Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.

Holding fast to our confession, that is, to our faith, is exceedingly difficult.

I could say it is difficult in the face of the world and the ways of the world, but today I would rather focus on the problem of religious indifferentism.

What is indifferentism?

Indifferentism is a term applied to the theory that one religion is just as good as the next, that you can get God just about anywhere in equal shares. It is a theory that denies our duty to worship God by believing and practicing the one true religion.

And, what do we mean by one true religion?

By one true religion we mean the religion that Jesus Christ established on earth, the Holy Catholic faith.

But deacon, isn’t Christianity the outward expression of God’s teaching?

I would reply that Christianity is indeed superior to all other faiths, while at the same time telling you that other expressions of Christianity, outside the Polish National Catholic Church, do not contain, or they corrupt, the essential aspects of faith in Jesus Christ.

Bishop Hodur, in writing the Eleven Great Principals of the Polish National Catholic Church stated:

Christ our Lord established the Church for this purpose: that His believers might carry on the work begun by Him, the work of human salvation. The apostles and disciples, as well as their successors, were to prepare and lead humanity into the Kingdom of God; assured that if they fulfilled this task, He would be with them, lo, to the close of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)

…

This presence of His, however, He made conditional. Christ would be with His disciples if they would gather together and work in His Name, for His purposes, according to the plan indicated by Him.

As Bishop Hodur wrote, this promise is conditional, conditional upon our personal acceptance of Christ, our common gathering in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and our common work.

He went on to outline Jesus’ promises, namely:

Therefore, if the members of the National Church will live according to these teachings of the Divine Master, and will propagate the democratic principles of Christ, they may be assured of His presence, help and cooperation.

To be a member of the Polish National Catholic Church is to be consciously aware of your decision for Christ and the true teachings of His Church. To be a member shows your cooperation in and with the work of Jesus. To be a member of the Holy Church makes you a participant in the victory of Christ to come.

Being a member imposes upon you an obligation of faithfulness. It imposes on you an obligation to follow-through on the choice you have made. It imposes on you an obligation to study and understand your faith.

Here are a few simple questions:

• How many sacraments do you receive in the course of the Holy Mass?
• What is the Church’s teaching on the devil?
• What is the Church’s teaching on eternal life?
• Did Jesus redeem the world or regenerate it, and what’s the difference?
• How many sacraments are recognized by the Church, and what are they?
• Why are our clergy married? Is it just a convenience?
• Why are we democratic and what does that mean?
• When is it permissible to attend mass in a Roman church?
• What is the Church’s position on birth control, abortion, stem cell research?
• Have your read the Confession of Faith and the Eleven Great Principals you say you believe in?

Can you answer them?

When you enter a Roman or Episcopal church you may very well recognize things that appear, at least outwardly, to resemble what occurs here. You may say to yourself, ‘It looks, sounds, and smells the same.’ What’s the difference?

I tell you that the difference is great. I tell you that your presence in another church tells all who see you there that your foundation is weak and that you adhere to whatever rules you run across. It says to the world: ‘Faith – hey I’m flexible.’

Do not be indifferent to Christ and to your faith, to what the Holy Church proclaims and teaches.

If coming to church is an exercise, if repeating responses during the Holy Mass is simply an act of mimicry, just as good here as it is there; if you really think that a pope or a lot of money give you power, give you gravitas, give you the truth; then you are sadly mistaken and you are missing the point. What you are seeking is not Christ, but convenience.

James and John made an infamous mistake. They put their selfish desires before Jesus.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

…and Jesus gave them that which would save them, not necessarily that which they wanted.

When you consider your faith, your choice of Christ and His Holy Church, when you ask yourself that all important question, ‘What do I believe?’ Consider James and John. Consider whether you are asking Jesus for a church that gives you what you want, or the Holy Church which gives you what you need.