Dear Scott,
You are very much blessed in having a well-read Orthodox roommate. If
you strive to become a well-read Catholic, you will confer on him an
equal or greater blessing.
More important than reading for you and for him is prayer. He has his
own prayer resources, but I hope the two of you will pray together in
your room, perhaps inviting other friends to pray with you. These
sessions, if you two can make them happen, should be efforts to
worship the Lord and become personally closer to Him in charity.
As a Catholic with a genuine desire to know, love, and spread your
Catholic faith, you should often and even daily go to Mass and receive
Holy Communion. This is your "secret weapon". Daily beg the Holy
Spirit to activate in you the Gift of Counsel, which you received in
Baptism. By this Gift, He will guide you to the reading you ought to
do and --- in conversation with others --- to the very words you ought
to use. Imitate St. Maximilian Kolbe: when dealing with another
person, this Saint would silently in his heart turn to Our Blessed
Mother, the Mother of Good Counsel, and say, "Mother, what should I say
now, what should I do now to reach this friend I'm talking to?" Imitate
Blessed Peter Faber, who kept aware of the Guardian Angels, his own angel
and the angel of the person he was speaking to. By frequent brief prayer
to the angels, he developed a marvelous gift of influencing others for
goodness and truth. It is very important to keep these secrets in your
heart as you talk to others --- no one must suspect what powerful friends
you bring to every religious discussion.
Since your present interest is Orthodox Catholic relations, you should
begin a rather long term hobby of reading Church history. Don't be
frightened --- consider your efforts a hobby and an entertainment.
If your college? university? has a proper library, it will have the
New Catholic Encyclopedia. Go to the articles on Orthodoxy, Filioque,
et al.
My next suggestion is going to cost you five dollars! Send five
dollars to:
THIS ROCK MAGAZINE (619) 541-1131
Catholic Answers
P.O. Box 17490
San Diego, CA 92177
and order one (1) copy of their October, 1995 issue. This issue
has a fine article on the Eastern Orthodox doctrine of the Church
and the papacy. It's a gold mine for you.
CATHOLIC ANSWERS (same address) also publishes "Package A",
Catholic Information Service Booklets, for $6.95 ppd. Several
of these booklets are relevant to your Orthodox-Catholic
conversations.
Write to the:
Couple-to-Couple League
P.O. Box 111184
Cincinnati, OH 45211
Ask for a copy of their free catalog and look it over carefully.
You will find abundant materials there about birth control,
natural family planning, marriage, and related topics.
Get a copy of the new "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
Sometimes Catholics in religious discussions need to know more
about what Catholic teaching really says. Study your own
religion!
In general, train yourself to be correctly articulate. Be able
to explain the other fellow's beliefs BETTER THAN HE CAN! Then
your critique of his positions will be more sensitive and
powerful. (As an example, you will not say "changes made in the
Lord's Prayer -- i.e., adding the Holy Spirit", when you should
say "changes made in the Nicene Creed -- i.e., adding the words
`and the Son'.")
When you meet a question or an objection from the other side,
please never be afraid to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out
-- I'll look it up!" And in all this, remember the principle of
St. Ignatius of Loyola: in all dialogue, the goal is that the
truth may appear, and not that you may have the upper hand.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
-- | CIN (619-449-6030) Fido: (1:202/1613) http://www.cin.org/cin | St. Gabriel Gift & Book Nook: http://www.stgabriel.com/gabriel