When I came to my Catholic faith, one of the biggest ideas I had during RCIA was how naïve I was. Incredible, right? Not so really. My other idea was this: Was Jesus so wrong and short-sited that He didn’t know the church He was leaving behind would fall into wickedness, apostasy, and not be reformed until over 1500 years later by a priest who wanted to marry a nun?
Martin Luther was right in wanting to reform the Catholic Church, because it did need a reformation, in the strictest sense of the word. Corruption, state deals, the selling of indulgences, and members of the Church who were corrupted in other ways, all needed to go. That would make the Church “reformed”, without changing any of her teachings, but cleansing the members within the body. But, unfortunately history has gotten it wrong. Instead of calling what Martin Luther and his predecessors did as a “revolt”, or the “Protestant Revolt”, history and peoples have termed it the “Protestant Reformation”, which is inaccurate, because they reformed nothing. They threw the baby out with the bathwater.
"How I hate this folly of not believing in the Eucharist, etc.! If the gospel be true, if Jesus Christ be God, what difficulty is there?"
Pascal
But what about those Christians who existed up until 1500 A.D., who followed the oral and written traditions of the Church, partook in the sacraments, worshipped Jesus as God-made-man, understood that priests, bishops, and the pope were required against heresies and false teachings, led a devout life of prayer, abstinence, and almsgiving, understood the Church required apostolic tradition to be authentic? Was not only Jesus wrong, but all those who came into the church He established on earth? Why would a just God allow such a thing to happen? Why would He not come in swiftly to correct an incorrect Church, especially if it is His own?
This idea of all being wrong after Christ established His Church on earth, and all getting it right after a priest with an ulterior motive got it right over 1500 years later has me scratching my head. But, what about those religions that sprung up in the 1800’s that proclaim they are the “reformed” Church of Christ? Now, we are to believe that Jesus was even dumber than we thought before, because instead of Him getting it right the first time, or the second time through a fallen-away priest who wanted to marry, we are expected to believe God has finally reestablished His church on earth through modern Christian or pseudo-Christian churches that don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus, or believe in the divinity of themselves, among other strange teachings.
It’s not my intention to pick on anyone, that is why I left denominational titles out of this post, because I have met some very holy members of many Christian and pseudo-Christian faiths, and it’s not my intention to make enemies with my Protestant brothers and sisters, who are followers of the same Lord as I am. But, I wanted to share something that dawned on me as I was becoming a member of the Church that has been on earth since the first Pentecost.
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
Flannery O'Connor
This Church and her beliefs are found in the writings of the early Church Fathers throughout the first 600 years A.D., supporting the many beliefs, practices, sacraments, and traditions we still have today. She is only changed culturally around the world, but not doctrinally anywhere. We do not come up with new beliefs that fit our lifestyles, but instead form ourselves to the supreme authority and demand of God. When the entire Protestant world in the 1930’s caved to the secular demand for contraception in America, the Catholic Church stood alone in opposition, and still does today, and will always.
The consistence of the Catholic faith is what really convinced me (among other things). Is not God the most consistent of all since He is truth, and truth cannot err? Then why would not His Church also be consistent? The consistency of the Catholic faith over so many generations proves that she has our Blessed Lord leading and guiding her throughout all the ages. She stands by and watches the formation and destruction of kingdoms. She even watched the construction of America, and sadly, she will observe the death of America in time.
So, if you are a Christian today, you might be surprised to find that you may have been a Catholic in the year 1500 A.D., and you would have thought it to be unreasonable to be anything else.
God’s love be with you!
-Travis
(Afternote: I got roughly double the amount of hits for my review of a television show than I do for theological or spiritual matters…. It’s difficult to be Catholic1.net if people prefer to read about sitcoms!)
This is very good Travis. Well thought out and well written. It just goes to show what fickle creatures man truly is. I love the point you made about the “reformation.” That was excellent. As far as your last sentence, that also goes to show where the heart of man is. TV can truly become an idol to us, if we are not careful. I really enjoyed this post and thanks for sharing it with us. God Bless, SR
As regards to the hearts of men..I would not like to see statistics on the top searched items on Google, that is for sure! God love you SR! Have a wonderful day.
Catholicism is the only Christian Faith . They are lead in worship By the Pope who was given the Keys to Heaven From Jesus . Through Apostolic sescucsion From Peter the First Pope they worship Jesus, And thru The Holy Tradition Of the Saints formed the Biblical doctrines, Such as the Trinity, Sunday service, Easter, And Christmas teach Grace alone for salvation, Did not remove books From the Bible but preserved the writings of the Jewish Old testament which the protestants threw out , Catholics want to worship Jesus with all 5 of their senses .Music for the ears,Incense for the nose,Statues and art for the eyes,Please pray a sincere prayer with all of your heart admitting to Jesus you are a sinner. Have full faith that His blood pays off all of your sins and accept His gift of everlasting life. And give your confession to a Priest Jesus never said to confess your sins to either him Or to the Father pray that God blesses you with peace. AmenThe truth is that Jesus is God, and Jesus loves you so very much! Say this PrayerLord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.O Divine Master,grant that I may not so much seek to be consoledas to console;to be understood, as to understand;to be loved, as to love;for it is in giving that we receive,it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Fantastic post, well written and well thought out. I have had many of the same thoughts when I started my conversion. Growing up Lutheran I always struggled with the fact that the foundations of the faith started in 1500, what existed before that was always glossed over when I asked questions.
It was the same case when I first converted to the baptist church; the history of the church began and ended with the gospels and Paul’s letters. Church history and the Church fathers and early Christians were never topics of discussion for some reason, which in truth is intellectually dishonest. It is amazing how much scripture all comes together as soon as you are Catholic. Nothing ever again is ambiguous. Thank you so much for taking the time to read, and God bless!
Most of the money is kept by either by the caonmpy that is donating the money or it goes to the politicians who receive the rest. Greed is what takes place so keep your money to yourself and don’t trust anyone except your family hopefully and your gut.References : Everyone is giving money to the Poor African people and I don’t see any progress taking place. Greed greed greed that is all I can say. If youy want to help donate your time to the starving Americans in this country the wealthiest country on the earth. And 2 % owns most of it. Yes It is sad but true.