I’m in love… warts and all.
A friend of mine once told me there are two places one will
always feel at home, no matter where they are in the world: McDonalds and a
Catholic Church.
Whilst I’d like to profess my love for the fast food giant
that provides me my favourite snack (cheeseburgers make me so so so happy), I
can almost hear my waistline, arteries and doctor jointly scolding me.
The Catholic Church is home. She is also imperfect.
The Church we love is as flawed and messed up as we are, and
the fact that She is Christ’s bride despite this gives me comfort.
Why? Because the Church MUST be flawed.
The Lord Himself told us that the sheep and the goats would
be mingled together – just like the wheat and the weeds. Take a close look at
his disciples. They were traitors, cowards, doubters, even men who were once
notorious for the persecution of Christians! Would the Lord permit these men to
be His apostles if He wasn’t teaching us something?
Jesus Christ was trying to show us that He came to call all
sinners to repentance. We need Him because we are frail, and as such, the
Church must be a place where the frail gather to be nourished by the good news
and repentance of Our Lord. Only through the nourishment of His body, blood,
soul and divinity can we live forever, and Christ gave this to his Church at
the Last Supper – the Church He Himself ordained through the first Pope, St.
Peter. In other words: the Eucharist is food for the weak, not a reward for the
perfect.
Abigail Van Buren – otherwise known as ‘Dear Abby’ – famous
for her one liners (she once told a woman the only cure for a married man that
can't stay away from other women was ‘rigor mortis’) clarified that 'the church
is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.'
She definitely hit the nail on the head with that latter
statement. See, if one is not sick, there is no need to visit the spiritual
doctor. No faithful Catholic would ever pretend they are not vulnerable. The Church
is full of sinners and hypocrites – we all feel right at home there, and
welcome others (that’s YOU!) to feel the same. *There is always room for one
more hypocrite.*
People are full of criticism for an institution founded by
Christ Himself, but fail to see the flaws in their own finite logic.
They tell you the Church is over-programmed, but they think
of endless complex resource hungry things for Her to do. They hate the Church’s
hierarchical nature, but then complain leadership is poor and in the very next
breath complain that ‘nobody should try and tell them what to do.’ People
complain the Church is ‘not diverse enough,’ yet the Church is the only
institution that combines people of every race and culture seamlessly – and
these same people are those whose opinions rarely differ from those they
surround themselves with in order to boost their egos. People then have the
audacity to claim the Church is too worried about ‘appearances,’ but spend
insane amounts of time reminding the Church of all the bigoted opinions against
her. They call out people and condemn them for judging “the spiritual path of
other believers who are dedicated to pleasing God and blessing people,” and
then they blast the traditional church in the most disgusting of ways.
People want the Church to solve social problems, but should
the Church get involved in social justice initiatives, it is criticised for
being ‘too political,’ and ‘imposing a belief system where it does not belong.’
The Church is too rich they say – but take a vow of poverty and you’re mental.
I don’t know, but maybe the world would rather She destroy the priceless art
and buildings that are entrusted to Her care? Or would they rather the Church
put an end to all Her charity work? Perhaps those people who consider
themselves so enlightened would care to remember the Church *started*
universities and has contributed in the most unparalleled of ways to universal
education… maybe they have forgotten the contribution She has made to Science
and the Arts?
No, they haven’t forgotten, but they choose to remain
blissfully unaware of anything that questions their bias and any opinion that
could render them ACTUALLY non-conformist. That’s why a great (young!) priest
told his parishioners that we ‘need to stand up for the Catholic genius, with
intellectual vigour and moral courage – clothed in holiness.’
See, the Church when looked at as a ‘cure-all’ solution is
always going to fail, but no other institution has this burden thrust upon
them.
Maybe if the same people mocking and sighing put as much
time and effort into actually learning what the Church teaches as they do whinging,
they’d learn that despite all the sins of Her past, despite the abominable sins
of the minority of clergy as of late, and despite all Her warts, the Church is
a divine institution. She teaches truth, and despite all Her persecution, this
teaching has been constant, as promised by the only Son of God.
Let’s not forget that you and I are the Church – we are the
members of the mystical body of Christ. Let’s fix what we see in the mirror,
because only Saints can fulfil the vision for the world that so many have. We can hardly critique the Bride of Christ if
we ourselves aren’t perfect, huh?
... a skateboarding friar. Your argument
is invalid.
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