The Catholic Church is my home, my holy mother, my family, my teacher, and my guide towards Jesus. You can’t measure Her value to the world because you cannot measure the importance of what one Holy Mass does by bringing God to man, and man to God. You cannot measure the importance of bringing someone into the holy family of believers through baptism, to confirm them with the Holy Spirit, to forgive them their offenses and offer a chance to restart and recommit to God, to unite man and woman in holy marriage, to ordain men to the priesthood to become ministers to the rest, to seal people in the faith for healing and their final journey towards heaven, and most importantly, to transform humble bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
The Apostles knew this, all of the saints knew this, Blessed Mother Teresa knew this, Blessed Pope John Paul II knew this, Pope Benedict XVI knows this, and so now I know this. I know this because millions have gone before me in the faith, and I would be a fool not to listen to the wisdom that almost 2,000 years has produced in the art of living called Catholicism.
The Apostles knew this, all of the saints knew this, Blessed Mother Teresa knew this, Blessed Pope John Paul II knew this, Pope Benedict XVI knows this, and so now I know this. I know this because millions have gone before me in the faith, and I would be a fool not to listen to the wisdom that almost 2,000 years has produced in the art of living called Catholicism.
Jesus did not die on the cross for me to ignore the witness that his Apostles gave of his life, death, and resurrection.
The martyrs did not suffer at the hands of cruel men for me to ignore the burning love of their faith.
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Martin, St. Hilary, St. John Chrysostom, St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril, St. Nicholas, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc. didn’t dedicate their lives and their genius to defining the Orthodoxy of Christianity (in other words correct thought or sound doctrine) for me to pretend that I’m the first to encounter tough questions that need answering.
It seems to me that the so-called “progressives” of the Church do, in fact, ignore the teachings and witness of the saints and martyrs. Part of it comes from the mindset that I grew up with, that before Vatican II the Church was completely horrible and awful, and after Vatican II it’s all fixed and good, as if a new Church was created by the council and the 1,900+ years that came before it had nothing to offer. That’s not what Vatican II was at all, and nor is the Church today a different one from the 13th Century or the 5th Century or the 1st Century.
The problem with the “progressives” is that they’re not actually progressive at all. It’s like if we’re at the edge of a thick woods and we want to get to the other side. Someone has cut a path through it that will guarantee we make it to the other side. The orthodox takes the path and enjoys the adventure of making his/her way through the dangerous woods, knowing they’re eventually going to emerge triumphantly on the other side. The “progressive” puts a blindfold on and starts feeling their way through the brush and trees trying to make their own path, never knowing if they’re going forward, left, right, or backward. Really it’s the orthodox that is the true progressive because they actually make it to their destination. Thank God we’ve had two amazing popes in a row who positively affirmed the joy of orthodoxy.
The problem with the “progressives” is that they’re not actually progressive at all. It’s like if we’re at the edge of a thick woods and we want to get to the other side. Someone has cut a path through it that will guarantee we make it to the other side. The orthodox takes the path and enjoys the adventure of making his/her way through the dangerous woods, knowing they’re eventually going to emerge triumphantly on the other side. The “progressive” puts a blindfold on and starts feeling their way through the brush and trees trying to make their own path, never knowing if they’re going forward, left, right, or backward. Really it’s the orthodox that is the true progressive because they actually make it to their destination. Thank God we’ve had two amazing popes in a row who positively affirmed the joy of orthodoxy.
My generation of Catholics is tired of the mistakes made in the 1970’s and 80’s that did away with the vast, rich, textured history of the Church and fell into the pitfalls of modernism, relativism, hedonism, and individualism. We want the Church that boldly proclaims the Truth for all to hear, and the love of Christ that takes you where you are, but doesn’t leave you there, instead it converts and transforms your heart and brings you into His everlasting glory. We want to think with the mind of the Church, because she is smart and not dumb or ignorant, because she values faith and reason. We want to love the Church and build her up by living authentic Catholic lives that challenge society rather than the very tenants of our faith, which we hold so dear. We’re tired of the age of blind and ignorant dissent, and wholeheartedly accept the teachings of Holy Mother Church, using every bit of our intellectual knowledge to do so and to understand them better. As a part of the New Evangelization of the Church, we are doing that. We are the Church here and now and we are not waiting for a later time to do it, because there is no more exciting time than the present to be a True Catholic. Our battle cry is Christ crucified and risen, and we’ve tethered our minds to His truth, freed from the lies.
Written by: Marty Arlinghaus
