J
janeway529
Guest
The OP’s quote reminds me of a story that is told. A merchant in the Middle Ages was considering conversion to Catholicism. One day, he told his Franciscan friar friend that he was going to visit Rome, the heart of Catholicism. The Franciscan tried his best to dissuade his friend from his trip, convinced that the corruption the merchant would witness would make him decide against conversion. But the merchant was adamant about going, so he went. When the merchant returned, the Franciscan asked him if he was still interested in converting to Catholicism. To the Franciscan’s surprise, the merchant was all the more convinced about his conversion. Then the Franciscan asked the merchant, “Why?” “Did you not see the corruption?”
To which the merchant explained: “I saw all manner of corruption, imbecility, and sin in Rome, and I thought, ‘If the Catholic Church was run as a business, it would have disappeared long ago. Yet, it still functions and exists despite the imbecility, corruption, and sin’. There must be something Divine that protects it!”
To which the merchant explained: “I saw all manner of corruption, imbecility, and sin in Rome, and I thought, ‘If the Catholic Church was run as a business, it would have disappeared long ago. Yet, it still functions and exists despite the imbecility, corruption, and sin’. There must be something Divine that protects it!”