A Follower of Jesus: Introduction

This telling of our holy Catholic Faith is offered to anyone, everyone who is looking for answers, searching for God. It is offered to help us to know, love and serve Jesus, in order to be happy with him in this life and in the afterlife.

It will hopefully also help parents to teach their children the faith, and help parishioners to witness to inquirers who want to learn more about our faith, and help Church ministers to help parents and parishioners do that. As they say: You can’t give what you don’t have, right?

What will inspire others to love Jesus, such that they will want to belong to his Catholic Church? Rituals, rules, and the rod of punishment in and of themselves will not, as sure as cold butter don’t spread.

Rather, what’s attractive is knowing about the person of Jesus, his teachings, his saving deeds, and the way of life he shows to his followers. What’s more, being taught that by someone who loves Jesus, and gives a good example of trying to live by his teachings.


CHRISTIANS              
The followers of Jesus are called Christians: “It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts of the Apostles 11:26)

We are called Christians because Jesus was called the Christ (a title, not his last name). Christ is from Greek, a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means the one anointed with oil. 

Anointing with oil was used to indicate that God chooses the person for a special life or mission. In the case of Jesus, he is anointed with the Holy Spirit, not with oil. And his mission is to be the Messiah promised to the Jewish people, to save humanity from Hell for Heaven, and to inaugurate the kingdom of God.

“[John the Baptist] sent [two of his disciples] to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come [the Messiah], or should we look for another?’” (Luke 7:19) Jesus answered by listing all the signs that he was the Messiah, the one who was to come.


DISCIPLES           
A Christian is described as a disciple of Jesus. This word is from Latin, meaning one who learns. We learn from the teaching and example of Jesus about how to live in this world, in hope of eternal life in Heaven.
 

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)


CHURCH             
You can’t be a Christian just by yourself. If you believe in Jesus, the next step is to be baptized. If you were baptized as an infant, the next step is to “own” your Baptism, to make it a guiding force in how you live.

Baptism makes you a member of the family of God, the community of believers, the body of Christ, the Church. Jesus said that he would build his Church on the rock of Peter’s faith, namely, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:18)

The word Church is from Greek, and when it’s spelled in upper case, it refers to the assembly of people who belong to the Lord by their profession of faith and by being baptized. We are Christians who belong to Jesus’ Catholic Church.

The word catholic is from Greek, meaning universal. When Catholic is spelled in upper case, it’s the proper name of our Church. When it’s spelled in lower case (such as in the Apostles’ Creed), it refers to an attribute of the Church, that it’s a universal Church.

When the word church is spelled in lower case, it refers to the building where the assembly of believers go for prayer, either alone or with others, and where they gather together for worship at Holy Mass.


SACRED SCRIPTURE
Catholics are first and foremost followers of Jesus. We love Jesus. We have a personal relationship with Jesus in his holy Catholic Church. We are his friends. Friendship with Jesus begins and deepens by knowing him. 

We learn about Jesus from the written record in Sacred Scripture, the Bible, and from what has been passed on by his followers through Sacred Tradition.

The Bible is not one book, but a collection of 73 books. The first part of the Bible, called the Old Testament, has 46 books of the history, law, and prophecies of the Jewish religion. Christians read the Old Testament too because we believe Jesus is the Messiah promised to the Jewish people.

The second part of the Bible, called the New Testament, has 27 books that tell the story of Jesus, and the faith of his first followers. There were other writings about Jesus, but by the beginning of the 5^th Century, the bishops of the Catholic Church had decided that only these reflected the true faith about Jesus. 

The bishops of the Catholic Church declared that the 73 books of the Bible were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to record without error those things needed for our salvation.

We can encounter Jesus through the Sacred Scriptures a number of ways: at Holy Mass, in the Readings and in the Mass prayers; by praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer of the Church, which is made up of Psalms; and by a prayer practice called lectio divina, Latin for divine (or holy, prayerful) reading of the Bible.

We are encouraged to read the Bible as a great help to the practice of our holy Catholic Faith; it has the power to change lives. Consider the examples of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Ignatius of Loyola, and Augustine of Hippo. They each had an encounter with Jesus through reading the Scriptures that changed them in such a way as to merit the title “Saint” before their names.

Listen to the Blind Willie Johnson song: “I’ve got a Bible in my home. If I don’t read it, and my soul gets lost, it’s nobody’s fault but mine.”

Read the Bible, yes, and think about what it means for you. But when it comes to what we believe and how we live our Catholic Faith, the Magisterium has the final word. That word is from Latin, meaning teacher, and it refers to the teaching authority of the Pope and the bishops in union with him, under the guidance of the Spirit. 

An example of the Magisterium is when the Apostles met to decide if non-Jewish converts to Christianity had to obey the law of Moses. They wrote their decision in a letter to some of these converts: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.” (Acts of the Apostles 15:28)


SACRED TRADITION               
We also learn about Jesus from what wasn’t written down, but handed down orally from Jesus to his Apostles, and by them to their successors, the bishops of the Catholic Church. We call this Sacred Tradition, from Latin, meaning to pass something down. 

We believe that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, just like Scripture, and that it has the same authority as Scripture. Together, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition make up what’s called the deposit of faith.

When Tradition is spelled in upper case, it refers to this authoritative source of teaching, revealed by God and affirmed by the Church, which we have access to especially in Church doctrine, worship, and faith practices.

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will speak what he hears, and declare to you the things that are coming.” (John 16:12-13)

“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

When tradition is spelled in lower case, it refers to prayers, or devotions, or stories associated with the saints. These traditions might be inspired by the Spirit, but not necessarily, and they aren’t authoritative for what we believe and how we live as Christians.

 

This is part of a series titled, "A Follower of Jesus In His Holy Catholic Church"
which was published in April of 2021.

NEXT