Saints

Saints
Saints We Love

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

What Is The Catholic Church? by Bishop Fulton Sheen

What Is The Catholic Church ?
by Bishop Fulton Sheen

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues;” because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God;” because they “say indulgence is a permission to commit sin;” because the Pope “is a Fascist;” because the Church “is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things, it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which theworld rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. ... the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness..."

5 comments:

Terry Fenwick said...

There is a page you must check out: Has some of these quotes of Bishop Sheen on it:

No - I'm not comfortable with everything about the Catholic Faith. But absolute truth will cause discomfort to any honest person. It means I must accept just how truly short I am of the glory of God and acknowledge how much I depend on the mercy of Christ.

No - I don't like a lot of things that go on in the Catholic Church, but I know it was started by Jesus and he will forgive me just as I forgive the shortcomings of men. The Faith is pure.

No - I don't believe that people ignorant of the Catholic Faith and the Church founded by Christ are lost, but I am certain I would be lost outside the Catholic Church because it would require me to deny the very body and blood of Christ.

No - I don't believe people hate the Catholic Church. I believe they hate what they mistakenly believe about the Church. There are so many misconceptions and so much misinformation spread for dubious purposes that the ill-informed often speak out against the Church.

He spoke so straight: See the whole page: http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!
I want the whole world to read this & ponder!
Unity. One Body. One Mind. One Spirit. One God. One Baptism. One Faith. ...& the world will know that He Lives! Because we will embody Truth & Love in harmony & joy. Jesus will be strongly among us! Victorious in Battle & The Bride will be adorned for Her Bridegrooms Coming. The Spirit & the Bride say: Come Lord Jesus.

Terry Fenwick said...

Great quote of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen - we need a Sheen page, don't we?

“To a great extent the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood. When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Terry Fenwick said...

Great quote:

"Beauty on the outside never penetrates within but the beauty from within permeates the body."

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Terry Fenwick said...

‎"We were made to worship
and if we don't worship God we will worship someone,
and nine times out of ten that someone will be ourselves."
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen