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L e t t e r s
APOLOGETICS SCHOOL NEEDED, NOT APOLOGIES
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 3
 March 1994 
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A FRIEND passed along several issues
of This Rock to me. I especially enjoyed the story of your
adventures in Denver at World Youth Day ["With the Pope in Denver,"
November 1993].
In the December issue there is the question about a "good
school of apologetics," to which you replied, "there isn't
one." Not wanting to contradict you or belittle your plans to
start one, may I suggest a lay organization that has been around since
1921? The Legion of Mary has been one of the best schools for apologetics
and evangelization. Taking literally the adage, "If you can't
walk it, you can't talk it," the Legion stresses the personal
sanctification of its members as the first criterion: "What does
it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
Daily prayer and meditation, frequent Mass and communion,
at least monthly confession, taken with the discipline of a weekly
meeting and substantial amounts of assigned work, all contribute to
the spreading of the Good News of Jesus through the Virgin Mary.
What you did at Denver, the Legion does 52 weeks out of every
year. Legionnaires visit hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and private
residences--Catholic and non-Catholic. Their sole purpose is to
give spiritual aid when needed. Legionnaires have preached on street
corners, confronted non-Catholics with patience and faith (not to
mention with courage), cleaned up areas of immorality, gone to Africa,
and today are in the forefront of the pro-life movement.
The best part is that membership is open to any Catholic
over 18 years of age who is in communion with the Church (made first
Communion, been confirmed, and follows the Church's teachings on marriage).
If no Legion can be located at a nearby parish, existing praesidiums
will be more than happy to start one up.
Joan Deutsch
Odessa, Texas
Editor’s reply:
: We've praised the work of the Legion
of Mary several times in these pages, but it's worth repeating: These
folks do great work, and working with them is one of the best ways
to learn and spread your faith.
Still, the Legion is not a school of apologetics in
the sense the questioner meant. What Catholics need is a formal program
through which they can become certified as apologists after rigorous
training, something akin, perhaps, to the old Catholic Evidence Guild.
Ideally, certificates from this school would be recognized in dioceses
throughout the country as proof that the holders know not just the
content of their faith, but how to explain and defend it.
Catholic Answers has been working on plans for such
a program, but this is a long-term project dependent mainly on acquiring
sufficient (and, unfortunately, substantial) funding. We certainly
do not expect the program to be under way this year, but hope to have
the much of the planning done before 1995.
And now radio too
DID you ever consider an active
radio ministry program? Moody Broadcast Network and Family
Radio Stations Inc. have tremendous followings in the U.S. If, as
Catholics, we could learn from them and start a radio station--imagine
how evangelism efforts would grow!
I thought this idea might be food for thought. Maybe several
of us could get together and talk about it here in New York City.
Other people might be interested!
Robert Dacchille
New York, New York
Editor’s reply:
: Still another project--and another
one we're making long-term plans about. Again the problem is cash.
Radio takes a lot of it because air time is expensive. We don't want
to fall into the common trap of launching a project we can't sustain,
so careful planning is needed.
Suggestion to the Fathers
THANK you for the December 1993 issue of
This Rock. Regarding "The Fathers Know Best,"
I think it would be more satisfying intellectually to put forth the
statement: "The Father had no beginning; the Son had no beginning;
the Holy Spirit had no beginning; they always were--are--will
be." In our Latin Creed, we refer to the Holy Spirit "Qui
cum Patre, et Filio, simul adoratur et conglorificatur."
Therefore all three Persons have the same divine substance.
It is indeed a mystery that the Second Person was sent and
took on humanity through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus
of Nazareth is one Person, both God and man. He salvaged creation.
John G. Mesak
Colfax, California
Sweetness and light
THIS is in response to James Lancaster's
letter in the December 1993 issue. He calls another Christian
church a whore, he calls another Christian a liar, a pervert, a fool,
a minister of Satan, calls the leader of a Christian church a "hell-bound
anti-Christ"; he claims to love Catholics, but at the same time
he sends them directly to hell. All I can say is, "Praise the
Lord that I do not belong to a church that preaches hatred as does
Mr. Lancaster"!
T. J. Plaisance
Galliano, Louisiana
Don't throw away the key
WE'RE sorry we didn't get to your full-day
seminar in Bremerton [Washington]. But the roads that manana
were awful--icy and dangerous. And we're way on the other
side of the Olympics at Forks, about two and a half hours away. I
hope everything went well and you had a good turnout.
Would a cassette be the thing to loan Mormon missionaries,
Seventh Day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses? When they appear
at your door you greet them politely, engage them in chitchat, then
take out the appropriate cassette and lend it to them--with the
stipulation that they return it in a few days.
Catholics should be happy to buy a set of these. I would.
I always invite these people into my home and tell them they are in
the right place if they want to become Roman Catholics. Anyway, you
could do these cassettes beautifully, knowing all about these sects
and their errors.
P.S. Iffen I was rich I'd give you a bundle of dinero.
But I'm a poor retired forester.
Hank Zepeda
Forks, Washington
Editor’s reply:
You have a good plan--we've been
recommending something similar for a long time. (For tapes to give
to proselytizers, see the catalogue at the end of this issue.) But
don't just loan the tapes out. Play them while these folks are in
your home. (You might want to stand with your back against the front
door, a big smile on your face and the deadbolt turned.) Many proselytizers
are reluctant to read Catholic literature--some, such as the Jehovah's
Witnesses, are told not to--but most will listen to tapes.
Gotcha!
I HAVE just a quick comment. In
your answer to a "Quick Question" [December 1993], you stated
that "calling the Father and Son `Lord' comes from the Bible."
You left out any mention of the Holy Spirit. Isn't it also biblical
to call the Spirit "Lord"? After all, he is explicitly called
"Lord" twice in Scripture (2 Cor. 3:17-18) and implicitly
in other passages (Acts 28:25-27, Is. 6:8-10, and Heb. 10:15-17).
Jorge Trujillo
Winton, California
Editor’s reply:
You've heard of trick questions,
right? This was a trick answer. We wanted to see how many readers
were on their toes as they read "Quick Questions." Mr. Trujillo
can take satisfaction in knowing that it seems everyone else is recumbent
while reading This Rock--he was the only person to catch
the omission.
Get thee to a confessional
WHY aren't you directing your publicity toward
fostering the sacrament of penance in all the nation's churches? Many
questions are resolved in expiation of sins.
Anonymous
Care package
IN This Rock of December
1993, Benedict McGowan appealed to you for some appropriate literature,
and you graciously granted his request. I would like to request Benedict's
address with the intention of sending some back issues of This
Rock and a set of Radio Replies, etc. I am 75 years old,
now retired, but helping out wherever needed.
Fr. William F. Tallon
Warminster, Pennsylvania
Editor’s reply:
We have sent Fr. Tallon Mr. McGowan's
address. We're happy to do this privately. We don't publish addresses
without prior authorization of the writer (unless we're struck by
an overpowering urge to subject a person to a barrage of tracts and
letters--which we might do if it's for his own good, of course).
Our man in Jerusalem
CONSIDERING postage and all, please
send me however many copies of Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth
you reasonably can for the enclosed $20. Do come and visit this
rock, the rock of Our Lord's agony, located before the altar here
in our sanctuary in Gethsemane. After I finish reading This Rock
from cover to cover, I usually pass it on to Cael, 24, under instruction
from me to enter the Church. He's a student at the (Evangelical) Institute
for Holy Land Studies and shares it with his friends there
Edward Dillon, O.F.M.
Jerusalem, Israel
She's back!
I JUST have to tell you how pleased I am
with the way Catholic Answers and This Rock have matured.
I always knew you could do it, though Uncle Max had his doubts, and
you remember what Mrs. McGillicuddy, who lived across the back fence,
used to say about your prospects, and then there was your third-grade
teacher--the one who married Betsy's cousin twice removed and
then removed herself to Yonkers of all places--well, you know
what I mean.
Mom
Roundabout apologetics
IT'S hard to find young, enthusiastic
Christians within driving distance out here in the "unchurch
belt" [Oregon], as I'm sure you're aware. The best my wife and
I have been able to do is the local non-denominational prayer group.
One night, I learned they were going to have a talk on the subject
of baptism, and since the large majority of the group is Protestant
I guessed which view would be aired and quickly began scrounging up
every bit of information I could find on the subject. Without much
hope, I glanced at the three two-year-old copies of This Rock
I have in my possession. It just so happened that in two of those
issues I found exactly what I needed by way of biblical and historical
evidence for the Catholic teaching on baptism! The "Verse by
Verse" dealt with baptism's regenerative function and was perfect
for the Bible-thumpers. "The Fathers Know Best" article
(in a different issue) dealt with the same thing from a historical
perspective. It seemed I couldn't lose!
Well, when I got to the meeting that night, I asked to speak
to the group's leader. I explained my position, and a hurried conference
ensued between the group leader, myself, and the person slated to
give the evening's baptismal discourse. I was told I would not be
allowed to present the Catholic view of baptism, mainly because there
were non-believers present, and it wouldn't have looked good for them
to see Christians arguing. It was decided that in the interests of
fairness there would be no talk on baptism at all, and I was instead
offered the opportunity to give a talk strictly on Roman Catholicism
at a date in the future.
I came hoping to shed some light on baptism, and now I get
to present the faith in its fullness! Praise God! Thank you, This
Rock, and keep me in your prayers as I gather my info.
John J. Coleman
Mt. Angel, Oregon
Editor’s reply:
Travel tip: Mt. Angel is best known for the Benedictine
monastery atop its chief hill, but the real gem is the town's parish
church, arguably the most attractive church on the West Coast. It
has been preserved from "renovation" by being declared a
state historic site. Thank God the separation of church and state
isn't absolute--sometimes state regulations actually help.
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