Many who aren’t in the Catholic church (and many who are, even) see the Church as nothing but a rule-imposing, overbearing, government of sorts. But I’d like to take a moment to put a different perspective on this.
As Catholics, we don’t worship the Church. When Christ created the Church, He set it up to be a “household” of faith (2 Timothy 3:15 …..God’s household, which is the church of the living God…..). You have parents that you love and honor, but do you worship them? I hope not! 😉 The Church, in a sense (more on this analogy later) acts as a parent. Just as parents we are to guide, educate, and direct our children to God, so does the Church for it’s parishioners.
As parents we have to set rules, boundaries, and routines in the home, and so does the Church in the Catechism. If we let our children roam free, no guidance, no boundaries, no rules then they end up a mess – they don’t know right from wrong, they are sometimes fatally insecure, and they often feel no true love. Not to mention the chaos that would ensue as a household! The Catechism takes scripture and applies it to our modern-day lives, answering the question of “How do I apply the instruction that God has given us in the Bible to my life 2000+ years later?”. The Catechism is here to give us boundaries, security, and to guide us.
The Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Marriage, Anointing of the sick, Reconciliation, Holy orders) are put in place to further our relationship with God, to aid our weak, human, simple, and sinful minds to relate to and experience Him fully, to help fill us with the richness of His love for us!
I know that these were some of the misconceptions I had prior to hearing the call to convert that I have grown to greatly appreciate! What are some subjects of the Catholic Church that you don’t understand? I’d love to share my knowledge and address some misunderstandings!
“There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church.” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Making the Swim 
I don’t understand how you weren’t Catholic sooner! Welcome!! xoxo
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Apparently I was, just took me awhile to realize it 😉 Thank you! It’s great to be home!!! xoxo
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growing up, I always heard the thinking that we pray to statues. And that we idolize Mary. I never understood the criticisms. We have statues of Lincoln and Jefferson and soldiers in D.C. We don’t worship them, they just help us remember sacrifices made. And as a mom, I did not understand how honoring Mary could be so misconstrued. Any mom knows the sacrifices and work involved in raising children. We have Mother’s day to remember that. Same thing with Mary. We honor how she said ‘yes’ to God, and how she lived.
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Yes! Mary was confusing to me pre-conversion! Definitely one I will address 🙂 It really is just what it looks like from the outside, without knowledge (and perhaps some misinformation as well)!
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