My adoptive father, Tommy Maffeo, was raised in the Catholic Church of the 1930s and 40s. And as was true of Roman Catholicism in those days – and even today in the 21st century – Catholics were taught to believe that the Catholic Church is virtually synonymous with Jesus Christ.
Not only is that notion patently erroneous, but it is dangerously so. It certainly proved to be that way for Tommy.
When Tommy was a small child, his godly mother died suddenly and could not receive “Last Rites.’ Consequently, the Catholic Church in her area did not permit her to be buried in a Catholic cemetery. Even on appeal by the family, the priest remained adamant.
For Catholics, being buried in a Catholic cemetery holds great importance because those grounds are considered sacred. To be buried elsewhere means that the deceased does not receive prayers and Masses offered for them by the living.
The terribly distraught Maffeo family was incensed that this godly and faithful Catholic mother could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery because of some unbending rule. It was because of that callous and cold-hearted rule that Tommy left the Catholic Church. AND, because he’d been taught that the Catholic Church and Jesus are synonymous, he turned away from Jesus, also. And why should he not? After all, he believed it was Jesus who refused burial to his mother in sacred soil.
Mom and Tommy were divorced after only six or seven years of marriage. Their separation didn’t affect me very much because he and I never had a close relationship.
Several years later, when I was 22, I joined the navy. Very soon after I arrived at my duty station in Japan, I discovered Jesus. And, literally overnight, my life changed. I was in love with God for what He has done for me in His Son. He’d opened my eyes to my sins and to His grace, love, and forgiveness.
And I wanted to share that with Tommy. A year later, I traveled back to New York on leave and made time to meet with him face-to-face. It was a friendly meeting – but as soon as I told him what I discovered about Jesus, his face got red and in what I could tell was a controlled rage, he told me he never wanted to hear about Jesus Christ again. I tried a time or two during the next couple of years, but each time he quickly and angrily rebuffed me.
What’s my point? Regardless of what ANY church teaches, regardless of what any pastor or priest has to say about the matter, Jesus Christ is NOT the same as the Catholic Church – any church. When the Lord Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) – He was not telling them they could only come to Him through a church – whatever the label. He was inviting them – individual men and women, one by one, to come to him personally in prayer by faith.
He tells us through the Prophet: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)
Simply said, Jesus tells us to turn to HIM, not a Church. Turn to HIM, not a priest or pastor. Turn to HIM in repentance and learn of Him through personal study of His word which is called the Bible.
Tommy died a few years later in a tragic car accident. From what I was told, he died almost instantaneously. I don’t know if in those last moments of his life he repented of his rejection of Christ. I don’t know if he finally realized that Jesus is NOT synonymous with the Catholic Church – or any church. It was NOT Jesus who refused his mother’s burial in that Catholic cemetery.
Jesus stands above all churches, and He stands at the heart of every individual man and women, gently but persistently knocking. Listen to what He tells us in Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
Please. If you’ve never done it – and even if you have done it before, do it again – open the door of your heart to Jesus.
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