This Bad Catholic

[ 6 ] February 25, 2013 AD |

This Bad Catholic, not that Bad Catholic.  I mean come on, if you really want to spout heterodoxy, you could at least be original.  But they can’t.  Originality is Catholic.  Just like all heresies, heterodoxy is imitation.  My philosophy is “Why eat Spam when you can have the filet mignon?”

There is a difference between “faith seeking understanding” and “complacency in error.”  The former says, “I don’t completely understand, but I am willing to try, listen, and consider the Church’s teaching; She has been given the keys to the kingdom and a promise to not teach error.”  The latter says, “I hold the keys of the kingdom, I know better than Jesus, and Jesus can established a Church that gets it wrong in the places I want to get it right by me.”

In all my adult years of practicing our Faith there has never been a shortage of “I am a Catholic and choose to disbelieve some of Her core teachings; it is good for you, too, to be as complacent and mediocre as possible.”

© kraska - Fotolia.com

© kraska – Fotolia.com

Of course, it is easy to be Catholic in those times that we agree with the Church.  But I want a Church to be right when I am wrong.  It has been when I am wrong that I have gotten it dead wrong and I desire life to the fullest.

Here is something I do not understand.  It is not like the Church has this physical force that compels people to be Catholic.  It is not like the Holy Father has some kind of special wand that takes over our mind and makes us practice our Faith.  Rather, the Church is the beacon of freedom.  There is not a government or military leader in the world that is not jealous of Her.  The Church is the largest free association on the face of the planet.  With Her freedom, she saved Western Civilization from barbarians, originated universities, started hospitals (yes, like the first ones), opened schools all over the world, raised orphans, and helped widows.  That list is only the corporeal works of mercy.  There are still the spiritual works that She has in Her treasury, sanctifying souls.  She does all this on a global scale with free people.  There is no compulsion, in fact it is a sin to force a person convert.

What causes someone that was baptized Catholic to revolt against the Church and demand She change when the Church only desires that a person freely practice their Faith?  I know, the Nicole Pandolfo’s of our culture are the missionary field, but it does get frustrating to read an article by a person that openly rejects the Church and continues to bask in her misinformed choice by even dropping the logical fallacy of “Appeal to a Misleading Authority” when she writes “I happen to live in close vicinity to a church where the priest in charge shares many of my unorthodox views, to the dismay of some in his congregation.”

What are your thoughts?  How to we reach out to the Catholics that are fine with consciously violating Church teaching and their own person?  How do you deal with these kinds of situations?  Surely you handle them with much more charity and grace than I, so please share your thoughts.

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Category: Life, Religion

About the Author ()

J.Q. lives in the country of Texas with his wife Denise, a Southern Belle from Trinidad and Tobago, and his three children. He holds two graduate degrees from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, an MBA and Master of Science in Organizational Leadership, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Having taught for five years in Catholic education, he now works in the construction industry in Victoria, TX. He is a parishioner of Holy Family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Parish in the Diocese of Victoria.
  • Leah

    There is a really interesting comment after the very first article you linked from “this bad Catholic”. It follows:

    “Benedict XV said in Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum: “There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of
    Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim “Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,” only let him endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself.” Many of us endeavor to be “Catholic” in terms of what that means to us.”

    I find the misreading and application of this papal quote exactly what the problem of cafeteria Catholics is; they do not read the line “only let him endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself” as a challenge, but rather a permissive escape. They read it in a relativistic way of what it means to us, not what it means to all Catholics. They seen no problem in personally defining a word to fit their needs.

    That quote is wonderful in that it is meant as a challenge to live a life worthy of the title we have chosen for ourselves, Catholics. It challenges us to live up to the teachings and precepts of our communal faith and challenges us not to draw boundaries around people based on superficial human differences. It says that those who are in practice of this faith together are all worthy of the name Christian Catholic regardless of differences. But it is the practice of the faith that makes us one. And we must gently challenge those are most like us superficial ways to see and understand that we are more united with our brothers and sisters from different places and cultures who share in practice than those that simply share a national anthem. When they can begin to see that people from very diverse places are united as the Body of Christ only when they agree upon a Creed and live it out does the Church truly prosper and have the positive effects they are tricking themselves into believing they are bringing solely in their disobedience.

  • V

    Hrm. I come from a long line of converts. My father believed in all the Church’s teachings *except* the hierarchy. But, his teaching meant that I took the hierarchy seriously, because he never taught me to hate the hierarchy. My mom used to hate the Church– spouted evil about it every day.

    Back then, the orthodox Catholics I knew (without words) contraindicated every word she said. They were not stupid joiners who did not want to think. Indeed, the more orthodox of those I knew were rather fond of thinking. And they were kind and gracious, and helped me out when those “freethinkers” who “believed in love” were mere fair-weather friends.

    However I was a weird one, who always believed that there had to be a real Truth behind everything, and that God really was there, even if I was wildly wrong in guessing what He was about, before I came home to orthodox Catholicism.

    Truth be told, unless a cultural Catholic secretly believes in Truth with a capital “T”, there is very little we can say or do to give them pause to think about their choices. All we can do is pray, and be good neighbors. Perhaps, in time, they will wonder what we have that they do not, and discover that the Big Empty in their heart can’t be satisfied by the World. Once they discover that it can only be filled by God, He will be there to welcome them– whether we are there to witness it or not.

    If it can happen to me, It can happen to anyone.

  • Stilbelieve

    Hold the mirror up of the Lord’s prayer and the Profession of Faith and ask them if they truly believe what they pray for and profess to believe in the Creed said in Mass after the Gospel and Homily. In the Lord’s Prayer they pray for God’s will be done on earth and not to be led into temptation. Catholics are the single, largest supportors of the pro-abortion party. Yet, those same Catholics pray for God’s will to be done on earth. Do those Catholics who joined the Democrat Party believe God creates life for it to be aborted before it ever leaves the womb? Can they name any prudential judgment issue that is more important the the gift of life God has created?

  • Stilbelieve

    Hold the mirror up to the Lord’s prayer and the Profession of Faith and ask them if they truly believe what they pray for and profess to believe in the Creed said in Mass after the Gospel and Homily. In the Lord’s Prayer they pray for God’s will be done on earth and not to be led into temptation. Catholics are the single, largest supporters of the pro-abortion party. Yet, those same Catholics pray for God’s will to be done on earth. Do those Catholics who joined the Democrat Party believe God creates life for it to be aborted before it ever leaves the womb? Can they name any prudential judgment issue that is more important than the gift of life God has created?

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  • http://maryctillotson.blogspot.com/ Mary C. Tillotson

    Very recently, I finished Ralph McInerny’s “What Went Wrong With Vatican II?” I highly, highly recommend this for those interested in evangelizing former Catholics and Catholic-except-this-or-that Catholics. He gets to the root of what we’re dealing with today: ultimately, a “crisis” of authority and a new “permission” to reject certain teachings if we choose to disagree. I had always heard that “Humanae Vitae dropped on the world like a bomb” but I had no idea what kind of a bomb. Holy smokes. We’re talking full-page ads in the New York Times signed by prominent theologians outlining their dissent.

    The book isn’t long, and it’s easy to read, meant for non-theologians. Understanding the roots of the problem helped me to understand the fruit we’re dealing with today.

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