Being Different vs. Being Better.

Members of the Neocatechumenal Way are often accused of arrogance because they say that they are different. The critics accuse them of saying that they are better than those not walking in the Way because they say that they are different.  The truth is..... "being different" does not mean the same thing as "being better."  However, the opponents of the Way interpret "being different" to mean the same thing as "being better".

  
A wolf is different from an elephant.  Does this mean that the wolf is better than the elephant?  Absolutely not!  Even the dictionary does not indicate that the words "different" and "better" are synonymous.  Are Catholics different from Buddhists?  Of course they are in that we don't practice the same beliefs.  Does this mean that Catholics are better than Buddhists?  Absolutely not.  Being different means just that.....different.  

In the Way, Catholics are taught that men and women are equal as human beings and have the same dignity as all human beings.  All mankind were created in God's image and likeness.  But men and women were created different.  In what way is a man different from a woman?  For one thing, a woman can carry life in her womb whereas a man cannot.  Does this mean that the woman is better than the man?  Absolutely not. 

Nevertheless, I'm not surprise that some brothers in the Way may be arrogant enough to come out and say that they are better simply because they are walking in the Way.  Pride and arrogance, however, is found in everyone regardless of whether one walks in the Way or not.  Pride and arrogance and all manner of sins are found in everyone.  There are probably even Catholics who believe that Catholics are better than Protestants, Buddhists, pagans, and all others.  However, as Catholics, this is not the attitude of a Christian.

Christianity is indeed different, but this certainly does not mean that Christians are better than everyone else.  We are different but certainly not better than non-Catholics or non-Christians.  All mankind are made in the image and likeness of our Creator, but Christians are different from others because through our baptism, we were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.  

As St. Ignatius stated in the first century:  

See that you follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God.  Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it.  Wherever the bishop shall appear; there let the multitude of the people also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.  - Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ch 8

When St. Ignatius wrote these words, he was not referring to any church building, but to a people.