Thursday, March 1, 2012

Christ, yes! Church, no?

   I was reading a chapter from Cardinal's Timothy Dolan's book, "Doers of the Word" and ran across this chapter on "Christ and His Church":
"Christ, yes! Church, no!  This seems to be the chant these days. It seems many want a King without a kingdom, a shepherd but not a sheepfold, a general with  no army, a spiritual family where I am the only child; faith but no faithful. Believe yes, belong, no. In short,they want Christ without the Church."

   Did you realize that a quarter of people who were raised Catholic no longer consider themselves Catholic? Some seem more loyal to the baseball team they cheered on as a kid than to the Church they were baptized and raised in.

   But Jesus strictly laid it out for his followers. "I am the vine, you are the branches!" He didn't tell us we were each our own tree, looking for water and sunshine all by itself. No, we are all a part of a faith community.

  Like it or not, as Catholics, we belong to one huge community of believers. Jesus meant it to be that way or else he would have told his disciples, "Scatter, go do your own thing!" He formed them as a community, sent them in pairs to spread the Good News. They didn't spread their own good news, it was all about Jesus and his teachings.

   So, next time you are tempted to think, I am Catholic, but I don't have to believe in everything the Catholic Church teaches, or go to Mass every week or fast or forget about Lent, THINK AGAIN!

   Ya ain't part of the ballteam if you don't participate!!!

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