When I read about people who leave the Catholic Church or are non-Catholics who are hostile to the faith it is amazing how much their opinions are informed by misunderstandings of who Catholics are and what they are on about. I find this also when I hear the stories of those who come to the Catholic Church examples of which can be heard on the EWTN series Journeys in Faith which can be viewed on Youtube. As with Christ, in the Gospel today, we find people will take offense at the Church in ways that impede the working of grace. It is incumbent on us to turn the other cheek to insults and live out the Gospel. The experience of mockery and worse is not unprecedented. The early Christians suffered at the hands of the pagans who thought they were atheists. Today we may suffer because we do not buy into the politically correct worldview that condones abortion, same sex marriage and euthanasia and in this way we are seen as irrational and "religious extremists." St Peter wrote to his community: "Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution whether of the emperor as supreme or of the governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor." (1 Peter 2: 12-17)
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