—Feast of St. Teresa of Avila
The latest research numbers are out showing (once again) that the average Catholic in the pews in the United States, is morally sick, spiritually lame, and theologically lazy. How in the hell did I wind up surrounded by such a motley crew? How did I slip into this program? Why would I join this outfit?!Well, I was called is all I can figure.
For forty years they wearied me, that generation. I said: their hearts are wandering, they do not know my paths. I swore in my anger: they will never enter my place of rest—(Psalm 95).
Swearing and anger? Uh-oh. And that's God talking, through David. And no, this scripture reference wasn't initially directed at the Vatican II generation, but does it kind of fit? Or doesn't it fit every generation?
Dateline Palestine, the years 31—33 A.D. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. (Matthew 12:39)
and again later,
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. And he left them, and went away.(Matthew 16:4)
Why would I join this Church when seemingly the vast majority of the crew doesn't believe in Her teachings? Because here's a news flash for you: I'm not worried about the other crew members.
I'm not concerned with what they say or what they do. I definitely don't care one iota for what the latest research out of Georgetown University (the institution that willingly covered up all evidence of their Catholicity when President Obama gave a speech there) has to say about Catholicism at all. I'm sure they mean well, but Mark Twain said everything I need to know about these kind of studies.
"They" say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Well, "they" shoot horses don't they? How could I join such a Church? Because when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church, the sum is definitely greater than the parts. Squeaky wheels make a lot of noise, in the U.S. and elsewhere, but seemingly they don't come to Confession to get oiled.
I didn't convert to Catholicism because of my wife, or my next door neighbor, my best buddy, or because it is the most popular place to be seen on a Sunday in town. I became a Catholic because Truth hit me like a bolt out of the blue and knocked me on my kiester, much as Webster reminded me in a post he wrote recently.
Hey Frank, how do you know it was Truth? Because I had been running away from Truth pretty much my whole life, at least since I was old enough to leave home. Maybe you believe in your own infallibility. Maybe you believe the tall-tales you tell everyone about yourself. Maybe you believe you don't need to go to Confession because you're sinless. Maybe you don't believe Christ is present in the Eucharist at all, because you are all grown up. Maybe that's why you believe it is okay to abort babies too, and...
Frankly, I don't care what you believe. I don't care how unpopular, or popular, the Church is. And in case you haven't noticed, the Church doesn't care if you don't like the Truth either.
I take that back—the Church does care! She cares so much that she won't change the message just to make it more palatable to you. She cares so much that she is not going to sugar-coat the Truth for you. She cares so much that She leaves the evidence all over the place: here, and here, and here, and here, and in the Communion of the Saints. But She won't be taking account of tracking polls, and if She starts, I am out of here (unless called for by a Papal Encyclical)!
Webster's most recent post asked our readers to pose questions and answers to the riddle of Catholicism. Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions is that the laity doesn't have to lift a finger in order to be saved. Maybe a lot of those in the pews think that this is their priests responsibility and not there own. My buddy John Wu hit this nail right on the head when he wrote,
the average Christian has no idea of the three ways, the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive. The spiritual education of the Christian is sadly neglected.
What did St. Paul have to say about this?
So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.—(Philippians 2:12-16)
Reading surveys like these are as meaningful to me as the best places to retire surveys, or the most driver friendly states surveys. I'm not retiring anywhere, or moving anywhere based on these silly reasons anytime soon. And if I do have to move, I likely won't be doing so because some survey tells me this place is heaven or that place is hell. That assumes some measure of control of my environment, a measure of control that I know I do not have.
Today is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, known around these parts as "Big Terry." She knew about horses too, because her horse threw her as she was crossing a river once. Soaked to the skin she looked up to heaven and said, “If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them!”
Evidently, she was told to get back on her horse and ride. Maybe we should do that too.
