Other Sheep Not of This Fold

2018년 4월 22일

We take great pride, and rightly so, of belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. After all, with 1.2 billion members it’s the largest of all Christian denominations, larger than all other churches combined, and it is the oldest, tracing its origins (along with the Eastern Orthodox) all the way back to Jesus.

Centered around the Eucharist as our main form of worship and in addition to the Sacraments, we offer Catholics a spiritual smorgasbord of devotions to choose from: rosary, Stations of the Cross, novenas, Lexio Divina, Cursillio, Charismatic Renewal, Legion of Mary, Marriange Encounter, to name a few, to strengthen us on our journey through life. The Sign of the Cross and the Pope and uniquely Catholic traditions. But for all this, we must be extremely careful not to look down on, much less condemn, those who are not Catholic or who practice Catholicism differently.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us clearly there are “other sheep not of this fold. Them too I must lead.” In other words, not all of Jesus’ followers are Catholic. Indeed, some people may be disciples of Jesus and not even be Christian! How can this be? While Jesus is certainly present in the Catholic Church, especially in the Mass, Eucharist, sacraments and the Bible, Jesus can never be fully contained or limited by us. The Holy Spirit is poured out on the whole human race to lead everyone to fullness of life. So even as we strive to be true to our calling and identity as Catholics, let us humbly look for and rejoice when we see other Churches and people proclaiming in words and deeds Christ Crucified and Risen.

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