Basics Over Appearances


Photo by Nathan Bingle on Unsplash


Peter said to him, "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” ⏤Acts 8:20:23


There seems to be no viable argument against the contention, that Catholics in the United States do not know their faith beyond what they may have picked up as children. If any of us had, would we be going through the mess and confusion we are right now?

It would seem equally incontrovertible, that those willing and able to educate their peers in the faith are to be encouraged and supported as much as possible. Especially useful are attempts to supplement or reinforce average Catholics' thin grasp of Christianity using Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the works of various saints, theologians and popular authors. While in a crisis, it's best to fall back on the basics and get everybody up to speed on them.

In light of the above, offering a course wherein various Marian apparitions are used to explain anything seems to be superfluous at best. Delving into Marian apparitions with Catholics in the United States would seem to push people away or to confuse them even further. The Church requires no one to believe that Marian apparitions have happened or to accept what may have been communicated during a Marian apparition. The Church does require us to believe in and trust Sacred Scripture and the deposit of faith found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For Marian apparitions to avoid being either benign fantasy or dangerous obsession, a thorough knowledge of the faith is necessary.

So why would someone do this? I don't know. My cynicism wonders, if this breed of Catholics isn't using the tragedies of these times to increase their popularity and to make a few more dollars by pandering to the lost and troubled. God help them, if they are.

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