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Lisa Duffy: A Million Unheard Souls

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Who Are Catholics? We’re A Motley Crew Of Sinners, Don’t Ya Know

Who Are Catholics? We’re A Motley Crew Of Sinners, Don’t Ya Know

Last updated on: August 29, 2016 at 10:53 pm by Lisa Duffy

Who Are Catholics? We’re A Motley Crew Of Sinners, Don’t Ya Know 2016-08-29T22:53:10-04:00 Lisa Duffy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“What is Catholicism?” is one question. “Who is a Catholic?” is a very different question; it is the question.

For the past few weeks, the Patheos Catholic Channel has been exploring this question. I invite you–Catholic or not–to read, share, comment, and most of all to ponder the question with us.

Photo by Michael Gaida, Pixabay.Com, CC

Years ago on a Saturday morning, I was walking out the front door of St. Mary’s Catholic Church where I had stopped to make a little visit before I headed off on my busy day. I was in a rush to get going, but something unexpected caught my attention and made me stop to watch. Driving past the church was a massive dude on a Harley Davidson motorcycle and he definitely fit the part: long hair, goatee, tattoos, and lots of leather and metal. But what really caught my attention as he motored loudly past St. Mary’s was what precisely was unexpected… he made the sign of the cross.

Imagine that! He was acknowledging Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist that is contained within the tabernacle of the church, something my own parents had taught my siblings and me to do while we were growing up. He didn’t blink an eye in doing so, and he didn’t seem to care in the least what an observer might think.

I loved being able to witness that moment as I left the church that morning. Who in the world would have thought some big, burly biker dude would be reverencing the Eucharist in public as he roared down Main Street? No one would have expected that from a guy like him. And that is my point. People, especially Catholics, are far too quick to make blanket judgments:

He’s a biker, so he can’t be a good Catholic. Or,

She’s a single mother, so she can’t be a good Catholic. Or,

He’s gay, so he can’t be a good Catholic. Or,

They are divorced, so they can’t be good Catholics.

Not everyone we encounter is striving to live a holy life, but isn’t it possible that the person you (or I) are most likely to write off as a hopeless sinner is sincerely struggling to live a holy life and we just don’t know it?

A Motley Crew

Let’s be candid, shall we? If you knew the sins I was struggling with, you’d probably be scandalized. And I’m willing to bet the reverse is true. But being Catholic is not about drawing a thick black line between us and other sinners so as not to be associated with them because of their sins. Really, truly, sincerely living the Catholic faith is all about helping each other get to heaven, even the ones – no, especially the ones whom we might judge to be more scandalous than ourselves. Which means the haggling and back-biting that goes on amongst the different camps in the Church have the propensity to become that resounding gong, that clanging cymbal St. Paul so vehemently warns us about.

We Catholics are just as motley a crew as the next bunch. We come from all perspectives and backgrounds; left and right, liberal and conservative, straight laced and free-spirited. And while the whole point of living the Catholic faith is to overcome sin and get to heaven, I believe one of the biggest challenges we face today as a community – a challenge that seems to only end up dividing us – is the temptation to judge others by their particular struggle with sin.

I am not in any way trying to reduce the severity or eternal consequences of sin, because that is a reality no one can escape. I’m simply wishing aloud that we Catholics would be known more for our love for others and a sincere interest in helping people get to heaven, than just being right all the time.

Real Catholicism

As we approach the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa, I can’t help but point out that she is one of the most eloquent examples of what a Catholic should be today. No one was too lost for her to love or too low for her to serve, and she did it all out of love for Christ. Every wound she washed and dressed, every hardened heart she softened, every truth-seeker she instructed was Christ in the flesh to her and she loved Christ through her service to others until her final breath. This, from my perspective, is what it means to be Catholic.

The big question this series on Catholicism asks is, who is a Catholic? In my estimation, Pope Francis described it best when he said, “The church’s ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor. This is pure Gospel.”

This post is a part of the Patheos Catholic Channel series, “Catholicity: Identity and Its Discontents.” Read more here.

Lisa Duffy is the author of many books, including The Catholic Guide To Dating After Divorce and A Road To Healing: Daily Reflections For Divorced Catholics.

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