All It Takes Is a Little Practice Can you imagine having corrective eyeglasses prescribed for you but choosing to wear them only on the day you purchased them and then once a week for an hour or so on Sundays? No doubt, seeing clearly each day of the week would be a struggle. And yet, unfortunately, this is what many of us do with our baptism, which is Jesus'' vision for life. We "put on" the eyes of Christ on the day of our baptism and then on Sunday when we attend church. Yet, the rest of week, we find ourselves struggling to see as Jesus sees. Jesus offers us a new way to see--a new way of seeing ourselves, others, life, and God. It is this way of seeing--this vision for life--that the Catholic Church believes and teaches. Like putting on corrective eyeglasses each day, we must also "put on" Christ each and every day so that our vision will be shaped in order to conform to the eyes of God. This Catholic way of seeing can be characterized by five distinct qualities that shape the way we live, move, and have our being.
They are A sense of sacramentality A commitment to community A respect for the dignity of human life and a commitment to justice A reverence for Scripture and Tradition A disposition to faith and hope, not despair Without these five adjustments to our vision, we simply see the way the world sees, and Jesus taught us to see with a new set of eyes. Thankfully, over the past two thousand years, Catholics have developed a rich treasury of practices that enable us to put on the eyes of Christ each and every day of our lives. These practices, which flow specifically from the five characteristics outlined above, can be integrated into our everyday lives where they enable us, not to withdraw from the world or to blend in with the world, but to robustly engage the world in a life-giving way. This robust engagement with the world avoids what theologian Rev. Robert Barron calls "beige Catholicism"--a bland form of Catholicism that blends in with the rest of our increasingly secular society. If being a Catholic doesn''t make a bit of difference in your everyday living, why bother? In this book, Practice Makes Catholic: Moving from a Learned Faith to a Lived Faith , I offer twenty-one tried-and-true practices that both flow from and shape the Catholic way of seeing--a way of seeing that can and will make a difference in your life. As you gradually integrate these practices into your way of life, your life will take on new meaning. You will see differently and, as a result, you will live and act differently.
All it takes is a little practice. After all, have we not been taught since childhood that "practice makes perfect?" Although perfection is not humanly possible, the point is well-taken: in order to excel at anything, we need to practice. The same can be said of living the Catholic vision: we need to practice. In essence, practice makes Catholic, and, to practice Catholicism is to move from a learned faith to a lived faith. May this book help you to start preaching .'.'. through your actions.
May you become a daily practitioner of the Catholic faith, seeing with the eyes of Jesus Christ at all times and becoming a new creation through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit! Consider Sharing the Journey Since the beginning of the Church, Christians have realized that the spiritual journey is not meant to be walked alone. In your spiritual journey, it is important for you to walk with someone. Perhaps that person can be a spiritual mentor for you--someone who has a sense of direction and can assist you in learning how to incorporate Catholic practices into your daily life. Or, perhaps this is your opportunity to mentor someone else on the spiritual journey, whether informally or as a sponsor in the RCIA or for someone preparing for Confirmation. Just as a carpenter or an interior decorator guides an apprentice into their craft, a spiritual mentor can guide others into the way of life known as Catholicism. As a mentor, you have the opportunity to reflect on how you are integrating Catholic practices into your own life and to share the experience with another, assisting him or her as they attempt to adapt to the Catholic vision. For information and resources about using this book in a spiritual mentoring relationship around Catholic practices, visit www.loyolapress.
com/practice-makes-catholic. Part One A Sense of Sacramentality When you get down to it, the most important things in life are intangible: love, acceptance, belonging, forgiveness, commitment, and so on. In order to truly encounter these realities, they need to become embodied. For example, for people to encounter and experience forgiveness, the words, "I forgive you" must be spoken; perhaps even an embrace is in order. Either way, forgiveness must be embodied and made tangible. In a similar way, the practicing Catholic relies on tangible, visible signs to encounter the intangible, invisible God. We recognize that the deepest realities of life--the mysteries of life--transcend words. And so the Catholic vision has a sense of sacramentality--a way of using signs, symbols, rituals, and gestures--tangible realities--to communicate the mystery of faith in our daily lives.
In part one, we''ll look at the following Catholic practices related to this sense of sacramentality: Practice 1: Use Sacramentals Practice 2: Mark Time the Catholic Way Practice 3: Fast and Abstain Practice 4: Speak the Language of Mystery Practice 5: Pray Sacramentally To share and learn more in a spiritual mentoring relationship about practicing Catholic sacramentality, visit www.loyolapress.com/practice-makes-catholic. Practice 1 Use Sacramentals Sacramentals .'.'. prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful .
'.'. sacramentals sanctify almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1670) Catholics Did Not Invent Signs and Symbols In the classic movie The Wizard of Oz , Dorothy''s companions each sought something that was intangible. The Scarecrow wanted brains (intelligence). The Tin Man wanted a heart (compassion). The Cowardly Lion wanted courage. When at last they reached the Wizard, he presented each of them with tangible signs of the intangible realities they sought: a diploma to represent the Scarecrow''s brains and intelligence; a heart-shaped ticking clock to represent the Tin Man''s heart and compassion; and a testimonial--a medal--to symbolize the Lion''s courage.
By virtue of these tangible signs and symbols, each of Dorothy''s companions was able to experience in a more real way the intangible qualities he sought and, in fact, already possessed to some extent. They simply needed to gain awareness of the qualities that were already present. Outward signs are important to human beings. This is why spouses exchange gifts on Valentine''s Day; why children give gifts to their parents on Mother''s Day and Father''s Day; why friends give gifts to one another on birthdays. For Catholics, outward signs provide us with tangible ways of encountering the intangible. We call these outward signs sacramentals. Catholics did not invent outward signs; the use of symbols and signs is innately human. It seems only natural, then, to worship God using signs and symbols.
The use of symbols and signs is innately human. In his book, The Long Yearning''s End , (Acta Publications) Patrick Hannon, CSC, states that "to be known by the senses is to be loved. And more than anything else, God wants to love and be loved." Through Catholic sacramentality, God''s love can be seen, tasted, touched, heard, and even smelled! Remember how Dr. Seuss''s Grinch ( The Grinch Who Stole Christmas ) tried to steal Christmas from the Who''s by stealing all the tangible, external trappings of Christmas? He failed because Christmas resided, not in the trappings, but in the hearts of the Who''s. In the same way, if some "Grinch" came along and decided to try to steal all of our Catholic sacramentals--holy water, rosaries, statues, medals, scapulars--in hopes of hearing Catholics weeping and moaning because we could no longer encounter God, he would be frustrated by the sounds of Catholics giving praise to God nonetheless. That''s because Catholics understand that God is truly encountered in the human heart but that we, as human beings, rely on outward signs as a means of more deeply encountering such inner realities. The ultimate reality we encounter--the mystery of God--is intangible.
And so, Catholics turn toward outward signs as a tangible means of encountering the intangible God. Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt regeneration: it is inherent in the very texture of human life. Alfred North Whitehead Examples of Sacramentals Sacramentals can be divided into two categories: Sacramental Actions Making the Sign of the Cross Bowing Folding hands Genuflecting Blessings Sacramental Objects Rosaries Statues Medals Scapulars Holy water Ashes Palms Oils Icons Crucifixes Church bells Candles Incense Holy Cards Understanding the Catholic Approach to Sacramentals In Scripture, encounters with God often involve elements of the natural wo.