Does It Pay To Be A Catholic?

Must You Be A Catholic?

Contents • ••< ,s It Difficult To Become

I
A Catholic?



Why the Knights of Coiumhus

Advertise Catholic Faith

The reason is simple. We Catho-

lics want our non-Catholic friends

and neighbors to know us as we

really are and not as we are some

times mistakenly represented.

We are confident that when

our religious Faith is better un-

derstood by those who do not

share it, mutual understanding

will promote the good-will which

is so necessary in a predominant-

ly Christian country whose gov-

ernment is designed to serve all

the people—no matter how much

their religious convictions may

differ.

American Catholics are con-

vinced that as the teachings of

Christ widely and firmly take

hold of the hearts and conduct

of our people, we shall remain

free in the sense that Christ

promised (John VIII, 31-38),

and in the manner planned by

the Founding Fathers of this

republic.

Despite the plainly stated will

of the Good Shepherd that there

be "one fold and one shepherd,”

the differences in the understand-

ing of Christ’s teaching are

plainly evident. It has rightfully

been called "the scandal of a

divided Christianity.”

If there is anything which will

gather together the scattered

flock of Christ, it is the nation-

wide understanding of the

Savior, what He did and how He

intended mankind to benefit by

the Redemption.

To this end, we wish our

fellow-Americans to become ac-

quainted with the teachings of

Christ as the Catholic Church

has faithfully presented them,

since the day the apostles in-

vaded the nations of the world

in willing and courageous obedi-

ence to Christ’s command: "Go,

therefore, and make disciples of

all nations .
.

(Matt. XXVIII,

19).

SUPREME COUNCIL

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Religious Information Bureau

4422 LINDELL BLVD. ST. LOUIS 8, MO.

©Knights of Columbus 1958



DOES IT PAY TO BE

A CATHOLIC?

Those who live up to their

obligations as Catholics have

learned by experience that

the Catholic religion is not

an easy one. Catholics must

obey some very serious laws

and fulfill burdensome du-

ties, which they would not

have to do if they were not

Catholics.

But millions of Catholics

keep on obeying these laws and ful-

filling these duties even though they

know that belonging to some other

religion w6uld be less demanding.

Why? Because Catholics are con-

vinced that the Catholic religion is

the one, true religion given to us by

God Himself to enable us to fulfill

our obligations as creatures to Him,

our Creator, and to help us to be as

happy as we can be here on earth

and to be happy with Him forever

in Heaven.

But that is not the only reason

why Catholics keep on being Cath-

olics. Any Catholic who gives to

God the reasonable service which

the Catholic religion asks for, who

knows and understands what his re-

ligion and its beliefs and practices

can do for him, knows also that he

keeps on being a Catholic because

it pays to be a Catholic.

Non-Catholics, of course,

often wonder about this.

"What,” they ask, "is there

in the Catholic religion that

compels acceptance of reli-

gious duties of such exacting

character?” And many of

them become curious about

Catholicism and ask them-

selves: "Has the Catholic re-

ligion anything to offer me?”

For the benefit of anyone seeking

an answer to this question, the fol-

lowing will make clear the reasons

why we say it pays to be a Catholic.

1. Why Catholics are sure of what

they believe.

We are convinced that Jesus
Christ existed and that He was God;

that He founded a Church for all

men: that He sent the Holy Spirit,

the Spirit of Truth, to guide that

Church; that consequently His

Church is infallible when it teaches

what we must believe and do in

order to serve God truly. We know
that, despite all the powers on earth

and in hell, Christ’s Church can

neither deceive nor fail us.

All the essential teachings and

practices of the Catholic religion

are contained in the little catechism.

These are so simple that a child can

1



easily be taught to understand them,

and yet they answer the profoundest

queries and deepest doubts of the

scholar, philosopher or theologian.

The lessons of the Catholic catech-

ism outline the only true philosophy

of life. Throughout the centuries,

atheists, agnostics and scoffers have

attacked the catechism, but not once

have they succeeded in proving one

of its doctrines false.

2. Catholic teaching agrees with

common sense .

In the entire range of Catholic

belief there is not a single contra-

diction. All the teachings fit together

like the parts of a pattern or well-

designed plan which appeals to

man’s reason and common sense. As

an example, other Christian sects, as

a general rule, follow the practice of

some kind of baptism for the re-

moval of Original Sin. But they deny

that Christ established any other

sacrament for the purpose of remov-

ing sins committed after baptism,

especially confession. This overlooks

the big difficulty of getting rid of

the guilt of sin which man is capable

of committing after Baptism. How

obtain forgiveness for that? The

Catholic Sacraments include the Sac-

rament of Penance, or Confession,

which is reasonable and also fulfills

the commission of Christ to His

apostles and their successors: "Whose

sins you shall forgive, they are for-

given them.”

3. The Catholic Church is on the

right side of things.

Aside from the purely spiritual

guidance a Catholic receives from

his Church, he feels secure in follow-

ing the direction of the Church in

matters of everyday conduct. The

Catholic Church is invariably on the

right side even in questions that are

not wholly religious, but which have

lasting effects on man’s prosperity,

both temporal and spiritual. For

example:

Government:

The Bill of Rights and the Con-

stitution of the United States might

have been written by a Catholic

philosopher, so closely are they in

accord with traditional Catholic

teaching on political science. The

Catholic Church, both by proclama-

tion and action, has always stoutly

resisted tyranny, whether in the form

of the divine right of kings or the

totalitarian state seeking to change

free citizens into slaves deprived of

their basic human rights.

Economic ]ustice:

In the days when the workers had

little protection, it was churchmen

like Pope Leo XIII, Cardinal Man-

ning and Cardinal Gibbons who

fought their battles and gained for

them a legal recognition of their

right to organize. Today, while the

Catholic Church still favors unions,

it reminds both capital and labor of

their solemn obligations in justice

and charity toward each other and

their fellow-citizens.

Interracial Justice:

Where Catholic education and

culture have full freedom, the rights

and dignity of man as a creature of

God are upheld without discrimina-

tion because of color or nationality.

The Catholic who, out of racial

2



prejudice, would practice discrim-

ination in basic rights, would fail

his religion.

World Peace:

The Catholic Church has worked

incessantly for the avoidance of war,

and, when wars do occur, for the

alleviation of the misery they cause.

Since the disruption of Christian

unity in consequence of the division

into many sects, its efforts to prevent

war and establish a just and lasting

peace have been severely handi-

capped.

Education:

The Catholic Church stands

squarely behind the right of parents

to have their children educated in

schools that teach religion and mo-

rality.

4. The Catholic Church does not

compromise.

We all admire a man of principle.
But most of us have nothing but con-

tempt for one who compromises his

convictions for some unworthy gain.

So, too, it is in religion. The Church

instituted by Christ cannot change

its basic teachings and moral tenets

to conform with changing human

practices and varying human opin-

ions. To do so would destroy its

right to the respect and confidence

of thinking men.

In all its history, the Catholic

Church has never compromised its

doctrines and moral principles.

There have been occasions when it

could have averted persecution, or

saved for itself entire nations, if

it would have yielded on certain

points of belief and morals. It

could not compromise and at the

same time remain true to its divine

commission to "teach all nations

whatsoever I have commanded you.”

It would be much easier for the

Catholic Church and much easier

for the members of the Catholic

Church, for example, if it could

approve divorce and birth-preven-

tion, or be content with the secular

education of public schools. But to

do this, the Church would have to

compromise the precepts of the

Bible, its traditional teaching, and

the natural and revealed moral law.

Once the Catholic Church would

compromise on these and other fun-

damental truths, it would falsify

its claim of being the one and only

true Church of Jesus Christ, and its

members, as well as all the people in

the world, could have no confidence

in it.

5. The Catholic Church alone goes

back to the apostles.

When Catholics say the Apostles’

Creed, they know with certainty that

they are professing belief in funda-

mental truths with exactly the same

interpretation as did the early Chris-

tian martyrs and the first converts of

the apostles. When Catholics assist

at Mass, or receive any one of the

seven sacraments, they know that

they are attending the same Mass

and receiving the same sacraments

as did the first Christians. When
Catholics obey the Pope as the su-

preme spiritual ruler of Christen-

dom on earth, they know that they

are doing the same as the early

Christians, who always listened to

the bishop of Rome as the direct suc-

cessor of St. Peter.

3



History easily proves that the

Catholic Church alone goes back

through the centuries to the Apos-

tles, and that it alone can claim

Christ for its founder. The oldest

non-Catholic Christian sect dates

back a little more than 400 years,

while others are of more recent

origin. So between Christ and these

non-Catholic sects, historically, there

is a gap of about 1600 years.

6. The Catholic Church has order

and disciphne.

Any organization, whether in the

business, civic or social field, that

does not have discipline and order,

soon falls to ruin. So, too, in a re-

ligion. If ministers can defy their

bishop, and laymen dictate to a pas-

tor, one could hardly find the peace

and smooth-functioning authority

of the gentle, yet uncompromising,

Christ.

The Catholic Church has order

and discipline, often to the amaze-

ment of a ruthless, self-willed world.

Two factors contribute to this: a set

of laws known as Canon Law, that

have been tested and found bene-

ficial for centuries, and the deep

reverence that each fervent Catholic

has for his pastor, his bishop and

the Holy Father. This spirit of in-

telligent obedience enables Catholic

leaders to accomplish wonders in

both the home and foreign mission

fields, as well as in the established

parishes in the organized dioceses

of the Catholic Church.

7. The Catholic Church teaches

that all human beings are entitled

to freedom of conscience.

Catholics are trained to respect

the religious convictions of others,

even though they do not agree with

them. They are taught that to ridi-

cule, despise or calumniate another

person’s religion is a sin. This toler-

ance, however, does not extend to

any error which may be contained

in the other person’s religion. For

that reason, the Catholic may speak

out against doctrines which he rec-

ognizes as false, but not in con-

demnation of those who hold these
false beliefs. Catholic priests and

people are content to propagate the

truth of their own religion, being

convinced that the best way to gain

the confidence, respect and convic-

tion of non-Catholics is to hold

before them the real teaching and

practice of the Catholic Church and

the edifying example of millions of

fervent Catholics.

8.

The Catholic religion presents a

sane view of life.

Some of the pleasures and recrea-

tions of life which are regarded as

wholesome and harmless by many

Christians, are condemned as sinful

by others. Dancing, card playing,

even going to a baseball game on

Sunday, are branded by some as

violations of the laws of God and
the principles of Christian living.

Enactment of various so-called ’'blue

laws” were the results of the con-

viction of some Christians that

moral behavior should be enforced

by civil laws.

While the Catholic Church is un-

bending in matters of principle, in

telling its members what is moral-

ly right and wrong, it does not con-

fuse their conscience by declaring

reasonable human pleasures and

4



forms of recreation to be sinful. In-

dividuals, of course, sometimes de-

bauch even wholesome pleasures by

excesses and immoderation, just as

some turn their "daily bread” into

gluttony. The sinfulness is not in the

pleasure or amusement itself, but in

the individual’s unmoral or immoral

indulgence. Catholic teaching is

clear-cut and adamant in condemna-

tion of such excesses.

9. The Catholic religion helps in

sorrow.

It is especially in time of sorrow

and at death that a Catholic most

appreciates his faith. His religion

can be counted on to alleviate

much of his sorrow, not just by sym-
pathy, but by positive help. If it is

worldly misfortune, the Church will

usually be there to comfort and re-

lieve; if it be physical pain, so often

the Church will be there at the bed-

side in the habit of a nursing nun;

if it be moral or mental anguish, the

confessional and the rectory door

are always open; if it be death, there

will be the priest, with the last sacra-

ments and prayers for the dying. Not
without reason do we so often hear
the expression from the troubled

lips: "Father, I do not know what
I would do, without my Catholic
Faith.”

10. The Catholic religion brings

peace of conscience.

Gilbert K. Chesterton, England’s

famed writer, on being asked why
he became a Catholic, replied: "Be-
cause I wanted to be sure my sins
were forgiven.” Every adult human
being, unless he has perverted his

conscience by repeated serious sin,

has a sense of guilt, and this in pro-

portion to the number of grevious
sins he may have committed. The
problem is now to make sure that
these sins are forgiven.

To a pagan or an unbeliever this
must be a perplexing problem. Mere
denial of God is not going to change
one’s human nature. Conscience ac-
cuses even the man who does not
believe in God, and for such a man
there is no one to turn to for for-

giveness. Those who do not recog-
nize the Sacrament of Penance as

administered by the Catholic Church

are scarcely in a more favorable po-
sition. For the Catholic Church

alone claims the right to dispense

God’s forgiveness of sins by virtue

of Christ’s clearly-stated commis-

sion: "Whose sins ye shall forgive,

they are forgiven them; whose sins

ye shall retain, they are retained.”

Catholics, after sincerely trying to

make a good confession, with true
sorrow for their sins and with a firm

determination not to sin again with

the help of God’s graces, have no

doubts about the forgiveness of their

sins. Common sense is on their side,
too, as we have pointed out before,
for they are confident that if Christ

gave His Church one sacrament

(Baptism) to supply them with

grace in the beginning, He surely
must have instituted another sacra-

ment by which they could obtain

with certainty the forgiveness of

sins committed after baptism and so

be restored to God’s grace and

friendship.

11.

The Catholic Church helps make

good citizens.

It is sometimes alleged that Cath-

5



olics owe allegiance to a foreign

ruler and therefore cannot be loyal

citizens of their country. This ac-

cusation has been refuted long ago

by the repeated demonstration of

loyalty by Catholic citizens to what-

ever nation they owed allegiance.

Conspicuous examples of this loy-

alty have been displayed by U. S.

and Canadian Catholics since the

first white settler came to America.

The authority that St. Peter and

his successors, the Popes, received

from Christ was entirely in the spir-

itual realm. To this Catholics the

world over subscribe completely,

rightfully convinced that their re-

ligious convictions are no business

of any government. Now, as in the

past, it is necessary for the Pope to

be independent of any civil ruler.

For that reason he now has Vatican

City, a sovereign state recognized by

the nations of the world and whose

only citizens are those who dwell

within its confines. Catholics in all

other parts of the world owe their

civil allegiance to the lawfully con-

stituted authority under which they

live.

The Catholic Church moulds good

citizens because it teaches that patri-

otism is a moral virtue binding in

conscience. This is founded upon

Catholic doctrine, and is a proper

recognition of the rights of civil

government to rule for the common

temporal good. Moreover, the Cath-

olic Church actively supports this

training by inculcating respect for

God, from whom all legitimate au-
thority derives its right to rule, and

for His moral laws, without which

obedience to civil law would ulti-

mately collapse. The Catholic is

especially taught reverence for the

oath, upon which depends the in-

tegrity of our courts, civil officials

and our fellow-citizens.

12. The Catholic Church supports

the family.

It is apparent that in many in-

stances, marriage and family life are

in a sad state today. For proof of

this ask any of the thousands of vic-

tims of the divorce courts or any

unfortunate child of a broken home.

It is not now uncommon for thought-

ful young people to hesitate long

before they pledge their lives before

an altar. Lax, immoral, hypocritical

divorce laws have contributed to this

breakdown. Another is the easy,

quick ways of marrying which heed-

less people often use for binding not

only their first marital knot, but

often a second, third or more. And

back of it all is often a callous, ma-

terial view that takes all that is holy

and moral and divine and obligatory

out of Matrimony.

The Catholic Church alone up-

holds marriage as it should be and as

God ordained it to be. This is not

something new for the Church; it is

as old as the words of Our Lord and

the Bible which clearly and force-

fully condemn remarriage after di-

vorce, birth prevention, neglect of

children, and adultery. If the Cath-

olic Church had been lenient with

Henry VIII and permitted him to

put away his lawful wife Catherine

to marry Anne Boleyn, it probably

could have kept all England for the

faith and avoided three centuries of

persecution. The Church could not,

however, compromise the divine law

regarding marriage any more than

6



it could encourage a violation of

any other of the ten commandments.

Catholics entering marriage be-

lieve that they are bound by their

marriage vow, no matter what hap-

pens, until death. Therefore, Cath-

olic marriages usually endure and

are successful.

Catholics believe and are con-

vinced that marriage between bap-

tized persons is a sacrament. There-

fore they look reverently upon their

wedded life as a holy state, compar-

able, in the words of St. Paul, to the

union of Christ and His Church.

Catholics believe that in the exer-

cise of their marital rights God usu-

ally cooperates with them in bring-

ing a new life into the world. Con-

sequently, Catholic marriages are

usually blessed with children.

Catholic young people, as a rule,

do not rush into marriage. Their

training and the laws of the Church

cause them to assume these solemn

obligations only after due instruc-

tion, reflection and prayer. This is

marriage as it should be; this is mar-

riage as it is in the eyes of God.

In the close intimacy of marriage,

it can be difficult to live happily

with a partner with whom you can-

not kneel down and pray. Still more

difficult must it be to remain truly

contented with a husband or wife

with whom you disagree on moral

principles, such as birth-control, and

to have the torturing certainty that

instead of helping you to heaven,

your companion in life is dragging

you down to hell. It must be an un-

comfortable feeling to realize that

you are bound by vow to a partner

who may not feel equally bound.

These factors, and a host of others,

prompt the Church to discourage

mixed marriages involving a Cath-

olic.

A devout Catholic will find the
best choice for an enduring, happy

marriage is union with another good

Catholic. Then both parties are

agreed on the essentials of a happy

marriage—life together until death,

for better or worse; mutual under-

standing of right or wrong in mar-

riage; a mutual willingness to pray

together, go to confession together,

receive Holy Communion together.

Best of all, amidst the hardships and

pitfalls of family life, a man and

wife thus united have the comfort-

ing assurance that their marriage is

a holy sacrament, that in fidelity to

each other and in the cares of life,

the family will be constantly aided

by special graces where human ef-

fort alone would surely fail.

13. The Catholic religion helps par-

ents to give their children a true

education.

Catholic parents feel that they

have a decided advantage over non-

Catholic parents in the education

of their children. Many non-Cath-

olic parents are deeply concerned

regarding the education of their

children, and yet they have no

choice but to send them to a public

school where moral and religious

training are barred by law. Catholic

parents can feel sure that their chil-

dren are getting not only a sound

academic training, but protection

against any materialistic influences

that might conflict with basic Cath-

olic philosophy.

Catholic parents believe, in fact,

that with religion prohibited in pub-

7



lie schools, the only really demo-

cratic schools are private schools

where parents can exercise their

God-given, Constitution-guaranteed

right of educating their children ac-

cording to their conscience. Main-

tenance of the vast parochial school

system, of course, with its double

burden of taxation, is a heavy load

on Catholic parents. They are happy

to bear it, however, as it guarantees

that their children receive expert

training, especially in morality and

religion.

14. Catholics can and do become

saints.

In his battle with the difficul-

ties and dangers of life, the Cath-

olic is certain that he is not alone.

Most often in his youth he has had

the priceless advantage of a good

Catholic home and a Catholic school

training. All through his years he

has had the advantage of the guid-

ance and encouragement of special-

ists in human and divine welfare,

his priests. He shares the company
and the help of the saints in heaven,

who have won their goal for all eter-

nity and will intercede for him with

God in heaven. And every Catholic

is convinced he has the opportunity

and the help he needs to become a

saint, just as many Catholics have

become saints before him.

In a general sense, a saint is any-

one who dies in the state of grace

and gains eternal happiness. But

most often the word "saints” is in-

tended to mean those canonized and

declared by the Church to have at-

tained with certainty a high place

in heaven. Such a declaration is made

by the Church only after a most

critical examination of their heroic

lives and the miracles that God has

worked in response to their prayers.

Scarcely anyone denies that there

were saints in the apostolic age and

during the first centuries of Chris-

tianity. But many say that sainthood

is no longer achieved in modern

times. A religion that would not
continue to have saints, would have

to be classified as dead. Therefore, if

we grant that the Catholic Church

was founded by Christ,we can expect

that there would be Catholic saints

in every century. And that is just

what has happened, even down to

the first half of this latest twentieth

century.

To become a saint, a person must

obviously be helped, for sanctity is

a supernatural goal that demands, in

addition to human effort, super-

natural help in the form of God’s

grace. In the Catholic Church the

saints have been inspired in their

quest for sublime virtue not only

by the Christ-like ideal of the Gos-

pels, but by the numerous lives of

Christian heroes who have gone be-

fore them. Further, the saints have

had the benefit of the corporate

prayer and worship of the Church,

and the means of grace in the holy

sacrifice of the Mass and in the seven

sacraments.Without the graces flow-

ing from the Mass, Baptism, Con-

fession and Holy Communion, we

believe that no Christian can be-

come a saint.

Every Catholic today has all the

helps the saints have had, and every

opportunity to become a saint.

8



15. The Catholic Church helps at

death.

There is no sermon that preaches

man’s helplessness more clearly than

death. Many people try to avoid

thoughts of death and when it comes

to them, or to a loved one, they find

nothing in their purely materialistic

world to reassure or console them.

The old adage that "the Catholic

religion is hard to live in, but easy

to die in,” holds a lot of truth. Cath-

olics facing death have the advan-

tage of a lifetime of training for the

apprehensions of life’s end, and the

added assurance of the last sacra-

ments of the Church. While by na-

ture it is no easier for Catholics to

contemplate death than it is for oth-

ers, they are greatly helped to meet

it calmly and confidently because of

their religious training and the as-

surance of the sacraments. Catholics

pray for a happy death day after

day, and they try to live in such a

way that they will be ready for death

whenever it may come.

A Catholic funeral is not a cold,
hopeless affair. The bereaved, though

under earth’s most bitter loss and

parting, are encouraged by a firm

trust of reunion in heaven. Likewise

they know they can help the depart-

ed one by prayer and be helped in

return, a consolation that lightens

the burden of grief when death

comes. Friends come to the wake,

not merely to express their sym-

pathy, but to kneel and recite the

rosary together for the soul of the

deceased. There is real comfort in

that. The Requiem Mass, the bless-

ing of the grave, the entire funeral

service—all breathe of hope that is

stronger than the power of death.

All the world, of course, searches

for happiness. Some try to find it in

work, others in pleasure; some in

idleness and repose, others in fever-

ish activity; some by doing the will

of God, others by falling into sin.

No one is perfectly satisfied on
earth; many, as a poet states it, "live

lives of quiet despair.” We cannot be
completely contented until we reach

heaven, but only the few will ac-

knowledge this fact. Most people

live as though they would exist on

earth forever.

Catholics are sure that in heaven

we shall be perfectly happy because

the yearnings of our mind and heart

will be completely satisfied. We
shall behold God as the Infinite

Truth, and our intellect will be con-

tent; also as the Infinite Good, and

our will shall be at rest. In this union

with our Creator, all the good and

reasonable desires of our human na-

ture will be fulfilled. There will be

no rebellion of the passions, as here

on earth, no frustration, no incom-

pleteness, no growing tired of what

we have—in other words, in the ful-

fillment of one’s destiny there will

be perfect order.

Catholics ought to be the happiest

people on earth, because already in

this life they have begun to walk

in unity with God. Theirs is the spe-

cial privilege and dignity of being

part of the living body or organism

of which Christ is the Head and they

the members. For them grace is not

merely an insurance against hell but

a sharing in the life of God.

The certainty of belonging to the

true fold, the peace of conscience

after a good confession, the delight

9



of receiving Holy Communion, the

sense of security and strength at the

Holy Sacrifice, the guidance of one’s

priests in every danger and diffi-

culty, the companionship of the

saints both here and especially in

heaven, the special protection of

our Blessed Mother, the evidence

of love for each one of us on the

part of our Divine Lord—all these

and many more factors contribute

to the definite purpose of a Cath-

olic life. Although his religion is

strict and exacting in all that God

demands, a faith that demands pen-

ance, self-sacrifice and discipline,

every Catholic knows that the re-

wards of his faith far outweigh all

the difficulties and duties it im-

poses on him.

"It is evident that the story of my life up to the day of my baptism

is hardly the adequate story of my conversion.’ My conversion is

still going on. Conversion is something that is prolonged over a

whole lifetime. Its progress leads it over a succession of peaks and

valleys, but normally the ascent is continuous in the sense that each

new valley is higher than the last one.

"I have said that the problem of the Christian life is not solved

by baptism alone. Sanctifying grace, which makes us 'live in Christ’

and nourishes us with the fruits of His Passion and endows us with

a share in His risen glory, is a talent that has to be increased and

developed. We must enter deeper and deeper into this life of Christ.

We must give ourselves over more and more fully to the mighty

and transforming power of grace. Why? Because, as I have said, the

purpose of our lives is to make us more and more productive members

of the Mystical Body of Christ.

"We increase and deepen our participation in the life of the

Body by the activity of our minds and wills, illuminated and guided

by the Holy Ghost. We must therefore keep growing in our knowledge

and love of God and in our love for other men. The power of good

operative habits must take ever greater and greater hold upon us.

The Truth we believe in must work itself more and more fully into

the very substance of our lives until our whole existence is nothing

but vision and love.” Where I Found Christ—Thomas Merton.

10



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a

MffSr YOU BE A CATHOLIC?

Many non-Catholics, of

course, would be indignant

if asked such a question. Yet

it is a question which we

believe is reasonable and de-

serving of reasonable con-

sideration.

Emphasis in the question

is on the word "must.” We
are not asking whether it is

a good thing to be a Catholic,

or a lawful thing, or a rewarding

thing. We are asking you to con-
sider whether you are bound to be a

Catholic, whether that is the only

thing you can be if you are inter-

ested in saving your soul. Is there

any kind of force that should be

driving you into the Catholic

Church?

When we say, "Must you be a
Catholic?”, we mean: "Are there

compelling reasons that make it

illogical, unreasonable and person-

ally disastrous for you to be any-

thing other than a Catholic?”

There are only a few things other

than a Catholic that you can be.

1) You can be an irreligious person,

who does not believe that religion

is necessary. In that case you either

maintain that there is no God, or

that you do not know anything

about God. 2) You may give your

allegiance, theoretical or

practical or both, to a non-

Christian religion. 3) Or you

may be a Christian of one

of the non-Catholic sects, in

which case you are taking

the position that the aposto-

lic Church has failed, which

Christ promised it could not

do. If you take the position

that any or all of the non-

Catholic Christian sects are equally

authentic in their interpretation of

the teachings of Christ, you are con-

fronted by the troubling fact that

they do not all agree in their inter-

pretations.

Therefore, these are the four

choices that lie before you: to be a

Catholic, to be irreligious, to be re-

ligious without accepting Christ, or

to be a non-Catholic Christian. There

is nothing else you can be; if you be-

long to one of the four classes, you

cannot belong to any of the others.

It is our contention that the evi-

dence, the logical reasoning, the his-

torical facts, the express will of

Christ, all oblige you to become a

Catholic. We are aware that you
might be logically convinced that

you should be a Catholic, yet might

not become one for want of God’s

grace. The necessary grace will be

11



given you, however, if you ask hum-

bly for it while considering the evi-

dence presented here to aid your

conscience in making a choice of

religion.

The reasons for being Catholic

are inescapably bound up with the

reasons why you should not belong

to one of the other three classes into

which men are divided by reason of

their attitude to religion. If, there-

fore, you can be convinced that you

must not be 1) irreligious, 2) a

non-Christian religious person, 3)

a sectarian Christian, you will find

yourself in the happy position of

knowing just exactly what you must

be, and that is a Catholic. Consider

briefly the reasons that should con-

vince you:

Need For Religion

1. You must not be irreligious be-

cause you cannot escape an essential

relationship between yourself and

God which demands both recogni-

tion and action.

The simplest general definition

of religion is this: "Man’s commun-

ication with God based on God’s

communication with man.” If you

are justified in throwing off all re-

ligion, you can be so only on the

assumption that God has made no

communication to you. In that case

you must say either that there is no

God, or God cannot be recognized,

or God is not interested in you, or

God has never communicated any-

thing to you.

For brevity, let’s pass up the de-

nial that there is a God on the ground

that those who believe this would

not profit from any of the other

logical conclusions offered here.

We can be equally brief with the
notion that God’s existence cannot

be recognized on the ground that

anyone who can look at an effect

and state that he can know absolute-

ly nothing about its cause is not

ready for a reasonable discussion of

anything. A Cadillac-owner who
states that he cannot know for cer-

tain there is a Cadillac-maker,

would be no different from one who,

observing creation, should contend

it had no Creator.

God Loves You

The fact that God is interested in

you is written all over you. It is writ-

ten in the fact that He made you a

lord of creation, a thinking being

in the midst of a million mindless

objects of His creation. It is evident

in the fact that He put the capacity

and yearning for unlimited happi-

ness in your very nature. He must

have wanted something wonderful

to happen to you, and that certainly

amounts to "being interested in

you.”

But has He communicated any-

thing to you? For the moment take

just one answer to that question. He

has communicated some tremendous

practical truths through the manner

in which He made you. He gave you

a voice; He thus informed you that

He wanted you to speak, and to

speak the truth. He gave you arms

and legs and eyes and ears, designed,

like the parts of any object fashioned

by any intelligent being, for certain

purposes. He wanted you to use

them for those purposes.

Above all, He gave you a mind

that can recognize purposes, and an

urgent sense of moral obligation

12



called conscience, and a free will to

obey these recognized moral obliga-

tions. Thus He communicated His

will to you. Religion means doing

what God wants you to do, and you

can see His will in the very way He

made you. That is why it is absurd

and illogical to be irreligious.

2. You must not be religious with-

out any recognition of Christ as God,

because if Christ was God incarnate,

you are not intellectually or morally

free to ignore this truth. Neither are

you free to try to communicate with

the invisible God when God actually

made Himself visible in Christ to

provide the means of communica-

tion He wishes us to employ. If re-

ligion means man’s communication

with God based on God’s communi-

cation with man, then God could

have become man only to communi-

cate something to all men.

Miracles

Your reason will tell you that

there is nothing contrary to the

omnipotence of God in the state-

ment that Christ, if He was God, was

limited to one essential means of

proving to you that He was God

before He communicated anything

to you. He had to show Himself to

be the master of the universe and of

its laws. He did that by His miracles.

He manifested ownership and su-
preme authority over the wind and

the waves; over the animals and the

trees; over diseased bodies and de-

mented souls; over death and the

grave. What more sufficient sign

could you think of asking of Him?

You cannot reasonably say, "But

1 don’t believe in miracles and

therefore I don’t have to believe

that Christ was God.” This might

be a logical objection if there were

no miracles to prove it. But in the

face of the evidence, to say that you

do not believe in miracles, is a

deliberate closing of your eyes and

your mind to evidence of a prov-

able truth.

Your Choice

3. You must not be a non-Cath-

olic Christian, 1) if the Bible tells

you that Christ established a

Church with authority; 2) if his-

tory tells you that, after 1,500

years, men challenged this author-

ity and introduced teachings con-

trary to those of Christ’s Church;

3) if your reason convinces you

that no religious sect can claim to

be Christ’s way of salvation if it

is without authority, unity, un-

changeability and universality.

Nearly all Christian sects, other

than Catholics, call themselves

"Bible Christians.” By that they

mean two things: first, that reliance

on the Bible eliminates the need

of a Church with authority; second,

that the Bible is given by God to

individuals with freedom to inter-

pret its text as best they may ac-

cording to their own lights and

inspirations. It is usually thought,

by those who call themselves Bible

Christians in this sense, that the

Bible came into the world in some

miraculous manner that replaced all

other communications of God to

man.

Here are the facts, however,

which anyone may check for him-

self: 1) A Church with authority
to teach in the name of Christ was

so teaching before the entire New

13



Testament was written, and much

longer before the Church declared

its writings inspired by God; 2)

That Church decided, with her su-

preme authority, what actually be-

longed to the Bible and what did

not, and this was when the in-

spired writings were finally com-

plete, some sixty to seventy years

after the death of Christ. 3) That

Church finds the charter for her

existence and her authority within

the pages of the Bible, even with-

in the pages of non-Catholic ver-

sions.

The genuine "Bible Christian” is

actually the Catholic. He finds in the

Bible itself the explanation of why

Christ did not deem it necessary to

provide a complete Bible until many

years after His death. Christ, he

knows, commanded His apostles to

"teach all nations,” to teach "with

authority”—("He that believeth shall

be saved, he that believeth not shall

be condemned”); to teach with di-

vine guidance and protection from

error ("I am with you all days” —

"the gates of hell shall not prevail

against my Church”). The Church

Christ founded was teaching all na-

tions before the New Testament was

composed; the Church Christ found-

ed determined what books were in-

spired and belonged in the Bible as

we have it today; and that Church

used the Bible after it was com-

posed and authenticated, as a source

added to her oral teaching and

tradition. Surely the Church that

preceded the Bible, that gave the

Bible to the world, the Church that

is described in the Bible, is the only

one that represents the true religion

of Christ in the world.

The second condition that makes

it illogical to be anything but a

Catholic Christian is the fact that

"history tells us that men changed

in their Bible versions many things

that had been accepted as essential

Christianity for centuries before

they came into existence.”

Here you are, living in the twen-

tieth century, and, let us say, you

are convinced that Christ is God.

You are convinced that the most im-

portant thing in life for you is to

know what Christ communicated to

you. You cannot leap back over the

heads of one hundred generations of

mankind to ask Christ yourself. But

you can go back through those one

hundred generations to learn what

teachings of Christ, what interpre-

tations of His words and of the

Bible, came all the way down to you

unchanged.

The Sacraments

If you find, in looking back

through history, that some doctrine,

like that of the seven sacraments, or

that of the Mass as the unbloody

renewal of Christ’s sacrifice on the

cross, was held firmly for fifteen un-

broken centuries,beginning with the

century of Christ, and that then, fif-

teen hundred years later, somebody

began to teach that there were only

three sacraments, or no sacraments,

or that the Mass was a superstition,

what can you logically conclude?

Obviously, you would have to con-

clude that these new "teachers” had

broken with Christ because they had

discarded teachings that generations

had brought down unchanged from

the time of Christ.

This is not, as it may seem, an

14



oversimplification. It is simple in

the sense that Christ must have made

it easy for all generations to learn

what He said and what He meant

by what He said. If He was truly

God, it is preposterous to think that

He should have become man, taught

mankind, and then waited fifteen

centuries for somebody to decide

that His teaching has been misun-

derstood from the beginning — for
fifteen hundred years. The fact that

men did come along and change the

teachings accepted by Christ’s fol-

lowers for fifteen centuries is not

a matter of opinion. It is a fact of

history. It is also a fact that there

is one place, one Church, in which

the doctrines discarded by these so-

called reformers have been held in-

violate from the beginning of Chris-

tendom.

Unchanging Doctrine

The defense of the changes made

by the Reformers is that some

churchmen had become corrupt. But

the alleged corruption was a moral

matter involving individuals and did

not call for changes in doctrine such

as were proposed in the fifteenth

and sixteenth centuries. This was no

more logical than it would have been

for the Apostles to call for a change

in Christ’s teachings because one of

Our Lord’s followers, Judas, had be-

trayed Him. So the Church of Christ

must necessarily be the one that has

preached and continues to preach

the doctrines of Christ without

change regardless of the personal

failures of individuals to remain true

to them.

The third condition that should

force your mind to an acceptance of

the Catholic Church as the Church of

Christ is "if your reason convinces

you that without authority, unity,

unchangeability and universality, no

religious sect can be said to be

Christ’s way of salvation for all.”

Contradiction

As an excuse for not facing up to

the facts of religion, some people

maintain that religious truth is be-

yond human comprehension. Yet

these same people manifest com-

plete confidence in their ability to

reason on other complex practical

and intellectual matters. The agnos-

tic banker who says he cannot learn

or know anything about religion be-

cause his mind is not capable of

knowledge, trusts his mind quite

confidently when it comes to the

rules and practices of banking. He
adds up figures and becomes certain

in his conclusions; he assays the

value of investments and the col-

lateral of loans and acts confidently

on his conclusions.

You can become likewise certain

of the true Christian religion accord-

ing to a few simple tests. Christ

spoke with authority; you shall not

find His religion in any Church that

does not continue to speak with His

authority. Christ gave no occasion

for anyone to say, "It doesn’t matter

what you believe.” Rather, He said,

"He that believeth (what I have

taught) shall be saved.” Thus all His

followers must believe the same

things. Christ offers no opening to

generations coming after Him for

changing or contradicting anything

that He said. Therefore you will find

His Church marked by unchange-

ability of doctrine through all the

15



years. As Christ preached to all men

without exception, so His followers

will be marked by the sameness of

their essential beliefs and practices

in any part of the world. Only one

Church offers you the fulfillment of

these tests. Your mind must tell you

that where they are not fulfilled you

will not find the religion of Jesus

Christ.

It is sad that the compelling sim-

plicity of all these evidences has been

muddied by objections that distract

individuals from the essential ques-

tion. The essential question is:

where can I find Christ still teaching,

strengthening, guiding and saving

my soul today? When you are just

about to see Him in the Catholic

Church, working through human in-

struments and representatives like

His first twelve apostles to save your

soul, someone whispers to you some

reason why the Catholic Church is

not the place where you can find

Christ.

Reason Tells You

These whispers are often pure

falsehoods—for example, when they

tell you that the Catholic hierarchy

and clergy are trying to gain political

and temporal power. Sometimes

they tell the truth to distract you.

They say that the clergy are not so

holy as they should be, or that this

or that clergyman has fallen into sin.

Even if this were true, it is no argu-

ment against the truth of the Cath-

olic Church, any more than the fall

of Judas was an argument against

the divinity of Christ. The Church

as Christ’s means to save your soul

is not dependent upon the personal

acts of any individual member of

its clergy.

Sometimes these whispers distract

you from the truth by quoting an

individual text of the Bible and dis-

torting its actual meaning in relation

to other texts. Thus some draw up

a list of texts in which Christ or

other inspired writers speak strongly

of the necessity of faith for salva-

tion. Then they add the word "alone”

to faith; then they discount or dis-

card the many other directives for

salvation given by Christ, such as

that you must be baptized, you must

receive the Body and Blood of

Christ, you must hear His Church.

Then they offer you the comforting

conclusion that you need only

believe firmly in Christ to be saved.

Obviously, if we believe firmly in

Christ we mean believe everything

He said and put it into practice.

Mere believing is clearly not enough.

This outline of why all men are

called to be Catholics may not of

itself convince those who have been

"distracted” from the truth. We
know too that knowledge is not

enough to make anyone a Catholic.

The grace of God, gained only by

humble and submissive prayer, is

necessary if one is to find and follow

Christ’s way to salvation. May you

be filled with that grace.

16



IS IT DIFFICULT TO BECOME

A CATHOLIC?

It is not unusual to meet

people who, even though

they have no deep-rooted

antipathies for the Catholic

Church, and may even feel

attracted to it, have the im-

pression that it is very diffi-

cult to become a Catholic.

It is even more common to

meet Catholics who have a

fixed notion that it is ex-

ceedingly difficult to be instrument-

al in leading non-Catholics along

the path to the one holy, apostolic,

Catholic Church.

That there is difficulty is quite

true. But when we sort out and face

the kinds of difficulties there actual-

ly are, it becomes apparent that they

are difficulties which are capable of

being faced, analyzed and overcome.

Indeed, if this were not true, there

would be no point in the invitation

that is constantly held out to non-

Catholics to approach and see wheth-

er they cannot find peace and sal-

vation in the Catholic Church.

Upon examination of different

types of individuals, and experience

with a large number of them, it be-

comes possible to classify the dif-

ficulties of becoming a Catholic

under three categories. They are the

following: 1 . Accidentally
,
there are

certain grave difficulties that

may stand in the way of a

person’s becoming a Catho-

lic. 2. Essentially or substan-

tially, there are never too

great difficulties preventing

anyone from becoming a

Catholic. 3. Practically, there

are always such difficulties

as should naturally be expect-

ed and courageously over-

come in pursuing so important a

goal as that of finding the true re-

ligion.

In discussing these various types

of difficulties, one must take for

granted that the grace of God will

be at hand for all who sincerely seek

it. Not even those with the least of

difficulties to face can become Cath-

olics without God’s grace. At the

same time the principal always holds

that to those who do what they can

by themselves, God never denies

whatever graces they may need.

1. Accidental Difficulties. By the

word "accidental” we mean to char-

acterize difficulties that arise from

some special circumstances in a per-

son’s life which create an extraordin-

ary road-block to their approach to

the Catholic Church. They have

nothing to do either with the essen-

tial appeal of the truth to the human

17



mind, nor with the power of the

mind to find and embrace the truth.

Rather they usually stop a person

from even making a beginning to-

ward considering whether the truth

may be found in the Catholic Church.

Here are several examples of such

accidental or circumstantial diffi-

culties:

Falsehoods

a. By far the most common is that

which arises from having been sub-

ject for many years to a stream of

misinformation and mal-education

concerning the Catholic Church.

Millions of people have had it drum-

med into their minds from child-

hood that certain Catholic doctrines

and practices are contrary to the

teachings of Christ and of the Bible,

and that Catholic priests and bishops

and lay leaders are sinister characters

seeking only the enslavement and

impoverishment of those subject to

them.

These individuals have never act-

ually looked into the teachings of the

Church, nor have they ever known

personally any priests or bishops.

Their education has been such that

they do not want to, or feel that it

would be wrong, to do so. It is as

much a part of their intellectual con-

victions that the Catholic Church

is terribly and dangerously wrong

as is any other information they

receive and consider correct. Obvi-

ously, this creates an extraordinary

difficulty in the way of their ever

entering into study of why the Cath-

olic Church claims to be the one

true religion of Christ.

b. Another accidental difficulty

that keeps some from looking into

the Catholic Church is a way of life

that is known to be contrary to what

the Catholic Church lays down as the

law of Christ for all her children.

Most priests have met divorced and

remarried non-Catholics who ex-

pressed this difficulty somewhat in

these words: "I lean toward the

Catholic Church. I’d really like to

know more about it. But, you see,

I’ve divorced one wife and married

another. I know that divorced and

remarried persons cannot be real,

practicing members of the Catholic

Church. At the same time I cannot

and will not give up my present
partner. So there is not much use in

my thinking about becoming a
Catholic.”

The same difficulty is present for

some non-Catholics who are prac-

ticing habitual birth-prevention, or

living in a continuing state of adul-

tery. They have a leaning toward the

Church, but they know that their

habitual sins, which they refuse to

give up, would prevent them from

being good Catholics anyway. So

they do not follow up their leaning.

A Hard Choice

c. A third accidental difficulty
that some non-Catholics find too

much to overcome is the possession

of many human, worldly, social and

rewarding contacts that would have

to be lost or abandoned if they be-

came Catholics. For many, the pros-

pect of such losses is just too great

a difficulty to be surmounted,

though they are practically convin-

ced that the Catholic religion is the

one true religion of Jesus Christ.

d. One more accidental difficulty,

is simply too much interest in sen-

18



sible, material and worldly things.

Their job and their ambitions, their

home and its comforts, their recrea-

tions and amusements, their parties

and vacations, are permitted to fill

up their lives. They haven’t the time

nor the interest to be concerned

about religion at all.

2. Essential Difficulties. By "es-

sential” difficulties in the way of

becoming a Catholic, we mean such

as might be connected with the very

process of preparing to become a

Catholic and submitting to the Cath-

olic Church. Actually, these are

largely imagined difficulties and

none is too great for any normal per-

son to overcome.

You Must Decide

If there is one true religion, if

there is any Church to which Christ

wants all human beings to belong

and through which they are to be

saved, it must be essentially easy for

any human being to find that

Church, to learn its essential teach-

ings and laws, and to become a mem-

ber. The fact that it is easy, however,

does not eliminate the necessity of

some effort on the individual’s part

to ascertain the truth and act upon

it when convinced that Christ’s re-

ligion is not a mere club or frater-

nity to be "joined” as a matter of

convenience.

Experience proves that it is not

essentially difficult for anyone in

any walk of life, with any back-

ground of education, to find and

submit to the truth of the Catholic

Church. Converts to the Church

range from working men and wo-

men with only a minimum of

schooling, to many of the greatest

geniuses and intellectual giants of

every age. All come to the same

simple acts of faith and submission.

All learn that Christ was God, the

only Redeemer and Teacher of man-

kind; that He founded a Church to

dispense the merits of His redemp-

tion and to continue His teaching

without deviation to the end of

time; that the one Church that cor-

responds to the words of His found-

ing and the purpose and tasks He

gave it is the Catholic Church.

The Happy Choice

It is because becoming a Catholic

is essentially easy that many are able

to overcome even the extraordinary

accidental difficulties previously

mentioned. Many who have been

taught to fear and distrust and hate

the Catholic Church from childhood,

finally, through reading or associa-

tion with Catholics, have come to

know its true doctrines and its

actual ministry and the relation of

everything in it to the will of

Christ, and have become the happi-

est converts of all. Many whose sins

long kept them away from the

Church finally have been driven by

remorse and the need of God’s par-

don into the arms of His Church.

Many who have lived for the world

and its good things have lived long

enough to see their world collapse

around them, and then sought refuge

in the only place where it could be

found, in the Church Christ founded

for all.

Indeed, it is so essentially easy to

become a Catholic, and so many with

a million different backgrounds have

done so, that it is sad that so many

others fail to overcome the acci-

19



dental difficulties in their way, or

do not bestir themselves into a

serious seeking of the truth.

3. Practical Difficulties. While it

is essentially easy to become a Cath-

olic, this does not mean that it

requires no effort. Becoming a

Catholic, as thousands of converts

will readily testify, is the greatest

thing that can possibly happen to

one. It transforms one’s entire out-

look on life; it gives a glorious goal

to be striven for at the end of life,

and it sets up lesser goals for each

day of life.

It could not, in fact, be such a

wonderful thing, if it did not require

some effort to attain it. Becoming

a Catholic is not like an accident that

happens to one, nor, a mere emo-

tional experience. It is a fruit of

personal human endeavor crowned

by the grace of God. All human

endeavors involve difficulties pro-

portionate to the end to be attained.

Becoming a Catholic marks the

highest conceivable end that any-

one can ever attain; it means

becoming a child of God, a member

of Christ’s mystical body, a soul be-

ing guided safely and securely

through life toward heaven by the

will of the Son of God. There is work

involved in reaching so great a goal.

What To Do

The difficulties that non-Catho-

lics may expect to meet with in the

process of becoming Catholics, arise

from three sources not concerned

with the accidential difficulties pre-

viously described. We are consider-
ing here the non-Catholic who feels

that he should know more than he

does about the Catholic Church, who

perhaps has an insistent curiosity

about it. Such persons may exper-

ience the following natural difficul-

ties in getting closer to the Church:

a. The difficulty of making the

first contact with someone who can

help him to learn more about the

Church.

Many non-Catholics who have a

sincere curiosity about the Church,

or a leaning toward it, have acquired

these through reading Catholic ma-

terial or conversing with Catholics.

But the time comes when they can

go no further in their study, with-

out calling on a priest. And for some

this can be a terribly difficult thing

to do.

Welcome Awaits You

The difficulty arises from a com-

bination of several things. There

is always a little fear that whispers:

"Maybe all the horrible things they

say about the Church and about

priests are true.” There is another

kind of shyness that whispers: "May-

be they don’t want to be bothered

with me.” There is sometimes the

mistaken notion that approaching

a priest and asking for further infor-

mation is like diving off a cliff; this

is based on the superstition that, by

some occult means, the priest will

force him to be a Catholic even

against his will. None of these dif-

ficulties should be permitted to pre-

vail. Going to a priest and asking

for further instruction about the

Church should be looked upon with

the same calmness one would bring

to asking a travel agent for infor-

mation, even though the actual issue

involved is the most tremendously

20



important one in the whole life of

man.

b. The difficulty of attending

instruction classes and doing some

private study and reading.

No priest may accept a non-Cath-
olic into the Catholic Church until

he is reasonably convinced that the

person knows all the essential teach-

ings of Christ as handed down

through His Church, and expresses

his intellectual and moral submis-

sion to what he has learned. This

means that ordinarily a priest must

instruct a prospective convert, either

alone or in a group. The number of

instruction periods required will

vary, according to how much the

non-Catholic already knows about

the teachings of Christ and His

Church. Usually anywhere from ten

to twenty instruction periods will

be needed.

So the non-Catholic has to arrange

his schedule to attend the instruc-

tions, and to apply his mind to learn

what is being taught. This is a dif-

ficulty for some, especially for those

who thought that all they had to do

was to say that they wanted to be

Catholic in order to be received at

once into the Church.

Instruction

But if such persons will think for

a moment, they will understand how

indispensable are the instructions.

Christ came down into the world

both to redeem mankind and to

teach mankind. He spent almost
three years teaching, and all that He
said, both what is recorded in the

Gospels and what He entrusted to
the apostles, must in some manner

be reviewed by those who wish to

become His faithful followers.

From another angle, the necessity

of instructions must be clear. Being

a true follower of Christ, or a mem-

ber of the Church He founded, con-

stitutes a way of life — a new way
of life, a supernatural way of life, a

way that leads to the vision of God

in heaven. Surely one who thinks of

entering upon this new way must

learn what it consists of, what its

duties are, what its helps and re-

wards are. That is what is taught in

the instructions given to a prospec-

tive convert. He cannot believe

rightly in Christ unless he knows

what Christ taught; he cannot be

obedient to the laws laid down by

Christ, directly or through His

Church, unless he knows those laws.

The True Road

It is tragic that there are some

persons who lean toward the Church,

yet permit the difficulty involved in

taking instructions to keep them

away. The time spent at those in-

structions and the energy expended

on study is a small price to pay for

the privilege of finding the one true

road to heaven.

c. The difficulty of making the

final act of submission to the au-

thority of the Catholic Church as

Christ’s true Church in the world.

Some converts will have little

difficulty in making their final act

of submission. Once they have had

the doctrines of the Church explain-

ed to them, and have seen how per-

fectly reasonable they are, they

cannot wait for the day to arrive

when they will be accepted into the

Church and accorded all the sublime

privileges available to its children.

21



But some have great difficulty

in making their final submission,

despite the full recognition of their

minds that the Church represents the

truth in religion. Cardinal Newman
struggled with this difficulty for a

number of years before he became

the great Catholic that he was. This

difficulty may be due to family

backgrounds, pressure from friends,

or last ditch efforts of the devil to

raise a turmoil in the soul.

Whatever the cause, the one sure

means of offsetting this difficulty

is that of prayer. Indeed, every non-

Catholic who begins to think about

the Catholic Church, or to take in-

structions, should be saying daily

prayers for God’s guidance and

grace, even before he has learned

enough about the Church to be sure

that he wants to become a Catholic.

God’s grace will come in abundance

to the one who prays daily to Him,

and will make all difficulties seem

as nothing in the face of what is

finally to be gained.

This article may therefore stand

as a repetition of the perpetual invi-

tation held out by the Catholic

Church to all outside her fold—to

come and see whether she does not

have what their minds are seeking

and their hearts desiring and their

souls needing. Especially is it direct-

ed to the many thousands who have

been living with the thought of

learning more about the Church for

a long time, but have done nothing

about it.

It is also a reminder to Catholics

of the many ways in which they may

be able to help a non-Catholic friend

over some of the difficulties the lat-

ter must face. It is easy for a non-

Catholic to become a Catholic, if

one who already possesses the joy of

the true faith helps him at the mo-

ments when it seems to be so dif-

ficult.

Whenever a person is faced with the choice of becoming a Catholic

or remaining as he is, personal preferences and mental reservations

have all to be put on one side; individual inclination, dispositions,

and preferences must give way when that issue has to be decided.

Many men have become Catholics from conviction who, humanly

speaking, were least disposed to do so, and others, seemingly most

disposed, have never taken the step. In such cases outsiders are

accustomed to seek an explanation everywhere save where alone it

can be found. For all those who have become Catholics from convic-

tion know that they have done so precisely for one motive, namely,

the firm persuasion that the Catholic Church is really the Church, in

which alone there is complete certainty regarding revelation in all its

fullness, the plenitude of sacramental grace, and the perfection of

the Communion of Saints. Such a persuasion is the only true motive

for returning to full communion with the Catholic Church, and with

it no question as to the convenience or desirability of one’s conver-

sion can be entertained. The Christian Dilemma—van dePol

22



HOW TO GET ACQUAINTED
WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

A few years ago a young
man timidly rang the door-

bell of a priest’s house. When

the door opened, the young

man said:

"Father, I am not a Cath-

olic, but I would like to take

a course of instructions in

the Catholic religion.”

"I will be glad to give

them to you,” said the

priest.

"Understand me right, now, Fa-

ther,” continued the young man. "I

don’t want to become a Catholic.

I just want to find out whether all

the horrible things my father used

to say about the Catholic Church

are true.”

Needless to say, the priest laughed

and arranged the time for the in-

structions.

Each year more than 100,000 non-

Catholic Americans are approaching

priests and asking for instructions in

the Catholic religion. Their immed-

iate motives may be varied, but in

the main they are simply looking

for the truth in the most important

concern of human life— religion.
It would be unfair to a non-Cath-

olic to accept him into the Catholic

Church without giving him a course

of instruction, simply because one

cannot be a genuine Cath-

olic without understanding

what the Catholic Church

teaches and what are the

proofs for her teachings.

For one who would be a con-

vert to the Catholic faith,

there are new truths to be

learned and appreciated, new

obligations to be assumed,

and new practices to be ob-

served.

In the early centuries of Chris-

tianity, candidates for Baptism were

given a long period of instruction

and a longer period of probation.

This was due to the fact that these

neophytes (as they were called) came

out of a pagan, immoral world to

seek admittance to the higher, spirit-

ual life offered by Jesus Christ, the

Son of God. Today the course of

instruction and probation is often

considerably shortened, because

many converts are largely Catholic

in thought and feeling, and already

know many Catholic doctrines, be-

fore they approach the Church.

A non-Catholic can ask a Cath-
olic friend to take him to a priest

and introduce him. If you have no

Catholic friend, do not hesitate to

go to a priest’s house and introduce

yourself. You can be sure of a kindly

23



welcome, for the instruction of con-

verts is one of the favorite tasks of

every zealous and apostolic priest.

Most priests use a little book for

instruction called the catechism. It

contains, in question and answer

form, all of the essential information

about the Catholic Church: what

Catholics believe, what they should

live up to, how they pray and wor-

ship. In the course of instruction

the priest will explain and supple-

ment the questions and answers, and

will answer objections and doubts

that the converts may raise. The pur-

pose of the instruction is not only

that the convert may know all that

the Catholic Church teaches, but also

that he may be completely convinced

that the Catholic Church is the one

true Church, which will help him

solve life’s problems and bring him

to God in heaven.

Easy To Understand

One of the satisfying features of

Christianity is the fact that the most

profound truths of belief and morals

can be expressed in words that even

a child can understand. This is un-

doubtedly due to the fact that God,

the Source of all truth, is the Author

of the teachings of the Catholic

Church.

The instructions are usually given

privately and individually by the

priest, although sometimes, if the

candidate wishes, he may join a

class, a group of people who are all

being instructed at the same time.

As a rule, no memorizing is demand-

ed, except for the prayers. The im-

portant objective is to understand

everything thoroughly. To that end

the instructions are made more like

those of a discussion club, in the

atmosphere of friendly conversation.

Course Of Instruction

When the non-Catholic approach-
es the priest, both decide on the most

convenient time for the instructions.

This will ordinarily be once or twice

a week, usually for an hour at a time.

The entire course will take from four

to six months, depending on the

frequency of instruction, the regu-

larity with which the candidate

comes, and the knowledge of Cath-

olic truth that he already has. In cases

of emergency, the time can be

shortened considerably; indeed,

when a very sick or dying non-Cath-

olic calls for a priest, only a few

minutes are needed to impart the

instructions that are essential for

baptism and the reception of the

other sacraments. If a sick person,

thus baptized, recovers from his ill-

ness, he should then ask for the more

complete and detailed instructions.

As a rule, candidates come to the

priest’s home for instructions. In the

case of a sick or invalid non-Cath-

olic, however, any priest will be

happy to give the course of instruc-

tions in the individual’s home. In

case a non-Catholic wishes to be-

come a Catholic before a marriage,

he should start instructions at least

six months before the date of mar-

riage. Under some conditions this

time can be somewhat shortened.

The purpose of taking the instruc-

tions is to learn everything about

the Catholic Church. If you do not

understand a point, or if you think

of an objection against some point

of teaching, do not hesitate to in-

terrupt the priest and ask about it.

24



His sole concern is that you learn

and be convinced. As a rule, priests

welcome questions and objections

because they show both interest and

sincerity.

Every Catholic Church is a sanc-

tuary of Catholic worship and learn-

ing. There are many little accidental

acts of Catholic devotion that the

priest will not have time to give

you even in a thorough course of

instructions. To be sure, he will

teach you fully about the meaning

of the Mass, the sacraments, etc. But

there are many little devotional

practices that you can learn by ob-

serving Catholics and asking ques-

tions.

In The Church

When you enter a Catholic

Church, do as the others do about

you. No one will pay any special
attention to you or notice that you

are not a Catholic. You can pray

there and receive some of the spirit-

ual fruits of the Mass, but, of course,

you are not allowed to go to con-

fession or to receive Holy Commun-

ion until after you have been

baptized or received into the Church.

The priest assumes that all can-

didates come to him with the pur-

pose of investigating the truth of

the Catholic Church. He is happy to

help as much as he can, but never

does he wish to compel anyone to

become a Catholic. On the contrary,

no priest is allowed to receive into

the Church one who is admittedly

not convinced of the truth of the

Catholic claims. Whether a person

becomes a Catholic or not depends

on his own conscience and convic-

tion.

Outside the Catholic Church,

there are many weird notions about

faith. Some people look upon it as an

emotional state in which they mere-

ly feel close to God. Others seem

to confuse faith with superstition;

they believe certain things about

God and religion, almost as a person

would believe in the power of cer-

tain charms or mysterious objects,

without possessing any rational or

intelligent foundation for their be-

lief. Others believe that faith is

given to some and withheld from

others by a kind of tyrannical decree

on the part of God, and that the

individual can do nothing about it.

What Is Faith?

For the non-Catholic, the natural

approach to faith is to look upon it

as a way of learning truth in religion.

In ordinary education, there are

three ways of learning. One is by

seeing or hearing something happen:

this is learning by experience. An-

other is by reasoning things out, such

as proving that a human being has

a spiritual soul: this is learning by

reasoning. The third and most com-

mon way is by reading a reliable

book or listening to a reliable teach-

er: this is learning by faith.

Applied to religion, faith is there-

fore a way of learning God’s truths

on the word and authority of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who
teaches them through His infallible

Church.

Thus it can be seen that, from

a human point of view, religious

faith is primarily a matter of the

intellect and will, not blind emo-

tion or feeling. While Catholics ac-

cept all Catholic truths on the word

25



of Christ Who taught them, they
also learn the why of everything,

because the Catholic religion is

most reasonable in all its teachings.

Converts are encouraged in their

instructions to require proof of

every Christian doctrine. Such proof

must be available in reason or in

the clear teaching of Jesus Christ.

It must be noted, of course, that

there is such a thing as supernatural

faith, that is, faith capable of merit-

ing the wonderful supernatural fa-

vors and rewards that only God can

give and that He has prepared for

men. Such faith is rightly called a

gift of God that is infused into the

soul in Baptism. But the prepara-

tion for that gift is only properly

made by an adult through the use

of his reason in coming to an

understanding and acceptance of

God’s words.

Plain Logic

Sometimes people are very log-

ical and reasonable about some

things, but seem to lose their logic

and even common sense when it

comes to religion. Thus they would

consider foolish a person who

would say that two plus two equal

four, and that two plus two also

equal five. Yet at the same time

they will say that one religion is as

good as another or that all re-

ligions are equally true, even though

they teach contradictory doctrines.

God cannot teach contradictory doc-

trines, and once a person accepts

the fact that faith means the rea-

sonable acceptance of what God

has actually said, he will know that

there can be only one true religion.

The same rules concerning truth

apply to religion as to all other

branches of science and learning.

The Help Of Prayer

Left to itself, the human intellect

is liable to error and is easily affect-

ed by feelings and prejudice. For

that reason the sincere inquirer for

truth in religion should pray ear-

nestly for God’s help. That is why

a priest usually asks the candidate

under instruction to say a prayer

each day for God’s guidance and for

courage to follow his convictions.

When a non-Catholic sincerely

seeks after the truth and prays, he

will not be left without enlighten-

ment and courage.

During the last century a noted

clergyman, one of the most bril-

liant scholars in England, became

dissatisfied and began a search for

the truth. Eventually he found his

way into the Catholic Church and

later become the renowned Cardi-

nal John Henry Newman. While he

was groping for the truth, he com-

posed and often resorted to this

prayer, which can be used by any

non-Catholic:

A CardinaT s Prayer

0 my God, I confess that Thou

canst enlighten my darkness. I

confess that Thou alone canst. I

wish my darkness to be enlight-

ened. I do not know whether

Thou wilt; but that Thou canst

and that I wish, are sufficient

reasons for me to ask, what Thou

at least hadst not forbidden my

asking. I will embrace whatever

1 at length feel certain is the

26



truth, if ever I come to be cer-

tain. And by Thy grace I will

guard against all self-deceit which

may lead me to take what nature

would have rather than what rea-

son approves.

When a candidate has finished

his instructions, he is given an op-

portunity to tell the priest whether

he is convinced of the truth of the

Catholic Church and wishes to be-

come one of its members. If he de-

sires to become a Catholic, he is

privately received in a ceremony

that today is much the same as in

the earliest Christian centuries.

Baptism

If the convert has never before

undergone a baptismal ceremony,

he is baptized outright and given a

Christian name. This twenty-min-

ute service is one of the most beau-

tiful ceremonies in the Church,

comprising prayers and acts that

symbolize the liberation of the hu-

man person from Satan, the puri-

fication and ennobling of the soul

with sanctifying grace, and the re-

sultant consecration to the care and

service of God, climaxed by the

pouring of the baptismal water with

the words: "I baptize you in the

name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.”

If the candidate already has been

baptized in a Christian denomina-

tion, then the process is slightly

different. His baptism may have

been valid, and if it can be proved

to have been so, the sacrament may

not be repeated. Therefore the

priest is commanded by the Canon

Law of the Church to investigate

the previous Baptism insofar as he

can. In many cases, however, it is

practically impossible to learn

whether the previous Baptism was

valid or not. In such cases, or when-

ever there is any doubt at all as to

whether a previous Baptism was

valid, the convert is required pri-

vately to read after the priest a pro-

fession of faith, then he is bap-

tized conditionally, and afterwards

he makes a confession from the

time of his former Baptism. This

confession is a safety measure; if

the former Baptism was really valid,

it is only through the confession

that sins committed since the Bap-

tism can be forgiven. Thus no

chance is taken of leaving the con-

vert without the full richness of

sanctifying grace. He is then ready

to receive his first Holy Commu-

nion. He is then a member of the

one true, holy and apostolic Church

established by Christ.

27



A PRAYER FOR LIGHT

0 Holy Spirit of God

Take me as Thy disciple

Guide me

Illuminate me

Sanctify me

Be Thou my God

Be Thou my guide

Whithersoever Thou leadest me

I will go

Whatsoever Thou forbiddest me

I will renounce

And whatsoever Thou commandest me

In Thy strength I will do

Lead me, then

Unto the fullness of Thy truth

Amen

28



KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS - RELIGIOUS INFORMATION BUREAU
4422 Lindeil Blvd., St. Louis 8, Missouri

List of pamphlets available at the above address. One title may be requested at a time free

of charge. Several titles, complete sets, and quantities of individual pamphlets may be ordered

at 7^ for each pamphlet, plus postage.

3. The Bible is a Catholic Book

5. Christ’s Seven Sacraments

6. The Holy Sacrifice — the Catholic
Mass

7. Why the Catholic Church says "Inves-
tigate” — Masons, Inquisition, Nuns

8. Speaking of Tolerance — Controver-
sial periods in history

9. These Men They Call "Knights”

10. Why Catholics Believe As They Do
— Existence of God, Immortality

11. A Short Story of the Popes

12. Let’s Stick to Moses — Ten Com-
mandments explained

13. But Can It Be Found in the Bible? —
Bible not sole rule of faith

14. What Happens After Death?

15. Yes ... I Condemned The Catholic

Church

16. What Do You Mean "Only One True
Church”?

17. But How Can Educated People Be
Catholics?

18. No . . . Belief in God is not Enough!

19. The Real Secret of Successful Mar-

riage

20. The Way to Everlasting Life . . . The
Catholic Church

21. Is the Catholic Church a Menace to

Democracy?

22. But Do You Really Understand the
Bible? — Rules for understanding

23. A Letter to Our Non-Catholic Neigh-
bors — Aspects of Catholic faith

24. Yes, the Mother of God Will Help
You!

25. What Makes a Woman Choose Such
a Life? — Life of a Catholic Nun

26. I’ll Tell You Why I Am a Catholic
27. Why So Many Decide to Become

Catholics — Convert stories
28. Let Us Judge Catholics by the Bible

— Prayer to Saints, unmarried priests
29. But Would Christ Call You A Chris-

tian?

30. But Do You Understand What God
Told Us? — Apostles’ Creed

31. Should Children Learn About God-
in School?

32. The Bible Is Not Our Sole Guide

33. This Was the Faith of Our Fathers
34. These Are Our Seven Deadly Enemies

— Seven capital sins explained
35. Let’s Test Catholic Loyalty — A Good

Catholic is a good citizen

36. Remember the Sabbath . . . Keep It

Holy — The "Sabbath Question”
37. I Am a Catholic Priest
38. But Why the Candles, Holy Water

and Beads ? — Sacramentals
39. The Reformation. Was It Reform or

Revolt?

40. Why I Had to Embrace the Catholic
Faith — Convert stories

41. Yes, Miracles Happened at Fatima

42. Does the Bible Contradict Itself? —
Peter the Rock, Faith and/or Works

43. I Was Warned About the Catholic
Church ! — Religious Liberty

44. Why a Woman Needs the Catholic
Faith!

45. The Early Years of the Catholic

Church — First three centuries
46. Yes ... A Priest Can Forgive Your

Sins — Sacrament of Penance
47. But Why Don’t You Pray to the

Saints? — Communion of Saints
48. God’s Story of Creation — Genesis
49. Is the Catholic Church Out of Place

Here? — Catholicism and Loyalty
50. This Is the Catholic Church — Creed,

Sacraments, Mass, Commandments

51. Revelation ... A Divine Message of
Hope — Revelations or Apocalypse

52. Does It Pay to be a Catholic? — How
to be a Catholic

53. Think About Death and Start to Live

— Catholic attitude toward death
54. What Do You Find Wrong With

the Catholic Church?

55. His Name Shall Be Called God With
Us — Divinity of Christ

56. The Infallible Church, Truth or Trick-

ery? — Church of the Scriptures
57. Tell Us About God . . . Who Is He?

Existence and nature of God

58. The Word Was Made Flesh-
Humanity of Christ

59. Let Us Pray—Prayer

60. Gift of the Holy Spirit—Confirmation

61. The Church Says — Precepts of The
Church



Learn All About

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

By Mail ... At No Cost

I

You can easily investigate Catholic faith and worship

in the privacy of your home.

Just send us your name and address and advise that

you desire to learn about the Church by mail.

We will send you an interesting course of instruc-
tion which is short, yet complete.

The book explaining Catholic faith and worship is

written in an easy-to-understand form, and there are

six tests sheets to be checked. There is no writing to

do, and nobody will call on you unless you request it.

You merely mail your marked test sheets to us. We
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Imprimatur:

*JOSEPH E. RITTER

Archbishop of St. Louis

St. Louis, January 24, 1958

Published in United States of America

5th Reprinting, April, 1961