Recently
there was an article in the Catholic Review which stated that Catholics are
leaving the Church in droves. According to a study done by CARA, the Catholic
Church is losing members more rapidly than any other denomination. The article
gave many possible explanations for that, such as a lack of religiosity in the
home, the distractions of materialism, being too busy, feeling like the Church
is “disengaged” from the real world. However, I really think that there is one
fundamental problem.
We have
stopped claiming to have Truth.
People of
my generation, however, are hungry for truth. We don’t want mere opinion, we
don’t want relativism. We want something true that we can sink our teeth into.
And often times, catechists and leaders in the Catholic Church are afraid to
claim that we have truth.
Indeed, in
our country it is politically incorrect to have “truth”. As I was browsing
through our parish library this past weekend, I came across a book by a priest
titled, “Ten Best Guesses About Life.” Intrigued, I opened it up. In the
introduction, the priest wrote that he hadn’t figured out the meaning of life
and death, the meaning of suffering and the reality of God, but just that he
was presenting his best guesses about the topics. And while there’s something
to be said for admitting our own struggles with faith and our own limitations,
I am seeking for the Truth about life and death, not mere “good guesses”!
As I
approach the end of pastoral year and think about returning to seminary, it
hits me that this time next year I will be less than a month away from my
ordination to diaconate – where I will make permanent promises of chastity and
obedience. And it strikes me that I need to know that I am committing my life
to the Truth. If the Catholic faith does not have the Truth, then aren’t I
wasting my time and my life by vowing myself to be faithful to our Church?
Perhaps I’m
being too black-and-white. But in my view, many aspects of our faith MUST be
black and white. They can’t be both/and. For example, is the Eucharist really
Jesus, or is it bread? It can’t be both (that’s a heresy in itself). Is the
Catholic Church really the true Church founded by Christ that contains the
fullness of revelation, or not? It seems politically incorrect to say this. We
want to hide beneath a false “ecumenism” and say that there are “many equal
paths to God”, as I have heard it said by leaders in the Church. But when we
get right down to it, either it is or it isn’t. And why would I want to give my
life to the Church if it is only one of many “equal paths to God”?
The
Scriptures and the Church really do make some audacious claims. Jesus is truly
the Son of God? The Pope is truly the Vicar of Christ? Missing Mass on Sunday,
when done knowingly and with full consent, is truly a mortal sin? Abortion
really is murder? These things are pretty bold, perhaps even imprudent,
definitely politically incorrect. But it is the teaching of the Church. And
when we water this down, refuse to preach and teach it, we are claiming that
our faith does not have the Truth – about life and death, about the afterlife,
about God and Jesus and our relationship to them.
And if our
Faith does not have the Truth, then why be a part of it? People of my
generation are fed up with being taught that we are a Church of “best guesses,”
and this is why many of them have left the Church. Is there any truth here at
all? If not, they will go somewhere else to seek the Truth. I have seen it over
and over again – young people leaving because they don’t believe; not believing
because they are taught that it’s not the Truth, only the opinions of a few old
cardinals in Rome
I suppose
that this past weekend’s Gospel readings really struck home with me – Jesus
says to His disciples, “I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” I believe
in an utter uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. I believe
in the Catholic Church as the One True Faith founded by Jesus Himself. I
believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist.
And I only
believe it because it is the Truth.
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