Why are we so afraid to be Catholic, as Catholics?

Why are we Catholics so afraid to live our authentic faith? I have heard various Catholics say things which seem to point to the fact that they are afraid to live the true teachings of the faith because of all sorts of really stupid reasons.

"Oh, don't worry, I am not one of those Catholics..."
"I don't think Jesus cares if we..."
"We don't have to do that to get Heaven..."
"In the end I just try to be a good person..."
"There isn't just one way..."
"It isn't about 'right or wrong' but what works for you, personally..."

Diversity is one thing...

···†···

I am not so rigid to believe that the Catholic faith must be practiced in on certain fashion. I know that there are all sorts of spiritual paths that one can take to God. I look at one of my favorite parts of the religious faith: Women's Religious Orders, and I see the beauty and grace in diversity of spirit.

What baffles me isn't that people are diverse, but that we try as hard as possible to fit our faith to us, instead of the other way around. Shouldn't we be focusing on how to best conform our hearts to God? Instead of practicing our faith in a way consistent and in congruity with the past, we are constantly looking for ways to update the faith. I don't think is because we have mastered all the old ways and are looking for new challenges, I think this is because of fear, disbelief, or laziness. We want our faith a certain way. Instant gratification.

Challenge me, O Lord

···†···

As someone that has worked within politics over the course of my lifetime, I have been very accustomed to a rigid way of thinking about certain things. Even as a young person, I found myself quite far to the right on the spectrum of political thought. In doing so, I did it from an intellectual standpoint, but then again doesn't everyone? That being said, I tried to make sure that I was never so rigid in my thought, as to believe something to be true, just because it came from sources or people that I approved of. To me, everything needed to stand on its own. In other words, I tried not to be a "party guy" and simply "toe the party line."

Likewise, in my faith, I don't do things just because they are traditional. (This is where I differ from 'Trads.') I do things because I believe in my heart of heart to be the best, most efficacious, and morally (or Canonically) sound thing to do. Yet, my favorite thing is when God challenges my notion of what that something is.


I love when a new writing of the Pope catches me off guard and makes me question something I always thought. Or when I read a new book, and a certain spiritually makes me look at my own through a new lens. St. Therese is doing that to me right now. As someone with a more aggressive spirituality, if you will, I have never really had much interest in St. Therese. But once I started reading her, I saw how God challenged me, and how He was trying to get me to see that I can always find new ways to refine myself.

Change...for the better?

···†···

So why don't we do this more often then Catholics? A young girl I talk about the faith with recently told me that she prays the rosary in the car. When she said this, I almost fell over, and I called her on it. I remember her telling me once how she didn't like the Rosary, and it never really "did anything for her." The normal, "it is just a bunch of repetition" argument was made, and I told her that it was something you needed to work at. She told me, she understood that now, and after "working at it" she has become quite devoted to the prayer. WOW! It just takes a little effort.

Likewise I have learned of some young boys that are attending Mass in a different form and spiritual tradition than they are accustomed to. In doing so, their approach, and even their gestures, have changed because of this. WOW!

Maybe it is just us old fogeys that can't change? Or maybe it is those of us that are scared of actually diving into the faith? Maybe we are so afraid of losing ourselves, or dying to ourselves because we like it so much... just the way it is. In our culture, if we don't like something, we can just change it. If we don't like our TV, House, or Car - we can just go get a new one.

I think the only way to become a better Catholic is to realize that we aren't perfect. If we aren't perfect, then we have to be constantly challenging ourselves, or pushing ourselves in new ways. We have to question our spirituality, and force ourselves to become better. This doesn't mean that we keep jumping on the next new thing, but instead, stepping outside our box a little. If you haven't been to Eucharistic Adoration in a year... go spend an hour. If you haven't prayed the Rosary in the past month - do it now. If you haven't read an encyclical - try it, give it 10 pages. The point is to push yourself. We are spiritual warriors - athletes of the faith.

If we continue to do what we have always done... we will continue to get what we have always got.

†††