By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 40
Fourth objection: Why do so many people have hostility to the Catholic Church?
Reply: Why was Jesus the object of hostility from so many people? In simple terms, the Pharisees may have refused Him as they could not accept His doctrine and felt threatened by His power to perform miracles. The Sadducees may have felt threatened by the possibility of His taking over the Temple’s authority from them, since He called the Temple “my Father’s house” and used a persuasive argument — the whip — to cleanse the place; the Zealots may have refused Him because He was not interested in armed struggle to overturn the Romans and declare Judah’ independence from the foreign invader; Pontius Pilate refused Him out of fear of losing his job by displeasing the mob; Herod refused Him because. . . .
We could go on and on, speculating on the many possible reasons that led different people to refuse Him.
But one point is worth emphasizing here: We know that the Jews in Jesus’ time were not united, as there was no “Magisterium” or anything similar to teach them in God’s name. They had a variety of sects, differing among themselves in their beliefs and practices: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, Herodians, even the pragmatic publicans and the ever-busy-writing scribes, the whole lot. But regardless of their disagreements, in one point they agreed one hundred percent — “Crucify Him!”
Today, there are thousands of Protestant churches and denominations and sects of all sorts, colors, and preferences, disagreeing among themselves in many points of belief and practice. But in one point they all agree one hundred percent: The Catholic Church is wrong, the Catholic Church lost the faith, and we, the “reformed Christians,” in spite of our visceral contradictions and differences, are the true churches. The opposition of Jesus’ enemies against His physical body is repeated by the attitude against His Mystical Body.
But let us see now a few concrete reasons as why some people display hostility to the Church of Jesus Christ:
Ignorance. They were never taught the teachings of the Catholic Church, let alone learned her reasons to defend her beliefs. They simply believe what they are told from their local pulpit or read in the last anti-Catholic tract, and that is enough for them. Their anti-Catholic bigotry will ensure that they will not find out the facts. The famous Fulton Sheen said once that out of the multitude of people who oppose the Catholic Church, only a few oppose her because of what she really teaches. The multitude oppose her because of what they think she teaches.
Prejudices. Often because one had a bad experience in a Catholic school, or was a victim of child abuse, or because of some stupid thing a Catholic said — any of these reasons suffice for some people to harden their hearts and minds and refuse to even consider that the misbehavior of individuals does not reflect the teaching of the institution. Otherwise, nobody should admire David, let alone read his Psalms, because at a point in his life he committed adultery and murder.
They ignore the fact that an institution is known by its faithful members, not the unfaithful ones. The people who best reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church are her saints — St. Francis of Assisi as a model of humility and poverty, St. Vincent de Paul as a model of charity, St. Louis IX as a model head of state. And so on, and so forth.
Intellectual pride. Pride or an excessive confidence in one’s own judgment is a vice. Sometimes, it leads a person afflicted with this vice to take it as an insult to his intelligence if anyone tries to persuade him that his views on religion may be mistaken. He sees it as offense against his dignity! So, it is fruitless to argue; the person is unable to exchange ideas because he is always right and the rest of the common mortals are wrong.
The unholy trinity of Me, Myself, and I that he worships prevents him from even considering the possibility of being mistaken, let alone dead wrong. And when he is a pastor of a congregation, he claims infallibility in Bible matters, since the Holy Spirit allegedly guides him. His state of mind is the very opposite to that childlike humility which Christ requires of those who seek His Kingdom. This kind of pride is easily found among liberal politicians these days.
Lack of courage. Cowardice, or the lack of the virtue of fortitude, may be found among those who love themselves more than they love God. Such people are appalled by the strictness of Catholic doctrine (for example, the requirement of Confession, the laws regarding chastity and marriage), and by the hardships which are often involved in conversion (for example, the opposition of family and friends, loss of means of livelihood). It is God’s grace alone that enables the non-Catholic to break through these obstacles.
The Mother Of Saints
Fifth objection: Scandals, especially among the clergy, show that there are many immoral people in the Catholic Church. If she is called Holy, the Mother of Saints, she would with greater justice be called the mother of sinners.
Reply: Wrong, as always. Jesus, the founder of the Catholic Church, stated that He had come to save sinners, to heal those who were sick, as the just and the healthy did not need a physician. When He invited himself to eat in the house of Zacchaeus, known as a public sinner, the people complained against Jesus. But He replied that “the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke16:10).
The parable of the fishermen whose nets caught both good and bad fish is a symbol of the Kingdom of God, the Church (Matt. 13:47-52). The same with the parable of the harvest field, in which weeds are intermingled with the wheat (Matt. 13:24-42).
But the glory of the saints is the glory of the Church: It was she who showed them the way to the great heights of holiness; it was she who, through Christ her Head, upheld them with grace and saved them from fainting on their toilsome journey. The fact that they represent every order of society and every degree of intellectual ability, and that in them are found instances of triumph over all manner of weakness and sin, proves that there is no one on Earth who cannot become a saint, if he will only listen to the Church’s instructions and accept her aid.
Yes, the Catholic Church exists to make sinners become saints, with her teaching, her life-giving sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession. The Catholic Church’s final goal is to lead everyone to Heaven, everyone who wants to go to Heaven, for the greater glory of God.
And what of the sinners of her fold? You may ask: Isn’t she responsible for their sin? It is silly to suggest such a thing: Was Jesus responsible for the sleepiness of the apostles in Gethsemane? Was He responsible for their running away when the going got tough? Was He responsible for the three denials of Peter? Was He responsible for the treason of Judas? Was He responsible for the apostasy of the heresiarchs who left His Church and invented so many man-made denominations? Of course not.
The bad people in the Catholic Church are themselves responsible for their misdeeds. Saints are saints because they listen to the voice of the Church: Sinners are sinners because they refuse to hear or heed her. Period.
Next article: Understanding the infallibility of the Church.
+ + +
(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese- speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress