QUOTE (puellapaschalis @ Nov 12 2008, 07:08 PM)

One thing that struck me was his "Baptism alone does not make you Catholic" statement (although I may have paraphrased it slightly). I'm in two minds on this and I think it may well be both/and rather than either/or. There's a blog post in my head growing on it

What do others think?
I found this short article today:
http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/may/freechoice.htmIf I understand right, much of the Opus Dei spirituality is based on the Divine Filiation that we receive during Baptism, and our obligation to "become what we are." So I suppose it's a both/and. However, isn't it true that the effect of grace we got in Baptism requires our free co-operation? Therefore, perhaps we could say that just as grace builds on nature, God builds our sanctification upon our Baptism?
Anyway, Catholicism is, in general a Both/And, isn't it? Lots of synthesis in our faith.
QUOTE
Catholicism, somewhat simplistically, has always been considered the religion of the great "et et": not of great forms of exclusivism but of synthesis. The exact meaning of "Catholic" is "synthesis". -
Pope Benedict XVI