Not Catholic?
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"If I Were Not A Catholic ..." by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen |
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| "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 hated. 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 that 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, in seasons of bigotry, men say must
be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they
had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects
because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He
called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the
world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid
the confusions 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. But only that which is Divine
can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is
Divine."
Taken from Radio Replies, Vol. 1, p IX, Rumble & Carty, Tan Publishing |
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