Easter reveals God's determined tenacity for renewal and hope. There is always life beyond death.

The Church has enshrined this mystery and yet, our human nature doesn't easily embrace it's impact. Perhaps out of fear, we cling to the familiar, the known, the time before the tomb, the time before we were ever challenged or tried. 

I have the privilege of working with adults who join the Catholic community and over the years, I have noticed that one of the things that attracts some people to the Catholic Church is its steadiness, its sense of certainty. There is a sense that the Catholic Church doesn't change, and that feels good. It shields us from the uncertainty that comes from chaos and doubt. It's nice to know the ground beneath you doesn't move too much. 

I always try to affirm the comfort that is felt by people who find the Church's constancy attractive and also praise how the Holy Spirit guides us to that insight when it is necessary. I also struggle myself with reaching the same conclusion. For me, God's activity is a perpetuity of evolution. The Church is always changing, even though we don't often have the perspective to appreciate the change. 

My own personal theory of change in the Catholic Church is that something has to pass through such a length of time and demonstrate such irrelevance to everyone's life, that the change is not viewed with contempt because very few people even notice. There are several examples I could present to demonstrate why I reach this conclusion, but one such example happened in the past few weeks. 

On March 30, 2023, the Roman Catholic Church officially rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery that was promulgated by Papal Bulls from 1452-1493. The doctrine declared that land "discovered" by Christians thereby belonged to them. When we look at 500 years of human history and the harm incurred through European colonization that devastated indigenous peoples throughout the world, that justified slavery, and buttressed racism, how does this event just quietly pass us by? We can look to the origins of countless wars and exploitation and see that the Doctrine of Discovery stood as justification for gave error in human history, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Church quietly repudiated it. 

Well that's great! Of course! It should be self-evident to anyone who reads the Gospels today that the Doctrine of Discovery should be thrown out. And yet we had to wait 500 years. Within those 500 years are true saints, who encountered the living Christ in those who were forced to the margins by a doctrine of the Church that contributed to people to be torn from their lands, beaten down and bruised by words, warriors, grievances, and governments. In these horrors, true saints rose that found Christ risen from the dead and together with Christ, they helped us find new life, new understanding, and new developments in our doctrine. Christ's newness of life is always one of change. This is what we embrace when we praise the Jesus who left the tomb behind. We embrace an event that destabilizes what we thought we knew and reorganizes the structures (economic, political, intellectual, etc.) that continue to prop us in place. 

It is no secret than many people both within the Church and who have left the Church take issue with the Church's teachings. I do not wish to purport that you should just "hang in there" until things change to your liking. What I do wish to offer as hope to all who struggle with the Church is instructions that are the blueprint to God's mystery. Seek Christ in those at the margins. That is where God's Spirit continues to be poured out as a salve to the wounds of sin. In doing so, and witnessing to Christ's evergreen gift of salvation and hope, you too will be an instrument that leads toward dramatic, tectonic changes in the life of the Church and its teachings, even if it takes 500 years... or more.  

Do you have a friend or neighbor that is considering applying to the best school in Chicago? Sign up for a tour here: schedule a tour New student applications for the 23-24 school year are now open! Existing families, do not forget to register your new preschoolers.  Applications are now being accepted.     23-24  SAS Application