The Faith and the Faithful

Living the Faith includes right reason, doctrine, scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium.

FLORIDA (Catholic Online) - "FAITH is the virtue by which we believe in God and all that He has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because He is truth itself." Nowhere does it say we are the arbiters of that truth. Yet some Catholics assert, "I'll believe what I want to believe and still call myself a Catholic," claiming their conscience gives them the sole authority to decide right and wrong.

In truth, this is heresy. Thomas C. Oden wrote in The Rebirth of Orthodoxy, "The root meaning of heresy is 'arbitrary self-willing.' The self-chooser wills to stand against authenticated, settled truth, opting for independent, arbitrary self-willing 'other than' or contrary to the settled historical reasoning confirmed by intergenerational community of believers."

These Catholics opted for an illusion of individual freedoms undeterred by the fact that they are not free to develop their own creed within the Church. Yet when the scandals broke, they obviously expected that the clergy had remained loyal to the Church and the Magisterium. Tragically, many in the hierarchy and clergy decided to "follow their consciences" in this mistaken understanding, claiming previously taught moral truths were largely discretionary in nature. This created a multitude of divisions inside for the Church. Quite simply, a practicing Catholic cannot invoke "conscience" to defy what the Church definitely holds to be true. We are responsible for forming our conscience in accordance with the truth.

Living the Faith includes right reason, doctrine, scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium. George Cardinal Pell states, "Conscience is the free acceptance of the objective moral law as the basis of all our choices. We cannot rely on our tastes in moral matters because we are all vulnerable to acquiring the taste for immorality and egoism. In truth, most real-life dilemmas are not between the inner person and the external authority but between the competing desires and reasons that the person has trouble reconciling." Therefore, many Catholics adhere to certain moral standards while deliberately avoiding others leaving them at variance with their own natural sense of right and wrong.

The Church's orthodoxy offers two thousand years of settled truth, not a half-century of dissentience and experimentation. A person of faith believes the Church is the Bride of Christ (without stain or wrinkle) and we as members make up the Mystical Body of Christ. Many members of the hierarchy, clergy and the laity have committed grave errors over the centuries. Our individual holiness, or lack thereof, either builds up the Mystical Body or helps to tear it down.

Flannery O'Connor wrote, "Christ never said the Church would be operated in a sinless or intelligent way, but that it would not teach error." The Magisterium, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has never taught error.

The episcopate must exercise due diligence in their apostleship and cannot proceed as if it is business as usual. As the Church wrapped itself in the popular culture, it neglected to cultivate its own holiness. These times call for more than moral outrage--they beg for a return to the basic tenets of the Catholic faith. The intelligent pursuit of the truth is the marrow of all spirituality. The laity must speak forcefully and insist on the truth.

The way to truth and unity is through prayer, the recitation of the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, reception of the Sacraments and adoration of The Blessed Sacrament. Coupled with the laity's demand for transparency and ecclesial fidelity, courageous espiscopal leadership must coalesce along with these sincere endeavors. Therefore, let us pray.

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Dan Shea lives and writes from Florida. Long active in his parish and in the Right to Life movement, he has written two books "Beyond Banter & Banalities" and " Breaking Father Down." Dan is a new contributing writer for Catholic Online

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