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Credible Catholic CREDIBLE CATHOLIC Big Book - Volume 12 THE CHURCH AND SPIRITUAL CONVERSION Content by: Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion Credible Catholic Big Book Volume Twelve The Church and Spiritual Conversion Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. As dictated to Joan Jacoby Edits and formatting by Joey Santoro © Magis Center 2017 1 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion This Volume supports The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two – The Celebration of the Christian Mystery NOTE: All teachings in the Credible Catholic materials conform to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and help to explain the information found therein. Father Spitzer has also included materials intended to counter the viral secular myths that are leading religious people of all faiths, especially millennials, to infer that God is no longer a credible belief. You will find credible documented evidence for God, our soul, the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Catholic Church, as well as spiritual and moral conversion. Part One from the CCC is titled, THE PROFESSION OF FAITH. The first 5 Volumes in the Credible Catholic Big Book and Credible Catholic Little Book fall into Part One. Part Two of the CCC is titled, THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY. This is covered in Volumes 6 through 12. Part Three of the CCC is LIFE IN CHRIST and information related to this topic will be found in Volumes 13 through 17. Credible Catholic Big and Little Book Volumes 18 through 20 will cover Part Four of the CCC, Christian Prayer. The Big Book can also be divided into two major movements – the rational justification for God, the soul, Jesus, and the Catholic Church (Volumes 1 through 6), and life in Christ through the Catholic Church (Volumes 9 through 20). If you would like a preview of this dynamic, please go to Volume 6 (Chapter 7) at the following link – Chapter 7 – Where Have We Come From and Where are We Going? 2 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion We all need to be Credible Catholics. St. Augustine said in his work, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, "Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens and other elements... Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; ...If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven..." If we don’t respond to these secular myths, who will? 3 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion Table of Contents NOTE- References to “section(s)”, throughout all volumes, refer to the “sections” denoted by Roman numerals under each Chapter title. CHAPTER ONE: THE NEED FOR THE CHURCH 7 I. The Catholic Church as Jesus’ Guide to Theological Truth 10 II. The Mystical Body of Christ – the Inner Church and the Outer Church 15 CHAPTER TWO: THE GIFTS OF THE INNER CHURCH 16 I. The Sensus Fidei 17 II. The Sensus Fidelium 20 III. The Sense of Spiritual Community 21 CHAPTER THREE: THE OUTER CHURCH AND SPIRITUAL CONVERSION 23 I. Four Services of the Outer Church Leading to Spiritual Conversion 26 II. Contemplation and Personal Relationship with the Lord 35 III. Availing Ourselves of Complementary Inspiration 52 IV. Three Services of the Outer Church Leading to Moral Conversion 59 CHAPTER FOUR: DEVOTION TO MARY, THE SAINTS, AND THE HOLY EUCHARIST 61 I. The Legitimacy of Praying to Mary, Angels, and the Saints 61 II. Corroboration by Miracles 66 III. Marian Devotion 67 IV. Intercessory Prayer to the Saints 86 V. Eucharistic Devotion 91 4 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion CHAPTER FIVE: SACRAMENTALS, SYMBOLS, AND HOLY PLACES 100 I. Blessings 100 II. Exorcisms 101 III. Popular Devotions 103 Note: No reference pages are given at the end of this document, because complete citations for all references are given in the footnotes. 5 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion Volume Twelve The Church and Spiritual Conversion Up to this point, we have devoted one volume to justifying the Catholic Church as the one intended by Jesus to be His ultimate interpreter and juridical authority (Volume 6) and three volumes to the sacramental life offered by the Church (Volumes 9-11). This gives us the foundation for explaining what might be called “religious or spiritual conversion.” Bernard Lonergan distinguished among three kinds of conversion—intellectual, religious (spiritual), and moral.1 Intellectual conversion arises out of a pursuit of rational, empirical, and interior evidence sufficient to make a reasonable and responsible act of faith in God, a transcendent soul and Jesus Christ. Today, intellectual conversion is necessary for spiritual and moral conversion in about 50% of the population (particularly those who are analytically, scientifically, and rationally oriented). Religious or spiritual conversion (hereafter, “spiritual conversion”) begins with the selection of a church community needed to interpret the words of Jesus, to give doctrinal and moral guidance, to administer sacraments, and adjudicate disputes. In light of the evidence for the Catholic Church (given in Volume 6) and the contemporary scientifically validated miracles specifically associated with the Catholic Church –i.e. Mary, the Saints, and the Holy Eucharist (given in Volume 3, Chapter Nine), spiritual conversion can reasonably and responsibly be vested in the Catholic Church. Yet spiritual conversion goes far beyond joining the Catholic Church and even participating in Mass on Sundays. It involves exploring the graces and ministries of the Church (and taking advantage of them) as well as understanding the Church’s theology and developing a personal and communal life of prayer. The purpose of this volume is to give an overview of the information needed to begin this process of deep spiritual conversion. As will be seen, it will be brought to fruition through moral conversion (which will be discussed in Volumes 13-17, particularly Volume 16). In this volume, we will address the best means to know, choose, and live our true identity – redeemed creatures made in the image of God. As we shall see, this is best done through faith in Jesus and participation in the Church initiated by Him, built on the rock of St. Peter and his successors. The more we participate in the services and sacraments of that church, the more we draw closer to the heart of Christ; and the more we draw closer to the heart of Christ, the more we can know, choose, and live the truth about ourselves – our creatureliness, our transcendence, our sinfulness, and our redemption by the Son of God. As will become clear, spiritual conversion has two dimensions: 1. Relationship with the Lord through the Church and its community (Volumes 9-12). 2. Relationship with the Lord through personal prayer (Volumes 18-20). 1 See Bernard Lonergan 1990; Method in Theology, vol. 14 of The Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, ed. by Frederick Crowe and Robert Doran, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press), pp. 144-155, 153-154, 204-205, and 220-239. 6 CCBB - Volume 12 - The Church and Spiritual Conversion Readers may be wondering why we divided the two presentations and inserted the volumes on moral conversion (Volumes 13-17) between them. The simple answer is because the Credible Catholic Big Book follows the four parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Since Part Two of the Catechism addresses the Church, the sacramental life, and spiritual conversion through ecclesial communion, we dedicated Part Two of the Big Book to this dimension of spiritual conversion. Similarly, since Part Four of the Catechism is concerned with personal prayer, we dedicated Part Four of the Big Book to this theme as well. This volume will be divided into five chapters: 1. Our Need for the Church. 2. The Gifts of the Inner Church. 3. The Outer Church and Spiritual Conversion. 4. Devotion to Mary, the Saints, and the Holy Eucharist. 5. Sacramentals, Symbols and Holy Places. Chapter One The Need for the Church Back to top If Jesus had not initiated the Church by creating a supreme teaching and juridical office on the foundation of St. Peter and his successors (Mt 16:18), then we would have to wonder why he did not, because the Church, as Jesus created it (with its supreme teaching and juridical authority) is precisely what we need not only to prevent a needless proliferation of distinct Christian churches,2 but also to help us form our conscience. Jesus intended to give us not only his “outer word” (his teaching interpreted by the church that comes to us, as it were, from outside of us), but also his “inner word” (the intuitions, feelings, inspirations, and guidance of the heart that encourage us, incline us, guide us and deepen us through participation in the church).3 We might at first think that the “inner word” is at best vague and obscure, and at worst, non-existent, but nothing could be further from the truth. The “inner word” takes us into the domain of the heart—the domain of love, goodness, beauty, spirit, and transcendence that goes far beyond the domain of the mind (what can be grasped through concepts, logic, and empirical verification).4 Bernard Lonergan describes the distinction as follows: “the outer word of the Gospel and the inner word of the Spirit–the word that took flesh in Jesus Christ and was expressed in the public world of human history in his words and 2 This has certainly been demonstrated over the last 500 years in the Protestant Reformation that opened the way to the creation of 33,000 distinct Protestant Denominations during that period – see http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/apologetics/a120.htm.
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