Reflection written by Dylan, Agents of Change young leader
When thinking about where my faith is misunderstood, I realised that many people see the Catholic faith as restrictive, outdated or even irrelevant. I’ve come across many people who sadly hold these views and I’m sure that at some point all of you have too. I know that these negative labels do not represent my Catholic faith but they do pose an important question – why do people misunderstand our faith in the first place? The more that I’ve thought about that question, the more I’ve realised that the answer is found in the very cornerstone of our faith – Jesus Christ. To many people today, God is seen as someone distant or impersonal, disconnected from human suffering or perhaps not even real. But one of the things that has transformed my understanding of God is the idea that God became man. I’ve come to realise that our faith doesn’t ask us to search for God through our own efforts. Instead, we can rejoice that God has revealed Himself to us in Christ. The Lord who created the universe chose to walk among His creation. He chose to experience human joy and suffering. He then gave up His own life on the cross and rose from the dead to bring us back to Himself. Despite this, Jesus was still deeply misunderstood and even hated by some. When I reflect on that, it does start to make sense. Since our faith is centred on Christ, it makes sense that His Church will also be misunderstood by some. So when we ask why our faith is misunderstood, I think we should start by asking the question – why was Jesus misunderstood? As I read the Gospels, it became clear to me that Jesus wasn’t misunderstood because He failed to reveal God’s love. In fact, the complete opposite is true. He was misunderstood because He wasn’t the saviour that people expected Him to be. Many people were expecting someone who would overthrow the Romans using force and establish an earthly kingdom. But Jesus came with a different message. He teaches us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us and to seek the Kingdom of God. From an outside perspective, this might seem weak or even foolish. When I started thinking about this, something the Lord said to St Paul really stuck with me. The Lord said ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’. The more I reflected on those words, the more I realised that they describe God’s whole plan of salvation. Jesus didn’t choose to pursue earthly power. Instead, he revealed the power of God through what the world saw as weakness. At the time, even Jesus’ own followers didn’t understand this. When Jesus foretold of His death and resurrection, St Peter hoped it would never happen. Jesus then said to him, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things’. When I first read this, I was shocked. St Peter lived with Jesus, saw His miracles and even believed He was the Son of God and yet still struggled to accept God’s plan for salvation. If even St Peter struggled with trusting God, then it makes me wonder how many times I’ve stopped God’s love from being fully lived out in my life. Now, I believe that one of the main reasons why the Catholic Church is so misunderstood is because it continues to spread the same good news Jesus brought – a message that still challenges our idea of truth, love and the purpose of our lives. I think that people see our faith as restrictive because it doesn’t define freedom as doing whatever we want. Rather, it teaches us that true freedom is found in choosing to do good, even when it is difficult and becoming the holy people God created us to be. I’ve had so many conversations with friends that seem to think that being Catholic simply means following a list of rules and then receiving God’s love as a reward. As a Catholic, I know that this is far from the truth. Our faith is built on God’s unconditional love for each and every one of us. It teaches us to follow Him so we can have the true freedom that only He can offer. I believe that our duty as Catholics is to ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ as St Peter wrote. I think that this can be done by responding to God’s love and entering into a deeper relationship with Him. Through prayer, education in the Catholic faith and the service of others, I believe that we can continue to fulfill our mission of bringing the message of God’s love to the world. I’ve ultimately come to realise that since our faith is centred on Christ, we shouldn’t be surprised when it is misunderstood just as He was. But rather than discouraging me, I see that as an opportunity to know Him more deeply and to reflect His love more faithfully throughout my daily life. That’s why I truly believe that the greatest way we can help others to understand our faith is not just through the words we speak, but by letting our light shine before others through the way we live our lives.