Letters to a Young Catholic

1. Catholicism is a tangible, gritty reality that embraces the physical world

Catholicism is a very tangible business—it's about seeing and hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling as much as it's about texts and arguments and ideas.

Sacramental worldview. Catholicism affirms the goodness of creation and the physical world. It sees the material world as a vehicle for God's grace and revelation, not something to be escaped. This "sacramental imagination" is expressed through rituals, art, architecture, and devotional practices that engage all the senses.

Incarnational faith. The Incarnation - God becoming human in Jesus Christ - is central to Catholic theology. This grounds Catholic faith in the concrete realities of human life and history. Catholicism rejects both materialism that denies the spiritual and a spiritualism that denigrates the physical. Instead, it holds that the divine and human, spiritual and material, intersect in profound ways.

Key Catholic beliefs affirming the physical:

• The Incarnation of Christ
• The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• The resurrection of the body
• The sacramental system
• Devotion to saints and relics

2. The Catholic imagination sees the extraordinary in the ordinary

Catholicism is emphatically not "spirituality" in that sense of the term. Catholicism (according to the great twentieth-century Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar) is about God's search for us—and our "search" involves our learning, over the course of a lifetime, to take the same path through history that God does.

Sacramental vision. The Catholic imagination perceives the presence of God in everyday life and the material world. It sees creation as imbued with divine meaning and purpose. This sacramental worldview invites believers to encounter the sacred in nature, human relationships, work, and culture.

Incarnational perspective. Rooted in the doctrine of the Incarnation, Catholicism affirms that God enters into the ordinary circumstances of human life. This means that the mundane aspects of life can be pathways to the divine. The Catholic imagination finds glimpses of the eternal in temporal realities.

Ways the Catholic imagination perceives the extraordinary in the ordinary:

• Nature as a reflection of God's beauty and creativity
• Human love as an icon of God's love
• Work as participation in God's ongoing creation
• Art and music as windows into transcendent realities
• The Eucharist as Christ's real presence in bread and wine

3. Mary exemplifies discipleship and vocation in Catholic life

Mary's fiat—"Be it done unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:38)—that we discover the pattern or form of all Christian discipleship.

Model of discipleship. Mary's "yes" to God at the Annunciation exemplifies the trusting surrender at the heart of Christian discipleship. Her life demonstrates openness to God's will, even when it disrupts her plans. Mary shows that authentic discipleship involves both active cooperation with grace and humble receptivity.

Vocation and gift of self. Mary's example illuminates the nature of Christian vocation as a response to God's call. Her fiat reveals that true freedom is found in self-giving love, not self-assertion. Mary's life challenges believers to discover their unique role in God's plan and to embrace it wholeheartedly.

Key aspects of Mary's discipleship:

• Openness to God's unexpected call
• Courage in the face of uncertainty
• Fidelity through suffering
• Contemplative reflection on God's action
• Pointing others to Christ

4. Catholic sexual ethics affirm human dignity and self-giving love

The Catholic sexual ethic liberates the erotic by transforming longing into self-giving, which leads to the kind of relationships that affirm the human dignity of both partners.

Anthropological foundation. Catholic sexual ethics is grounded in a vision of the human person as created in God's image, with inherent dignity. It sees sexuality as a gift meant to express and deepen the total self-giving of spouses in marriage. This contrasts with reductive views that separate sex from love, commitment, and openness to life.

Virtue and self-mastery. The Church's teaching aims at cultivating virtues like chastity, fidelity, and self-control. It proposes that true freedom in sexuality comes through mastering one's passions, not indulging every desire. This fosters relationships of mutual respect and genuine intimacy.

Key principles of Catholic sexual ethics:

• Unity of body and soul in the human person
• Complementarity of man and woman
• Sex as expression of marital love and openness to life
• Chastity as integration of sexuality within the person
• Respect for the procreative meaning of sexual acts

5. Prayer and worship connect us to the transcendent

We worship God because God is to be worshiped—and in giving God the worship that is his due, we satisfy one of the deepest longings of the human spirit.

Liturgical worship. Catholic liturgy, especially the Mass, is understood as participation in the heavenly worship. It's not merely a human activity, but God's work in which we share. The rituals, symbols, and sacraments of Catholic worship are meant to lift the mind and heart to God.

Personal prayer. Catholic spirituality encompasses a rich variety of prayer forms, from formal prayers to contemplative meditation. Prayer is seen as a dialogue with God, cultivating a personal relationship. It's both a grace and a discipline, requiring effort and openness to God's presence.

Elements of Catholic prayer and worship:

• Sacraments as encounters with Christ
• Liturgy of the Hours sanctifying time
• Eucharistic adoration
• Meditation on Scripture
• Devotional practices like the Rosary
• Contemplative prayer

6. Beauty and art prepare us for communion with God

Beauty helps prepare us to be the kind of people who can be comfortable in heaven—the kind of people who can live with God forever.

Transcendent beauty. Catholic tradition sees beauty as a reflection of God's perfection. Encounters with beauty in nature, art, music, and architecture can awaken spiritual longing and point to transcendent realities. Beauty is not mere decoration, but a means of encountering the divine.

Formative power of art. Sacred art and architecture in Catholicism are meant to elevate the mind and heart to God. They serve both a catechetical and contemplative function, teaching truths of faith and inspiring prayer. The Church has long been a patron of the arts, seeing them as ways to glorify God and edify believers.

Ways beauty and art function in Catholic life:

• Church architecture reflecting theological truths
• Sacred music lifting hearts in worship
• Religious paintings and sculptures as "visual Scripture"
• Stained glass windows narrating salvation history
• Vestments and liturgical objects enhancing worship
• Icons as windows into the divine

7. Catholic social teaching supports democracy and true freedom

Freedom untethered from moral truth will eventually become freedom's worst enemy.

Dignity and rights. Catholic social teaching upholds the inherent dignity of every person as created in God's image. This provides a foundation for human rights and democratic values. The Church advocates for religious freedom, subsidiarity, and the common good as pillars of a just society.

True freedom. Catholicism proposes that authentic freedom is not mere license, but the capacity to choose the good. It's oriented towards human flourishing and the pursuit of virtue. This understanding of freedom as responsibility contrasts with individualistic notions that separate freedom from truth and moral norms.

Key principles of Catholic social teaching:

• Human dignity and rights
• Solidarity and the common good
• Subsidiarity and participation
• Preferential option for the poor
• Care for creation
• Universal destination of goods

8. Suffering and death have meaning in the Christian worldview

Transformed by the cross of Christ, our suffering is no longer an absurdity but rather another way to become the kind of people who can live with God forever.

Redemptive suffering. Catholicism teaches that human suffering, united to Christ's sacrifice, can have redemptive value. While not seeking suffering for its own sake, believers are encouraged to find meaning in inevitable hardships by offering them up in union with Christ's passion.

Death and eternal life. The Catholic view of death is shaped by faith in the resurrection. Death is seen not as the end, but as a passage to eternal life. This hope gives meaning to earthly existence and motivates ethical living. It also provides comfort in the face of mortality.

Catholic perspectives on suffering and death:

• Suffering as an opportunity for spiritual growth
• Uniting personal crosses to Christ's sacrifice
• Offering up pain for the good of others
• Death as a doorway to eternal life
• The communion of saints bridging earth and heaven
• Purgatory as final preparation for divine union

9. Saints and martyrs inspire heroic virtue in everyday life

Looking at Peter, we might almost say, "as it was in the beginning . . . "

Cloud of witnesses. The saints in Catholic tradition serve as models of holiness and intercessors. Their diverse lives show that sanctity is possible in every state of life. Saints inspire believers to pursue virtue and remind them of their ultimate calling to communion with God.

Martyrs' witness. Martyrs hold a special place in Catholic memory as ultimate witnesses to faith. Their courage in the face of persecution demonstrates the power of grace and the value of remaining faithful to one's convictions. Martyrs challenge believers to examine their own commitment to Christ.

Roles of saints and martyrs in Catholic life:

• Models of holiness for imitation
• Intercessors in heaven
• Patrons of various causes and professions
• Inspirations for spiritual renewal
• Reminders of the universal call to holiness
• Witnesses to the power of faith in adversity

Last updated: February 4, 2025