“Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your mouth? You hate discipline; you cast my words behind you!" - Psalm 50:16-17
There's a not-so-complimentary term
that is used to describe someone who claims to be Catholic but who picks and chooses among the truths
taught by the Church: "cafeteria Catholic". We think we know better or that the Church is just "old-fashioned" and "out of touch with reality." Why do we find it so difficult to embrace the disciplines of the Church - its teachings of the truth behind many of its unpopular stances on abortion, marriage, etc.? While the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience." (CCC 1800), it also makes it clear that "Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt." (CCC 1801) It is one thing to follow an "informed conscience", but to be informed means to understand why the Church professes what it does and not depend on opinion polls and popular media representations of misconstrued "facts". If you are struggling with a particular position of the Church, take time to understand why the Church teaches what it does. You might be surprised at what happens.
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