Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I am still a (Christian) because...

Being an employee of the Catholic Church, I have managed to accumulate a number of priestly facebook friends.  A number of these Catholic Priests are exceptionally young for their profession, (they're in their 20's & 30's whereas the average age for a priest these days is about 65 - no joke), and seem to be feeling very exposed/vulnerable over the sex scandals of the Vatican.  For whatever reason, a few of them have been fiercely facebooking any little tidbit of information which defends their faith.  And really, who can blame them?  If someone attacks my very way of life, I'm going to do my damnedest to defend my beliefs as well.

Anyway, Fr Adam made a very poignant remark today which went like this:


I am still a Catholic because if these scandals shook my faith in the Church, then I would also have to abandon all my confidence in the school system, the medical profession, the boy Scouts, sports, the family, etc; for one can find at least as much scandalous behaviour in those as well. Plus, our saint to sinner ratio still beats them all.
Attached to this was a link to a National Post article (which I thought overly wordy, but still worth a read).

Anyway, I like what Fr Adam has to say, and it reminds me of a quote I once heard - "The Church is a whore, and yet, she is my mother."  No one really knows who said the quote, but St Augustine generally gets credit for it.

The Church is a whore.  It is flawed and dirty and sinful.  It makes mistakes and doesn't always have a very good reputation.

And yet, she is my mother.  The church, despite all of its flaws, has raised me and nurtured me and taught me everything I know about the glory of God.  There is still good to be found within the church, and that is why I keep going back.
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4 comments:

  1. dave4/27/10, 12:53 PM

    I like you. :)

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  2. Aimer4/27/10, 1:19 PM

    Tony Campolo has some very interesting arguments for the institutional church which also reflect this Augustine quote:

    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/mayweb-only/118-22.0.html

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  3. Solarraediation4/27/10, 2:19 PM

    I love what Fr Adam wrote! Our churches are going to be full of problems because they are made up of people who are sinful. There are going to be problems, scandals, and sin. As Christians I think we are more likely to recognize and point out our own sin, which leaves us more open to those who want to make us look bad and spread word of our sins around the world.

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  4. Anonymous5/27/10, 3:02 PM

    We need churches in North American until a less delusional system of maintaining moral behavior establishes itself separated from the government. A few scandals won't change that - the reason the scandals ring more loudly than sports or schools is because people are already becoming smarter and realizing religion is but a crutch for the weak minded. The scandal gives another reason for extra scrutiny.

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