With 200 shows recorded since its inception, Catholic Forum has begun to fulfill its purpose: to respond to Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization and to promote Christian unity through clear and inspiring presentations of the Mysteries of the Catholic Faith. We are unabashedly Catholic yet ecumenical in the fullest sense of the term. We invite non-Catholics and Catholics alike into a more empathetic understanding of the Catholic Faith. Many Catholics either neglect or disavow their Catholic birthright. Many non-Catholics dismiss Catholicism out of hand, exhibiting an ignorance, prejudice, and insolence belying an otherwise fervent Christian Faith. We invite non-Catholics especially to clarify their own convictions by learning more about the religion (Catholicism) they so often dismiss as unworthy of their devotion. By sharing our devotion and love of the Catholic Church on the Catholic Forum, we invite others to join us on the exciting journey into the fullness of Christ’s truth, which always includes a deep devotion and nuptial attachment to His Bride and Spouse, the Church.
Many non-Catholics and nominal Catholics often fail to see the one-flesh unity of Christ with His Church. “No one can have God as his Father,” said St. Cyprian of Carthage (251 a.d.) “who does not have the Church for his Mother.” “There is but one Church of Christ,” continues Cyprian, and “whoever does not hold fast to this unity holds not unto the law of God; neither does he keep faith with the Father and the Son, nor does he have life and salvation” [“On the Unity of the Catholic Church,” #557]. It is hard to imagine a more strongly worded injunction to keep communion with the one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church. Yet, many today can conceive of Cyprian’s injunction as referring but metaphorically to the union of Christ with His Church. From a truly Catholic perspective, however, the Mystical Body of Christ is no less real, no less visible than His actual body, historically present 2000 years ago in Palestine. Such a concept – because it is mysterious, mystical, and supernatural and requires supernatural faith to accept – is incomprehensible to many. But the Mystery is nevertheless true: the Total Christ (Christus Totus) is ever a Corpus Triforme – a Three-formed Mystery. Jesus of Nazareth, the Eucharistic Jesus, and the Ecclesial Christ (Corpus Mysticum): These are one and the same Person, Head and members. The union of Jesus with His Church is also of a piece with His hypostatic union with human nature – He is both God and man – as well as with His Trinitarian union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Separating what cannot be divided is what those do who do not accept the fullness of the Catholic faith in their unbelief and intellectual pride.
At the Catholic Forum it is our joy to seek to present the truth about Jesus Christ in its fullness as taught by Catholic Tradition. This truth always includes a presentation of what Henri de Lubac called “the Splendor of the Church.” As many Catholic saints have said throughout the ages, the Church is the extension of Jesus Incarnation in history. The Church is more substantial than an invisible fellowship of well-intentioned generic believers in Jesus. It is always an incarnate Mystery identical with, and as miraculous as, the Incarnation itself. Jesus came to gather all the nations into “one flock with one shepherd,” and, as the 3rd Eucharistic Prayer says, to “…make of us an everlasting gift to You (the Father).” Catholic Forum celebrates and proclaims this great Mystery of Christ’s union with His Church, to the honor and glory of the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
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