Following the logic.........

...it's kind'a like criticizing someone who is a passionate soccer player. You don't play soccer yourself, but would you dare visit with a friend who loves the sport and crap on soccer and the whole corrupt soccer "scene" to their face? Or, say you think pilates is stupid, but you've never tried it. Or you have tried it and you still think it's stupid. Would you have lunch with a friend who loves pilates and crap all over it? No. You would be polite.

"G-d, are you still playing soccer? That's pathetic. I know a few soccer players who are losers. I would never play soccer." Or, "Pilates? I tried that, but it didn't do a thing for me. In fact, I hated my instructor, so pilates is just completely immoral." Those are conversations one would never have. But for some reason, people feel free to criticize the Catholic Church with complete abandon to the faces of others who actually practice it. Some of us get a lot out of our faith. Others get a lot out of soccer or pilates. I mean, leave it alone.

The point is it seems always to be open season on the Catholic Church. Maybe it's due to the fact that the Catholic Church continues to grow in spite of the many problems within it? Or maybe it's because the Catholic Church unquestionably accepts all sinful mortals? A convert, I grew up a protestant and the one thing that struck me was the attitude to the downtrodden. If a bag lady wandered into a protestant church basement during sunday school or a bazaar (and it used to happen regularly in our downtown church), the police would be called. But if a bag lady wanders into the Catholic Church, she is welcomed as a kindred soul. It's the universality of the church that is so appealing. In fact, if you look it up in the dictionary you will find small-c "catholic" defined as "universal, general, comprehensive, large-hearted, tolerant". Where do you think that definition came from?

Mass in Ottawa is the same as Mass in Nicaragua is the same as Mass in Budapest is the same as Mass in Hong Kong is the same as Mass in Rome is the same as Mass in Kitchener is the same as Mass in Washington.........you name it. No matter where you are on a Sunday, the Liturgy is exactly the same. But never mind Sunday's. If the mood hits you on a Tuesday morning, you can find nearby in any city in the world a Catholic Church serving Mass; if you're a protestant, you have to wait until Sunday. Now, don't jump up and accuse me of being anti-protestant. I'm not criticizing the protestants or any other faiths. But having lived in both worlds, I do have both perspectives. Immediate access reassues me.

And don't tell me there have never been sex scandals in the Jewish religion or the Islamic or the Anglican or the Protestant or the Baptist or the Evangelical..........or whatever. Don't tell me that. Not possible. We just never seem to hear about them. As I said, it is always open season on a universal success story. I do love my faith.