There was a time in a parish of Maryland in which a retreat program began to help parishioners to get better to build friendship communities. In that context, I appreciated the opportunity to meet a particular person: my friend Marlene, who died of pancreatic cancer two years ago.
She was different from me: she approached faith in a more intellectual way and I was surprised how this woman, without formal catechesis, lived the language of the love of Christ. He was a practical Catholic, but he had very few knowledge about the details of Catholicism. Marlene simply lived charity with everyone around her.
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The beauty of the faith that radiated this woman was magnetic. Their concern for others and their willingness to understand their needs filled them with peace. When I met his daughter years later, I saw these same attributes of goodness, kindness and generosity. However, his daughter was not a practicing Catholic and had distanced himself from faith, apparently disappointed by the behavior and attitudes of some practical Catholics.
Catholic faith is everything to me. Christ died on the cross for my salvation and came to Earth to found the Catholic Church for all. Through the sacraments, I am divinized by allowing me to share your life.
Therefore, it was painful to see my friend’s daughter, and many Americans like her, reject the Church and Christianity due to the alleged failures in the treatment that people receive today.
I appreciate that several of our Jewish brothers in the academic world have assumed the challenge of defending human rights, but it saddens that many of the main Catholic apologettes are not playing this role. Our silence is perceived by those who are already tempted not to go to Mass in an increasingly secularized world.
I am also very interested in deepening the details of our beliefs, and for years I have encouraged others to learn more about the Catholic faith, particularly in the writings of the first parents of the Church. However, I feel that for many today, simply knowing God’s love is not enough. If we really are Christians, and especially Catholics, many want to see us practice that faith for the good of others.
How many of us are we like Saint Thomas Moro, willing to defend the right in defense of God’s love? I also shudder at the idea of “dirtying my hands” and staying alone. But I know that Jesus is with me when I do it, along with the Blessed Mother and an entire army of the communion of the Saints. I am the beloved daughter of God the Father. He supports me and gets something good even from my well -intentioned mistakes.
“The Christian life is a sacrifice” is a saying that I have never forgotten. More than 40 years ago, it was much more difficult to even talk about the sin of abortion in many parishes. Fortunately, we have changed that practice by facilitating now the recognition that abortion is a murder and working more openly through fundraising campaigns to support those who go through pregnancies in crisis, thus relieving the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy.
More and more Catholics manifest against euthanasia and death penalty; We have improvements in the life of the faith that we can pride.
The Holy Spirit is clearly working in the Catholic Church. But can we allow this same love for life to extend to lives in all intermediate stages and be a voice for the poor who are denied basic human rights?
I think we can, and I appreciate the firm voice of several of our bishops. We believe in the power of divine life that is given to us in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist.
As Catholics, we have the blessing of living in the fullness of faith and having this power to spread the love of God and neighbor in our parishes and carry it positively in our country.
God has great plans for us. Let’s share what we have received and be the example that inspires others to return to the Catholic Church.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in the National Catholic Register
Maryella Hierholzer
She is a parishioner of Santa Isabel Anon Seton in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from the Mount Holyake College in Massachusetts and conducted postgraduate studies at Georgetown University. After finishing his career in the Washington area, he is now retired and resides in Indiana, where he teaches formation in faith for adults and young people in his parish. It is also voluntary in Catholic charities in Fort Wayne.