IN the context of the mushrooming of all kinds of evangelical sects, worldwide, we Catholics need to express more often our faith in the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”, and proclaim to the world that the one Church founded by Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago, still exists in this world. In his book, “Crossing the Tiber”, Stephen Ray (a former Baptist and now an internationally known Catholic apologist who was recently in Mumbai) writes, “ Every Sunday it’s impossible for me to get through that special line of the Nicene Creed – dry-eyed, that is – that affirms our belief in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church””.
It is unfortunate that the Nicene Creed is seldom or never used in our churches today. No wonder many of our people are ignorant of these ‘four marks’ of the true Church and easily assume that all churches and denominations are the same. Anyone who goes through the instructions given in the Missal will find that it says very clearly that the Profession of Faith, viz., the Nicene Creed, must be recited at every Mass on Sundays and Solemnities. This is being done in many countries as Steve Ray’s remark shows. According to the Missal, the shorter Apostles’ Creed is to be used only at children’s Masses. Perhaps, some parishes in our country could take the lead in applying the directive given in the Missal and start using the Nicene Creed at all Masses on Sundays and Solemnities for the better ‘faith-formation’ of our people who still flock to Mass in large numbers.