It’s becoming harder to discern the truth in a world that has mastered manipulation and deception. Deepfake videos and photoshopped photos can alter our perceived reality and make it hard to know what to believe. Scammers use phishing emails and text messages to try to get us to give away personal information under the guise of being a legit business. People also like to bend the truth in order to best get what they want. The end result is that we are often very skeptical of everything and everyone.
The Catholic Church is no stranger to skepticism. Over the years, the original Christian religion has seen many factions split off and create their own religion. Ultimately, the reason factions have split from the Church is because of skepticism and unbelief. We like our religion, but we also have it our way. In a world of customization, many get accustomed to personalizing everything to fit their own needs and wants. However, when personalization waters down the truth, it’s not a good thing. People are continuing to leave the Church and are abandoning their faith for one reason or another.
I have had the luxury of seeing close to 100 different Catholic Churches in my travels. Some churches are full of life and others dying and sparsely attended. One church seems to have it all, a beautiful building, good preaching, good music and another is not very attractive with bad preaching and poor music selection. However, the one thing that they all have in common is the structure of the Mass and the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The real presence, however, is not enough to keep people going to Mass because many doubt that Jesus is truly present in the sacrament of Eucharist.
Many good people doubt the necessity of going to Mass and also don’t believe receiving the sacrament of reconciliation is necessary. They don’t see missing Mass as a big deal and then by not believing in the necessity of reconciliation, end up in a bad spiritual place. If we can’t spend one hour of week in the presence of Jesus, why would our soul choose to spend eternity in His presence? The Catholic Church doesn’t just get its teachings from the Bible, but from the sacred tradition passed down throughout history. Doubting the teachings of the Church is akin to disregarding the advice of an expert electrician and wiring our house on our own. It may work out in our favor, but it could easily end in disaster.
Many Christians are skeptical that sex outside of marriage is bad. This creates a culture that doesn’t place an importance on commitment and causes deeper hurt feelings when the relationship doesn’t work. It also creates a culture that is more likely to consider the creation of a new life as an inconvenience than a blessing.
While it’s good to be skeptical of certain things and of people we don’t know, we need to be able to put our trust in someone or something. If there is anything we should trust, it should be the Church Jesus left for us. The Catholic Church is comprised of many different people, some of whom can cause us to lose faith through their inappropriate actions. Don’t let the actions of a few priests, deacons, or bishops cause us to lose faith in our beautiful Church. In any organization, there will be bad, corrupt, and immoral people. There will also be good, noble, and holy people as well. It’s not fair to the good people who are trying to help us, to give up our faith because of the bad people. In Genesis chapter 18, Abraham bargains with God to try to save the good people in Sodom. He ends up asking God that if there are ten good people, will He save the city for the sake of the ten. God says that He will save them if He finds ten good people. We need to have the same mercy in regards to the Church. The Catholic Church has so many good people and such a great tradition that we should try to focus on getting rid of the scammers who sow doubt and the weeds who try to choke the life from the Church.
Jesus, I trust in You!
