ENTERING UNDER GOD'S ROOF

A REFLECTION FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

It’s a sad by-product of the times we live in, but it seems that whenever we talk about converting the Jews, or anyone else for that matter, we feel a twinge of guilt as though we’re forcing our own will on other people.  We immediately fight the urge to blush, and remind ourselves that it’s not really our will at all, but God’s will that all people should benefit from the Redemption given them by his Son.  And yet, the nagging thought keeps coming back, often indeed reinforced by the vigorous protestations of those we would convert—that it’s just “our opinion” that the Catholic Church is the only true Church, and that they have just as much of an equal right to believe in their own religion.

 

After all, the freedom to worship God according to one’s own conscience is supposedly, according to our Constitution, one of those God-given rights with which all men are endowed.  There are times, you see, where God and the United States are not quite in agreement.  According to God, we do indeed have free will, but as we well know, that is not the equivalent of being free to do whatever we want.  It simply means that by being free, we may freely do God’s will.  Not our own will, but God’s.  We are physically able to choose to do evil, but we must never do so.  We can choose a false religion, but we must not.  And yet, how do we persuade those of another faith that this is so?

 

It all boils down to whether or not there is such a thing as objective truth.  Those who will not accept that objective truth exists are already lost, creating their own reality to fit their own lifestyle, their own prejudices, their own whims.  But moral truths are as airtight and solid as mathematical truths, and abortion, to cite just one example, is wrong just as much as one plus one equals two.  It’s wrong to take an innocent life, and there are no exceptions—not rape or incest, nor to save the life of the mother, never.  But even some Catholics have a hard time believing this simple truth.  And yet it is the truth.

 

God founded a church.  Why?  To teach us the Truth.  Truths about the nature of God, about the laws concerning moral behavior and divine worship, in short, everything we need for salvation.  So that there may be no hesitation on our part in believing her teachings, God sent the Church his Holy Spirit to guide her infallibly in all matters concerning faith and morals.  It is simply inconceivable that God would abandon us to interpret his revelations individually, without guidance.  The result would be—and is—chaos, with all religions other than the true one having no anchor in a solid objective reality.  No, we must never feel guilty about trying to bring people into the safe haven of the infallible truth.  “Speak the word only,” pleaded the pagan officer, “and my servant shall be healed.”