What's In A Name?

If anyone asks when were followers of Christ called "Christians"; most of us will mentioned Acts 11:26, "It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians." Well what about "Catholic" Christians. The earliest reference I can find is in the bishop St. Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Smyrnaeans (8:2) written between 105 and 110 a.d. in which he states: "Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." (Smyrna is the former name of Izmir, Turkey) "Catholic" means "universal" form Greek "katholikos" ("concerning the whole"). The Christian Faith after Penticost Sunday quickly spread throughout the Greek and Roman world and beyond and thus referring to the Christian Church as the "Catholic Church" was most appropriate. Today the title is definitely an accurate title as I suspect there isn't a country in the world in which there aren't "Catholic Chrsitians"--though in some, due to religious persecution they may be "underground".

To me to be a Catholic incorporates many requirements; including being a "total person"; i.e., a "unversal person". A person who loves all of God's creation/creatures--as it states in Genesis God was very pleased with His creation (1:31). Being a total person also means that I need to learn and appreciate as much about God's creation as I can in my short life; be it in science, literature, art, etc. as they are all small reflections of God. I need to be willing to listen to others, even though I may not agree with them, as then I'll learn more about others, myself, and God, and the significance of my journey through life. At the same time, I need to be willing to explain to others what I know and/or believe; hopefully opening a respectful discussion. I believe, many of us have been "short changed" in our education; we specialize to such a degree that we have lost the entire concept of a true "liberal arts" degree--a degree where we are given a "broad brush" look at what makes us who and what we are and asks the question "why" are we here. Few of us have had many courses (if any courses) in philosophy--an almost lost study in our country, and we are hurting because of this. There are philosophies abounding that are being professed and implemented right in our own country which are hurtful; without a good philisophical background how are we able to recognize the healthy philosophies from the hurtful?