When I returned to the Church years ago at the age of 22, I had to make a decision, not only about the truth that Christ was God, but that the Church, as unholy as it had been manifested in my life, was the One, True, Holy and Catholic Church.
Now, the first decision was one based on Faith. The second was based on Love. I had grown up having priests and nuns in the family and being very familiar with religious people. The Church seemed to be so imperfect in so many ways, especially growing up in one of the most liberal dioceses in the United States.
So, my decision was not based on some dewy-eyed idea of the seen perfection of the Church, but on the Church as it really was in the world. That bishops were wrong in some areas of doctrine, that some priests were pedophiles, that many lay people were hypocrites using contraceptives and not carrying about the poor, did not make any difference to me anymore. Four people in my family had been abused by a priest for years and years. Nothing mattered as to sin or falsehood. The Church was and is the one institution created by Christ for our salvation. I could no longer be outside this institution. It was no longer a question of me judging, but submitting myself to the authority of the Church. I could not be holier than Rome. I could not be holy without Rome.
I, too, am and was at that time, a great sinner. We say the Church is made up of sinners, and we quote Christ stating that "...They that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. For I came not to call the just, but sinners." Mark 2:17 Douay Rheims
But, do you, dear members and friends, want to fight the fight with sinners, side-by-side with the Pope, or on the outside? Can you love the Church, which is imperfect, in order for Her to be made perfect? As in marriage, would you die for your Spouse, dear SSPX priests? Please come back. For the sake of Love, Who is a Person and needs you.
Supertradmum
