Pink Flamingoes and the Pearl of Great Price

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. St. Paul - I Corinthians 2:1-5

When I was a young boy my family traveled down the east coast of the U.S., from Maryland to Florida, to go on vacation. Back in those days we didn't have the interstate highways we now have and there were places where you had to travel along two lane roads that ran through small towns. I can remember in some of those areas you would see homes where the owners had decorated the yards with all kinds of things. Mirror balls, pin wheels, antique (abandoned) cars, statues of all kinds of things, dwarfs, deer, people and pink flamingo's. Now some of those lawns were so filled with 'decorative items' that it was hard to figure out how to get from the road to the house! Some home owners had gone even farther in their extravagant decorating and had affixed all kinds of things to the front porch walls. Flags, hubcaps, beware of dog signs, and other creative wall mountings! Kind a like the yard, some homes had so much stuff on the wall that you couldn't even see where the front door was!


Sometimes we as Catholic Christians feel compelled to immediately share with friends who, perhaps do not know the Lord or are not church goers, about the treasures of the Church,- Mass, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, Apostolic succession, etc. We feel the need to get it all out in front of them immediately. Sort of like the yards with the pink flamingos. By attempting to get it all out there immediately we run the risk of not establishing first things first. We can easily put the horse before the cart. We certainly want people to know all about the treasures of the Church, but we want them to know first and foremost about the Pearl of Great Price, who is the person that our faith is all about. We want them to know the reason for all of the wonders of the Church, His Body! When we share with others about the joy of knowing Jesus Christ personally as our Lord, as the center of our lives and of all creation, it puts first things first. We want them to know the way into house of God, and Jesus is that way! We want them to know the meaning of life which is found in union with the Trinity through what our Lord has done for all by his life, death and resurrection! If in fact our friends come to know the love of God in Jesus our Lord, the forgiveness of sins and, power of the Spirit given in baptism, then they will hunger to learn more and, live in the truths of the Church!

Let's growing in learning to share about the Lord Jesus, and look for opportunities to tell others why He is the pearl of great price and the joy of our lives!

“This is the principal proclamation of the Church, which remains unchanged down the ages. The Christian faith, therefore, is not an ideology but a personal encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ. From this experience, both individual and communitarian, flows a new way of thinking and acting: an existence marked by love is born, as the saints testify.”
Pope Benedict XVI, Parish of God the Merciful Father, Rome, March 26, 2006

A Call for a New Apologetics

What is apologetics? First, the root of the word "apologetics" comes from "apologia" which means defense. A Scripture that pertains to this is 1 Peter 3:15:

"In your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence."

On this topic, Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, wrote an very good article called A New Evangelization for a New Millennium: A Call for a New Apologetics

He has some very good points, and it is worth reading in its entirety, especially as we come into contact with friends, family members, and co-workers that are living in sin. The following is a short selection, which he begins with Jesus' words in Scripture:

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. . . . Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again” (Jn. 8:7-11).

For those of us seeking to generate a new apologetics in a new evangelization capable of drawing all closer to Christ, His Church, and one another, the account of Jesus’ disposition toward the adulteress and her accusers is instructive. Christ, who is God and thus knows the sinful hearts of all men and women, castigates those who were so ready to punish the adulteress, not because their judgment on her sin was in error, but because they lacked humility and respect. After forgiving the woman, Jesus immediately confirmed the nature of her act by calling it a sin and calling her to conversion — to a turn toward God and His truth that sets us free to love.

As a communion formed by preserving and sharing Christ’s gifts, the Church best fulfills her mission when she ministers with Our Lord’s combination of respect for persons and for the truth that fulfills them. In other words, the Church is both Catholic and apostolic. As Catholic, she reaches out to everyone, even — and especially — those most sinful and broken. But as apostolic, the Church also reaches out with the faith that comes to us from the apostles, without compromises that would contravene the dignity and vocation of beings made in the image of a self-giving God... read more

Visit our page of articles for more on apologetics or the section About the Catholic Faith in our bookstore.

Proofs for God

In the face of a new breed of books on atheism, most notably "God is not Great: How religion poisons everything" by Christopher Hitchens and the "God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins - we, as Christians need to hear again the words of Scripture:

"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:14-16)

And speaking of the most basic "defense," which is an apologetic for God, most of us can probably say with the writer-convert Andre Frossard "God exists, and I have experienced Him." That is our best defense, or even offense :)

And just like I can say "love exists," not primarily because of a series of argument, but because I "have experienced it," so I can witness to the experience of knowing God. This is what our Sharing Christ series is all about.

BUT. Ah, yes, the long-awaited "but." The Church (the visible communion of those who believe in Jesus Christ) has always valued "reason." So recently I came across a great video by Fr. Robert Barron, a most excellent priest and teacher of the faith whom I had the pleasure of podcast-interviewing him last year, who gives a great series of arguments from reason for God's existence. Its one clip from a series of fifty clips on Christianity called Faith Clips. Enjoy!

Appreciating the Brethren

I was reading the Intentional Disciples blog this morning and I came across a great statement from Vatican II that is useful reflecting on as we encounter non-Catholic Christians.

"... Catholics must gladly acknowledge and esteem the truly Christian endowments from our common heritage which are to be found among our separated brethren. It is right and salutary to recognize the riches of Christ and virtuous works in the lives of others who are bearing witness to Christ, sometimes even to the shedding of their blood. For God is always wonderful in His works and worthy of all praise."

"Nor should we forget that anything wrought by the grace of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of our separated brethren can be a help to our own edification. Whatever is truly Christian is never contrary to what genuinely belongs to the faith; indeed, it can always bring a deeper realization of the mystery of Christ and the Church."

-Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) (1964), I, 4.

Before I comment, the icon above is the apostle Peter (representing the Western - Latin Church) embracing the apostle Andrew (representing the Eastern - Greek Church). Unity has been a project in the Church since the beginning. Read Acts of the Apostles!.

As far as the statement, first, this is great to hear, especially from the teaching authority of the Church! And especially in 1964. Very prophetic.

Now, of course, none of this obviously contradicts our belief in the fullness of truth within the Catholic Church (which we pray all Christians, including us Catholics come to appreciate more and more). But, ultimately, ecumenism is an important part of the fullness of truth. Read what JPII wrote about it.

As far as our witness to non-Catholic Christians I think we need to always first recognize the enormity of our unity in Christ first and then, as we feel led, move forward with dialog and witness.
Our witness and our speech needs to be seasoned with salt though and should recognize that much disunity in the Church stems from miscommunication. Click on the above banner to access a really great Web site which is devoted to "building bridges and healing division with Evangelicals." This site explains Catholic truth in a way that is easy to understand for non-Catholics. Each article ends with the following prayer to Jesus for unity.

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians
become a reality, in Your way
we have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together
we give you absolute permission to move
Amen.