Growing in holiness…struggling with the Church, growing closer to Him

July 20, 2015 techdecisions

If you are a faithful follower of Jesus Christ you will suffer. I cannot emphasize that enough. It is it’s definition. Jn 15:20. Do you dare accept the terrorizing challenge of baptism? Do you? Have you? :/

If you are growing closer to the cross, imho, and a few saints’ opinions, you are doing something right. The point is not suffering in itself, for its own sake. That would be a symptom of less emotional health than desirable. Suffering is a consequence of the Truth in this world, doing the work of the Master, and growing closer to Him in all things, holiness and the crucifixion, being united to Jesus Christ in ALL things. His love is so great, His conquest so complete, His power so redound, suffering can become joy, for the sake of the beloved, i.e. a parent for their child, in earthly terms, as a practical example, but His goes so far beyond that.

How does the old joke go? If you want to lose your faith, go to work for the Church? 🙂 Get over your being scandalized, quickly. Get on with it. There are lives and souls to be saved. For me, there is endless comfort in the Gospels, not only in the words of the Lord, but especially in the antics, hi-jinks, lo-jinks, pure and plain sinfulness of the Apostles. Goofballs. What a bunch of Keystone Cops!!!? Endless comfort. Humans do not change much in history, do they? Blessed be the God Who saves us, from ourselves, especially!!! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Don’t need a Redeemer? Really? I do. I most certainly do. Praise Him!!!

I relate distinctly with Lauren’s experience, though maybe not in the details, and heartily endorse her prescription.

Ask questions – it’s the thing I like most about being Catholic. Never listen to anyone who says Catholics are not supposed to ask questions. They don’t know what they are talking about and are therefore a bad source. Asking questions will get you crucified, undoubtedly, but here we have no lasting city. Heb 13:14.

Find reliables sources – the world is replete with stupidity and ignorance. Keep pushing. Find your reliable, faithful, holy resources for those endless questions. Find good teachers. Those who can speak to you in the way you can most easily relate. It is your right, your are entitled to good, relevant, understandable answers as a child of God. You are. It just is so. The Church, as one may hope and pray, has excellent answers. The Church’s ability to communicate those into digestable, everyday, everyperson answers needs a lot of work. I kind of think/hope that is the point of the New Evangelization. Let’s pray.

Pray – Amen! Jn 15:5. Prayer is life and breath for the Christian. ‘Nuff said. There is a story regarding Mother Teresa and the enthusiastic young women who would come to her, ready to save the world and deal with the worst of the worst of human suffering. Mother would say to them, “Come and pray.” They would respond, “But, Mother, there is so much to do. Let’s get started!!” Mother would patiently, calmly repeat, “Come and pray.” Her postulants would insist, persist in wanting action. Mother would calmly, patiently, repeat “Come and pray.” Mother finally said to them, “If you don’t pray, you won’t last.” Wise words for all of us. Amen. Amen. Be creative in your prayer. Do what works for you, that good spiritual wisdom would advise. Give Him glory, honor, and praise always in ALL ways!!! As you can probably tell, blogging and reading are forms of prayer for me. I also enjoy quiet meditation and reflection, as well as the many other forms of prayer the Church recommends.

Persist!!!! Be TUFF!!! No louts, no wimps in Heaven!!!! Rev 7:14 – pray for the grace of final perseverance. Struggle, fight, work, not that our efforts have any primary merit whatsoever, but out of sheer joy and gratitude for God’s amazing grace and love, we respond, in response to that gift of unmerited grace, in utter, sheer joy, with every gift God has given us in praise of Him and to His glory. We work, we shout, we rejoice, we suffer, we proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified with ALL we have! 1 Cor 2:2.

laurenmeyers

-by Lauren Meyers

“I would like to say that my faith is uncomplicated — to say that I accept and embrace every teaching of our Church with a gleeful smile and without a shred of doubt. There was probably a time when this was the case; maybe in my later teens or early twenties, when the love that I had for the Lord and the excitement and novelty of living in such a counter cultural way filled me with zeal and a promise that the world could be changed and could be a better place.

Ten years later, I still love the Lord, I still desire to draw close to Jesus, and I still have hope and joy, I still love the Catholic Church, but it’s not as easy as it once was. It was easier to accept the Church’s teaching on contraception before I was married and had to face that temptation. It was easier to go to Mass when I was in college and had more free time than I ever realized. It was easier to trust the Magisterium before I read beyond John Paul II and into history, and it was easier to hope before I had experienced any significant, personal loss. Over time, I have grappled with the Church and with God, and in that struggle I have found that there are a few ways to enter into that interior conflict and emerge closer to Jesus and His Church.

Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions. The greater threat to our faith is not that we ask difficult questions, but that we become too indifferent to even consider them. Ask questions. St. Augustine was correct when he said that, “The truth it like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.” Take time. Ask questions. Seek truth, because the Truth can handle it.

Seek reliable counsel and documents. I hate to say it, but I really like “sound bite” information. I’m not one for reading long books or encyclicals, and so this is a difficult thing for me, but it is essential. When we are able to ask those difficult questions about the Eucharist, about morality, about the clergy, the sacraments, the abuses, or anything else, we have to seek out real and reliable information and anwers. Seek the advice and guidance of a few, diverse people. Ask for answers from individuals without twisted agendas, who are more experienced and more knowledgable, and who can give new insights. Ask for books, articles, encyclicals, and scripture commentary to delve into. It will take time, and that’s OK. You can’t cover thousads of years of history, theology, and philosophy in a sound bite.

Pray. Whenever I’m strugging with the Church’s teaching on something, I always remember playing that childhood hide and seek game. The one where someone had hidden something and, as you search, they tell you if you’re getting “hot” or “cold” on your search. That’s sort of the prayer that I pray as I am questioning and seeking. Lord, open my heart to your truth. Is this leading me toward peace? Am I being motivated by selfishness or by sincerity? Am I seeking Your Truth or my own will? Lord, reveal Yourself to me in this search. When we seek God, we ought to ask for His guidance. Take time to pray, to ask the Lord to guide your steps. He isn’t trying to hide from us, He wants us to find Him and He can help us, if we ask.

Do not give up and do not let go. This is so difficult, because it’s the easiest thing to do. It is so easy to tire and become indifferent in the journey toward Truth, and I feel like indifference has just made a cozy little home in this place called relativism. So many times I have thought it would just be easier to forget about seeking truth and instead, to do whatever I think feels right. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Is there objective moral truth? Do our private choices have communal ramifications? Does what I believe really matter? All of these questions demand real thought, and work, and change within ourselves. And although giving up on it all and choosing indifference and relativism seems like the easy way out, I beg you, do not give up and do not let go.

First, do not give up the search for truth. Do not give up on these questions as though they were unanswerable. The answers may be hard to find, and we may seek those anwers for our lifetime, but that does not make the search meaningless. In fact, the search for Truth may be the most noble of pursuits that we can take up. Second, do not let go of Jesus and the Church. Leaving the Church, the community, and the sacraments is not the way to reconcile yourself with the teachings of the Church. Keep praying. Keep going to Mass. Keep serving the poor in the community. Keep receiving the Sacraments as your conscince allows. Seek the Lord in his Church. There are times of conflict and struggle in all of our relationships, but it is when we are faithful and steady and don’t give up that those relationships and shared love grow strong. Let your love for the Lord and his Church become strengthened and solidified in your struggles and questions. Stick with it, expect great things, and don’t be afraid.”

Love,
Matthew

Summa Catechetica, "Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam." – St Anselm, "“Si comprehendus, non est Deus.” -St Augustine, "Let your religion be less of a theory, and more of a love affair." -G.K. Chesterton, "As the reading of bad books fills the mind with worldly and poisonous sentiments; so, on the other hand, the reading of pious works fills the soul with holy thoughts and good desires." -St. Alphonsus Liguori, "And above all, be on your guard not to want to get anything done by force, because God has given free will to everyone and wants to force no one, but only proposes, invites and counsels." –St. Angela Merici, “Yet such are the pity and compassion of this Lord of ours, so desirous is He that we should seek Him and enjoy His company, that in one way or another He never ceases calling us to Him . . . God here speaks to souls through words uttered by pious people, by sermons or good books, and in many other such ways.” —St. Teresa of Avila, "I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men and women who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, and who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent, well-instructed laity… I wish you to enlarge your knowledge, to cultivate your reason, to get an insight into the relation of truth to truth, to learn to view things as they are, to understand how faith and reason stand to each other, what are the bases and principles of Catholicism, and where lie the main inconsistences and absurdities of the Protestant theory.” (St. John Henry Newman, “Duties of Catholics Towards the Protestant View,” Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England), "We cannot always have access to a spiritual Father for counsel in our actions and in our doubts, but reading will abundantly supply his place by giving us directions to escape the illusions of the devil and of our own self-love, and at the same time to submit to the divine will.” —St. Alphonsus Ligouri, "The harm that comes to souls from the lack of reading holy books makes me shudder . . . What power spiritual reading has to lead to a change of course, and to make even worldly people enter into the way of perfection." –St. Padre Pio, "Screens may grab our attention, but books change our lives!" – Word on Fire, "Reading has made many saints!" -St Josemaría Escrivá, "Do you pray? You speak to the Bridegroom. Do you read? He speaks to you." —St. Jerome, from his Letter 22 to Eustochium, "Encounter, not confrontation; attraction, not promotion; dialogue, not debate." -cf Pope Francis, "God here speaks to souls through…good books“ – St Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, "You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.” -St Athanasius, "To convert someone, go and take them by the hand and guide them." -St Thomas Aquinas, OP. 1 saint ruins ALL the cynicism in Hell & on Earth. “When we pray we talk to God; when we read God talks to us…All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection.” -St Isidore of Seville, “Also in some meditations today I earnestly asked our Lord to watch over my compositions that they might do me no harm through the enmity or imprudence of any man or my own; that He would have them as His own and employ or not employ them as He should see fit. And this I believe is heard.” -GM Hopkins, SJ, "Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book." — St. John Bosco, "Why don't you try explaining it to them?" – cf St Peter Canisius, SJ, Doctor of the Church, Doctor of the Catechism, "Already I was coming to appreciate that often apologetics consists of offering theological eye glasses of varying prescriptions to an inquirer. Only one prescription will give him clear sight; all the others will give him at best indistinct sight. What you want him to see—some particular truth of the Faith—will remain fuzzy to him until you come across theological eye glasses that precisely compensate for his particular defect of vision." -Karl Keating, "The more perfectly we know God, the more perfectly we love Him." -St Thomas Aquinas, OP, ST, I-II,67,6 ad 3, “But always when I was without a book, my soul would at once become disturbed, and my thoughts wandered." —St. Teresa of Avila, "Let those who think I have said too little and those who think I have said too much, forgive me; and let those who think I have said just enough thank God with me." –St. Augustine, "Without good books and spiritual reading, it will be morally impossible to save our souls." —St. Alphonsus Liguori "Never read books you aren't sure about. . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?" -St. John Bosco " To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer." —St. Thomas Aquinas, OP. "Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading." –St. Isidore of Seville “The aid of spiritual books is for you a necessity.… You, who are in the midst of battle, must protect yourself with the buckler of holy thoughts drawn from good books.” -St. John Chrysostom