Dismiss the Catholic Church at your own risk

By Tom Quiner

A guy sent me a Youtube link reporting on priest abuse.

I had posted an essay on the challenge of Catholic evangelization. The smug video was his response meant to say “conversation over.”

Catholic bashing is a blood sport amongst atheists, the political Left, media, academia, and Hollywood. Their attacks have grown increasingly uncharitable, doing tremendous damage to the Catholic “brand.”

The Church deserves criticism for its handling of the abuse scandal. Most of the abuse took place in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Abusing priests were reassigned rather than released. Today we have an army of walking wounded, mostly men (80% of the victims at the time were adolescent boys). I make no excuses for the Church I love other than to offer that they have addressed the problem.

The American Church instituted tight reform which has reduced credible reports to a trickle.

What aggravates Catholics is the pass given to a serial abuser like Bill Clinton, or to public school teachers. Research on the sexual abuse taking place in our public schools reveals shocking data.

Did you know that?

Probably not, because the media doesn’t connect the dots to report on the big issue. Teachers are a protected class. So are liberal politicians. But Catholics are targets.

I’ll be honest, the Catholic Church has always had scandals. They’ve always had scumbags. There WILL be more scandals tomorrow, and next year, and the next decade.

They are inevitable because the Church is comprised of a bunch of misfits, whom Jesus characterized as sinners. I’m one of them.

Here’s the miracle of Catholicism: it has survived us sinners, yesterday, today, and even tomorrow. The Church is called the Bride of Christ. She is pristine and radiant, even though her body consists of the likes of me.

Does the Church teach the Truth? Yes, every word of it. She has been doing it for two-thousand years, and will continue to do so until Her Bridegroom, Christ, returns.

Here’s my question for honest seekers: what is the Truth?

I’m a convert from Protestantism, you know, and I scratch my head in wonderment when I hear that the Methodists vote on the meaning of truth every four years. I get really worried when I hear denominations flip flop and say that a so-called marriage between two people of the same gender is really a marriage, even though they didn’t consider it a marriage yesterday. What has changed, other than the direction of the wind?

I get concerned when I hear my Christian brothers and sisters in these various Christian sub groups tell me that life doesn’t begin at conception, and in fact, is not created in God’s image at all. After all, how could one make such a claim and still kill the life which grows at the speed of Heaven?

The Catholic Church doesn’t change its belief with the times, because Truth is immutable.

Walk into any Catholic church with me and I’ll take you up and down the pews and introduce you to one sinner after another. These are good folks, by and large. They’re struggling to live their faith the best way they know how. And yet they slip into sin, some of them in a big way.

But that is EXACTLY why our Lord, Jesus Christ, left us his Bride, the Church: His love is more beautiful and powerful than the ugliness of our sin. He has redeemed us.

He has left us with soul-nourishing sacraments, such as baptism, Eucharist, reconciliation, confirmation, marriage, holy orders, and anointing of the sick. These outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual divine grace sustain us through life’s inevitable vicissitudes. They draw us closer to the most Holy Trinity, who is our true Family.

Dismiss the Catholic Church at your own risk. You are cutting yourself off from the glorious fullness of the Truth.

[Would you do me a favor? I have launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to fund my new musical, “The Wedding at Cana.” I need you to share it with your blogging, Facebook, and Twitter friends. I need you to e-mail the link to 2 people. Let’s take this project viral! Thank-you.]