Is It Pride?

By Patricia Pitkus Bainbridge

I've been exchanging e-mails with one of our outstanding Parish Respect Life Coordinators (PRLC) who is searching for the best and simplest way to explain the truth to people who do not share the Church's beliefs on the life issues. To do that, it would be helpful to know why people either reject the truth or seem to be so complacent.

We've gone back and forth discussing selfishness, moral relativism, confusion about good and evil, and cafeteria morals-all of which obviously have a negative impact on our society-but we did not come up a definitive root cause or solution.

Then, while flying to DC a few weeks ago, I began to reflect on why so many people in our culture have blurred the line between right and wrong and have followed popular culture rather than our long held Judeo-Christian tradition. Why do so many Catholics reject the clear teaching of the Church and still call themselves "Catholic?" Why do Catholics leave the Church and join other Christian churches? Why are there so many Christian denominations and other non-denominational, independent churches?

The deadly sin of pride

Then it came to me. Maybe it's pride-one of the seven capital/deadly sins. Even if they are not aware of it, these people are rejecting God, His Church, and/or certain teachings of His Church. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes St. Gregory as understanding pride "to be that frame of mind in which a man, through the love of his own worth, aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God, and sets at naught the commands of superiors."

That's it! When someone decides that he or she knows more than the Magisterium, they are committing the sin of pride. Lest we be unfair, this applies to those who reject Church teaching on approved actions (Natural Family Planning, Just War, etc.) as well as those who reject prohibited actions (contraception, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, cloning, in vitro fertilization, assisted suicide, euthanasia, etc.).

Catholics are to rely on the Magisterium to defend and transmit revealed truth and as Catholics we are expected to accept those truths. Just as Martin Luther's attack on the Church was ultimately about her authority, others down through the ages decided they knew better than the Church, so they founded their own churches. Even today, it is not unusual for some Christians to decide their church is not on the "right path," so they start their own.

It's not difficult to see why this happens. When Church authority is ignored, each person becomes his or her own authority and the divinely-established authority of Christ's Church is replaced by individual whim or interpretations that cause people to lose their moral and spiritual bearings. This is not what Christ intended when He spoke about Peter and the Church authority as a "Rock." The principle that each person is his own moral center of the universe was the original sin of the devil (who refused to serve the Truth) namely, pride.

The same thing happens with some Catholics. They reject the revealed truth and authority of the Church and decide to live their lives according to their own personal view of morality believing what the Church teaches is "wrong" and old fashioned. They want to do what they want to do and they justify it by deciding that they know what's best. They live by their "values" even if those values contradict the teachings of the Church. This is pride.

Recently, I was speaking with another outstanding PRLC about my reflections on pride and she mentioned that one of her fellow parishioners, Ginny Kissamis, had written something for their parish newsletter about her personal journey from being pro-choice on abortion to being prolife and the influence pride had on her views. Always curious, I contacted Ginny and she emailed me a copy of her wonderful article. [With her permission, it is printed at the bottom of this sheet.]

Preaching to the Choir?

By Ginny Kissamis

On October 12th of this year, with the presidential election fast approaching Fr. Joe gave a homily on the respect for life and the need for Catholics to be well informed on the issues before casting their vote. During the homily he mentioned that he's often told he's "preaching to the choir" when he speaks from the pulpit about life issues. I guess the thought is that people in church already understand the Church's position on this so why bother rehashing it with them? Well, I was struck hard by those comments. It reminded me of a time four years earlier during the last presidential election, when Fr. Joe had sternly delivered a similar homily.

Without mentioning names he made it clear that one of the candidates was, in his words, "prodeath" and that as Catholics we could not in good conscience vote for such a candidate. I remember sitting there and being so jolted by his tone that I literally made an audible sound of shock. No doubt in part because I knew he was talking about the "pro choice" candidate I intended to vote for. I was absolutely indignant- my candidate was pro-death? What about his apparent candidate - the one who supported capital punishment and war? How does he, and the Church, reconcile that? I felt challenged as a Catholic and as a woman. Presumably I was in the choir at that time by virtue of my presence in the pew, but I was very angry.

My anger simmered in the days that followed, but eventually turned to confusion, sadness, and even fear. I began to recognize that I had indeed been challenged. I had this pro-choice ideology that conflicted with the Church's prolife teaching. But if the Church teaches all life is sacred, why was it that war and capital punishment were tolerable, but not abortion under any circumstance? It seemed like a contradiction to me and I didn't understand it. Somehow, though, I knew I was going to have to reconcile my views with the Church or move on.

The prospect of that made me very sad, but I felt it would be hypocritical for me to espouse the virtues of my faith on one hand, while discounting the parts that didn't fit into my way of thinking on the other. If the Church couldn't have it both ways, how could I expect to?

Time passed and, not surprisingly, I felt very much separated from God and my faith. I loved being Catholic and participating in the Mass, but I was at a loss as to how to resolve this conflict. Finally, one day as I was flipping through an issue of The Observer, I came across an article that caught my eye. In the last few paragraphs of a column by Dr. Owen Phelps, I read about the difference between two people, both of whom acknowledged that they didn't always agree with Church teaching. One was described as a dissident-her way was the right way and if the Church taught differently, she was angry and expected the Church to change. The other person, however, didn't care as much about being right even when he really believed he was. Rather, he was troubled when he disagreed with the Pope; he desired to conform to the will of God. So when he found himself struggling, instead of getting angry he prayed for greater faith and understanding. He sought answers in prayer and study and he was willing to discover that he had been wrong.

He was willing to discover he was wrong. This was a revelation for me! After reading this article I knew immediately that I had been wrong. I had put my pride before my prayer. Instead of falling on my knees when I struggled with Church teaching, I got angry and indignant. In this particular case I believed I had carefully discerned my reasons for being "pro-choice," and somehow that trumped God's command that all life is precious. Can you imagine? I dared to imply that it was the author and creator of life Himself who was wrong!

It's very painful to remember and admit that I could have been so arrogant. Thankfully, I have been humbled by God's grace and forgiveness since then. It had taken some time but I did come to understand and fully embrace the prolife teachings of my faith. Whenever I struggle now to understand Church teaching-GOD'S TEACHING-on anything, I turn to Him for guidance and I just trust that He will enlighten me. As a result my faith has grown and thrived in ways I could never have imagined, and my life overflows with love and peace and joy. I truly doubt I'd be able to say these things now if Fr. Joe hadn't bothered "preaching to the choir."

Ginny Kissamis and her husband Kel are members of St. Charles Borromeo-Hampshire. She has a daughter who was recently married and a son and step-son who are both juniors in college. She works full time as an executive assistant for an early childhood program.

Reprinted from Life Matters - The Newsletter of the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Rockford, January 2009