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5 Ways That The Church Is Really All About The “Yes”

5 Ways That The Church Is Really All About The “Yes”

Last updated on: June 3, 2015 at 10:26 am by Tom Zampino

5 Ways That The Church Is Really All About The “Yes” 2015-06-03T10:26:04-05:00 Tom Zampino

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Ours has become a culture of yes.

One that trusts first and last in the individual instinct, however base, without regard to what was once considered objective truth.

This is “my truth,” as a former New Jersey governor once pronounced upon his resignation.

It is a yes to the self.

It is a yes to the physical, to the material, and to all things visible.

It’s no wonder that we have looked over all that we have transformed our selves and our culture into and have, sans the least bit of irony, declared it to be very good.

It has, indeed, become a culture of yes to the self.

But that culture of yes somehow falters when we turn to matters beyond the self, to matters of the spirit.

Since the ending of my self-imposed exile, one of the most frustrating discussions that I have frequently engaged in seems to center on why the Church is so negative. So against the individual. So self-denying.

It is this perceived “no!” to the self that appears as the first – and perhaps biggest – stumbling block to understanding what the Church is about.

There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

But the Church is not engaged in the business of “no!”

It is, rather, all about a yes to life, and to grace, and to healing, and to freedom – freedom from those things which bind us or which stop us from fully loving, fully receiving, and fully connecting, to our Creator and to each other.

It’s not at all about the no.

It’s really all about the yes:

1) a yes to the God inspired, directed, and affirming creation of our very life-force – from its genesis to its natural end;

2) a yes to God’s physical creation, and to our responsible stewardship of it;

3) a yes to loving our neighbor, and a yes to loving even our enemies;

4) a yes to service, and to the constant re-making of ourselves, so that we can edge ever closer to His perfect image and being; and

5) a yes to prayer, reflection, meditation, and peace so that we can finally refuse to allow anything obtainable during our physical existence to become our false idol of worship – whether it be money, power, success, vanity, or physical desire.

So yes, it’s all about the yes!

Let’s say yes! this day to all of those things which emanate from above.

And let’s remember to give thanks in any way that we can.

Peace

Photo Image Credit Here (shared by Chris 10-14-2011, on clker.com)

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