Kitchen Catechism: Words of Wisdom
Love Jesus - Love His Church
Comments came into the Web Site that ended by questioning us on ‘how we could possibly be in a religion that had so many scandals and was so oppressive toward women.’ I thought for a second and my eyes became teary as I realized the answer – I love the Church dearly – with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength and being. I love the Church as I love God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Church to me is synonymous with ‘the body of Christ’ and my love for Jesus Christ is deep, passionate and all consuming. Nothing is more important to me than staying as closely connected as I possibly can to Jesus Christ. Since He personally, directly founded a Church upon the rock, the apostle Peter – a church that He unquestionably promised would survive through all time and the ‘gates of hell would not prevail against it’, there is no way I can stay intimately linked to my deepest feelings except through my membership in the Roman Catholic Church.
I know there is evil in the Church – there is evil everywhere – there always has been and there always will be. There is a devil, the personification of evil – Satan. Jesus warned us of the evil and of the consequences that will befall those who perpetrate it. He didn’t promise us a perfect world or a perfect church. He told us of our flawed natures, that we are all sinners and He told us we must combat evil wherever we find it, in the world or even unfortunately in the Church.
Archbishop John J. Myers, of Newark, New Jersey, in an article he wrote for Crisis magazine, “The Church vs. The Culture”, closely expresses my feelings about the Church. So I conclude my thoughts with a paragraph from him.
“Avery Cardinal Dulles writes that today, as always, “the Church must be herself, and must not strive to become what non-believers might like her to be”. To this Archbishop Myers adds, “that the Church should not strive to become what some believers might like her to be. As in every period of her life, the Church must reform herself to show the life of Christ that dwells within and to put aside that which obscures Christ. This isn’t accomplished by following the ever-shifting sands of popular opinion, adjusting to the continually changing values of the culture, or worrying about the latest polls. This is accomplished, on the other hand, by paying even more attention to Jesus Christ and His teachings, by uniting ourselves collectively and individually more closely to Jesus Christ abandoned, crucified, and risen.