Well, I was called is all I can figure.<\/p>\n
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\u2014(Psalm 95).<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Swearing and anger? Uh-oh. And that\u2019s God talking, through David. And no, this scripture reference wasn\u2019t initially directed at the Vatican II generation, but does it kind of fit? Or doesn\u2019t it fit every generation?<\/p>\n
Dateline Palestine, the years 31\u201433 A.D. Our Lord Jesus Christ,<\/p>\n
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)
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\nand again later,<\/p>\n
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)<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why would I join this Church when seemingly the vast majority of the crew doesn\u2019t believe in Her teachings? Because here\u2019s a news flash for you: I\u2019m not worried about the other crew members.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not concerned with what they say or what they do. I definitely don\u2019t care one iota for what the latest research out of Georgetown University<\/a> (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\u2019m sure they mean well, but Mark Twain said everything I need to know about these kind of studies.<\/a><\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u201d say you can lead a horse to water, but you can\u2019t make it drink. Well, \u201cthey\u201d shoot horses don\u2019t 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\u2019t come to Confession to get oiled.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Hey Frank, how do you know it was Truth?<\/p>\n
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\u2019t need to go to Confession because you\u2019re sinless. Maybe you don\u2019t believe Christ is present in the Eucharist at all, because you are all grown up. Maybe that\u2019s why you believe it is okay to abort babies too, and\u2026<\/p>\n
Frankly, I don\u2019t care what you believe. I don\u2019t care how unpopular, or popular, the Church is. And in case you haven\u2019t noticed, the Church doesn\u2019t care if you don\u2019t like the Truth either.<\/p>\n
I take that back\u2014the Church does care! She cares so much that she won\u2019t 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<\/a>, and here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, and in the Communion of the Saints. But She won\u2019t be taking account of tracking polls, and if She starts, I am out of here (unless the Pope make an ex cathedra<\/em> announcement)!<\/p>\n
How does one answer the riddle of Catholicism? Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions today is that the laity doesn\u2019t 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 their own. My buddy John Wu hit this nail right on the head when he wrote,<\/p>\n
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.<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What did St. Paul have to say about this?<\/p>\n
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.\u2014(Philippians 2:12-16)<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Riddle me this: what other institution on the planet, either in the past, present, or future ever was formed for the sole purpose of saving souls? How many institutions give you so many avenues to salvation via the Sacraments, because Christ knows that you need them all? And though She won\u2019t sugar-coat the Truth for you, She still forgives you like the most loving and merciful of mothers? Completely forgives you<\/a>, in such a way that not only does it transform you, but you want to willingly change, because you know you need to<\/i>. You know that you want to be a son or daughter of God, and that you need Grace to transform you, because you will never measure up to this standard on your own.<\/p>\n
Reading surveys like these are as meaningful to me as the best places to retire<\/a><\/i> surveys, or the most driver friendly states<\/a><\/i> surveys. I\u2019m not retiring anywhere, or moving anywhere based on these silly reasons anytime soon. And if I do have to move, I likely won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Today is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, known around these parts as \u201cBig Terry.\u201d 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, \u201cIf this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them!\u201d<\/p>\n
Evidently, she was told to get back on her horse and ride. Maybe we should do that too.<\/p>\n
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