Last week we heard Jesus tell the apostles that he will not
leave them orphaned and that the Father will send an Advocate. Next week, the feast of Pentecost, the
Advocate comes upon them in the form of tongues of fire. Then, they begin to speak in different
tongues and go boldly out to proclaim the faith. This
week, the feast of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, Jesus tells the Apostles to
make disciples of all nations and that he will be with them till the end of
time. The Gospel tells us “they saw him,
they worshiped, but they doubted.”
Doesn’t that describe us?
We see him, we worship, but we doubt?
Several weeks’ ago, as I was driving to the men’s faith
sharing meeting, I was listening to Open Line on Sacred Heart Radio. A caller said that several of his closest
friends had fallen away from their faith because of controversial teachings of
the Church. He wanted to know if there
was something that he could say to them to help them return to the faith.
I thought, “I can’t wait to hear the answer, since I too have
struggled in this area. I would like to
share the joy, excitement, and knowledge that I have on these teachings with
others.” The moderator passed the call
to Tim Staples, who replied. “I think
that the problem that your friends and many others in the church are
experiencing is due to the fact that they don’t believe that the Catholic
Church is really the body of Christ. Then,
he referred to our second reading today which tells us: “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ has put all
things beneath Jesus’ feet and gave him as head of all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” Then, Tim said: “So, St Paul tells us here
that Jesus is the head of the Church, which is the body of Christ. We must ask those who struggle with these
teachings if they were to stand before Jesus himself and hear him proclaim them,
would they still disagree with them?”
Then, he said: “Jesus’ church,
his mystical body on earth, led by the men he himself chose has proclaimed
these teachings continuously for the past 2000 years. Is it surprising to us that our culture
rejects these teachings? And which are
we going to follow, Jesus and his church or our culture?”
That answer really struck home for me. I have discussed these issues with many
people, especially over the past few years since I have become a deacon. And I have to admit that my efforts have
normally fallen short in trying to eloquently present the relevant facts.
Then, I went to the men’s faith sharing meeting and the
topic selected by the person leading the group was: “The Godly man is
faithful.” On the video, the speaker began
by saying: “The Godly man is faithful to
the teachings of Jesus’ church.” He gave
a scripture reading from Luke chapter 10: “He who hears you hears me and he who
rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Jesus was speaking to the apostles and to
their successors, our bishops today, telling them that they were speaking in
his name.
Two times in the space of thirty minutes I heard the message
to be faithful to the teachings of the Body of Christ, his Church. This was not a coincidence. I really got the message. The body of Christ on earth, the Catholic
Church, has since the time of Jesus and will till the end of time speak for
Jesus in its teachings on faith and morals.
Why do we find this teaching about the Church as the Body of
Christ so hard to believe? Why do we worship
Him but continue to have doubts?
We have doubts because we don’t fully embrace and utilize
the graces that are available to us. We
can receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, daily. We can go to the sacrament of Reconciliation
on any Saturday and free ourselves from the burden of sin. When we doubt, do we turn to the sacraments
to strengthen our faith or do we just turn away?
We also have doubts because most of us have grown up with a
natural tendency to question authority. Since
the early sixties, we have lived during a time when we have often been let down
by our government leaders, our business leaders, and even our church leaders. This has fostered an inherent tendency to
question any and all authority. Can we
trust that our Church is led by the Holy Spirit when we witness the sins of
some Church leaders?
We also have doubts due to the counter-cultural teachings of
the Church. It is easier for us to
follow the crowd, to go with the flow, to embrace the popular “values” of our
culture and not to create waves. In this
area, we just have to look at what Jesus did.
Jesus certainly didn’t follow his culture and was constantly creating
waves. Do we have the courage to follow
him today?
And, we have our natural tendency to choose the wrong thing,
to pick evil over good. We can relate to
St Paul who said: “For I do not do the
good I want but the evil I do not want is what I do.” And the devil is a master at getting us to
choose the wrong thing. Have we formed
our conscience? Do we understand what
the Church teaches and why it teaches it?
Finally, it is human nature to justify our behavior. Sometimes, even after we find out that
something we did was wrong, we still defend our action. Should we trust Jesus’ church or our own
instinct?
We all have difficulties.
We are all sinners. Some church
teachings are complicated and many haven’t been explained well. These
are clearly difficult times for men and women of faith. Do not be afraid! Seek
the truth! Embrace his mystical body, his Church! Find the peace and joy of following Jesus! Then, someday soon, like Jesus, we will
joyously ascend to heaven to meet the Father.
