November Food for Thought

Welcome By My Side friends!

Thank you for checking in this month of November.

So, as I was trying to discern what to share with you all this month, I thought about many of my non-Catholic friends who are such wonderful people. When we get together, they are very vocal in sharing their skepticism of the Catholic Church. I hear about it often from them, as they know how much I love the Church.

So today, I want to share with you not only my own perspective, but a view I recently found in my research that highlights exactly how I feel about the Catholic Church.

I trust the Catholic Church.

Well, isn’t it full of corruption? Yes, there have been corrupt leaders, scandals, and sinners in the Church. But here’s the thing—the corruption of men doesn’t cancel the truth of Christ. Think about it. Jesus Himself chose 12 disciples, one of them Judas, who betrayed Him. Does that mean Jesus wasn’t the Messiah? Of course not.

From the very beginning, the Church has had both saints and sinners. The failings of people don’t erase the divine foundation. The Catholic Church is not built on the holiness of Popes, Bishops, or Priests; it’s built on Jesus Christ.

He promised in Matthew 16:18, He declared to Peter:

“Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

That means, no matter how bad human leaders get, the Church itself will never be destroyed. History proves this.

For 2,000 years, through corruption, wars, and scandals, the Church is still alive. Empires have collapsed, nations have disappeared, but the Catholic Church is still here. The Church still remains—the same sacraments, the same Eucharist, the same teachings handed down from the Apostles.

Here is something else that people forget: the greatest saints rose up in the middle of the Church’s darkest times. When there was corruption, God raised up reformers like Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena, and countless others who called the Church back to holiness.

The very fact that renewal keeps happening in the Church shows that God has never abandoned it. If the Church were just a man-made institution, it would have fallen apart centuries ago. The fact that it survives everything–even from the inside–shows that it is held up by God, not by human strength.

So yes, some leaders have failed, but the faith hasn’t. The Catholic Church is trustworthy not because its members are perfect, but because Christ is perfect–and He promised to protect and guide His Church until the end of time.

This is how I feel about our great Church.

Have a great day and a great month. See you all in December!

Love,
MJ xo