CATHOLICISM: A CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO CHRISTIANITY.
A talk delivered to the Knighthood Order of St. Paul, Nigeria, as part of the celebrations to mark the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, on Saturday, 4th July, 2026, at St. Theresa Catholic Church, off Ewa Road, Benin City.
By
Prof. Sylvester Idemudia Odia, KSP
Introduction:
The Catholic Church is grounded in the mystery of The Blessed Trinity. The creation of the world including the angels and human persons, the fall of Adam and Eve and the redemption of the human race, and the sanctification of The Holy Spirit are the mysteries celebrated, re-enacted, and vividly manifested by the Catholic Church in a universal form through the sacraments and the seasons of the Church from one generation to another.
This talk takes us through the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church from the Biblical perspective. Beginning from the creation account, it explains the creation and the fall of the angels, the creation and the fall of Adam and Eve, the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, it explains the sanctification of the human person redeemed by Jesus Christ through the sacraments, the seasons of the Church, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, indulgences, restitution and retributive justice, and the three arms of the Church: militant, triumphant and suffering. In addition, it explains the prayer life of the Church which includes the intercession of the angels, saints (the triumphant Church), and the militant Church. Finally, it will explain the universality of the Church.
The Mystery of the Blessed Trinity:
A mystery is a truth revealed by God to human persons. Such a truth, although beyond human full understanding and comprehension, makes some logical sense. In other words, a mystery cannot be fully comprehended and understood by human persons, but, at the same time, it is not completely nonsensical or illogical. To the extent the mystery of the Blessed Trinity is understood and comprehended, to that extent humans are able to comprehend Creation by The Father, Redemption by The Son, and Sanctification by The Holy Spirit.
The mysteries of The Blessed Trinity states that there are three persons in God. These three persons have their distinct personalities as persons, they are of the same substance, none is greater than or inferior to the other, and they act in constant union and collaboration with one another. Thus, The Blessed Trinity is monotheistic, that is, Three Persons in One God, who have always existed from eternity and who will continue to exist for all eternity.
Human explanations of reality have a starting point. In science, it is the Big Bang Theory elucidated by Charles Darwin’s Evolution Theory. As clumsy as the starting point of science is, especially the belief in orderliness and harmony in the universe from an explosion which was also not witnessed by any human person, it makes some logical sense to begin from this assumption that is loosely supported by some scientific findings. In addition, how human persons with all the intelligence that we have can be a product of a blind irrational Big Bang leaves many questions unanswered. But science has to start from somewhere, and that somewhere is the Big Bang Theory. In the same way, it makes some sense to believe that the human person must have proceeded from a Being that is rational and moral to justify why humans are rational and moral. Thus, the revelation from the Bible of The Blessed Trinity makes sense as the starting point for Christians, even though we do not know the beginning of the existence of The Blessed Trinity.
There are biblical passages that give us an idea of The Blessed Trinity. The book of Genesis begins with the creation of heaven and earth. The work of creation is attributed to The Father who created in union with The Son and the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of creation, “a divine wind” (The Holy Spirit) was hovering round (Gen. 1: 2). Later in the gospel of St. John, we are told: “In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him” (John 1: 1 – 3). This union in activity was amplified in the creation of the human person: “let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves” (Gen. 1: 26).
The work of redemption is attributed to The Son who incarnated in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary: “The Word became flesh, and lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 14). This was made possible by the power of The Holy Spirit (Matt. 1: 18; Luke 1: 35). Furthermore, The Son, Jesus Christ, was made known to John the Baptist through the decent of The Holy Spirit upon Him in the form of a dove, and The Father’s voice from heaven: “‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’” (Mark 1: 11). In some other passages in the scriptures Jesus Christ said He is in The Father and The Father is in Him (John 14: 10), and that He has come to do the will of The Father who sent him: “because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6: 38). The will of The Father include the crucifixion; hence Jesus Christ has to drink the cup that The Father has given him to drink (John 18: 11; Matt. 26: 42).
The work of sanctification is attributed to The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is sent by The Father at the request of The Son (Jesus Christ) (John 14: 15 – 16) to sanctify and console believers, to lead believers to the complete truth (John 14: 26), convict the world of sin and righteousness, and take what is of The Son and declare it to the believers (John 16: 7 – 15).
The Blessed Trinity, although distinct Persons of the same Substance, collaborate with one another when they carry out their works. The same collaboration is emphasized by the Church in the three arms of the Church: militant, triumphant, and suffering. This is because essentially, we are of the same substance which is the “breath of God”.
The Creation of Angels and the abuse of freewill.
Angels were created by God as ministering spirits. They were created with a freewill so that their ministration will be voluntary. They are categorized into nine (9) choirs according to their functions from which we derive their personalities: Seraphim (Isaiah 6: 1 – 3), Cherubim (Gen. 3: 24; Ezekiel 10: 15 – 20), Thrones (Colossians 1: 16), Dominions (Colossians 1: 16), Virtues (Ephesians 1: 21; I Peter 3: 22), Powers (Ephesians 6: 12; Colossians 2: 15), Principalities (Ephesians 1: 21; 3: 10), Archangels (Jude 1: 9; Thessalonians 4: 16), Angels (Ps. 91: 11; Matt. 18: 10).
With their freewill, some angels from the nine choirs decided that they do not want to serve God anymore. Thus, they were thrown out of heaven and became demons. The chief rebel among them was Lucifer who became the devil or Satan (Isaiah 14: 12 – 15; Ezekiel 28: 12 – 17). After the rebellion, those angels who said they will not serve God anymore and those angels who continue to serve God made an irrevocable decision that cannot be changed. The angels continue to minister to God and the followers of Jesus Christ on earth, while the demons continue to tempt and lure the followers of Jesus Christ onto the path of damnation and condemnation.
The Fall of Adam and Eve and Human Concupiscence.
Adam and Eve were also created with freewill (Genesis 2: 16 – 17). Genesis chapter 3 gives an account of the fall or sin of Adam and Eve when they fell to the temptation of Satan. The fall made humans susceptible to sin and this is called concupiscence. Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of The Blessed Trinity. This may explain why the work of redeeming the human person led by Jesus Christ was a collaborative work of The Blessed Trinity. This redemption or salvation of the human person was accomplished, fulfilled, finished, or consummated on the cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ (John 19: 30), as sent by The Father and with the power of The Holy Spirit. The redemption of Jesus Christ is for all human persons. However, since the human person is a free moral person, he or she can accept or reject the salvation of Jesus Christ. Those who accept the salvation of Jesus Christ live the same kind of life that Jesus Christ lived and are called Christians. We should note that the disciples who were first called Christians at Antioch were taught for a whole year by Barnabas and Soul (Acts 11: 25 – 26).
The Seven Sacraments.
The Catholic Church, through the apostolic succession of St. Peter the first Pope and visible head of all the Christians of the early Church, has continued the task of teaching the human race the good news of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28: 19; Mark 16: 15). St. Paul, our Patron Saint, was not ashamed to proclaim the good news (Romans 1: 16). The Catholic Church does proclaim the good news through the sacraments.
To receive the sacrament of Baptism as an infant since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23), and anyone, including infants, can die at any time, the Catholic Church baptizes infants in the faith of their parents and sponsors through a process of proclaiming the good news to these adults who are standing in for the infant. Also, we can infer from Acts 10: 44 – 48 that Cornelius and all the members of his household, including infants, were all baptized. Baptized adults are taught catechism for a period of time before they are baptized.
The sacrament of Confirmation further strengthens the Christian with the reception of The Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands. Deep catechesis on the word of God is taught to the recipient of this sacrament to make him or her a soldier of Jesus Christ.
The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist feeds the soul of the Christian with the food of life, which is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. To fulfill the injunction of Jesus Christ at the last supper: “Do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22: 19 – 20; I Cor. 11: 23 – 25), the Catholic Church celebrates Mass daily (except on Good Friday) and encourages Catholics to receive Holy Communion daily. And, since once consecrated, the bread becomes in essence the true body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church preserves the consecrated bread in the tabernacle of the altar or in the Blessed Sacrament chapel for adoration or veneration. By so doing, the Catholic Church encourages Christians to spend time in prayer and worship with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and, thus, also fulfill the injunction of Jesus Christ that we should spend at least one hour with Him in prayer (Matt. 26: 40; Mark 14: 37).
The sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation provides Catholics the opportunity of deep sorrow for sins committed, making restitution for sins committed through prayers or good works recommended by the priest, and receiving counselling from the priest on how to overcome sins. The power to forgive sins was given to the apostles (and, by extension, their successors and collaborators as priest) by Jesus Christ (John 20: 21 – 23; Matt. 18: 18).
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick gives the Catholic the grace of healing and, if it is God’s will, of persevering in carrying the cross of ill health which is to be offered as penance or for sanctification and salvation (James 5: 14 – 15).
The sacrament of Holy Orders sets aside from among Catholics, men who will act in the person of Jesus Christ to proclaim the good news and dispense the sacraments. These men, like the apostles of Jesus Christ, are chosen from among Catholics and trained in Catholic seminaries for the sacred priesthood (Hebrews 5: 1 – 5).
The sacrament of Matrimony blesses the consent of Catholics who are in love with each other and who want that love to blossom in a family (Genesis 2: 24; Matt. 19: 6; Ephesians 5: 31 – 32). The sacrament is based on love devoid of any form of deceit for God cannot bless or be a part of any deception. This explains why marriages that are based on deceit are null and void from the very beginning.
These seven sacraments are ways the Catholic Church re-enact or vividly manifest the salvific life of Jesus Christ to attract or bring forth the blessings and fruits of these saving mysteries of Jesus Christ. By so doing, the Catholic Church prepares her members to bring forth the kingdom of God on earth and attain eternal salvation.
The Seasons of the Catholic Church.
The seasons of the Catholic Church are conscious efforts by the teaching magisterium of the Church to manifest vividly and practically the teachings, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. These vivid and practical manifestations attract in a hundred-fold the merits, graces, indulgences, mercies, and favours of The Blessed Trinity onto Catholics who dedicatedly and faithfully participate in the liturgical celebrations of the seasons of the Church. Thus, during the Ordinary Time of the Year, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter seasons of the Church, Catholics who participate ardently are manifesting their faith in Christ Jesus, and they attract in a hundred-fold the blessings and promises attached to these liturgical celebrations.
The teaching magisterium of the Catholic Church should not rest on it oars in sustaining the vivid and practical manifestation of the seasons of the Church. Remove the celebration of the sacraments and the vivid and practical manifestation of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven; stop the celebration of the Holy Mass; remove all the holy statues, holy pictures, the various chaplets, and crucifixes from our churches and homes; and Christianity will stop attracting graces, favours, mercies, merits and indulgences, and becomes stale like the stories of moonlight our ancestors told us that have gradually faded away into oblivion.
The Church Militant, Triumphant, and Suffering.
The celebrations of the sacraments and the seasons produces holy men and women referred to as the Church Militant or the Pilgrim Church. These celebrations help us to overcome our Adamic nature of concupiscence that holds us bound in sin, and to put on the new nature of Christ (Colossians 3: 5 – 10; Ephesians 4: 22 – 24; 2 Corinthians 5: 17; Romans 6: 6 – 7). With the new life in Christ Jesus, Catholics are able to do the following: (a) overcome the world; (b) practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and offer them as restitutions (for charity or practical demonstration of love covers a multitude of sins – 1 Peter 4: 8; Proverbs 10: 12; James 5: 20) in the wisdom that is like that of a serpent and with the innocence that is like that of a dove (Matt. 10: 16); (c) discern their purpose in life in line with The Blessed Trinity whose breath they are, and grow physical wealth, spiritual wealth, social wealth, material wealth, time wealth, etc. in line with the principles found in The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25: 14 – 30; Luke 19: 11 – 27); (d) and finally work out or practically manifest their salvation with fear and trembling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2: 12 – 13). Catholics who currently manifest the above are the true Church Militants and Pilgrims and, when they eventually die at God’s appointed time, they constitute the Church Triumphant.
The Church Triumphant are members of the Church Militant who persevered in bringing about God’s kingdom on earth and died in Christ Jesus. They can also be referred to as the great “cloud of witnesses” surrounding the Church Militant (Hebrews 12: 1). In the list of the Church Triumphant we have prophets, apostles, priests and religious, married men and women, children and youths of different tribes, countries and nations. In this list of the Church Triumphant prime place is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ who is both God and man. The Blessed Virgin Mary is given a prime place because she is the only human person who was “full of grace” (in Catholic Bibles) or “highly favoured” (in non-Catholic Bibles) – (Luke 1: 28). For the Blessed Virgin Mary to be “highly favoured” to the extent that she was found worthy to be the mother of God the Son speaks volumes in relation to holiness and abundance or fulness of grace. From this Biblical passage alongside some other passages will proceed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven.
Another prominent personality in the Church Triumphant is St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ who was referred to as “a just man” (Matt. 1: 19). Through him the genealogy of Jesus Christ was linked to the lineage of David (Matt. 1: 1 – 17) whose kingdom and throne will last forever (2 Samuel 7: 16; Psalm 89: 3 – 4; 1 Chronicles 17: 11 – 14); through his knowledge from dreams he was able to help Jesus and Mary fulfil their purpose in life; and through his diligence and professionality as a carpenter he was able to provide financially and materially for his family. Other important persons in the Church Triumphant include all the apostles and our Patron Saint, St. Paul, some of the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, and many more. Just as members of the Church Militant intercede for one another on earth (James 5: 16; Ephesians 6: 18; 1Timothy 2: 1 – 2), so also the members of the Church Triumphant intercede for members of the Church Militant on earth. For sure, members of the Church Triumphant know what is happening on earth as taught by Jesus Christ in the Parable of the Lost Sheep when he said there is great rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner (Luke 15: 7). Also, the angels in heaven know what is happen on earth as taught by Jesus Christ in the Parable of the Lost Coin when he said there is great rejoicing among the angels over one repentant sinner (Luke 15: 10). Furthermore, twenty-four elders held bows of incense of the prayers of the righteous before God in heaven (Rev. 5: 8), and an angel mixes incense with the prayers of the righteous to present it to God (Rev. 6: 9 – 10). Thus, the Catholic Church teaches devotion to the angels, and devotion to the members of the Church Triumphant – the saints or our ancestors in the faith – who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.
The Church Suffering (The Holy Souls in Purgatory).
2 Maccabees 12: 46 records the praying for the dead that they may be cleansed from sin. The 1st and 2nd books of Maccabees with the books of Tobit, Judith, Sirach, Wisdom, and Baruch are part of the 73 books of the Catholic Bible in contrast to the 66 books of non-Catholic Bibles. Thus, quoting the book of Maccabees to substantiate the doctrine of the Church Suffering becomes very controversial. However, the Biblical teaching on mortal and venial sin which states that all sins are offensive to God but not all of them destroys God’s grace in the soul (1 John 5: 16 – 17), and the parable of reconciling with one’s adversary before one is taken to court and imprisoned pending when one pays for the crime committed (Matt. 5: 25 – 26; Luke 12: 58 – 59), which suggest making restitution for offences committed against one another, supports the doctrine that some members of the Church Militant who died in venial sin or who are yet to make restitution via corporal and spiritual works of mercy for the sins committed, will undergo divine retributive justice known as purgatory. Note that to qualify to go to purgatory one must be holy, that is, one must not be in a state of mortal sin. If we interpret the Biblical passage which states that nothing unclean can enter heaven (Rev. 21: 27) to include venial sin, then martyrs and very few persons will be in heaven, especially since most people do not know when they are going to die.
The Universality of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. These attributes point to the universality of the Catholic Church whose teachings, prayers, seasons, and sacraments are the same at all times and in all places in spite of the language spoken. Our duty as Catholics is to preserve these attributes of the Catholic Church in our pursuit of ecumenism and inculturation.
Conclusion.
The Catholic Church is currently under attack from some of her members who are ignorant of her teachings, doctrines and dogmas; from some non-Catholic Christians who believe that attacking the Catholic Church is the fastest way to gain membership; and from those who control the social media and present the symbols of the Catholic Church as hidden secrets of magic. The social media is also currently amplifying some of the books in the Ethiopian Bible and other apocrypha books not listed among the canons of the Bible, and referring to them as the most authentic source of true knowledge and worship of God hidden from the people by the Catholic Church.
Like St. Paul, our Patron Saint, it is our duty to study sacred scriptures as well as the documents of the Church to enables us manifest in practice the trinitarian life in us as co-creators with The Father, co-redeemers with The Son, and co-sanctifiers and consolers with The Holy Spirit. Through these practical manifestations may we bring about the reign of God’s kingdom on earth and gain eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Pax tecum!