I'm on a train heading back to Ottawa and musing about a "divine appointment" that seemed to happen on another train this morning, going in another direction.
The other train was the Go Train, a green and white double-decker commuter train in Metro Toronto. I was heading for Oakville, and plopped down with my luggage in one of those seating sections where two sets of seats face each other. Sitting opposite was a young, beautiful, blonde woman with a pink suitcase on wheels and other luggage. I slid my laptop and roll-on gym bag into our footspace. She asked, "Are you from Ottawa?"
"Yes," I said. Then a beat. "How did you know?"
"I don't know," she said. "But you looked like a newbie, like me." Meaning, we were both a little uncertain whether we were on the right train, what do do with our tickets and so on.
Then we heard a voice come on the train's loudspeaker warning those standing on the platform to stand well back of the yellow line because "trains could come from either direction."
Mmmmmkay! My seat mate and I glanced at each other and laughed at this and shared our hopes that no trains were traveling in the opposite direction of our train at that particular moment.
Then we got talking and soon she shared with me that she worked for the government and that she was a Catholic, who had gone to a Catholic high school and been deeply influenced by her faith to get in the line of work she was in, though she had to be careful to keep her faith under wraps in the very secularist environment of her workplace.
She told of an instance where she and a co-worked had dinner together one night and religion came up in the conversation. Her dinner companion became extremely negative about the Catholic Church and its stands on same-sex marriage and I don't know what else. I think the companion called the Church cruel for its stand. My new friend said she didn't know how to respond to what must have been a diatribe, so she asked that they not talk about this anymore.
I noted that often the most virulent anti-Catholics are lapsed Catholics who think they know about the faith, but really their understanding about it is extremely garbled. I mentioned that many of these lapsed Catholics worked in my field, the news media, and often they were like me, Baby Boomers, who loved the revolt that followed Vatican II and the Quiet Revolution that emptied the churches in Catholic Quebec so that the province where once about 80 per cent of the population attended church every Sunday, now it's less than 10 per cent (don't quote this figure as the wifi is really unreliable and I can't verify it) –at any rate it is the lowest in Canada and the most virulent secularists also dominate the intelligentsia and government circles there.
I told her she was of the John Paul II generation that did not share the antipathy towards bishops and the Pope that many in my generation have. They are curious about their faith and want to know more.
She agreed.
Then we talked more about the garbled nature of the assaults on the faith and how what is thrown at us in situations like the dinner with her coworker is so twisted with falsehoods and misinformation that you almost don't know where to begin unpacking the arguments.
So I said that sometimes the best thing to do is not even try, but to pray for people like this and show them your sweet spirit and your love.
Sometimes the false ideas that people hold against the Church are like strongholds in their minds that only prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit can dislodge. Sometimes we need to remember that our faith has grown through flashes of insight and a well-timed word from a friend or from the Bible that suddenly comes to life. It often does not come in a head-to-head clash of rational arguments.
That said, as I think about this beautiful, tender-hearted young woman I wished that we were doing a better job of equipping and discipling our Christian young people. Even if you do come up against the brick walls of a spiritual stronghold or a lofty thought that holds it itself up against the knowledge of God, having a quiver full of good arguments and lots of Scripture makes it a lot easier for you to follow the Spirit's guidance to take one of them and drive it home in a way that can change a life.
Related posts:
I continue to find it amazing how many people these days are truly seeking truth, and finding a welcomed source in the Objective truth of the Catholic Faith.
Archbishop Sheen once said "Not 100 in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is."
At our parish, I teach a class once a month called "Fireside Theology." We gather around the fireplace in the Undercroft and learn about the Catholic faith, with a particular emphasis on St. Thomas Aquinas and constant reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
We welcome people from both within and without the parish.
Last Thursday, I spoke to a good crowd about "Transubstantiation: What it is and What it is not," and was pleased that when you clear up what it is not about, which the Council of Trent, actually did an awesome job at, it is a much easier concept to teach.
But the most rewarding point, for those of us who are heading for the generous provisions of the Apostolic Constitution, is the confident knowledge, that while a few years ago, and perhaps in other parishes, we might have been teaching the same doctrines, but only able to present them as one of several options, there will be, going forward, absolute clarity provided by the objective standard of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
One great audio resource, that I have found very helpful to those seeking to learn about the Catholic Faith, is the audio series by the incomparable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen – an online source can be found at http://www.americancatholictruthsociety.com/articles/sheen.htm
I am absolutely convinced that Satan is working overtime to fight the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus coming to fruition, and the better equipped we all are for the teaching of the faith and guarding it against error, helps us not only to best advance the faith, but also to do our part of the work expressed in the Apostolic Constitution FIDEI DEPOSITUM: "GUARDING THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH IS THE MISSION WHICH THE LORD ENTRUSTED TO HIS CHURCH, and which she fulfills in every age.
The most critical concept is having enough faith to believe that it is not about what "I" think, but about what The Church teaches.
Sean W. Reed
This was such a beautiful little article that I read it in it's entirity at the end of my prepared homily at both masses this morning. The worst part for me was that my organist said I should have just skipped my homily and read the letter.
Sean W., you do not know how thankful I am for providing the Archbishop Sheen link!
I understand this woman completely.
I'm a Gen-X Catholic (looking forward to seeing Anglicanorum Coetibus in action, but that's another story).
Like your travelling companion, I likewise work with a lot of Boomers, many if not most of whom are viscerally anti-Catholic.
In the past, I've not particularly keep my faith "under wraps." I didn't hesitate to jump in and defend the Church in conversation when need be. But I wonder if it did any good.
For example, a colleague once expressed her dislike of the Church and related how badly her mother was treated by a priest once. It totally disillusioned this woman and she has not only abandoned the faith but is now very bitter against the Church. It was exactly as you characterized: "…twisted with falsehoods and misinformation that you almost don’t know where to begin unpacking the arguments."
So I agreed the priest's behaviour in this particular instance was outrageous, but also pointed out that it was not only atypical of priests but actually contrary to what the Church professed. But she wasn't really interested in hearing it, and it seemed that she tended to avoid me after that conversation. A reaction like that tells me that I handled it badly, and probably made things worse.
I've changed a bit now. Oh, if anyone asks a direct question I'll answer. But I am much less likely to just jump in and volunteer to "clear things up" when someone disses the Church.
Although the occasion has not yet presented itself, if I got into a situation like that again, I can easily imagine myself having a reaction like the young woman in your article, and simply say "I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about that subject."