What makes it "The"?

I like "The Glenlivet." It is a 12 year single malt Scotch, not that I am some kind of "lush," as they used to say. It's just that it is a nice drink. But what I like most of all is that it is named "The Glenlivet." The definitive clause "the" always seems to me to be so useful and affirming, as if you won't ever get another one like it.

Perhaps we lose this sense when we think of our Catholic Faith as something secondary. For truly it is The Catholic Faith in which we believe. Many people today tend towards syncretism today. That is, the idea that all Christian religions are the same, or even worse that all religions are the same. The fact of the matter is, there is no Christian religion quite as distinct as the Catholic Faith. Why? Because no other Christian religion has been around for near 2000 years. Only the Orthodox Christians have some claim to hold near to the 2000 year tradition of the Catholic Church. However, recent events have and will soon take place which, may it please God, that we Catholics and Orthodox Christians may soon reunite. Orthodox Christianity, as such, has only been around since 1054.

Pope Benedict XVI, following Pope John Paul II, has made it quite clear that the Churches of the East and of the West must re-unite. If this happens, then the only hinderance towards full unity in the Christian Church will be our separated Protestant brothers and sisters.

Nevertheless, we Catholics of the Latin Rite (a.k.a. Roman Catholics) must continually strive to help our Protestant brothers and sisters to understand the full unity of belonging to the Catholic Church. Why? Because Christ did not establish many Churches. He established "The one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church" just like there is only one kind of "The Glenlivet."

What we Roman Catholics must engage is our Catholic faith to understand what makes it so distinctive, not least of which is the constant tradition of the Holy Eucharist & the sacrament of Confession. When we begin to understand these two integral sacraments our spiritual lives will not be floating on the waters of our secular world, but rather our spiritual lives will have a real depth that can churn the waters of our secular world. You and I for our part must make the effort! The Truth of the Catholic Faith is not something we can read in a book, for the reality is we must meet Truth himself in our lives, Jesus Christ. When we come to know Him then His reality will truly change our lives. For it is He and He alone who established the Catholic Church. May each of us consider and pray for the coming of Jesus Christ in our own lives so that this Truth, before which no other truth stands, may truly be the most precious thing in our lives.