“In all honesty, the “Why I remain in the Church” strikes me as abominable. . . . [The] real Christian believer can’t possibly have a patronizing attitude toward the Church that allows him or her to weigh staying in the Church against getting out of it. Relationship to the Church is at the very essence, an absolute of Christian faith. And one should be able to detect this when people who claim to be people of the Church, members of the Church, criticize their Church. . . .
As far as I’m concerned, people can energetically, fiercely, bitterly, even rabidly criticize much in the Church. But if it is the criticism of a Catholic, one should be able to see that here’s someone who wants to find eternal salvation as a member of the Church. Remember, the Catholic critic argues in the Church against the “Church” on the basis of an intimate understanding of it. [This kind of critic] knows that the Church, ultimately, is not merely a . . . religious organization satisfying people’s needs but . . . the community which believes that Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen one, is God’s irrevocable promise to us. Of what great importance is anger with pastors, bishops, possibly even the papacy, when one knows that in this Church . . . as nowhere else, in life and death, one can hold on to Jesus, the trusted witness of the eternal God?” — Karl Rahner
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5 Responses
I’ve been tempted to leave the Church, when I see all the judgemental,right wing clowns who claim to speak for God. But it’s my Church too and I am not leaving.
I’ve never been tempted to leave. The Church reminds me of my very colorful (I’m trying to be polite!) family. To whom else would I go? Sometimes my protestant daughter -in -law and I compare notes about what annoys us about the church we go to, the pastor etc.–normal annoyances. But deep down I don’t have the heart to tell her that in the big picture she got the bare-bones, discounted package. (Simplicity works better for some people?) Some Protestant are *clearly* animated by the Holy Spirit, and behave much better than many of the Catholics I know who treat their faith like spoiled heirs. (They have to work harder for what they have?)
Even though the “bells and smells” advocates have been thoroughly annoying for quite some time now, I just have to say that the traditions of the Church are so *beautiful*. Catholicism is the Notre Dame Cathedral and Protestantism is the store front in the strip mall. No comparison. We get super freaks like Teresa of Avila, Joan of Arc, and Padre Pio. Who do they get? I know the Protestant saints are out there for sure, but they’re just a bit more buttoned up and scaled down.
What if Jesus points out at our final judgement: “and you had ALL of the *sacraments*?!” Whenever I am tempted to think that we have some sort of exclusive, I think about what Jesus told his apostles when they were annoyed about the guy casting out demons in his name.
In the final analysis, I stay for the sacraments. The focal point of all of them being the Eucharist. I sometimes remember to receive Jesus in the Eucharist for everyone that can’t, because they don’t understand. It must be a feature not a bug. Like how the heart delivers blood to the rest of the body.
We’re here for Jesus, right? For God? For the Eucharist? In spite of all those “other” Catholics who are “not doing it right” (I thank God I am not like other men…ha, ha…), in spite of all that has not gone well, in spite of leaders and plain old people in the pews who do bad stuff, in spite of disagreements, we’re all in this together.
This is not complicated. One can criticize doctors and the practices of medicine, but it would be foolish to give up on medical science because of that
The great thing about the catholic church is that it is so big you can literally ignore most of the people in it most of the time. Or you can engage with everyone, it’s really up to you. It’s different in Protestant churches; everyone gladhandling and trying to strike up conversations. The church is freedom from the 11th commandment “thou shalt socialize.”