The powers of hell continue to rail against the Church. She is attacked from outside but increasingly from within. The Churches greatest treacheries are often carried out from her own members. Increasingly, we see dissent within our own Church with Peter (the Pope and the institutional Church). The false notion is that we can continue to be ‘good Catholics’ without believing everything the Church teaches officially in faith and morals. Nowhere is this rejection of Church teaching more obvious than in the abandonment of the sacrament of reconciliation. Seeing no sin and having little from their pastors by way of holy example and encouragement, they drift. The Church hemorrhages for lack of humility and grace. Jesus’ first words of his ministry were an echo of John the Baptist, “Repent, and believe the Good News.” As people responded to this call, Jesus healed and moved in a great way among them. However, today there has been a rejection of the sacrament of reconciliation. This is the most damaging scourge of the Church. It lies at the root of disunity and is the cause of some of the rut we find ourselves in. If only someone would find a way to speak Truth to unbelieving, cold hearts! I am afraid the Gospel has never been preached! “Repent, and believe the Good News.” NOTE: the word ‘repent’ comes first. Repent! and believe the good news - the fact is that repentance precedes believing! In other words, ‘repent’ so that you can believe the Good News! ‘Repent’ or else you shall be deaf and blind to the News which is Goodness itself because it is Jesus himself!”
Great post Fr. Aaron, God Bless you and your blog.
ReplyDeleteyou say in your post
ReplyDelete"The false notion is that we can continue to be ‘good Catholics’ without believing everything the Church teaches officially in faith and morals"
Yet how is this true when sometimes the very thing a person can't believe in the church's teachings they then change. Take for example the theology of limbo.
I know a few good Catholics who had a hard time with the idea that a baby who died before a baptism could be done would live in limbo. They could not reconcile that idea with the teachings of Jesus (for good reason IMO) so they figured the church must be wrong. For years by your logic they could not be good Catholics without believing. Fast forward to 2006 when the Pope and a group of theologians decided to abolish limbo. All of a sudden these people who were "bad Catholics" for most of their lives were back in the grace of the church even though they never changed a thing about their beliefs.
Fr. Aaron came across your blog and have been reading your posts, keep up the good work. You have a real gift of writing.
ReplyDeleteTo Misa, the key words in this post of Fathers was officially teaches. Limbo was not not and official teaching of the Church.See attached link.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0702216.htm