A
Ahimsa
Guest
I ran across this quote in Peter Kreeft’s Fundamentals of the Faith, 285:
“Catholics often have a more-than-intellectual faith in the sacraments that Protestants do not understand. Thus [Protestants] don’t see why Catholics who come to disagree with essential teachings of the Church don’t just leave. The answer is symoblized by the sanctuary lamp. They do not leave the Church because they know that the sacramental fire burns there on the ecclesiastical hearth. Even if they do not see by its light, they want to be warmed by its fire. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside. The Church’s biggest drawing card is not what she teaches, crucial as that is, but who is there. “Here is here! Therefore I must be here.””
(I would comment, but I think Peter says it all.
)
“Catholics often have a more-than-intellectual faith in the sacraments that Protestants do not understand. Thus [Protestants] don’t see why Catholics who come to disagree with essential teachings of the Church don’t just leave. The answer is symoblized by the sanctuary lamp. They do not leave the Church because they know that the sacramental fire burns there on the ecclesiastical hearth. Even if they do not see by its light, they want to be warmed by its fire. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside. The Church’s biggest drawing card is not what she teaches, crucial as that is, but who is there. “Here is here! Therefore I must be here.””
(I would comment, but I think Peter says it all.
)