Following Christ in the Church: A Response to a Law Student

My daughter Anamaria writes:

 

"Professor Perry posted a letter by a law student addressing the issue of same-sex marriages within the Catholic Church.  The student says, "For all of the good done by the Church, and for the strength and beauty of its tradition, I have a hard time imagining myself returning to weekly mass if the Church does not address what I feel is its immoral treatment of many people within and without its sanctuaries."  He misses the point.  I don't go to mass because of "the good done by the Church" but because God became man and walked among us, founded this Church, and is physically present within the Eucharist.  With that starting point, two things follow: 1. I have to go to weekly mass, even if the Church is participating in something that I see as wrong and 2. I have to approach what she is saying with great humility and a great openness, with an idea that perhaps the Church is right and I am wrong. 

 

"How do we follow the Church when we disagree with her?  First, we have to ask, why do we want to follow the Church in the first place (assuming, of course, that we do)?  I can't answer this question for the rest of you, but only for myself.  I follow the Church because this is where I have met Christ and where, despite the faults of people in the Church, I have seen Christ most evident in my life.  Christ has been evident through the Eucharist; through the Church's teachings and the way they make sense of my life; and through my friends.  I follow the Church because it is the most reasonable thing for me to do.  I follow Christ, and through my experience I know that the Church is one of the primary ways that Christ remains present in the world.  So I follow that. 
 
"The Church is, of course, a diverse organization/institution/people.  We are the Church in a very concrete and real way.  So, who do I follow when I say that I follow the Church?  Honestly, on a daily basis I follow my friends because they are the way that the Church is most present to me.  I have benefitted invaluably when they can explain my life to me better than I can explain it myself.  Through the encounter with my friends, I am continually drawn back to the reality that is in front of me with a new perspective and a greater understanding.  In following my friends, I do so with great humility due to firm belief that the “other” has something to offer.  I may argue and point out areas in which the “other” seems mistaken, and I might not change, but my starting point must be a great openness to change and humility. 
 
"I also follow the Church in a different sense.  I follow her traditions, the Sacraments, that nebulous thing of "the Catholic Intellectual Tradition," and doctrine.  I follow this in much the same way that I follow my friends: with great humility and openness and a belief that the Other has something to offer.  My humility in regards to this aspect of the Church is even greater because it has been around for so long and has hashed out many of the same issues I sit around talking about (virtually or physically) with my friends.  It has worked through many of these issues and questions over its two thousand year history with the aid of many contributing scholars and thinkers.  In addition, I do think the Church is lead by Christ and protected by the Holy Spirit, despite its leadership by us fallen humans. 

 

"In short, I trust the Church.  This doesn't mean I don't question or debate, but my starting point is and, I think, must be a trust that the Church knows more than me.  Sometimes I follow like Peter and the others in John 6.  Jesus says, "Eat my body, drink my blood, and you will not die," and almost everyone says, "This guy is nuts, this guy is crazy, I'm outta here" and they leave.  But Peter and the others, they've been following Jesus for longer, so they stay.  Probably many of them are wondering if they should stay, but they stay, and Jesus asks if they want to leave.  Peter answers for all of them, "Where would we go?"  He doesn't understand what Jesus says any more than those who left, but he has to keep following.  He's seen the evidence.  He can't do anything else, go anywhere else.  It would be unreasonable after all he's seen.  For me, too, it would be unreasonable after all I've seen, so I continue to follow.  Sometimes, like Peter and the others, I don't understand, but I keep following.  For me, this means two things:  Questioning and obeying simultaneously.  I question because I have to, because I want to understand, and I obey, too, because I have to and I want to understand.  I have to keep following Christ and the way that Christ is evident in my life (through the Church), so I obey what the Church says.  Sometimes, I think, only in obeying am I able to understand.  I'm not sure how well I can explain this, but just think about things you only understood abstractly, and then when you start doing them you understand them all the better. 
 
"So, then, back to my original question: how do I follow when I disagree with the Church?  I start with a great humility and ask for openness that I will be able to see what is true.  I talk to those I trust within the Church and "dialogue" with those who have come before me by reading explanations for the Church's position.  Since the Church’s unfolding doctrine has been developed over 2000 years, I think I can give the Church at least a year of trying to understand its position and praying for openness before I really decide I disagree.  Probably, though, this period should last even longer than a year.  If, after all of this, I do disagree, I would come to more concrete dialogue with those people in the Church and, again, ask why and very humbly begin to criticize.  Then, perhaps, I would criticize more loudly and, yes, call for change from within.  But this, too, must always be done with humility and respect, holding myself open to the possibility that I am mistaken."