{"id":2,"date":"2010-11-18T15:02:24","date_gmt":"2010-11-18T15:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/2010\/11\/a-digital-mars-hill-beliefnet-as-a-new-areopagus.html"},"modified":"2010-11-18T15:02:24","modified_gmt":"2010-11-18T15:02:24","slug":"a-digital-mars-hill-beliefnet-as-a-new-areopagus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2010\/11\/a-digital-mars-hill-beliefnet-as-a-new-areopagus.html","title":{"rendered":"A Digital Mars Hill: Beliefnet as a “New Areopagus”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n <\/span>
\n\"Mars<\/span>It is with great joy and excitement that I begin this column for Beliefnet. As a Christian who is in full communion with the Catholic Church by choice, I welcome the opportunity to enter into a robust dialogue with other Christians. I also welcome the opportunity for interreligious dialogue with other religious believers. Finally, I welcome the interchange with those in our day who are often called seekers. <\/p>\n

All who follow Jesus Christ in the Third Millennium are living in a new missionary age. The Culture in the West is not unlike the cultures that Christians in the first few centuries encountered. Our task is the same, to present the fullness of the Gospel message as the answer to every human longing and the path to a new life. We do so out of the greatest motivation, love. We want to give away freely what has been given to us freely, the love of God made fully manifest in Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n

In a homily (sermon) which he delivered right before he was be chosen to succeed the late John Paul II in the Chair of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, referred to Western Culture as being  under the influence of a “Dictatorship of Relativism”. Relativism is an ideology which claims there are no objective truths which can be known and by which we can guide and govern our life. Rather, that everything is “relative”. The echo of this error resounds every time we hear the notion that there is “your truth” and “my truth”. In short, to the proponents of relativism, there is no objective truth. <\/p>\n

The Christian claim is quite different than the emptiness of relativism. It contends that there is truth – and that it can be known. In fact, the Christian claim is that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnate Word of God, is Himself, in the words recorded in the Gospel of St John, the “Way, the Truth<\/strong> and the Life” (John 14:6). Further, that Jesus Christ is the path to the Father and the true revelation of who each one of us can become, by grace. <\/p>\n

The Christian claim is that by being baptized in to His Body, which is the Church, we are made new and capacitated to live differently.  Our choices matter. In a very real sense, we do not just make choices, our choices make us. St. Paul told the Christians in Corinth, “whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)<\/p>\n

For the Catholic Christian, to belong to Jesus Christ is to belong to His Body. Participation in the Church is not an optional extra, but the place where we live our lives “in Christ” for the sake of the world. The early Christians would never have even considered a churchless Christianity. Here are a few expressions which confirm this truth of the essentail nature of participation in the Church from early Christian leaders:<\/p>\n

“Let us love the Lord our God; let us love His Church. Let us love Him as our Father and her as our mother” (St. Augustine) “No one can have God as his Father who does not have the Church as his Mother” (St. Cyprian) “For where the Church is, there the Spirit of God is also; and where the Spirit of God is, there the Church is, and all grace. And the Spirit is truth.” (St. Irenaeus of Lyons)<\/p>\n

The Bishops of the Catholic Church at the last ecumenical Council called Vatican II, in a teaching document on the Church called Gaudium et Spes <\/em>(Latin for “Joy and Hope”), wrote these words, “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come, namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear.” We discover the fullness of what it means to be a human person in Jesus Christ. Through Him, we also find the way to our own authentic freedom and flourishing.<\/p>\n

I write this column as a “revert” to the Catholic Church; one who returned home to the Catholic Church by choice. Though, as a child, I was baptized as a Catholic and reared in a family which identified as Catholic, I wandered far away from the Catholic Christian faith. As a teenage hippie, I searched for truth, in many diverse places. That search led me on a very circuitous path. I was, before the word became as popular as it is today, a seeker. <\/p>\n

Through my sincere search – and through all of the questions that accompanied it – not only did I come back to faith in Jesus Christ, but I journeyed back into the heart of the Catholic Church. I am a Catholic by choice. I choose to stand in the full communion of the Catholic Church. I try to live my life now in the heart of the Church, for the sake of the world.<\/p>\n

In this column I will discuss the reasons for this choice and explain the Catholic Christian faith. We will consider together what it means to be a “Catholic by Choice”. We will ask – and answer- questions about what Catholics believe and why. For example, we will consider what Catholics believe about salvation; the Bible, the Church, the Sacraments, the Resurrection of the Body; our relationship with the world – along with a host of other matters concerning the Catholic faith, which is ever ancient and ever new.  <\/p>\n

We will do so in this virtual worldwide place called Beliefnet – where believers of various religious traditions gather and where seekers come to explore. <\/p>\n

One of my favorite missionary encounters is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the book in the New Testament which records the growth of the early Christian Church. It is found in the 17th chapter. It recounts the Apostle Paul’s missionary encounter in Athens, where he preached “Jesus and the Resurrection” to all who would listen. Some Athenians, who were philosophers, brought Paul to the Areopagus, on Mars Hill, where he was asked to explain the faith which he professed. <\/p>\n

We read this account, “So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For, as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22, 23) <\/p>\n

Paul, formerly known as Saul, became a follower of Jesus and His “Way”. This term, “the Way”, was used to describe the early Christians before they were even called Christians at Antioch. (Acts 11:26, 22:4) Paul embraced this faith after severely persecuting the early Church. From the moment of his encounter with the Risen Christ – which is recounted in three places in the Acts of the Apostles – he sought to tell everyone who would listen to Him the Good News. This is what the word “Gospel” means. <\/p>\n

It is Paul’s manner in the Aereopagus which will be our model. In a sense, Beliefnet is a virtual Aereopagus, a digital Mars Hill. It is a very special place for dialogue at the beginning of the Third Millennium, a new missionary age. Paul presents a model for the kind of interreligious dialogue which we can be engaged in this digital Mars Hill. He did not compromise his claim or alter his message. He showed respect and courtesy for his listeners as he proceeded to proclaim the fullness of the Gospel. That is the goal of “Catholic by Choice.” <\/p>\n

There is a hunger in the heart of every man and woman for God and for truth. Blaise Pascal referred to it as a “God shaped vacuum” and the Bishop of Hippo, Augustine, expressed it in his Confessions, where he recounts his own journey to the Catholic faith, in these words, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It is with great joy and excitement that I begin this column for Beliefnet. As a Christian who is in full communion with the Catholic Church by choice, I welcome the opportunity to enter into a robust dialogue with other Christians. I also welcome the opportunity for interreligious dialogue with other religious believers. Finally,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1,3,2,4,6,5],"class_list":["post-2","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-christian","tag-freedom","tag-relativism","tag-the-church","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\nA Digital Mars Hill: Beliefnet as a "New Areopagus" - Catholic by Choice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Digital Mars Hill: Beliefnet as a "New Areopagus" - Catholic by Choice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  It is with great joy and excitement that I begin this column for Beliefnet. 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He is a widely recognized voice in the Catholic and broader Christian community. He is a member of the Clergy of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. In his fifteenth year of service as an ordained Catholic Deacon, he is currently assigned to St Stephen Martyr Parish in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is also authorized to serve the Liturgy of the Greek Byzantine Melkite Catholic Church. Deacon Fournier and his wife Laurine have been married for 34 years and have five grown children and six grandchildren. Deacon Fournier holds his Bachelors degree in theology and philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA), his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Theology from the John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University (MTS), his Juris Doctor Law Degree Law (JD) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a PhD candidate in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America where he is currently writing his Doctoral Dissertation. Deacon Fournier also holds two honorary Doctorates, a Doctor of Laws (L.L.D. 1994,Honoris Causa) from St. Thomas University - Given for pro-life legal contributions, and a Doctor of Divinity Degree (D.D. 2005, Honoris Causa ) from the National Clergy Council and the Methodist Episcopal Church for his contributions to authentic ecumenical efforts toward Christian unity. Attorney Fournier is a constitutional lawyer who appeared as co-counsel in cases before the United States Supreme Court on Pro-Life, Religious Freedom and Pro-family issues. He served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice for seven years. He then served as a public policy activist for the causes of life, marriage and family issues for a number of years. He has extensive experience in nonprofit and for profit leadership. He has taught at the College level and served in Academic administration. He was a Dean of Students and the Dean of Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. Deacon Fournier is, above all, a communicator. His faith informs his passion to share the fullness of life which he has found in the heart of the Catholic Church. He has written eight books on matters of faith, family and the Christian life and is widely published in the broader Christian community on matters of life, faith, family, and cultural and social issues. He hosted two daily national radio programs, Purpose for Living, and Millennial Moment. He hosted several television series on Christian family and contemporary faith issues on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). He is actively involved in preaching and teaching in the Catholic Church and the broader Christian community. In addition to serving as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, Deacon Fournier is the John Paul II Fellow and special counsel for the National Pro-Life Center in Washington, D.C. and is the president of Third Millennium, LLC, a communications and consulting company. He views his role on Beliefnet as an opportunity to share his Catholic Christian faith in what he calls a new areopagus. The areopagus is referred to in the 17th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the Christian New Testament. Also called Mars Hill it was there where the Apostle Paul shared the Christian faith with the early Greeks in their temple.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/author\/deaconfournier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}