Is the lack of Catechesis the fault of the Institution that is the Church? Or is the fault of the admittedly flawed humans who administer it? Does the fact that some or many have in the past, do now, and will in the future consider themselves Catholic (even when everything they believe says the opposite) mean that the
only Church established in name and word by Jesus Christ; who swore that the gates of hell would not prevail against it, no longer exists? Does the present scandal and crisis mean the death knell of the Church? No, it simply means that the Church again faces a time of trial, where like gold, the impurities are cleansed by fire and by trial.
Every scandal in the Church’s history has been followed by a period of renewed growth. The reformation led to the counter-reformation. Millions of Catholics were lost in Europe and millions more were gained in the missionary work in the new world. A Church that had been bound to monasteries and fiefdoms experienced a rebirth in missionary fervor with new orders such as the Franciscans and Jesuits.
What we have today, is the Church at a similar crossroads. The Church is now being forced to confront it’s scandals and face its past failures. The Chinese ideogram for Crisis means “danger and opportunity” there is both for our Church now. The Gen X and Gen Y demand for a Church more rooted in faith has begun to produce a laity grounded in Orthodoxy and with a belief in social justice that is rooted in the Church not using the Church as a mask for a political agenda. Look at the emergence of orders like the Friars of the Renewal under Fr. Groeschel, or the impact of the various lay movements that stress faith, justice, and loyalty to the magisterium.
I don’t see a splintered disparate Church. The Church is eternal. I see a seeking people who are being brought closer together under the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
Yes - What the Catechism says and what the Church actually is - is completely 2 different things!
Absolutely, and yet they are still one. Just as Christ was one being with two natures so is his Church human and divine. Another example is what Christ calls us to be and what we actually are, are initially two different things yet still eventually becoming one. The Catechism is the framework upon which the form and ideal of the Church are built. It is the blueprint of The Church in all of its glory; Church Triumphant, Church Suffering, and Church Militant. It is the best tool we have along with Holy Scripture to define the Church. We are only a part of that as the Church Militant, the Church here on earth. We have only a limited ability to perceive God compared to those in Purgatory and the Beatific Vision. It only makes sense that our actions to bring about the Church on earth are going to be flawed. You can’t blame the blueprint when the builders can only read a small part of it.
One in Doctrine- one people seeking to understand and live it.
One Holy- established by Christ son of the living God and guided by the Holy Spirit.
One Catholic- Universal, open to all, encompassing all.
One Apostolic- Entrusted to men. The same men who, all but one, in their humanity, abandoned our Lord when he was put to the test. Yet he still entrusted his Church to them knowing that while they may fail, the Church, guided by the Spirit is eternal.
One Church
