Reflections on our separated brethren



Today (Oct 5, 2010), I was listening to Air 1, a non-denominational Christian radio station, on my way back home from San Francisco. I am not exactly too keen on the music, but it's better than most secular music. In between some songs there are inspirational messages. One of them was from a band telling the story of a girl who was about to commit suicide. She heard one of their songs on the radio, and stopped by the Best Buy store to pick up their album. She didn't end up commiting suicide, turned her life around and lives for God now.
 
Now, I am not a relativist, an indifferentist, a universalist, or a modernist (my trad friends may beg to defer). However, I have found there has been much said against our Protestant brethren in the Christian faith. I know, much of it was from my own mouth. Granted, their ecclesial communities  lack in many ways, the full Christian faith. But, in our bitter sentiments towards their continued rejection of Catholic-Christianity, might we ask ourselves when was  the last time we saved a life? Can good not come out of the work of our separated brethren?
 
Perhaps we should not always obsess over what we have to teach our Protestant brethren doctrinally, and maybe we should learn how to follow their example in evangelical practice! If Christinaity is supposed to have a message of salvation, why are we not very happy about it when we share it? Instead, it's almost as if we use it as a lead pipe to club others in the head with.
 
When I was an atheist, a girl I was persuing at the time gave me a button to put on my clothes. The button said, "Cheer Up Emo Kid!"
 
Christinaity is more than just a worldview; it is truly a religion, which means "to bind to God". It's message is a message of love, forgiveness, and salvation for all those who accept it and all its implications for our life. We should learn it and live it with joy!
 
Cheer up Catholic Kid!

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