Sixth Sunday of Easter, 2025

It is said that "there are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. However, there are millions who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church.”

For example, I was having a conversation with a lady in the hospital. As a chaplain, I was offering her the Sacrament of the Sick because she was in the emergency room. Then, I can’t remember why but, she started talking about how she hates all the dogmas of the Catholic Church.


And, because she was in the hospital, I very politely listened and offered her the Sacraments again, which she accepted.


But, if she was not in such a vulnerable position, I may have asked her which dogmas she disagreed with: Did she disagree that Jesus is God? Or that Jesus rose from the dead, or that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Did she disagree that humanity needs a savior, or that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary?


And, from these questions, she would quickly realize she doesn’t know what a dogma is. 


You see, people spew criticisms of the Catholic Church with almost no idea what they're talking about.


Another common misbelief that people think Catholicism teaches is that God gets angry with us. So, for example, something bad happens to us and we think it’s because God is punishing us for something we did in the past. 


To dispel this false belief, Pope Francis said in a homily: 


“Dear brothers and sisters, no sin, no failure, no grudge should discourage us from insistently asking for [the] gift [of peace] from the Holy Spirit. The more we feel our hearts are agitated; the more we sense we are nervous; impatient; angry inside; the more we need to ask the Lord for the Spirit of peace.”


…Now, if God got angry with us, none of us would exist, let alone should we expect any favors from God. Therefore, Pope Francis was so certain that God does not grow angry with us that he said, “No sin, no failure, no grudge” should discourage us from asking God for help.


How amazing is that?


I share this because, in the first reading, we hear how a group of misinformed Christians were teaching that non-Jewish persons must become Jewish first before they can become Christian. Saint Paul knew this was untrue and, not only did he speak out against it, he went to the Christian authorities, the Apostles, today’s bishops, to confirm the truth.

…We know that so many people misunderstand the Catholic Church and what it teaches. And, perhaps, we know the truth, but we don't know why it's true.


A place where you can find solid Catholic teaching with solid explanations is Catholic.com: It’s the Catholic Answers website. Perhaps you may not be able to straighten out the opinions of millions who misunderstand the Catholic Church but you will at least be sure in your belief and be able to kindly assist someone in their relationship with God and His Catholic Church.



Scripture readings for this Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052525.cfm

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