I am a “cradle Catholic” and growing up I never questioned the beliefs of the Catholic Church. I simply obeyed what I was taught and never asked why. While blind obedience is not necessarily a bad thing, it creates problems down the road, especially when a person is tested in the faith. Questions will soon arise either from the outside or in the depths of your soul: Why do Catholics worship Mary? Why do you receive Communion? Isn’t it just a piece of bread? Why are Catholics against same-sex marriage? Why can’t Catholics get divorced? Why do you pray?
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If your answer is simply, “the Catholic Church says so,” an opponent (or even your own mind) will begin to wonder if there is a point to following the many rules of your religion. If you do not have a reason behind your belief, your faith can be shaken. Instead, we must imitate the Pilgrim and keep searching for the truth. Let us look at his example to learn what we must do:
As we open up the pages of The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way
“By the grace of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, and by my calling a homeless wanderer of humblest origin, roaming from place to place. My possessions consist of a knapsack with dry crusts of bread on my back and in my bosom the Holy Bible. This is all!” (13)
However, after hearing a passage from Saint Paul’s First letter to the Thessalonians, he is confounded by the command to “Pray constantly.” He felt a desire deep within him to follow the words of St. Paul, but he didn’t know how to do it. He said:
“What shall I do? I thought. Where can I find a person who will explain this mystery to me? I will go to the various churches where there are good preachers and perhaps I will obtain an explanation from them.” (ibid)
There in lies our first lesson: do not be satisfied with ignorance. Go to the Church and seek out the answer.
I taught RCIA classes (classes for those wishing to convert to the Catholic faith) for six years and I always told my students to ask questions. There is always a reason behind the many beliefs and practices of our faith. The Church does not abandon reason when it comes to our beliefs and always provides a detailed answer that has been refined over two thousand years. All you have to do is ask.
However, I wish that “asking” was as easy as it appears. The Pilgrim did not strike gold on his first attempts to find the truth. He recounts:
“I heard very many good homilies on prayer, but they were all instructions about prayer in general…no one spoke of the way to succeed in prayer. Inasmuch as listening to public sermons had not given me any satisfaction, I stopped attending them and decided, with the grace of God, to look for an experienced and learned person who would satisfy my ardent desire and explain ceaseless prayer to me…For a long time I traveled through various places” (14).
Our second lesson: keep searching. If you are not satisfied with the response, never stop searching for an answer. It may take some added effort.
In my own life, I have had many questions about the faith that were not answered for many years. I searched and searched, but it never “clicked.” Thankfully, I was able to sit at the feet of many great teachers and they were able to explain to me what I needed to know. For example, I never really understood why the Church taught against same-sex marriage. Most of my life I simply accepted the belief “because the Church said so.” However, that answer does not hold sway in our modern world and it took several years of study before I found the answer in Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. It finally “clicked” and provided me with clarity.
Additionally, this idea of being able to provide a reason behind your faith is straight from the New Testament. Saint Peter instructs us to:
“Sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asks you a reason of that hope which is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)
That is why we must never stop searching and questioning everything about our faith. There is a reason and it is worth knowing.
Never stop searching for the Truth.
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