There are many instances in our lives when we make things more complicated then we need to. This is especially true when it comes to defending the Catholic faith from all the attacks the modern world has made on the Faith. We are in a war and this fact can make us lose sight of what is most important about the Faith; Jesus died to save us all from our sins.
Many of our discussion about the faith are either on hot button issues like homosexuality, contraception, abortion, women priests, divorce and remarriage, etc or doctrinal issues like the Real Presence, the Communion of Saints, Mary’s position in the Church, etc. While all of these things are important we should keep in mind that the most important thing is that Christ died for all of us. We are all sinners but Jesus looks past our sin and sees our worth so when entering into discussions with others we must not condemn them, even if they have a misunderstanding about the Faith. We should treat everyone with respect and love while doing our best to live the teachings of the Faith and thus be witnesses to the truth of Catholicism by our actions, not just our words. This will do far more to help people see the beauty of the Faith then hundreds of arguments and condemnations.
The early Christians were recognized by everyone because they were witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ. They were so overjoyed that Jesus had died for their sins that they could not contain themselves. They travelled all over the Roman Empire on foot telling everyone what Jesus had done for them and for everyone. They even went to their deaths singing praises to God. These early Christians had no fear of persecution or death because they knew that they were saved. Their only desire was to be witnesses of Christ’s love. Their joy and love drew people to the faith by the hundreds, even in the midst of harsh persecution. We should model our lives after these heroic martyrs and show the modern world the joy of being Catholic. Everywhere we go we can show we are Catholics by our love, compassion and joy. Even something simple like smiling can be a witness to the world.
Everything we do in public or in private should bring ourselves and others closer to Christ. The motto for Catholics is; “Christ must increase and I must decrease so that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Christ is the light of the world so let Christ shine through you and light up the darkness we are living in. Love is stronger then death and the only commandments Jesus gives us are to love God above everything and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We must not make the Faith more complicated then it needs to be. We live in a very busy world where no one has time for anything extra, so by making the simple complex we are pushing people away. We should go back to basics. Read the lives and histories of the early Church and see what it was about those men and women that drew so many people to the Catholic Church that it grew from a small Jewish sect to the official religion of the Roman Empire. We believe the same things the early Christians did. We believe in the same Jesus who is Lord and Savior of all. What we need to do is find ways to be witnesses for Christ in the world we live in.
As individuals, or even as parish communities, we cannot win the culture war by ourselves. It doesn’t matter how intelligent we are or how many philosophical arguments we have to justify Catholic teachings. Ultimately it is only God who can change hearts and minds. God may use us in various ways to promote the faith, but the most important thing we can do is to pray and fast, asking God to heal our brokenness; both as individuals and in the wider culture. This is a God-sized problem and we are deceiving ourselves if we think we can fix the culture alone. If God is for us nothing can stand against us. God has promised that the gates of Hell shall not prevail over His Church so we can have confidence that we will not lose this culture war, but we may need to change our tactics and join together in pray. Some of the most powerful ways to pray include; celebrating the sacraments especially reconciliation and the Eucharist, attending mass (even daily mass when you can), going to adoration, praying the Rosary daily, and having an active prayer life at home. All of these things help us to build a personal relationship with Jesus and be witnesses to his saving death on the Cross.
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