The Theft of Words
One of the issues when working in a living language,
as English is, is that the language is ever changing. Words move in and out of use, out of familiarity. Words like “propiciation” need to be taught
to the congregations so that they have a full understanding, and so they are no
longer ignorant.
There seems to be far more insidious changes,
though: those words whose meanings
have been changed deliberately to fulfill a political, social, or religious agenda,
say like icon or mystery or marriage; those words that are now claimed and
defended by a group that the word is of sole (not soul) proprietorship, say
like catholic or Christian.
We could discuss how John Wayne is an “icon” of the
American west or how there are thousands of denominations, sects, and cults
that call themselves
Christian. I just want to talk about the word “catholic.” It comes from the Greek as Katholicos. It means universal, and yet more than
universal; as in all things believed, by all believers in the unshattered
Church of the first five centuries A.D.
The Roman Catholic Church would have us believe
otherwise, at least many of their current crop of writers. There are many Catholic Churches: Old Catholic, Spanish Catholic, Polish
National Catholic, etc. There are
many Orthodox and Anglicans that
understand that they, too, are catholic
(orthodox, too), and profess it in the creeds. Reading the texts of Hahn or Pearce, or any of the many,
would have you believe that the only catholics are Romanish Popeish.
Professor Scott Hahn has a bright mind and is a good
apologist for the faith, as in his book Reasons to Believe. He is very Rome-centric for an
American, probably because he is a convert. He constantly talks about “we Catholics” and “the Catholic
Church” as if Rome existed in a vacuum.
Joseph Pearce, an English Roman Catholic,
fancies himself as one with great literary insight. Indeed, he did show great promise in his biography of J.R.R.
Tolkien. His current thesis and
book about William Shakespeare being Roman Catholic is bunk. His critique and attack of C. S. Lewis,
C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, is complete and utter trash. The problem with his attack, I believe,
is his complete lack of understanding of the beautiful word “catholic.”
The cafeteria Christianity, pick and choose those things
you like enough to nibble one (like the desert of a “loving God”) and don’t
scoop the rest (like the veggies of the “cross”), of the last two centuries
have created thousands of heretical “churches.” As
we know, a heresy is choosing or
selecting out some of what is wanted, part of the truth, and leaving out that
which is found to be not of our taste.
Unless we help build capacity to understand the word
and concept of “catholic” we may lose the faith. The Catholic Church (or The Church Catholic) is the universal
church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rome can’t be allowed to monopolize or steal this key to our
faith. If we don’t understand it,
use it, and defend it we will lose this key word, and others, in our
faith: CATHOLIC.
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax
