopping for gas, food and other things. No way! Is it possible to get from our position in life to heaven without stopping to "fuel up" on God's power - No way! Sacraments do just that - they give us God's power - called GRACE. We need grace to purify our souls so we may enter heaven. Some sacraments happen once and leave a permanent mark on our soul - baptism, confirmation and holy orders. Others should be practiced frequently - Eucharist and reconciliation. They are outward actions that involve the senses - touch, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling, while "good things" are happening to us spiritually that we can't see! They are channels for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Going to confession will help you to STOP doing the things you go to confession for! Receiving the Eucharist will help us to live a more Christlike life. The sacraments "plug us in" to God. Stay plugged in! 7. Life. The Catholic Church stands strong, and many times alone, on it's teaching of the sanctity of life. Abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and contraception ALL interfere with the the creation or natural end of life. God alone is the Creator of all life - who are WE to supersede Him?! 8. Scripture and Tradition. The Catholic church recognizes that the things that Jesus did and said are passed down to us from the apostles through the Bible AND through tradition, "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which were taught by us, either by word of mouth our by letter." (Thessalonians 2:15) Try to find the word "Trinity" in the Bible. Try finding "Incarnation." Yet these are beliefs held by all Christians. Where did they come from? Tradition - that is the Pope and the Bishops (called the Magesterium) coming together to make a proclamation of church doctrine - guided by the Holy Spirit. Try finding in a book of the bible where it tells you what books belong in the bible! The list of books that belong in the bible (called the Canon) was put together by the Catholic Church exercising Tradition. Tradition refers to matters of faith and morals only, (Trinity, Eucharist, Mary, Purgatory, etc) and does not mean things like whether or not girls can be altar servers or whether we have to fast from meat on Fridays - these things are customs and are not infallible. 9. Prayers. St. Paul reminds us to "Pray constantly" (1 Thessolonians 5:17) The richness and fullness of the prayers of the Catholic Church is without equal. The Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, the Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Novenas, Prayers to the Saints, Prayers to the Holy Spirit, and the list goes on and on. Praying in our own words is great - but there are times when the words are hard to come by, especially in times of turmoil or extreme emotion. The prayers of the Catholic Church are always there, ready to aid us in our relationship with God. There are prayers for special occasions, prayers for special needs, prayers of celebration, prayers of forgiveness, prayers for grieving. We have a full arsenal against evil in the prayers of the Church. The most important thing to remember about prayer is....to DO IT! 10. The Catholic Church possesses the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. The Catholic church does not say, nor has it ever said, that someone must be a member of the Catholic Church to get to heaven. What is said is that the church has been given by Jesus the "fullness of the means of salvation." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 830). That means all the things that Jesus wanted us to partake of as His followers can be found in the Catholic Church. Other churches contain elements of truth, and we can certainly learn many things from the very devout Christians that can be found in them, but if we want the "whole enchilada," the Catholic Church is it. In today's world, with many churches, organizations, cults, individuals and philosophies all claiming to have "the truth," we can rest easy in the fullness of the Catholic Church, as St. Paul calls it, "the pillar and and bulwark of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)

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