My Hope and My Fidelity

My attitude regarding ecumenism is hope for souls. I have faith that God’s love and mercy are truly infinite and that the only limiting factor in our salvation lies in our own free will. I am reminded of this whenever I think on these verses from chapter 9 of the Gospel of Mark:

John answered him, saying: Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, who followeth not us, and we forbade him. But Jesus said: Do not forbid him. For there is no man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me. For he that is not against you, is for you. For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ: amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.         -Mark 9:37-40

I do not believe that only those in full communion with the Catholic Church are certain of heaven. First off, I know that just because I am a Catholic does not make me assured of heaven. Thanks to the sacraments of Christ, I have greater hope of heaven. That is all. The rest is still up to me. I have the assurance that God will be with me and help me to follow Him, but I have to stay on the path. I am still free to deviate and go another way.

Even though I do not believe that one must be Catholic to follow Christ, I will remain a Catholic and I believe that the Church shines the brightest light on the path to heaven. While the man who performed miracles in Jesus’ name was permitted to continue doing so, it still remains that he did not follow Jesus with the apostles. Such is the way of the varied churches today. There is the sacramental Church (sadly divided into East and West) and there are the protestant churches. There are those who share a cup of water with you in Christ’s name and for that they are blessed and then there are those who walk in Christ’s presence. The Miracle of transubstantiation occurs every day all over the world as the Church’s priests say the Mass. Christ is with us still: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. For that we give thanks and thus we call it the Eucharist.