Misguided or Misunderstood?

I've been giving the Catholic Church some stick of late, and warranted or not, I'm beginning to wonder if I should retract some of my comments.

I've likened the Catholic Church to Pharisees, although we all have a bit of that about us (we're only human), I've called them idolaters, heretics, and stated categorically that they just aren't Christians.

Interestingly, in my reflections over the last day or so, I've been somewhat more reserved in my "judgement" of the Catholic Church, only because I doubt very much if we'd be here today without them. I disagree with much of Catholicism and I believe we owe a lot to Henry VIII, who opened the door for something incredible.... with entirely the wrong motives. Having said that, without the Catholic Church, the church itself may well have dissipated over the ages into an underground minority that was rarely seen in the open world.

I wonder if our values would be different today? I wonder if much of our way of life would be different without the Catholic Church.

I wonder if they're misguided... or simply misunderstood.

To be perfectly frank, I stand by my earlier comments regarding Catholicism; however, I don't say these things out of spite or anything like that. I say these things out of love for them. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees on many occasions, but not because he despised them, but because he loved them. He died for them, but they didn't even realise it. He was teaching them about what it means to be a Follower of God, unfortunately many didn't listen. They were too caught up in their traditions and rules. They lost their way, putting their traditions and own ideas on the same standing as God's own Word.

Unfortunately, I see the Catholic Church as doing the very same thing and it pains me to see. The recent news about Mary MacKillop having performed "a second miracle" putting her in line for "sainthood" is about as heretical as it gets in my humble opinion. No person can perform a miracle, in life or death. God performs miracles.

To claim that a person has performed a miracle and then put them on a pedestal for that is heresy. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church do so, and it remains a long standing tradition.

Of course, this is just one small part of Catholicism and just the tip of my issue with the Catholic Church. I would love to see them turn from these heretical ways and return to Jesus' message.

But my question remains, are they misguided or simply misunderstood?

A Time to Mourn or a Time to Celebrate?

Is Good Friday a time to mourn the death of Christ or is it an opportunity to celebrate? Most would say that Good Friday is a time for mourning and Easter Sunday is the celebration party. Who am I to disagree with them?

I will offer this suggestion, though. In my studies, I've come to realise that the victory wasn't just in the resurrection. Sure, the resurrection was God the Father passing judgement on His son, Jesus Christ, and declaring Him to be good, so He raised Him up from the dead. Jesus was resurrected. That's a powerful victory, showing that God has control of all things, even in death (which Christ Himself had shown throughout His ministry).

The victory was on the Cross. Jesus, in complete obedience to His Father, was humiliated upon the Cross. God humbled Himself, walked a path of humiliation and was hung on a tree, crucified for all the world to see. He died a man, who had been completely obedient to God the Father, where we couldn't be. He died and conquered death, that we might live and have eternal life. He died that we could have a relationship with the Father, as He does.

The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus' last words upon the Cross were "It is finished". All that had been prophesied had come to pass. The price God chose to pay to redeem us, you and me, was the blood on His son on the Cross. Everything came to a head that day that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. God's plan had been fulfilled: to buy back everyone with the blood of Christ.

It is humbling to know that God did that, so long ago, for me. He did it for you. He always planned to do that. Before the foundations of the world, before the dawn of time, before the creation of the universe, God knew the Eternal Son was going to be sacrificed to redeem you and I, so that we could be adopted into His family and have a relationship with Him.

God did it so that we could be exalted with Him. See, Jesus, a man (yes, both God and man), is seated right now at the right hand of the Father. Just so you catch what I just said, right now there is a man, a human being, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. A human being is in heaven right now! Not dead, alive!! When Christ ascended, He ascended as both God and man. Remember, He was resurrected as a man. He ascended as a man. This is so we could be exalted as humans with Him in heaven.

The victory here, though, is on the Cross. See, when Christ died, he conquered death. He overwhelmed death and made it life. He fulfilled God's plan, living a life of complete obedience. Jesus wasn't fearless. He was scared stiff knowing what was coming up. In Gethsemane, He prayed that there might be some other way. He knew He had to die, and He didn't really want to. If you knew you were going to be arrested tomorrow and that it would result in you being crucified, dying an excruciatingly long and painful death, would you do it anyway? Jesus did.

The victory is on the Cross. So while we mourn because it is a sad moment for those of us who love Christ, it is also a time to celebrate His victory over sin and death. We celebrate because we are justified by Jesus' victory in death. By Jesus' death, we are totally accepted by God. The death of Christ is the great redeeming act that restores our relationship with God, enabling us to stand with our heads held high.

So on Good Friday, while we may feel some sorrow for the pain and humiliation suffered by Christ, remember that the great act of redemption was Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, which is a reason to rejoice and celebrate because we are now brought closer to God and share in a loving relationship with Him.