Why not just be Catholic first?

Recent posts of mine here on Catholic365 have brought out violent anger from an extremely small, but extremely loud, number of far-right-wing conservatives and far-left-wing liberals…and one former Catholic (I’m still trying to figure that one out too!). I’m puzzled as to why they’d rather be conservatives or liberals first, which begs the question I posed in the title of this post; in terms of their spiritual lives, why not just be Catholic first?

Fortunately, I’ve been able to see through the close-minded agendas of both extremes, and I’ve seen firsthand how dangerous both extremes can be to the Church. Over the course of my life as a Catholic, I’ve noticed some distinctions between far-right-wing conservative Catholics and far-left-wing liberal Catholics.

-far-right-wing conservative Catholics tend to obsessively focus on, and complain about, valid Church practices they don’t like. They’ll complain about things like female altar servers and Communion in the hand, while missing out on the awesome miracle taking place on the altar during the Consecration! Those who come to Mass and do nothing but complain about valid Church practices taking place, have come to Mass for the wrong reasons!

They also tend to obsessively focus on “the rules” regarding the Catholic life. There’s nothing wrong with administrative rules and regulations to properly govern our lives as Catholics. However, the “don’t do this” things of our faith must be balanced with the “do these things” of our faith.

Regarding life issues; they tend to call themselves “pro-life”, yet many of them have no problem with the legal assassination of prisoners on death row by the government (AKA, the death penalty), thus denying these prisoners the opportunity for repentance of their sins/crimes. This issue was addressed by St John Paul II in his encyclical EVANGELIUM VITAE ;

“It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”

Opposing abortion while supporting the death penalty doesn’t make them pro-life; it makes them anti-abortion, and there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s all they are! They just need to be honest enough to admit it.

Far-left-wing liberal Catholics tend to take vaguely written documents regarding Church practices and turn them into something that was never meant to be! For example, they’re mostly the ones you see imitating the priest by extending their arms and hands (known as the Orans posture) during The Lord’s Prayer, or holding hands with each other, neither of which is allowed by the Rubrics. When questioned on these made-up practices, they’ll reply “well, the Church doesn’t prohibit it”. It’s not that the Church doesn’t prohibit it; it’s that the Church hasn’t called for these practices to even be done in the first place! They’re thinking like Americans instead of Catholics in this regard. Far-left-wing liberals are shocked when they encounter resistance in trying to introduce practices such as these in their parishes.

They also tend to obsessively focus on the social gospel (feeding the hungry, clothe the naked, etc), while ignoring the proper and valid administrative rules governing our lives as Catholics. In their case, they fail to balance the “do these things” of our faith with the “don’t do this” things of our faith.

Regarding life issues; far-left-wing liberals love defending prisoners on death row, yet have no problem with unborn babies being ripped out of the uterus of their mother piece by piece for the sake of “choice”, even though the scientific and medical evidence proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that what a pregnant woman is carrying in her uterus is a real, living, human being! As a result, they can’t call themselves “pro-life” either!

Both extremes, however, do have at least one thing in common. They both appear to be obsessed with the issue of homosexuality, but for different reasons. Neither side, it appears, accepts official Church teachings regarding the issue of homosexuality as it’s explicitly spelled out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church!

So to the “church militant” far-right-wing conservatives; stop trying to fight the Magisterium over valid practices you don’t like! Quibbling over valid Mass practices will only cause you to overlook the important doctrinal stuff taking place at Mass…like the Consecration! And stop making up non-existent problems within the Church; we have enough real problems already to deal with! Just because I survived post-Vatican II catechetical experimentation in my childhood doesn’t mean I’m now one of you!

And to the “call to action” far-left-wing liberals; stop making stuff up that we’re not allowed to do! You can’t pick and choose what you want to believe, or not believe! Last time I checked, the Code of Canon Law doesn’t require Catholics to LIKE what the Church teaches, but we must BELIEVE what it teaches! Fortunately, I survived the post-Vatican II catechetical experimentation you people subjected me to during my childhood; many of my peers did not.

Both extremes have wonderful and faithful people, so please toss aside your close-minded ideological agendas and let’s all be Catholics FIRST! And let the REAL Holy Spirit (NOT your interpretation of Him!) lead the Church through the valid and God-given authority of the Pope and Bishops in union with him!