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hey guys. Sorry I’m late getting this out. I meant to send it yesterday and remind everyone about Tuesday coffee but I just didn’t get to it in time.
Verses we looked at last meeting:
- Matthew 5:1-12
- 1 Peter 5:5-7
- Luke 6: 20-26
- Matthew 5: 13-16
- Matthew 24:10-16
- Timothy 5: 1-2 (thanks Andy S)
We reviewed the Beatitudes and talked about Fr’s homily that focused on the meek. We asked how we look at ourselves and if we honestly felt like any of those categories Jesus mentions in the Beatitudes apply to us? Then we looked at them from the perspective of how we treat others that we feel fall into one or another of those categories. Does it bring our love and supporting natures with that in mind? Do we approach and deal with those who suffer or struggle in some way with what Jesus would want us to, especially if we consider they will reap Heavenly reward in relation to their specific sufferings.
It was discussed that the concept of Heavenly rewards can be a tough thing to accept outside of faith. Its hard to really believe that in the end there will be a reward because we don’t see them here in life. There isn’t a mechanical cause and effect result that we can point to and say its proof positive of the promise of Heaven. So we take it on faith. But to say we take it on faith is not the same as saying ‘don’t worry your little brain about it, just trust me’. There are thousands of years of teaching, tradition, scripture, theologians and divinely inspired instruction to help us find some more solid ground on these things.
I was thinking about this the other day for some reason. I hear it from time to time when dealing with people who feel they have a mature and modern approach to faith when they outright reject it as unreasonable. It is patently ridiculous to assume that in the last 2000 years alone, that there are questions or concerns that have not already been questioned or raise by someone else. Someone sometime else. Someone much much smarter than me as well as those less blessed than I have been. The questions have been asked. The answers are there and fleshed out for us.
Thomas Aquinas is probably one of the major heavy hitters in that lineup. He is known for being honest and looking at the counter arguments in the strongest most complimentary way before making the cases against them. Its called Steel Manning the argument, which is a more honest way to discern the argument than Straw Manning it, by setting up poor or shallow descriptions of their case to easily knock down. Aquinas is heavy lifting in the theological department, but so many people today still use his analysis and logic to form our teachings. And he is just one of dozens of major church doctors who we can draw from on these things. I had to look it up but apparently we recognize roughly 38 people who we call Doctors of the Church, who have contributed to our teachings, theology and doctrine through their writings, research and study. Some you probably have never heard of, some you will have but maybe don’t know why. Here is a Wikipedia page listing them for what its worth. It is just easier to post one link than a bunch of links or references to each one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_the_Church
Todays leaders usually draw heavily from those folks as well as the early church fathers when discerning scripture and theology. So everything we could possibly have asked, has been asked, asked again, scrutinized, disputed, debated, and asked again. The hard work has already been done for us on this.
When I am looking to clarify or confirm something, my go to is the guys from Catholic Answers, Ascension Press, or even just the available personalities we know and trust like Fr. Mike, Bishop Baron. Its good to look for more than one source so you are not bubbling your interpretation and limiting yourself. But you can exhaust yourself in pursuit of these answers sometimes. If God has it on your heart, its worth the challenge though. You may not know why right now, but it will matter one day for sure. So go get it when you need that answer.
And always remember to keep one hand in scripture yourself so you don’t get lazy and have it spoon fed too you by others. Go on the journey with them as they discuss or work it out. That’s why homilies are so great.
Its strange to say, but I see it so often that we have the same arguments to deal with today that we seemingly always have. It is fair to say that we have different variables like technology or global reach or scientific knowledge that has advanced. But at the core, the arguments are the same ones that have always been there. We can just use a different flashlight to look at them than we used to.
And yet, the answers that have always been there, still stand up. Moreso now than before. The more light you shed on a topic, the clearer the Christian teaching becomes and the less stable the secular position is. It’s a large reason why we see a lot of anger and frustration in the world. The fuel to the secular position is largely left with appeal to emotions and compassion, but without any foundational support to justify it. We all feel compassion for those who have less or need help. But when feelings rule the conversation or actions, then its bound to fail because it needs proper foundation to stand on first. Without that it amounts to nothing more than a flailing temper-tantrum without substance. There is nothing wrong with feeling passionate about something. We just need to make sure we have the rock to stand on so we can properly align and ensure that its God’s work we invest our talents in.
Jim blessed us with a comment that I loved. He had heard or used this in his life. “Go out and preach the Gospel, and sometimes use words.” It sounds like that may have come from St. Francis of Assisi, but no one can say for sure. But its solid gold direction for our lives for sure. Thanks Jim. I love that one.
Jim also challenged us to look at ourselves from the perspective of other Christian faiths. Is it true to say that as Catholics we have an air of arrogance about us. Do we act as though we have the market on truth cornered? It might be I suppose. Its really hard to honestly see things from an outside perspective sometimes. When this came up I started thinking that it hasn’t been my experience that this is the case. Its been normally the other way around with the friends and acquaintances from our Protestant brothers and sisters. I know I do get a little heavy in sticking to my guns, and usually its because the topic is something I maybe need to learn more about. When I am confident in what I’m talking about then I don’t get worked up or agitated as much. But which is worse I suppose for the other person to deal with. I guess when you get down to it, who cares. We need to remain compassionate, loving, open, honest and willing when facing these things. Its not our work that will convince someone of the truths we are sharing. Its God. How many times have we heard Russ tell us a story or anecdote where he takes something to a point and then says “Well that’s God’s problem now.” I think that even when we talk to other Christians, we need to be open, honest, loving and understanding that it IS actually God’s problem. In the same way that He may be presenting something to you to think about too. But if you have the faith and trust in God, then you can let go of any responsibility or need to win someone over. You are just a worker in the garden. Plant the seed. You cant make them grow. Only God can do that.
Maybe a second level to that point Jim made, was, what happens if you don’t believe or trust in a specific church teaching. How do you reconcile it? This for me was the major question. What do you do if you can’t bring yourself to buy into some teaching that is Catholic tradition. I mean, there is bound to be something we teach that each of us struggles with right. You cant have a whole life philosophy that encompasses everything in our lives and not run into hiccups along the way that don’t sit quite right. I certainly have them from time to time.
I struggle with some of the Marian Doctrine sometimes. Not because I don’t want to believe in it. Its more that I want to understand the evidence more. So that’s a Doubting Thomas type of personality trait I have. Show me the proof and then Ill believe. I have other things that sometimes make me think twice about things. I find myself more and more in a leadership or teaching role lately, and so having confidence in your answers seems like a pretty important thing to have. I despise just saying “Don’t worry about it, just believe me.” I know I don’t take that kind of dismissal lightly when I get it from someone. That usually makes me dig in harder to find the explanation or the truth of things. Sometimes out of spite, which is not the greatest reason to look for answers.
It is extremely healthy to have doubt. It is extremely unhealthy to not look for truth to reconcile the doubt against, and instead hide from it. Lets put that to the test. Why does the church hate gay people? Is that a legitimate question to ask? Does it cause doubt when you are talking to someone or maybe are someone who has an element of this in your life to cope with. Maybe a family member forces you to face this reality in life, when most other people don’t have to really find this answer so they can simply side step or take a shallow position on it that does not need to test itself in real life? If you have never asked that question then you likely are not prepared to have a conversation with someone who has.
My experience has always been similar in these situations that I’m swimming out of my depth. Someone asks me a challenge question for me to defend my position or the church teaching. I realize that I don’t know the answer and can’t present any defense to something that on the surface seems indefensible. I get worried that maybe I should not be Catholic because of this logical flaw (not so much anymore, but this used to be a real challenge for me at times). I start looking for answers. Sometimes that’s harder than others, but 9 times out of 10, even a preliminary effort will quickly bring me some feedback and reference material to work with. My findings always result in me seeing that the initial question is based on a misunderstanding of teaching and practice, and clarification of it leads me into a deeper understanding and confirmation of the actual church position, and I am more confident that before in the overall church teachings. This has led me to a point in life where I have asked enough questions and learned enough answers that when I am faced with a new one, I am confident there is a solid enough answer for me and regardless of where I start, I am not in doubt of the church’s teaching. It’s proven right enough that the rest of the details I am comfortable trusting its truth until I can learn more about it.
That has taken a lot of years to come to terms with that kind of trust in the church. Maybe its that I realize I’m not as smart as I thought I was in my youth. A little humility goes a long way. But it’s a good position to be in I think. Because learning everything there is to know about it is a pretty huge bite to swallow. Its probably not entirely possible to be honest. Which is why we depend on the wisdom of each other and the Magisterium (The magisterium of the Catholic Church is the church’s authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the word of God, “whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition”).
And there is a risk sometimes if we don’t try to tackle those doubts. We sometimes see people who pick and choose which parts they agree with and just reject the others at their pleasure. That is what has been referred to as a Cafeteria Catholic. Someone who rejects certain aspects but still claims union with the church. That isn’t the same as someone who has doubts about things. It’s more specifically those who actively act against church teaching and still claim to follow the faith. Very public examples of this are politicians who support abortion bills. The problem with these people is that they tend to try and normalize or justify their error and lead others down a false path. I think we can see where that becomes a pretty big deal in life whether is public & high profile or private and low profile. Leading people astray is a massive issue. When you look at this, it is certainly fair to say that being Catholic, you imply that you are accepting all of the church teaching, even if you don’t know it all, haven’t had the chance to understand it all yet. Its kind of an all-or-nothing position we take as Catholics, and that is based on trust in God and the Holy Spirit keeping our faith aligned and following the teachings of Jesus and the scriptures, handed down to us through the ages from the Apostles. That’s a pretty big claim to make. If it is not true then no one should be Catholic. But if it IS true, then we have no choice but to be Catholic in order to get the fullness of our relationship with the Trinity and our path to salvation.
So how to you have the safety to have doubt, challenge or question teaching, freedom to make your own moral and ethical conclusions, while not falling into the more dangerous category of leading others astray? You ask the question. You do the digging. Find the answers. Keep asking and keep digging. If you find you are led away from the Catholic church as a result, then that would be God allowing you to find your own way. But if you approach it with honesty and an open heart, I find it hard to believe that He would lead you away from here. Just the opposite actually.
I think this makes up the journey of faith. It’s a life long effort for us to keep searching for God. Its not like you get a journeyman seal when you are confirmed or baptized, and have everything in order right out of the gates. Those are just the start of the journey. Some people get comfortable and kinda stop right there. Right at the start. “Thanks, that’s all I need. I’m good right here. I’ll just park myself right by this well worn path and I should be safe and in good standing now. I have some of my own things to take care of and ill just do that all from here now. I’m done walking.” I believe that is a significant portion of Catholics in our world today. I don’t say that to be dismissive or condescending to them. I just simply suspect that if they see people on the path, walking the path, talking about walking the path and how it gets harder but better the further you go, more of them would be curious enough to take a look for themselves. Maybe take a few more steps. Maybe go far enough to turn back and call for more to join them. Maybe, a couple of them will get in sight of the end of the path before the end of it gets to them. We can be a species of sheep, following the leaders. The more we set examples for others, the more will follow and find out.
You know I never feel like I will have anything to say in these until I start writing. I don’t even have the intention to write much. And yet here it is. Sorry about that. Its just the way God made me I guess. I hope that means its at least a little enriching to you. At the very least it should be teaching you how to skim things, skip ahead and get through it all. Life skill man.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Ash Wednesday. I don’t know yet what our plan is. If we want to move it to a different day, just come down and meet after mass maybe, or just cancel this one altogether and wait for the first March meeting? Russ and I will talk that out and get back to you. In the meantime, here is a little Fr. Mike to get you through the day.https://youtu.be/JoCSHVXbc1M?si=pklb9969YUhZWHkK
