Could You Teach Your Faith?
I recently received a phone call. A pleasant voice asked, “Is this a ministry?’
I answered, “I am charge of a ministry, but this is my home. I am in charge of African Ancestry Ministry and Evangelization.” She replied, “Do you pray?”
My answer was yes. She replied, “Thank you.” End of conversation.
This brought to my mind how uninformed many people are about us Catholics. It also brought to my mind a query. How informed are we as Catholics to respond to the questions about our Faith that the local people ask?
Our non-Catholic neighbors do not hesitate to ask such questions as “Do you Catholics pray?”; “Why do you worship Mary?”; “Why do you have idols in your church?”; “What is Mass?”; “Have you gone under the water?” (This means “Have you been baptized by immersion?”)
These are just some of the questions that are asked. How many of us can answer them clearly? I think that too many of us do not keep up on the teaching of our religion. We do not read enough about our Faith. I wonder how many of us have catechisms at home. I know that some think catechisms are passé, but the question and answer format responds to human need.
We don’t need to enter into a mode of defending our Faith. We need to get into a mode of really knowing our faith so we can explain it to others accurately. I believe this is something we need to seriously consider and act upon.
And the better we know our faith, the more fully and completely we will be able to live it, as St. Paul says in his letter to Titus, “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that [we] will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” Titus 1:9.
- Msgr. Thomas P. Hadden