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A cherub holding the keys of St. Peter and one holding up a papal tiara can be seen in this close-up photograph of the wooden canopy of the baldachin over the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.
CNS photo/Fabbrica di San Pietro
August 20, 2024
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OSV News photo/Sam Lucero
Have you ever been tempted to leave the Catholic Church? Don’t. Ever. For any reason. Why not? Because: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus, “There is no salvation outside the Catholic Church” – meaning that Jesus gave us the Catholic Church as His instrument of grace and salvation on earth, to further His mission till the end of time. If someone who is not Catholic or even Christian goes to Heaven, it is still through the saving grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. You can’t separate Our Lord Jesus Christ from His Church, the Bridegroom from His Bride.
Now. Why would one want to leave the Catholic Church in the first place? There are countless reasons. Many of them “good.” Today, the revelation of clergy sex abuse is a big reason. But there is another more recent problem: heterodox ideas coming from the hierarchy that confuse the faithful. We have never really seen this in such a widespread manner. It makes people doubt: “But I thought the Pope was infallible.” Yes. When he speaks ex cathedra, which is very rarely. “Why don’t the bishops and priests teach clearly and uniformly anymore?” If that is the case, we have 2,000 years of Magisterial Teaching, Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Bible. “But the Bible says that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church!” Exactly. Prevail. It’s not over yet.
Our times were prophesied by the approved Marian apparitions of La Salette, France (1846), and Akita, Japan (1973). “You will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops….” There is no denying that those who represent and lead the Catholic Church are more and more divided on important doctrinal issues—even on matters long settled. So, to whom should we listen? Jesus Christ, our Divine Teacher, and those who keep the ancient Catholic Faith.
No can change the Catholic Faith. No one can change the truth. It’s simple. Distressing to witness, but simple to resolve for ourselves. The onus is put back upon each of us to know, live and love our Catholic Faith, with a big emphasis on “know.” “My people perish for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).Never underestimate the power of fuzzy. The truth, instead, slaps us upside the head with its preciseness—refreshing and bracing. What if you find yourself still confused on certain issues, their subtleties and nuances? Do more research. The Catholic truth is out there. Ask faithful, learned priests and laity. Pray for enlightenment and discernment.
If you’re ever tempted to leave the Catholic Church, do this instead: hang on to your Bible, rosary, Catechism, scapular and sacramentals. Sit tight, stay put, read amazing Catholic books, frequent the Sacraments and pray much. If others are out to change what cannot be changed, they will not be ultimately successful.
Only the Catholic Church has the Primacy of Peter. Only the Catholic Church has the fullness of God’s truth. Every Catholic needs to study Christology, Mariology and ecclesiology because we can’t understand one without the others. Pope Pius XII wrote a wonderful encyclical on the Church: “Mystici Corporis” (On the Mystical Body of Christ). Fulton Sheen wrote a book with the same English title. The CCC has a whole section on the nature of the Church. The Church is not a human institution but a divine one, with a divine constitution. She is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic. The Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God on earth. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life” (John 6:68).
When Matthew Kelly’s organization, “Dynamic Catholic,” asked me to fly out and be interviewed on the topic, “Don’t Leave the Church,” I declined saying: “I can’t leave my mother” (for whom I’m a fulltime caregiver). And then it hit me. Exactly! We don’t leave the Church because: We. Can’t. Leave. Our. Mother.
If she is covered with mud and mockery, know that Holy Mother Church is always underneath, pure and spotless, administering to her children with tender care…no matter what slings and arrows are foisted at her from within or without. The Church has always been made up of great saints and great sinners, the wheat and the tares. The harvest is yet to come.
(Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, FSP, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. HellBurns.com Twitter: @srhelenaburns #medianuns)
A version of this story appeared in the August 25, 2024, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Leaving the Church is abandoning your Mother".
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