Cafeteria Catholics? OR Blind Catholics?

[JohnJFarren]

Our Catholic Church today has serious problems. So what’s different? From Peter and Paul at the First Council of Jerusalem (New Testament, Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15) the church that Jesus founded has had serious problems all through the centuries. As the Divine-human institution that Jesus founded upon Peter and the apostles it is human and its feet do get dirty. And it is also Divine and is guided and protected by the Holy Spirit.

We who are living members of this body of Christ with Christ as our head are truly sons and daughters of God.

Is our choice only to choose a “do it yourself” Catholic religion (which is no Catholic religion at all) .. or to choose to be blind sons and daughters of God, of the Church?  I believe that the Holy Spirit tells each one of us – if we listen – that either of these choices is wrong.

Jesus did not found a “do it yourself” church.  Jesus founded his church with authority to bind and to loose, with the power and grace to teach, and with the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit.  I don’t determine this.  You don’t determine it.  Jesus Christ did determine this.

But does this mean we must be blind sons and daughters of the Church, never questioning what we are taught or ordered to do?  Often this would mean not understanding what we are taught .. and not understanding what we are told to do.  Is this the way real and intelligent and respectful sons and daughters act toward good parents?

All this means there is no easy solution for us members of Christ, members of his Church.  Certainly there is no easy solution for our Pope (no matter who he may be) and  for all his bishops, who, together with his primacy, are those appointed by Christ to head the Church.

Similarly as it is not best for the Pope to make major decisions without consulting his fellow bishops and without consulting the faithful of the Church .. so it is surely not best that I, you, and we, as individuals and separately from our Pope and bishops, decide these very difficult matters.  The Church Christ founded is not a democracy.

I do urge 1) that we pray to the Holy Spirit for help .. and 2) that we most certainly do not leave the Church.  This is the Church that Jesus founded and we are its children.
The Holy Spirit’s Blessing on us all!  We need it!       John

 

[Michael1966]

Hi John,

I appreciate your view that we should try find a via media between “Cafeteria Catholics” and “Blind Catholics”. I’ve probably swung a little between both those positions - and I suspect I will still continue to oscillate a little as I continue to explore, challenge and deepen my own faith.

I think what you say about staying in the Church is so very important as well - that we also need that stability, even if at times we find that challenging, and if we feel a little out of kilter with what is happening around us, or find ourselves in disagreement with other Catholics. It’s all too easy to go looking for people and groups that are just like us, but I suspect we get more growth by being challenged, and perhaps may help others by also challenging them (charitably, of course). My experience is that the Church actually allows a lot of room to challenge and to work out one’s faith, so those times people are called to obedience by the Pope, Bishops or their own Pastor are probably really worth listening to.

God bless +

 

[kuppermom]

I don’t mean to judge but is some of this stemming from our seemingly unending need to control. I truly don’t think, and maybe I’m wrong on this but the Catholic church isn’t ours to control. It’s Jesus’s church, for him to control. This is how He set it up, with Peter as the head. Wouldn’t you agree that in the end God is always in control and even through evil actions He finds a way for His will to be done. I’m pretty sure Catholics would have destroyed this living church that we have, if it wasn’t for God’s grace. There are always those who crave for power and control, but if God is with us, who can be against. So to refute the way he has the church set up, is that not your way of gaining a little control of things instead of trusting in Him that His way is perfect.

 

[kuppermom]

I’m not trying to say though that we shouldn’t always question things, trying to strive for the deeper meaning that God has for us. It’s never good to be lax, Jesus said himself He’s spitting out the lukewarm. But in doing so we need to keep in mind, we are not all knowing. There might be rules in the church we might not truly understand, and we need to strive for an understanding of why instead of rejecting it and then, in effect, question the church in an unhealthy way.

 

[Michael1966]

Hi Kuppermom

I tend to think it is OK to question the Church in a way that accepts that we ourselves could be wrong in trusting the Church. The reason I think that is two-fold. Firstly we may at times want to encourage others outside of the Church to challenge their own beliefs. If we want to ask others to challenge their own beliefs (maybe they believe the Catholic Church does not embody the truth) then we can’t really say we’re not also willing to challenge our own beliefs. I also, and perhaps more importantly, think that truth doesn’t need special protection - the more all beliefs are challenged the more the truth will shine out, as that is the one that will stand up against challenge. Challenging beliefs may help keeps truths free from contamination which could accrue if no challenge is ever allowed, or even encouraged.

I think, and perhaps this may seem odd, the more we have faith in something the more we are willing to challenge it ourselves (to take us ever deeper into the unfathomable truth) and to have others challenge it.

I hope that doesn’t seem to radical.

 

[kuppermom]

Hi Michael 1966,
I agree with the questioning part of it. But you need to remember our history, Martin Luther for example, He single-handedly split Christians in half and started revolutions where, I’m not sure if anyone knows exactly how many Christian religions are out there. Now look at our problem, we are constantly fighting each other instead of being united, going against the enemy together. “Going against the enemy” is a bit theatrical but you understand what I am saying. Yes I very much agree we need to question things. In my own personal life, I’ve learned way more about my Catholic faith than if I had just sat idle by. But we need to do it with an understanding that we do not know everything and yearn instead for God’s grace of understanding of why the Catholic church teaches the way and ideas that they do.

 

[Michael1966]

Certainly agree that we should always be willing to listen to people who perhaps know, or have thought about things, more than ourselves Kuppermom. That’s something I very much appreciate about the Church - that we’re also very willing to listen carefully to those who have passed the faith down to us through the generations - the democracy of the dead, as Chesterton pithily put it.

God bless +