Where Are The Others?: Instructing the Ignorant is a Spiritual Work of Mercy

Where Are The Others?

Instructing the Ignorant is a Spiritual Work of Mercy

By Prof. Anthony Maranise, Obl.S.B.

            Allow me to be the first to admit that I am aware of my own ignorance, sinfulness, imperfections, shortcomings, etc. When I write about the word “ignorance” in this article, I am not writing about it to be rude or ‘off-putting’ and I state that at the outset, here, because unfortunately the ‘softness’ of our society today would easily lend itself to the offense of others were I not to make this clear ‘right off the bat.’

It’s an unfortunate state of societal affairs when certain things can annoy, upset, or offend others even when they aren’t intended to, but it’s the world we live in now, God help us all.

            If we look up the formal definition of the term, “ignorant”, we will find the following result: “lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular matter.” That’s it. That’s the formal definition and the one that both I and the Church mean when we speak of ‘ignorance’ or ‘instructing the ignorant.’ If you keep reading the definition, you will notice that it separates the formal meaning from the informal one.

            The informal one reads: “unsophisticated, discourteous, or rude.” For the most part, I do not ascribe to my use of the word in this article, the informal definition – unless, of course, the ignorance about which I am speaking is wanton or unprincipled laziness or disregard to educate oneself when one otherwise possesses the abilities to do so.

            More to my initial point, and to assuage those who may still be ‘triggered’ by my and the Church’ use of the word, ‘ignorant’ (though as I said, I, personally, mostly mean it only in the formal sense), here is a list of things about which I openly admit to being ignorant (though not for lack of attempting to understand – simply, because God gives each one of us different gifts in understanding and knowledge areas).

            That said, I have tried my best to become proficient in these areas in which I am ignorant, but to no avail. Without further ado, there is a reason I am a theologian with specialization in spirituality, as opposed to someone who postures to have even a passing familiarity with STEMM fields (science – particularly chemistry, technology – particularly programming, engineering – in any of its fields, mathematics – in anything but the basics necessary to competently manage a bank account and a non-profit, and medicine – some things I know from personal experience, but the rest might as well be Arabic to me).

            There. My own ignorance now having been admitted, dear reader, feel more at ease as I digress…

            While all the Gospels contain the vitae Dei verbum, I am perhaps the greatest fan of the Johannine Gospel narratives and accounts. However, a beautiful encounter occurs in Luke’s Gospel (17:11-19) wherein Jesus interacts with ten lepers. Ultimately, the lepers cry out to Jesus who is passing by and acknowledge, initially, His healing abilities. He has mercy on them and instructs them to “Go show themselves to the [Jewish Levitical] priests”. On their way to do so, they are healed. One, and only one among the ten, having noticed himself healed, immediately turns back from his progress to the priests and goes and throws Himself at the very feet of Jesus, exalts Him, and proclaims praises to Him for his healing.

            It is then that the faithful hear Jesus’ disarming, yet deeply profound question and statement:

            “Where are the others?” (Luke 17:17) and “Rise up and go for your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19)

            I’d like us to keep in the forefront of our minds, dear readers, Christ’s crucial question there, namely, “Where are the others?”, as we continue in this article.

            Never would I have imagined that one day the Holy Spirit would have needed me to write an article of this sort. However, considering the distressing data we, the faithful, learned still recently, namely that, according to a 2022-2024 study from Vinea Research, researchers found that around 69% of Mass-going Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

           Granted, this is encouraging given a 2019 Pew Research Study which showed that less than 54% of Catholics either formally believed in, adhered to, or were even familiar with the most basic doctrines and dogmas of the faith. All seemingly well and good, but what of the remaining 31% (give or take a 15% disparity between the two studies) who claim themselves to be Catholics?

           Thus, the point of this article shall be a twofold review of the most common dogmatic and doctrinal discrepancies (better I should deem them ‘purely ignorant understandings’) I encounter from amongst the faithful, of which, even some within my own friends and family are not immune.

           These shall include: (1) belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist (of course), and (2) belief in teaching and authenticity of belief in not only Christ’s bodily resurrection, but as the Creed proclaims, what concerns our own share in the actual and physical “resurrection of the body”.

           What this ignorance evidences is either one of two things or a combination of both. I contend it must, necessarily, be the case that either the faithful are not being introduced to and taught substantive, solid, and proper theology (or basic catechesis, though this really stems from the much ‘higher’ and ‘Divine Science’ in theology) or, in the absence of substantive, solid, and proper theological education, either they are wantonly failing to understand, assent to, accept, acknowledge, or believe it.

           Perhaps worst of all, it could be this combination of the two… or, dare I say, far too many of the faithful are simply too poorly apathetic regarding these matters of eternal significance to properly seek to educate themselves or correct their own ignorance.

           All that as a preface, let us begin with the irrefutable reality that a wanton lack of belief, assent to these crucial and pivotal doctrines, dogmas, or teachings or a refusal to seek clarity in these matters may potentially make someone what I have long referred to as a “CINO” (or one who is “Catholic In Name Only”) or a non-practicing Catholic.

           In certain extreme cases, such as wanton disbelief or rejection of these teachings so central to the One, True Faith, some may, in fact, cease to be Catholic (or even Christian) at all.

            Within the Catholic tradition, we still believe in and validly practice both ‘formal (ferendae) excommunication’ (which is entirely rare these days, but is still sparingly used when serious enough a matter occurs) and, perhaps the least understood and most taken-for-granted form in what is known as ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication.

            Latae sententiae literally translates to ‘judgement having been brought’ and is a form of excommunication which occurs within the very instant a moral law or critical Church teaching is contravened by the individual who has done so.

            The difference between these two forms is that in a ferendae, the Church formally makes an announcement that an individual is now officially ‘separated from communion with the Church’ (and as previously mentioned, this remains mostly rare and reserved for those who propose or perpetuate schisms or heresies against the Church). However, latae sententiae is as serious as it is because it is incurred as a canonical penalty “by one’s own action” and immediately upon commission of the action.

            In other words, the Church takes offenses against these moral laws or teachings as so serious that there can be no time spent debating the morality or immorality of the act. Thus, as the individual should already possess knowledge of the grave matter – should they indeed be a practicing Catholic (not a CINO) – if they contravene the right exercise of the act, they become excommunicated by their own action and remain so until proper sacramental reconciliation is received, and penance has been served.

           To give the most popular example of an act wherein a person immediately incurs an excommunication latae sententiae, we could take the cowardly woman, who, by an act of her own doing, has become pregnant and is “simply not ready to have a child” and thus, decides to murder the child in her womb through an abortion.

           At the very single instance in which that abortion is procured, this individual would not only, of course, become ‘in the state of sin’ as opposed to remaining ‘within the state of grace’, but this penalty is so severe that it goes further. Not only has this person severed her relationship with God (were one even there to begin with given so vile a decision), but should the woman have been Catholic, the Church automatically denounces and disavows its association with her until repentance is demonstrated through proper sacramental reconciliation and the fulfilment of penance.

           Why bring up any of this? Simple. If a person is truly a Catholic, then it is incumbent upon them to know what the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic as well as the One, True Faith teaches in matters of faith and morals such that they can avoid incurring excommunication latae sententiae (for grave matters) and/or even from falling away from ‘the state of grace’.

            Here, I am reminded of the wise words, and really, the exhortation of St. Thérèse of Lisieux – given that we are all called by God to sanctity, indeed to future sainthood. She plainly says, what we should take to heart: “You cannot be half a saint. You must be whole, or not at all.”

            So, a breath, a little prayer, and as we like to say in the Benedictine tradition: “Always, we begin again.”

Clarifying Appropriate Belief in & Understanding of the ‘Real Presence’ of Jesus in the Eucharist

            Every faithful Catholic should be aware, at the outset, of this singular and authoritative phrase: “The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1324). Under the external appearances of unleavened bread and ordinary wine (it must be fermented and thus, contain alcohol; not a juice substitute because when Jesus Himself instituted the Eucharist, in His time some 2000+ years ago, it would have been fermented juice, i.e., wine), Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God and God Incarnate Himself, comes to us really, truly, and substantially.

            Allow me to be more explicit: When the priest, having prayed the Eucharistic Prayer(s), calls down the Power of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis) over the ordinary unleavened bread and wine, and taking each in hand in turn, repeating Jesus’ own direct Words as found in all four Gospel accounts (Mark 14:22-24; Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:19-20; and the entirety of John 6), elevating them – in that exact moment – the very substance of what is presented to our perceptible senses completely and totally changes form (transubstantiation) from ordinary unleavened bread and wine and into the real, true, and actual glorified Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

            To be abundantly clear, this is not merely spiritual or symbolic action. The Church teaches (and, if we are truly to be counted among its members as believers), then, it is necessary that we assent to this reality and Truth. It is not “symbolic of the Last Supper”, “some great spiritual concept”, or “imagined or delusional fantasy”. It is, if you claim yourself to be a true, authentic, and practicing Catholic, the actual glorified Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in its entirety of Jesus Christ, the King who is ever-sovereign over all, God entirely in substance.

            To go one further is to also confront the primarily Protestant rejection of this central dogma of faith. While it is unfair to categorize all Protestant belief as being based on ‘biblical literalism’, that is a very key tenet of most mainline and especially evangelical Protestant traditions.

            If, then, that is the case, it seems a bit odd that those who take the entirety of the Bible ‘fundamentally’ and ‘literally’ as the inerrant Word of God, suddenly reach the portions of the Gospels themselves wherein Jesus (God in the Flesh) directly explains to the Apostles at The Last Supper that the bread they are sharing is His body and the wine they are sharing is His blood, should then presume that those specific portions of the Bible must be symbolic rather than literal.

            Faithful, do not be misled, diluted, persuaded, or confused. The Church does herself teach that Sacred Scripture is best understood in the light of Sacred Tradition which long before preceded the writing of Sacred Scripture. Ultimately, what I am saying is both natural and irrefutable fact: We must, necessarily, have experiences before there can be anything to record (write down and share) regarding those experiences.

            There are plenty of areas within the legitimate canon of Sacred Scripture which lend themselves to directed interpretation, but the Gospels are rightly taken and taught to be as literal as can be for they are direct attestations to the life of Jesus, by those who were there to see and witness these actions themselves.

            As one of the earliest of the Church Fathers, St. Cyril of Jerusalem (circa 350AD), has said, we also must ponder: “Since Christ Himself has said, ‘This is My Body,’ who should dare to doubt that It is His Body?”

            This, then, all taken together considering the study results previously discussed, which show that somewhere between 54-69% of Catholics truly believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, necessarily begs the question Jesus asks the leper in the Gospel of Luke and which He asks us even now: Where are the others?

Clarifying Appropriate Belief in & Understanding of The Resurrection of the Body

            In my more than fifteen years of combined theological study, instruction, and practice, I have found the second largest amount of confusion among those who call themselves “faithful” in either or both their belief in and/or understanding of what is truly meant by the central Christian dogma concerning the Resurrection of the Body.

            Let me attempt to make a little more sense of this for my readers, at the outset. I have encountered far more persons who wholly believe in the physical, spiritual, bodily, actual, and glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

            The concerning departure from authentic Catholic-Christian theological teaching and dogma comes in persons who call themselves members of the “faithful”, but who either doubt entirely, or do not understand the very clear and declarative statement in The Apostle’s Creed which resounds: “I believe in… the resurrection of the body”.

            For the sake of reaching as wide an audience as humanly possible, let’s just stick with The Apostle’s Creed for this one. There is, of course, The Nicene Creed (promulgated at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD), but The Apostle’s Creed existed long before Nicaea and as early as the earliest parts of the second century.

            Now, what is baffling about this is that for most practicing Catholics and, indeed, Christians at large, there is a willingness to believe in Christ’s own Resurrection as stated recently above. However, an alarming number do not either believe or do not know that authentic Christian teaching and dogma concerning belief in the resurrection of the body concerns us – as in the faithful themselves.

            The proper theological teaching is this, in fact: At the end of all time, i.e., when Jesus Christ actualizes the Second Coming – when He comes again in glory – the tombs of the dead will be thrown open and those who have believed in and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord (and who have lived a righteous and/or redeemed life) will rise out of those very tombs in a glorified body similar to Christ’s own glorified body. Those eternal souls, once separated from their mortal bodies in death, will be reunited with their glorified bodies, and will be assumed – body and soul united once more and forever – into Heaven with Christ, the King.

            This is our faith! This is what we believe, teach, and hold to be true based not only on what Christ Himself has told us (and which is recorded in Sacred Scripture), but also in what He has revealed through countless others such as St. Paul and the early Church Fathers and theologians.

            Yet, an alarming 2019 study by Study of Relationships in America revealed that overall, only 37% of American Catholics believe that there will be a bodily resurrection of the dead.

            What makes this so disheartening and deeply concerning is the fact that bodily resurrection is an article of the faith. Our belief in a bodily resurrection necessarily depends on our belief in the Resurrection of Jesus.

            So, where is the disconnect?

            In John’s Gospel (14:3), Jesus is recorded saying to the Apostles, and thus, to each of us: “Since I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, you may ever be with me.”

            Then, you have the renowned St. Paul, who encountered directly the bodily Resurrected and forever living Jesus Christ Himself. St. Paul was so convinced that there will be a bodily resurrection for all who have come to believe in and profess Jesus Christ as Lord that, in more than two occasions, he goes so far as to stake the entire faith on it. Here are just two of his many highlights:

            “If we have been united with Christ in a death like His, then we are certainly to be united with Him in a resurrection like His own” (Romans 6:5).

            Though I tend to shy away from contemporary Biblical translations, I’ll borrow in this rare circumstance from one here because this translation “tells it like it is” and as St. Paul would have meant it within the context of the audience to whom he was writing. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, he says, “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then the whole of our faith is in vain, and we who believe remain in our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

            37%.

            37% of so called ‘believers’ assent to the Church’s teachings on the resurrection of the body.

            Where are the others?

            To conclude, we, the faithful, are faced with Christ’s question: Where are the others? Perhaps, in our confidence, belief, and understanding, we may resemble the single leper who returned to Jesus glorifying and praising Him because what He had assured him came to fruition. But, truly, what of those who wantonly choose disbelief? What of those who refuse to educate themselves on these matters of eternal significance?

            Faith which seeks understanding is the very heart of the theological practice.

            And maybe, like me and my ignorance of the STEMM subjects, many may simply not have the capacity to understand these theological realities. However, is lack of understanding itself an excuse to not even try to learn? Is it permissive to remain ignorant? Is it truly “bliss” as the old phrase says?

            I, for my part, do not simply disbelieve in those subjects which escape my clarity and understanding. I believe in their truths, all of which are fleeting in the grand scheme, even despite my full understanding or proficiency.

            In matters of eternal significance, as we have discussed here in this article, a lack of clarity or understanding – ignorance that is not wanton – is no excuse for disbelief.

            Let us pray, as did the desperate father from Mark’s Gospel when he begs Jesus to cast the demon out of his own son, and say, without hesitation: “I do believe, Lord; heal my unbelief!” (9:23-25).

            Let that be our prayer, in faith and in confidence.

            And, insofar as it comes to our minds – our faith which seeks understanding – then let us ponder upon the wisdom and warning of St. Apollinaris, the 2^nd century apologist and Bishop, who in his Apologia from 177AD, wrote:

            “We therefore grossly deceive ourselves in not allotting more time to the study of divine truths. It is not enough barely to believe them, and let our thoughts now and then glance upon them: that knowledge which shows us heaven will not bring us to the possession of it, and will deserve punishments, not rewards, if it remain slight, weak, and superficial.”