...so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known ... Eph 3:10
Today Pope Francis called on humanity to respect the environment, and it's angering some Catholic Christians and Christians. But what is your faith if it doesn't challenge you? If something in the Christian faith challenges us, good! It's supposed to! When we apply Jesus' teachings to our lives, sometimes we find that we're the disciples, the good followers. And other times, we find that we're the pharisees, the hypocrites or those who are driven by ego. If our faith doesn't challenge us, then we are in danger of making ourselves into our own gods -- that what we say and feel and think is the Truth.
Instead, we should take our disagreements to the Lord in prayer. "God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble" 1 Peter 5:5.
God gave us a heart to love and a mind to reason. Ask the Lord to move your heart with his wisdom. Ask him to form your conscience. There is a place for everyone in the Church, the Body of Christ. So even when we disagree with the teachings of the Church, we are right to be open to the "Word of God, the teaching of the Church, the Holy Spirit, and the advice of wise people" (CCC 1783-88, 1799-1800).
Let us make sure our words and actions are rooted in love.
