When I was teaching so long ago, I would draw two pillars on the board and tell my students that the Church is based on Faith and Reason. Now, some of my students accepted this. But, I find that the older generations, the parents of my students, GenX and some of the Baby Boomers, simply did not believe this.
Faith and Reason, the two pillars of our Church have been passed down in Revelation and Tradition. Tradition is the interpretation and inspiration found in the Church through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church is the only institution which has the fullness of Truth, founded on Faith and Reason.
So, why do adult Catholics balk at this point? Sloth, laziness, prejudice, a false idea of what it means to be "childlike"? Being childlike does not mean being stupid or refusing to learn. In fact, one of the charming facts of the life of the child is that he wants to learn. As a Montessori trained person, I saw this thirst for knowledge over and over and over.
If a Catholic adult does not study either the Scriptures or the teaching of Tradition, they will be swept into Protestantism, or the ultimate anti-intellectual state of agnosticism.
I have seen adult Catholics fall away when they stopped reading about their religion and stopped studying. Sometimes, sin, especially sexual immorality, lead people out of the Church. But, frequently, the fact that a Catholic has not continued forming his conscience and has refused to read books and treatises from the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, leads such a person into gross error.
All of us are called to be saints. Some think that most of the saints did not study. Even Therese, the Little Flower studied in the convent, as all novices do.
Do not think that there is something intrinsically holy about mental simplicity. There is not.
I write this blog for adult Catholics-for those who want to learn to love the Church and God.
To love God is to love learning and to love learning will absolutely lead one to God.
We were made like this, to know, to serve, and to love God.
