My faith; my answers

Andrew Heanngam Pamei *

I was born into a Christian family and brought up by my amazing parents as a member of one, true and Holy Catholic (universal) Church. As I journey through scholastic life for twelve years in two prestigious catholic institutes, I’m often asked by folks whom I met, during those twelve years on the faith that I profess. Some sincerely asked me certain questions, who themselves would want to be enlightened, quite a few of them test me how profound my faith is, and a handful of my companions oppugned me just to disclose themselves that they are none other than the doubting Thomas.

And so with due honour and respect to all of whom I met those years, I’d like to enlighten them by answering their most asked three queries through this write-up. First question was, why there are statues and pictures in the Catholic Church, Aren’t they a form of Idolatry? Second, why Catholics confess to a priest, where they would’ve done it themselves during their personal prayers to God? And third, why Catholic Church baptize infants?

The first question was about statues and pictures in the Catholic Church, Aren’t statues a form of Idolatry? In Deuteronomy, God warns the Israelites against “fashioning an idol to represent any figure whether it be, the form of a man or of a woman,” or of other creatures (see Deut. 4:15-18). Joining biblical passage such as these with the divine commandment against idols (see Ex 20:4; “graven images” in the King James Version), many Christians insist that all the statues of religious subjects are forbidden.

We must note, however, that as the rest of the commandment makes clear, God has forbidden only the making of such images with the intention of worshiping them, as the pagans did. He has by no means banned the creation of all religious images. On the contrary, the Lord actually instructed the Israelites to store those very commandments, carved in stone, within a sacred container(ark) to be decorated with golden images of angelic beings called cherubim(see Ex 25:10-22). He also commanded the people to decorate the places where they worshiped with gold, bronze, and wooden images of animals and plants (see Ex 25:33-36; 26:1; 1kgs 6:23-7:51; 2Chr 3:10-4:22).

The reason why Catholic Churches, schools, and homes display religious statues and other images is because such images are an aid to remembering and honouring our Lord, His mother, the saints, and the angels. No Catholic who knows anything about Catholic faith has ever worshiped a religious image. Even when Catholics kneel to pray before a statue, or burn candles or place flowers before it, they aren’t worshiping the image. They are simply expressing love and honour for the person represented by the statue.

Think of how most people display photos of their loved ones in their homes and workplaces or carry them on their person. They may occasionally even kiss a picture. When they do, are they worshiping these images? Of course not! The affection they show to the photos is actually directed toward those the photos portray. Does venerating saints and angels in this way somehow “steal” honour form God? No, they are his “handiwork” (Eph 2:10). Our praise of the masterpieces rebounds to the Glory of the Artist who created them. Consider this: If we cherish the memory of statesmen, war heroes, and even sports celebrities by making statues of them, then what can be our objection to honouring the heroes of the faith? (see Sirach 44:1-15)

Second, why Catholics confess to a priest, when they could’ve straight away confessed to God during personal prayer? The first two chapters of Baruch tell us how the Jewish exiles in ancient Babylon repented of the sins that had led to their humiliation by their enemies. The penitents confessed their sins to God and to the priests back in Jerusalem, asking the priests to intercede for them: “Pray for us also to the Lord, our God, for we have sinned against the Lord” (Baruch 1:13).

Thus, the practice of confessing sins to God as represented by a priest, and having the priest respond with a prayer for divine mercy, has ancient precedents among God’s people (see Lev 19:20-22). In Catholic practice, however, the priest not only prays for the penitent but also imposes a penance(satisfaction) and speaks on God’s behalf the words of forgiveness (absolution).

The sacrament of reconciliation, as it is called, is firmly grounded both in scripture and in early, constant Christian tradition. The priestly authority to represent God as an ambassador of his mercy was granted by Jesus to St. Peter and the other apostles- and by extension, to the priest and their successors ordained: “whatever you bind[that is, by imposing penance] on earth shall be bound in heaven(Mt 16:19; 18:18).”

“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained(Jn 20:23).” In the early Church, confession of grave sin was often made to the whole Christian assembly as well as the priests. Certain instructions in the letter of James are suggestive of this early practice. When sick, believers were to call the presbyters(priests).

The Priests were then to anoint them with oil and pray for them. In confessing their sins, the sick could be healed and forgiven(See James 5:13-16). Catholics are obligated to repent of all mortal or grave sins(contrition) and to confess them to a priest in order to be absolved. The penitent performs the assigned penance to repair the harm caused by sin and to re-establish habits that leads to holiness. The absolution imparted by the priest is not a mere expression of hope, but a sacramental, objective reality.

Third, why does Catholic Church baptize infants? The Catholic Church baptizes infants because that has been her consistent practice from the beginning. Scripture nowhere commands us nor forbids us to baptize little children. But the book of Acts reports several occasions when the apostles baptized adults along with their entire households (Acts 16:15,33 and 18:8-compare 11:14). St. Paul also recalls baptizing an entire household in the city of Corinth (see 1 Cor 1:16). In all likelihood, these families and their servants would have included small children, so they too would have received baptism.

The clearest indicator that the Church has always baptized infants, however, is the witness of the early Church fathers who received their faith and practice from the hands of the apostles and their immediate successors. St. Ireneaus, for example, was a bishop trained by St. Polycarp, himself taught by St. John. In his work “Against Heresies”, Irenaeus wrote that Christ came to save those who are “born again in God” through baptism, including “infants and children”. The Church fathers were known for their vocal, stubborn opposition to any major innovations in Christian belief or practice. So, we can be sure that many of them would have vehemently protested in their teaching and writing if the church had begun infant baptism as a novelty in their day. On the contrary, however, their testimony to this practice is universal.

Why would Christians baptize little children who have no clue what the sacrament is all about? Because baptism, as with all the sacraments, accomplishes; real objective spiritual work. The effects of the particular sacrament are not dependent on the faith or understanding of a child being baptized. We receive baptism, scripture tells us, “for the forgiveness…of sins” (Acts 2:38).

The Catholic Church teaches that Baptism washes away both original sin and actual sins from our souls, takes away the punishments for these sins, and infuses in us a number of divine graces. If the sacrament accomplishes all this, why delay baptism until a child can understand it? Consider this parallel: Infants have no idea about what is accomplished by a bath. Should parents wait to bathe their children’s bodies, then, until they are old enough to understand? Of course not, nor should they wait to have their children’s souls washed clean in baptism. God bless you all.