The Christian teachings are not changed or manipulated

And why is the Catholic Church not updated? What has not the time come when it "adapts to the new times"? Raul Espinoza Aguilera offers us a valuable reflection on these questions.

By: Raul Espinoza Aguilera | Source: yoinfluyo.com

We are celebrating the Octave for the Unity of Christians from the 18th of this month to the festival of the Conversion of Saint Paul (January 25).

We often hear this question:

- And why does the Catholic Church is not updated? Isn’t it time for it to "adapt to the new times"?

The first consideration of these questions would be this: what would have been if the message bequeathed by Jesus Christ to his Apostles was "adapted to the times of the Roman Empire"?

St. Paul describes in detail, in his letters to the Corinthians and the Romans, the tremendous moral degradation, in values, in virtues both individually and collectively.

A decadent society was observed, in which serious excesses and deprivations were committed, which in the end were the final cause of the collapse of this long empire.

Saint Paul insists that what they received from the Master was a spiritual treasure, the "repository of faith" and this can not be deformed, manipulated or upset.

Clearly were defined a Truths to Believe (the "Creed"), Ten Commandments of moral behavior and Seven Sacraments. Â "Save the deposit I have given you," he wrote

Saint Paul to his disciple Timothy.

And Saint Vincent de Lerins says: "he keeps the talent of the Catholic faith clean and inviolated. What you have believed, that same remains in you, that same delivery to others. The gold you have received, gold returns; do not substitute one thing with another, do not put lead instead of gold, do not mix anything fraudulently. "

In the ecumenical dialogue, the Second Vatican Council warns that it is necessary to expose with clarity all the Catholic doctrine. And he adds: "Nothing is as alien to ecumenism as that false irenism, which damages the purity of Catholic doctrine and obscures its genuine and definitive meaning (Unitatis Redintegratio, No. 11).

In other words, what the Council is saying is that it is not correct or valid, when it comes to dialogue with non-believers about our faith, even with the good intention that they approach our religion, falling into naivety and give in fundamentally. I put some simple examples.

I have learned that there are those who, in congratulating themselves with non-Christians or Catholics, come to affirm the following:

- Don’t you believe in Hell or Demon or Purgatory?

-Well, that does not end up being the essential thing in our faith but the love of God.

- Don’t you believe in the Virgin Mary?

-We can leave that topic aside and see that what unites us is the existence of a Supreme Being.

- Do Catholic morals bother you?

- Then, to reach an agreement, we can arrive at a few common principles of universal ethics: good, peace and universal brotherhood ??

Do you say that the truth is not objective or universal?

-Well, you're right, everyone can take whatever suits the truth. The important thing is to feel good about yourself.

I clarify that they are not invented examples but wrong comments that I have been hearing for many years.

They do not realize that those postures supposedly "open” only lead to losing the authenticity of our Christian faith. With evangelical words: The salt becomes tasteless. At first, it gives in to small things, but in the end, it ends up losing the true direction that leads only to serious doctrinal disorientation.

In short, false ecumenism is a deception both for the non-believer with whom dialogue takes place because it is not spoken with the full truth, as with the one who pretends to lead that dialogue and who ends up being more confused.

I come to mind some accurate words of the poet of Castile, Antonio Machado, who wrote: "Your truth? My truth? No. The truth. And we go together to look for it.

Of course, with the enormous difference, we Catholics start from the teachings of Jesus Christ who defined himself as "the Way, the Truth and the Life".

One can be tolerant with those who do not think like us, listen, understand, have an open mind, talk serenely and with charity, but with the Truth, it cannot be given because it has been revealed directly to us by the Son of God Incarnate. Only He fully belongs to us and we have to transmit it integrally.

@yoinfluyo