Stunting Our Growth in the Faith
Pope Benedict XVI in proclaiming the Year of Faith has challenged Catholics to seek a deeper understanding of their faith while at the same time deepening their relationship with Jesus Christ. Many cradle Catholics—those who were baptized as infants and were raised in the Church—have maintained their faith, but at an elementary level. What they believe and understand is what they learned in catechism as children in preparation for receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.
You wouldn’t stop learning math after grade school, would you? No. You continue learning, diving deeper into your studies as you progress through high school and perhaps college. Math is math, but you study different types of math, various applications, many ways in which you can apply what you have learned to your everyday life. At least that’s the hope. And the same is true for the studying of the faith. Catholics should not settle for an elementary level of religious education.
For this reason there is adult faith formation, bible studies, prayer groups, etc. Or if your parish doesn’t offer something like this, which is doubtful, you can still find an invaluable resource in the Catechism of the Catholic Church—a book which explains the teachings of the Church in an ordered, reasonable manner. Pick up a copy and read it. You might be surprised at the comprehensive answers it gives to most of the questions you might have about your faith. If you find the Catechism to be too dense, get a copy of the YouCat which is a version of the Catechism designed for youth.
You Can’t Explain What You Don’t Understand
The Pope is challenging you to grow in your faith, learning not just the “what”, but the “why”. There are reasons behind the teachings of the Church. As Catholics we’ve got to understand why we believe the things we do and not just settle for a blind faith.
“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”
Notice St. Peter, the first Pope, says to be ready when they ask you. He doesn’t say you have to be that annoying co-worker who won’t shut up about Jesus. You are called to preach and to share the truth of the Gospel, but if your preaching is falling on deaf ears, or worse a hardened heart, than don’t expect much. The results are not in your hands. Your words are only helpful if God, through the Holy Spirit, has helped this person to open their heart. Those who are seeking the truth, will find it.
“Saint Luke teaches that knowing the content to be believed is not sufficient unless the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person, is opened by grace that allows the eyes to see below the surface and to understand that what has been proclaimed is the word of God.”
We’re not just talking about the basics of the faith, but also those touchy subjects that Catholics ignore. They ignore them because they don’t want to face the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. These days the difficult issues to address focus mostly around the Church’s teaching on human sexuality. People figure that the Church should stay out of their bedroom. The Church doesn’t want to take away the good things in life, in fact it seeks to protect them and promote them.
Sharing the Truth with Love
The best way to approach these difficult subjects is to share the truth with love (which happens to be the title of one of the Pope’s letters to the Church – Charity in Truth or Caritas en Veritate). Pointing fingers and condemning others, sinful though they may be, isn’t going to get you anywhere. Of course, what you want is to explain what you believe, and more importantly, why you believe it.
“Truth needs to be sought, found and expressed within the ‘economy’ of charity, but charity in its turn needs to be understood, confirmed and practised in the light of truth.”
I look to the example of Jesus in this regard. He knew how to handle these issues pastorally, in a way that invited people into the truth instead of just telling them that what they were doing was wrong. When the woman caught in adultery is brought to Him to be condemned to death for her sin by the scribes and the Pharisees, He does the opposite. He handles the situation with love, forgiving the woman’s sin, but exhorting her to “sin no more” (Jn 8). He is in no way ignoring the fact that what she was doing is sinful, but He is inviting her to reconcile her relationship with God.
The important thing to remember here is that when you really love someone—not just love as a physical emotion, but love as a conscious decision of the will—then you are willing to risk telling them the truth, even if they are not willing to hear it. This applies especially to family and close friends, who you don’t want to see going down the wrong path and are usually more drawn to share the truth with. You don’t want to “get in their business” but you want what’s best for them.
The “Yes” Not the “No”
Your approach in sharing the teaching of the Church is that you have to share the truth, keeping in mind that the truth might cause emotional pain or distress to the person you are sharing it with. That’s why it is better to share the “yes” and not the “no”. This concept of focusing on the positive aspect of a specific Church teaching was coined “affirmative orthodoxy” by Catholic journalist John Allen.
For example, when confronted with the arguments in favor of abortion, you don’t just call your pro-choice opponent a “sinner” and “baby-killer”—true though it is—rather you share with them that you believe, the Church believes, that all life has value and should be protected and nurtured at every stage of development from the moment of conception to natural death.
Notice there wasn’t any negativity or hostility in the latter response. You shared the true teaching of the Church and you did it with love in a non-judgmental way. The person you are sharing with has less of a reason to attack you or to get defensive when you take this positive approach. Next time you are faced with a question about your faith, or specifically the teachings of the Church, view it as an opportunity to share the truth with someone who wants to understand it.
What difficult issues or touchy subjects do you shy away from when discussing your faith with others?