If these inspirations are not in accord with the faith or the spirit of the Church, they must be rejected immediately as coming from the evil spirit.
— Counsel given to St. Faustina by her confessor in 1933 (see Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 55)
By Chris Sparks
One of the hardest parts of the Christian life is accepting that the Church knows better than we do.
Now, I have to immediately make a distinction in light of the scandals of the past several decades. The Church is guaranteed by Christ to continue to exist till the end, and to teach the truth on matters of faith and morals to the end. The Holy Spirit will keep it alive and sanctifying its members till the end of time.
However, as we can see from the faults and failings of the apostles as recounted in the Gospels, not even the immediate presence of the Incarnate Christ can guarantee that our bishops, priests, and deacons will not sin. We are blessed with a thing as strong as the Creator and as weak as Simon Peter, Saul who became Paul, and Judas Iscariot.
So when it comes to faith and morals, to revelation and what it means for our habits, inner life, and how we relate to anyone and everything else, the Church knows better than we do. That body of knowledge has brought many a person to conversion in ages past. One of the more recent such converts is author and entertainer Jennifer Fulwiler, who has written brilliantly of her amazement at the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In one post on Oct. 24, 2007, at JenniferFulwiler.com, she writes:
Reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church was like nothing I’d ever experienced. This was truth. I knew it. I’d finally found it. It described God, our relationship to him, the Bible, Jesus, moral truths — the entire human experience — in a way that resonated on a deep level.
When I started living my life according to Catholic teaching the proof was, as they say, in the pudding. It worked. It worked better than I could have ever guessed it would. And since I’ve been able to receive what they say is really the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, my soul, my entire life, has changed profoundly. But that is whole separate story (and, really, the main subject of this blog). To summarize my experience, I leave you with a quote from G.K. Chesterton, writing about why he converted to orthodox Catholicism:
I do it because the [Catholic Church] has not merely told this truth or that truth, but has revealed itself as a truth-telling thing. All other philosophies say the things that plainly seem to be true; only this philosophy has again and again said the thing that does not seem to be true, but is true. Alone of all creeds it is convincing where it is not attractive; it turns out to be right, like my father in the garden.
Sadly, often it’s only the converts who’ve delved into the riches of our faith, including the Catechism. We cradle Catholics often take for granted the enormous riches we’re heirs to, and great resources like the Catechism gather dust on our shelves. But we’re all called to form ourselves according to the teachings of the Church. “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
And part of that necessary transformation of our minds as Christians is studying the faith, especially in the Bible and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The last year of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate was designated as the Year of Faith, a year dedicated to commemorating 50 years since the Second Vatican Council and to studying the Council documents, which proclaim the perennial Catholic faith to the present age. The Catechism of the Catholic Church grew out of the 1985 synod of bishops on Vatican II, serving as a new universal touchstone for the whole Church on the perennial faith.
As the Most Rev. Joseph Strickland, bishop of Tyler, Texas, tweeted on Aug. 12:
Let us pray that all baptized Catholics may read the catechism, believe the catechism they read, and practice the catechism they believe. It is a way of living that I fail to live 100% but I keep working at it. Let us not seek to change the Catholic Faith but BE CHANGED BY IT!
Bishop Strickland has been issuing just such calls for Catholics to be faithful to the truths explained in the Catechism for some time. On July 19, 2019, he tweeted:
As one shepherd I encourage all faithful lay Catholics to continue to pray & speak up for the truth expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Let this truth be your guide. Pray that priests & bishops will speak against any who teach false doctrines that contradict truth.
And on Aug. 16, 2020, he tweeted:
So sad that high profile Catholics are being co-opted by those with an agenda that is completely contrary to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Let us pray that they wake up to their error before more serious damage is done. BE FAITHFUL TO JESUS, reject the latest ideology!
Bishop Strickland is issuing an important and necessary challenge to all of us. One of the greatest evils to afflict the Church in the United States in the past 70 years or so has been “cafeteria Catholicism,” a version of living the faith in which professing Catholics pick and choose which of the faith and morals teachings of the Church they pay attention to, which inform their lives and which are airily dismissed as inaccurate, irrelevant, or impossible.
But such cafeteria Catholicism fails to take the Church seriously. It fails to understand what Christ actually established on earth. And it fails to recognize its own hubris.
As G.K. Chesterton wrote in his book The Catholic Church and Conversion, “We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right. What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong.” And of course, to our eyes, all those areas where the Church is right and we are wrong will look like the Church being wrong.
That is why Fr. Joseph Andrasz, St. Faustina’s confessor, told her that if her private revelations ever contradicted the “faith or the spirit” of the Church, then they were to be rejected. Even holy people can be deceived by the devil if they lack the humility to follow the teachings and directives of the Church of God on earth. Even saints who are actually seeing and speaking directly with Jesus can make mistakes.
We need to immerse ourselves in the Catechism and absorb the Church's teaching on God and man, on the Creator and His creation. We need to adhere with mind and heart to the truths the Church teaches, no matter how uncomfortable they may make us, no matter how bad we are at living them, no matter how contrary to the spirit of the age they are, no matter how they conflict with our politics, or our preferences, or our comfort.
We need to be more Catholic than we are liberal or conservative, more Catholic than we are a member of our family, more Catholic than we are citizens of a given nation, for the people of God are called to be strangers and sojourners on the earth, calling no man father and no earthly land home, for God is our Father and Heaven is our homeland.
Study prayerfully the Bible and the Catechism. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and so transform the world.
O my God, I have come to know that I am not of this earth; You, O Lord, have poured this profound awareness into my soul. My communion is more with heaven than with earth, though I in no way neglect my duties (Diary, 107).
Pray for me, that I may practice what I preach. I'll pray for you.
Chris Sparks serves as senior book editor for the Marian Fathers. He is the author of the Marian Press book How Can You Still Be Catholic? 50 Answers to a Good Question.
Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash
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