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Vinnie Cacace with Pope Chart
“Pope John Paul II is the 263rd
successor of Peter, and Peter got the job from Jesus. This is the church
Jesus established on Peter. This is the Catholic Church.”
HOW I USE THIS GREAT TOOL
by Vinnie Cacace, Catholic Apologist
I have been active in prison ministry for ten years and in
the evangelization ministry at St. Joan of Arc in
Boca Raton for eleven years.
In pursuing these activities, my key
tool is the Pope Chart.
Every Tuesday night at prison I do a one on one, for about
forty-five minutes ,with a different inmate who has
requested to see a prison ministry volunteer. After
discussing any particular problem he has, I ask if I can share
my Catholic faith with him. No one has ever said, “No.”
Here, briefly, is
what I say.
“We can know that God exists by the two R’s... Reason
and Revelation. Scientists tell us that once there
was nothing. Existence is all around us. If
ever there was really nothing, there would be nothing today. You can’t
get something out of nothing. But there is something. Old
Greek sages said that where there is order, there is
a mind. Philosophers call it a First Cause...God.
Order is all around us in the Universe.
“For example, let’s look at the earth and the sun.
Rocket ship earth, with its 6 billion passengers,
speeds a thousand miles a minute around the sun. It
takes 365.24 days to make a complete orbit.” I then ask
them how old they are. When they respond, I say, “That’s
how many round trips you’ve made.”
I then put my left fist out to represent the sun. I then
hold my right fist out to represent the earth. I
tell them that while the earth is speeding around
the sun at a thousand miles a minute, it is rotating a thousand miles
an hour. “It takes twenty-four hours to make a complete
rotation.” I point out that while the back of my
fist is facing the sun, it’s day. “ I rotate my
fist and say, “When we’re on the back side, it’s night for us.
Therefore, the movements of the earth
and sun create night and day, a calendar, and a clock
in space. That’s order.”
I then say, “Let’s look at life. There are all levels
of life. There’s plant life; there is fish life;
there is animal life; and there is bird life. However, the highest
level of visible life are humans. We humans have three
faculties that make us different..”
I point to my forehead and say, “One, we have
intelligence. We can reason.” I
then point to my heart and say, “Second, we have an inner
law, monitored by our conscience. We know what
we ought to do and what we ought not to do. We didn’t
put it there. God did. And third, we have free will. We can know what
is wrong and do it anyway. Or, know what is right and
not do it. But, we are answerable for how we use our
free will. This is a moral universe.
“Now, while our reason can tell us God exists, it can’t
give us the answers to the big questions of life.
Does life have meaning? What happens when we die?
That’s where we need the second “R”, Revelation.
That’s the Bible.” I then point out that the Old
Testament was a preparation for the coming of Jesus
in the New Testament. Jesus did reveal to us the answers to the big
questions of life. I then tell them this story. “When I
was a teen ager, I went to a party. The hostess
played a game. She wanted five volunteers. She had
numbers 3, 4, and 5 go into another room. Then she gave # 1 a funny
short paragraph to read to #2. Then
she called in #3. Number 2 related what he remembered
to #3. He forgot a little, and added a little. This continued through
#5. It was funny, but the message was completely lost.
“Jesus did not want this to happen to his message.” I
then ask him to open his Bible
to Matt. 16:18, and read. It’s the passage where Jesus establishes
the church on Peter and promises that the gates of hell
would never overcome it. I then say, “There are
over 26,000 separate Christian denominations in the
world. Jesus promised his church would always be here. How do we find
Jesus’ church?”
I then pull my pope chart out of my briefcase, and slowly
unfold it and lay it on the table. I point to Peter
at the left top and ask, “Who is this guy?” They
look closely and say, “St. Peter.” I then point to the right bottom
and ask, “And who is this guy?” They look and say, “Pope John Paul
II.” I then say, “Pope John Paul II is the 263rd
successor of Peter, and Peter got the job from
Jesus. This is the church Jesus established on Peter. This
is the Catholic Church.”
Typical responses: “Wow!”...”I can’t believe what
I’m seeing!”...”Where can I get one?” One of
the best ones: A 26 year old inmate exclaimed, “There
really is a God!!!”
Every church, parochial school, CCD areas should have one.
My Parish has framed seven. It works.
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