The Catholic Church Doesn't Have Sides

1 Corinthian’s 1: 10-11 (NAB) 

I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. 

I once heard one priest say that another priest who is a public figure was either left or right wing, and that he was the opposite. I thought that was unfortunate because the Catholic Church doesn’t have wings. It can’t.

The Catholic Church has something that a lot of the world thinks is a myth. Absolute truth. If we can’t definitively claim that what we believe is true, then why should other people join us by believing in and following Jesus the way that we do?

The challenging thing about absolute truth is that if you disagree with it, you’re wrong. That’s what a lot of people don’t like about it, and why they want to think it’s just an ideal of the past.

This is why people in the Church can’t be left or right wing, liberal or conservative, traditional or progressive. That implies that there are two ways of believing in the truth, or even a spectrum, like in politics, that is still in accord with the whole. If you think that the teachings of the Catholic Church are wrong or need to be updated to 2018’s standards, you’re basically wrong because you’re going against the truth. That’s hard to hear. But keep reading.

We know through Jesus’ teachings that men aren’t perfect, including the men of God who have lead the church for 2000 years. But we have also been told that we need to trust them because they are the people Jesus has chosen to lead us. In Jesus’ life, he started the Catholic Church when he said in Matthew 16:18 (NAB),

“And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus wants us to follow the teachings of the Church which he has given us in the Bible and through amazing men and women who had a deep understanding of God. Over the centuries both ordinary and extraordinary people, not just men, also many women, have contributed a lot of substance to the teachings of the Church.

Over 2000-or-so years, the Catholic Church’s teachings have essentially solidified. If you wanted to, you could probably read Church doctrine 24/7 for the rest of your life. The Catholic Church has so many teachings about so many things that are not meant to burden us, but rather to direct us down the “narrow path” that leads towards Heaven.

In 2018 Catholics need to “be united in the same mind and in the same purpose” as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians. The Catholic Church has a lot of truth to get behind, and if we who claim Catholicism choose not to believe in parts of it, the world will see it and suppose that either the Catholic Church is divided or that you can be Catholic and disagree with what the Church says is true.

I used to disagree with the Church on certain things. I never believed in Purgatory through my youth. I thought it was really strange that instead of going straight to Heaven or Hell after death, those who would be saved would have to go through additional purification. After a lot of discussions with fellow Catholics in college, I knew that I had to accept the Church’s teaching on it because, as a Catholic, I have to accept all of the teachings of the Church, especially the ones I don’t like.

When we receive communion at Mass we say “Amen.” With that word we are saying “I believe.” We are not only saying that we believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, saying "Amen" also means that we believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church, including the ones we may have objections to.

As “the world” wants Catholics and all Christians to compromise on the truth, specifically on our morals, in order to fit the “modern” way of doing and believing, let’s be united within the truth. We know we have it, we just have to get behind it, and all of it, especially the parts we don’t like, and the parts our culture hates.