One Holy Catholic And Apostolic Church

CULTIVATE your Faith

Your Catholic Voice Foundation

One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church by Michael Galloway

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ILLUSTRATION BY GERTRUD MUELLER NELSON. © 1990 BY THE ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT, INC., THE LITURGICAL PRESS

s I sit here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, having just returned from Mass and receiving Holy Communion, I think back to my early childhood. I remember so many of the different homilies I heard as a child. I remember the prayers I was taught to know by heart. I remember the lines of one prayer we still say every week at Mass: “We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” Whenever I profess the Creed, I begin to feel an inner strength that can only be given by the Holy Spirit. The strength of understanding. The strength of forgiveness. The strength to, in the words of the Holy Father, “Be not afraid.” The strength of truth. There are so many issues we need to face today as Catholic Christians. It is overwhelming. Let me now focus on just one issue, the single-most important human rights issue of our day, abortion. Without the right to life there are no other rights. In the 30 years since Roe vs. Wade, there have been many wonderful organizations that have brought much awareness and education concerning what we are truly doing as a nation through legalized abortion. We now have 30 years of history from which, I pray, we can and have learned. Most of us now have a position—or at least a thought on where

CULTIVATE your Faith we stand on this most important issue. But as Catholic Christians we must also now face the truth…and the truth is very simple—Abortion is still legal in ALL 50 US states. Moreover, there is an abortive procedure every few seconds in a nation that was once rooted in JudeoChristian principles. PERIOD. End of story. Why have we lost this monumental battle, the battle to uphold the right to life for all men and women at every age and stage? In our own founding documents as Americans we proclaim that life is an inalienable right and an endowment from our Creator! With this all in mind we need to ask what have we really learned and what have many of these efforts actually accomplished? We also must face the truth. Let’s be really honest—with ourselves and with God. The truth is the proponents of the so-called “right to choose” have won the most important of contemporary battles. They have won the battle to legalize the culture of death. One must really pause at the devastation legalized abortion brings to women, men, and their families. The horror it has unleashed upon our nation is unspeakable! However, truth always prevails and the Lord of life hears the cry of the poor. Mother Teresa reminded us that children in the womb are the poorest of the poor. They have no one to speak for them and they cannot be heard—except, that is, through our voice! We need to “build” a new culture of life, not simply oppose abortion.

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lease understand what I am trying to say. I am convinced that “anti” campaigning does NOT work. We need to both become and act more positively. Medical science now confirms what our conscience has known all along, the child

in the womb is a person and our neighbor. We need to examine and learn from the “other” side, from their “winning” strategy. We need to speak about this vital issue with a new language. We need to propose a new culture of life and not

Your Catholic Voice Foundation

ly informed by Christian faith. The teachings and values that many of our founding fathers gave to this mighty nation flowed from the Christian heritage of Western civilization, the teachings that our Savior, Jesus Christ, gave

“In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation.” simply oppose abortion. We need to talk about the fact that some choices are always wrong, like killing children in the womb. We must offer another way and develop the language of life. Unfortunately, at least on this issue, evil has temporarily triumphed! That is truly what lies at the heart of the abortion issue, evil. Jesus said it, “The thief (the devil) comes to kill and destroy but I have came to give life.” Does anyone really remember the Devil? I for one have not heard him mentioned in my parish for many years. Believe me—no believe God—the Devil is real and he has become so successfully entrenched within our families. This complete destruction of the primacy of the family is one of the prime goals of the Devil. The family is the first cell of society, the first church, first school, first hospital, first economy, and the first mediating institution.

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hen there is our national claim to be a free people. Do we go on pretending to be a nation “under God”? The truth again, we are not a Christian nation, if we ever truly were. We have become a secularized nation. We have been beaten down so much that we have forgotten our own values, once so clear-

his life for. Their influence has waned. Let’s be honest. Here are a few sobering points! First…the institution of marriage teeters at over a 50% divorce rate. Abortion on demand is called “a right.” Partial-birth abortion (infanticide) is still legal. The routine selling of baby parts after an abortion. Stem cell research. Euthanasia. No more Pledge of Allegiance…. And now the Supreme Court’s decision that sodomy is a constitutional right? What’s wrong with this picture? We need to again confront the truth —are we really a God-fearing nation? We go to worship on Sunday. We say our prayers. Some of us receive the body and blood of Christ. Can we peek into our hearts and ask in prayer to receive the blessing of and understanding of the truth?

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ow with all this in mind, let us look for solutions. I for one do not want anyone to bring me problems without solutions. We need solutions. We need the TRUTH….The truth is that we need both prayer and action—Catholic

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CULTIVATE your Faith Action. As the leaders and shepherd’s of our Church have taught us: “In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. Every believer is called to faithful citizenship, to become an informed, active and responsible participant in the political process.” (The Catholic Bishops of the United States “On Faithful Citizenship”) In our political process we have many organizational structures seeking to influence and effect change. We have candidate campaigns. We have PAC’s—political action committees. We have 501(c)(3) educational non-profits and we have 501(c)(4) political non-profits. What have they accomplished? Where is the voice of the Catholic lay faithful who share the concerns that I have mentioned in this article, and so many more? Many single-issue political organizations have come and gone. There is a reason for this. They have not built their house upon a sound foundation. Jesus Christ is the foundation of our one, holy Catholic Church and of all Christendom. He has built a true foundation upon which is built our Catholic Christian faith. That faith must now proceed to action. I believe we many of our activist nonprofit organizations have not been built on a sound foundation. What happens to an organization that builds upon a poorly constructed foundation? It crumbles and fails to accomplish its mission.

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ith this understanding of the need for a true foundation and a new Catholic action, the “Your Catholic Voice” movement was born. The mission of the “Your Catholic Voice” movement is to motivate, educate and activate Catholic citizens for political and social

participation as a response to their baptismal vocation and the call of our Church to be faithful citizens. The motto of the “Your Catholic Voice” movement is “Cultivate your Faith— Activate your Voice.” “Cultivate Your Faith.” “Your Catholic Voice Foundation” is dedicated to informing, educating, supporting and serving a new Catholic Action. “Activate Your Voice.” “Your Catholic Voice” is dedicated to activating faithful Catholic citizens for the vital work of political participation. It is time for solutions and not just more talk. The only real solution is the implementation of the social teachings of the Catholic Church. Movements such as “Your Catholic Voice” are a vital part of making that teaching known and offering them as a path to cultural, political and social recovery. We know that the principles found in Catholic social teaching promote the common good. We have tried all others—now it is time for all Catholics Christians to stand as One Body in Christ. Let your Catholic voice be heard. We need to build upon the sure and firm foundation of Catholic faith. We have professed that we believe…now it is time to act and to build! Believing that our Catholic faith is neither liberal nor conservative, Democrat nor Republican, but true, we will involve ourselves only in those issues that flow from our “FOUR PILLARS OF PARTICIPATION.” Through our Four Pillars—Life, Family, Freedom and Solidarity—we are proposing solutions and seeking to build a culture of life and civilization of love. The four pillars of the “Your Catholic Voice” movement encompass the social teachings of our

© Third Millennium, LLC. Published by Catholic Online Publishing

Your Catholic Voice Foundation

Catholic faith. Mother Teresa, another great gift to our Church and the world, once told us all—“It has never been between you and me, it has always been between me and Him.” We must pray and live by example the simple and wonderful truths that our Father in heaven and His Son have given us…compassion, understanding, faith, hope and charity (love). It has always been between me and God. I am tired of seeing efforts to end abortion fail. I am tired of seeing the family devastated. I have decided it is time to put legs on my faith and walk into the world in order to build a truly just society. Let us go forward and build upon the foundation Christ has given us. Come, join us in “Your Catholic Voice.” As we pray every Sunday… “We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” Let’s NOW act that way! ✝

MICHAEL GALLOWAY is the Publisher/President of Catholic Online, a Catholic media company that he and his wife built. He, his wife Sandy, and Deacon Keith Fournier are the founders of the Your Catholic Voice movement. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Your Catholic Voice, Inc., the 501(c)(4) activist arm of the movement. Your Catholic Voice is a movement to promote faithful citizenship based on the fundamental truths of the Catholic Church relating to Life, Family, Freedom and Solidarity.

Your Catholic Voice Foundation Visit us at http://www.ycvf.org Your Catholic Voice Foundation P.O. Box 11236 Bakersfield, CA 93389 661-869-1000 [email protected]

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