All throughout the past nearly 2000 years, the Catholic Church has had to battle heresies and other types of false teachings. I guess the first one was where certain Jewish groups taught that circumcision is required for salvation, and this led to the general council at Jerusalem with St. Peter authoritatively speaking out against that heresy. Centuries down the road would see a number of general councils all invoked to battle the various heresies hitting at the Church at the time and/or settling major controversies. In the past when most of the literate and educated were the clergy (and the rich), it would be up to these to educate the common laity in catechism. But, particularly in the western world of the modern times, the percentage of literate and educated laypeople is high - certainly a lot higher than laypeople of the past. Therefore it is no longer the duty of just the clergy to educate other Catholics but there is almost a necessity for the laity to educate other Catholics as well. With various man-made religious doctrines and personal ideologies springing up everywhere at an almost phenomenal rate these past couple centuries, the Church is really busy with having to deal with these things that threaten it. These include New Age, occult, and quasi-Christian teachings. They are attractive and people not strong enough of their faith would fall for them. Some of these occultic teachings are especially dangerous because they are deceptive; they would preach concepts that are totally unorthodox to the Church using the name 'Christian'.

Such groups and modernist groups include the Universalists and Unitarians, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons (ie: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), Christadelphians, Christian Science, Unity School of Christianity, Seventh-Day Adventists, Oneness Pentecostal, New Age movement, psychics, astrology, wicca, ba'hai, etc, etc, and the list can go on even more if you include the old religions like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism. As you can see, there are many religions and sects all competing with one another for souls. Even within the mainline Christian circle which includes not only Catholicism but also Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, there is heavy competition particularly with Protestants. They all claim to preach the best expression of the Truth. Two other points that also deserve much attention are that 1) there are controversies and contradictions within the many upon many Protestant denominations, and 2) there is getting to be major gaps within the Catholic Church itself attempting to divide it up. These gaps have been arising steadily since the second Vatican. In protestantism, the various contradictions include major doctrinal ones like the meaning of the Lord's Supper and of Baptism and Justification, moral issues like homosexuality and abortion, and more minor ones like the kind of music to be played in services or whether the altar should be placed in the center or to the left. Anyway, the point is that everybody has their own ideas and opinions of what's right and wrong or what the proper way to do something is. In the past, only the rich and the educated generate most of the ideas; now everybody having been raised in a liberal society is competing and shouting out at the top of their voices in a very large (and packed) room in the attempt to attract attention to themselves. Without the Grace of God, it would be extremely difficult for a Catholic of the modern times to remain orthodox.

Ever seen the movie 'Armageddon'? They had to plant a bomb right in the core of the asteroid in order to destroy it; they didn't fire bombs at it. And so it is with the Church; there is so much division within, how can it last? Jesus said it Himself; He said that an organization can not last if it's divided up and Satan can attack it because it's weak. But despair not for the Church can not be destroyed because Christ keeps His promise that He will be with us unto the end of the age. You see, there is such difference in opinions between the liberals and conversatives these days. Some are so conservative that they think Vatican II was heretical. Others are so liberal that they promote ideas for reforms particularly with regards to female priests, priestly celibacy, and inclusive language in the Bible. And of course there are the extreme indifferentists (this applies not just to Catholics though) who like to think that any religion is as good as the other "because they all teach you to do good", or that the same god is being worshipped so why not just have one world religion. Not only do some laypersons hold these views but also some clergy members as well. And the priests are suppose to be shepherds of the flock!

So...what to do? Know your faith in light of orthodox teaching! You don't have to be like a theologian or something but at least know the basics. Otherwise, how are you going to respond properly if someone questions you? However, there is more than just knowledge of the faith. As always the Christian has to demonstrate that he is indeed a follower of Christ. And in order for others to know that you are Catholic and thus give glory to God, you gotta know your stuff and live it out. Recently there was a big event here in Vancouver called "Youth Day 2000" where students from all the Catholic schools in the province as well as Washington state gathered. The theme was "Prophets for the New Millenium" and the archbishop kept hitting on the fact that we are all called to be living witnesses to the Gospel of Christ. We don't need to be afraid and we shouldn't think, "Oh, it's just religion. It's not a big deal." Well, the Christian faith is a big deal. You are not being a religious freak when you speak up for God. You are just doing what is important for the salvation of souls including your own - encouraging yearning and pursuing the One who created you and the rest of the world. Jesus told us to save up treasure that will last eternally and that no thief can take nor moth destroy. St. Paul tells us that we were born into this world with nothing and we will also leave this world with nothing (in terms of material or worldly possessions), so why not go for something that will last for always? One of the sponsors of Youth Day 2000, by the way, is the Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio, USA). They sponsor a lot of Youth Conferences, and Jesse Manibusan who performed that day here in Vancouver is affiliated with the Franciscan Youth Ministries as well.

In the States, there's a really popular Catholic magazine called "Envoy" that has as part of its mission statement the purpose to help prepare Catholics to "explain it [the Faith] intelligently, defend it charitably, and share it effectively". EWTN, the largest religious cable network in the world I believe, further brings these principles live and has proven to be very attractive at least in the US. Many have converted or at least get interested in the Catholic Faith after experiencing some of EWTN's programs. While some Catholics fall out of the Church because of lack of interest in any religious tradition, others leave because they are drawn to certain traditions. I think this is particularly true when it comes to Protestantism. Most evangelical Protestants are comparably more visibly enthusiastic about their religious faith than many Catholics and they do a lot more active sharing with others. They at times would also challenge others of different religious traditions and seek to convert them. Seeing the zeal of these evangelicals and being unable to answer many of their questions, some Catholics actually convert thinking that just because they couldn't answer something that the Catholic Church must also have nothing to say and is therefore wrong. However, the answers are there and you would be doing everybody including yourself a great service if you just look around a bit more carefully. Some people don't like to talk to priests for various reasons one of which may be because they pre-conceive some kind of gap that separates themselves from the "religious" and don't feel like "mixing up" with them. Such attitude is head-shaking to say the least.

Lay ministries like EWTN and Envoy help make the sought-for information much more accessible and it proves to work very well. One of the most popular speakers of the Faith in the US is Dr. Scott Hahn who is a Presbyterian convert. He now teaches at Steubenville. Another ministry called "The Coming Home Network" aims specifically at ministering to people who are inquiring or thinking of converting to the Church. I believe they are based in Steubenville. Not that I'm trying to do any commercials here; I just wanted to mention that there are some really good stuff out there and that "all this religion stuff" can be for everybody. It's sharing the Gospel and instructing the Catholic laity how to be good Catholics for the modern times.