As Catholics, we are notorious for not knowing the Bible as well as other Christian denominations. It's almost become a bit of a joke for me and some friends. If someone tries to quote a Bible passage and fails, we joke saying, "Oh, we're Catholics. We aren't supposed to know the Bible anyway."
But, how bad has it gotten when we don't truly appreciate what our faith is?
With so much debate surrounding the HHS Mandate, I've seen constant posts on Facebook. While many of these are opposing the mandate, there are a few that are taking this opportunity to point out the fact that many Catholics use contraceptives anyway. I'm not going to get into this point so much, but I would wonder if this argument would change if we changed the sin to murder. "Well, the pope should allow Catholics to murder because they're just going to murder without his permission anyway."
This may seem like I'm taking it to the extreme, but how can you justify something as alright, when our Church clearly teaches it to be wrong. Just because many Catholics fall into this trap, doesn't mean it's right. Many Catholics seem to have forgotten how horrible abortion is as well (or at least are indifferent to it) and it's still wrong. That's a debate for another time...
What's bothering me a lot right now is how some Catholics are questioning their faith. Now, they won't see it as that exactly. They think they are questioning the "hierarchy" of the Church. They see the pope and anyone up there as the old guys who make the rules. If these Catholics would take a look at their faith, however, they would realize that these guys DO NOT make the rules...God does. In other words, if you have an issue with how the Church is set up...you're going to have to take it up with God. He's your Father, talk to Him. He's always waiting for you to stop in for a visit.
Have we forgotten who the true Author of the Church is? Have we forgotten that the pope is not making the decisions for the Church, but God is working through him?
Have we forgotten?: http://www.catholicscomehome.org/answers-papacy.php
(My blog won't let me connect links for some reason, so you just have to select and go to the websites yourself.)
This thought is as horrifying as the poll results that showed that many Catholics didn't realize that the Church believes that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.
"The Eucharist. The Real Presence. Transubstantiation...it's first grade, Spongebob!"
What is happening? Why are we forgetting our faith?
A surprising secular article: http://www.businessinsider.com/time-to-admit-it-the-church-has-always-been-right-on-birth-control-2012-2
"Here's the thing, though: the Catholic Church is the world's biggest and oldest organization. It has buried all of the greatest empires known to man, from the Romans to the Soviets. It has establishments literally all over the world, touching every area of human endeavor. It's given us some of the world's greatest thinkers, from Saint Augustine on down to René Girard. When it does things, it usually has a good reason. Everyone has a right to disagree, but it's not that they're a bunch of crazy old white dudes who are stuck in the Middle Ages."
Don't tell us our faith is outdated when the world is just too worldly to handle the Truth.
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