1 Timothy 3:15 states: "But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth."
Are you getting tired of those whose panties are in a wad about the Catholic Church defending her right not only to not be forced to provide free contraceptives to women, but to simply have a moral code at all? In the last few days I've seen people refer to the Church's stance as "propaganda," "institutionalized dogmatic preaching," and "myopic rhetoric."
News alert: The Church is not a group of people who affirm that I'm OK and you're OK. The Church's primary reason for existence is not to provide you with warm fuzzies and fellowship. The Church is a Divine institution, begun by Jesus Christ, and it is the Mystical Body of Christ, who IS the Way, the TRUTH and the Life. The Mystical Body of Christ can no more cease proclaiming TRUTH than Jesus Christ can cease BEING Truth.
What is the pillar and foundation of Truth? The CHURCH. The mission of the Church, therefore, is the spreading of the Gospel and the keeping of Jesus' command to go out into the world doing the things He commanded be done: baptize, forgive sins, offer the Mass, and so on and so forth. All of the wonderful things the Church does in its corporal and spiritual works of mercy would be NOTHING without the Truth which lies behind those works. You see the works--you need to learn the faith which has prompted us to work in love.
The Church has every right to have a moral code and tell you which actions are moral and which are immoral. How can we know the Truth of which the Church is the pillar and foundation if she does not preach that Truth? It is a hard Truth, no doubt, as even Jesus Himself says that it is very difficult to walk in His ways.
I cannot express my concern enough for those who ignore and write off the Church's teachings in faith and morals as worthless rhetoric and propaganda. Even worse is when those people are self-proclaimed Catholics, or proclaim to follow Christ in any way. Jesus told the adultress: "Go and sin no more." However are we to live this if we have no defined objective moral code?
The Church is doing her duty when she proclaims the sinfulness of contraception and stands up for her right to not be forced to pay for contraceptives for women (this does not include those medications of a contraceptive nature which are prescribed for other reasons). Frankly, she hasn't done it enough over the last couple of generations, and so here we are in 2012 with many Catholics embarrassed (their ignorance shines--the teachings are so beautiful and profound, if they truly understood them they would hold their heads high and shout them from the rooftops) about the Church's stance on birth control, and flinging insults her way to cover up their lack of catechesis on this issue. It is much easier to point the finger at the Church as "out of touch" than it is to admit you know nothing about the Church's rich teachings on sexuality. The only one who is out of touch is the one who hasn't bothered to spend time with the Catechism, Humanae Vitae, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, Theology of the Body, and the many other works which treat this subject. They aren't out of touch with society, though; they are out of touch with the Truth and out of touch with Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church's teachings are so taboo today that even a self-proclaimed Catholic who has decided to switch from birth control to Natural Family Planning makes a special effort to let everybody know that she ISN'T doing it "for religious reasons," as if it would be degrading to her to be using NFP for religious reasons and not degrading for any other reason. It's as if she's saying that if she cites her reasons for NFP as being religious in nature (which doesn't necessarily mean being theological, because respect for one's body is also part of religion) then she is telling others that she is submissive to her faith and that she has abandoned her intellect, because only ignorant people would use NFP for religious reasons.
The essence of our faith is the Eucharist, also known as "Communion." It is an expression that we are all One Body, One Faith, One Church, One Baptism. We are all brothers and sisters united by blood, the blood of Christ. To reject the Church's authority as a teaching body places you outside the communion of the Church, and therefore ineligible to participate in the reception of Holy Communion. If you profess to be a member of Christ's Church, you must also accept her place as a teaching authority. You cannot embrace Christ and reject His Mystical Body.
As I stated to someone last night, next time you are at a wedding, go ahead and tell the bridegroom that his bride is ignorant, out of touch with who he is, and uneducated, and that when they have children, they should have no right--and especially her--to tell their children how to conduct themselves while in their house. Tell the bridegroom that his wife needs to shut up, be a good little housewife, and continue serving the corporal needs of the family--and all those in need--with his his hard-earned bread, while you fling insults at her from all sides. Afterwards, demand that they include you in their wedding feast. I want you to get back to me and let me know how that goes over. I predict it won't go over well, and it will give you a foretaste of what you can expect when Christ asks you why you disregarded His Bride and spoke of her the way you did, then continued to receive Him in Holy Communion.
In the end, though, if you will insult and speak the sexual lie that is contraception to your own spouse, is it any wonder you would insult and lie to the Spouse of Christ? "I give you my all....but not really! Just give me what I want."
Right on!!
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