Formation Update (2): Accepting vs. "believing"

There was something else I talked about at the formation meeting: Believing not because I believe, but because I accept the authority of the Church.

I admitted that there were certain teachings of the Church that I had questioned for many years. I could not get my head around them. I convinced myself that they were not really necessary to the Christian faith.

Wandering down that path eventually led me out of the Church.

My exodus did not last long, fortunately. There was too much that the Church offered that I did believe to be true, that I knew I needed.

So I came back. And as for those beliefs I had a hard time believing, I said the Church teaches them, the Church has the Holy Spirit guiding it, and has had the Holy Spirit guiding it for 2,000 years, so as a son of the Church I humbly accept those beliefs.

I mentioned the story of Rochester's first Bishop, Bernard McQuaid. He took part in Vatican I. He argued against the doctrine of papal infallibility that the Council was considering. But when the Council declared it a doctrine of the Church, Bishop McQuaid stopped speaking against it. He simply said the Church teaches it, therefore I accept it.

I'm still at that point on some teachings. I read more about them. I study them. I pray about them. I try to grow. It's gotten better, but there are still some things I accept because the Church teaches them.

Pax et bonum