Wrapping Up...

I want to conclude this series by recalling the quandary confronting Fr. Longenecker and the insight he received from the Abbot of Quarr Abbey (a Benedictine monastery on the Isle of Wight) who counseled:

“Sometimes we have to deny some lesser good in order to affirm the greater good. I think you have to deny women’s ordination in order to affirm the apostolic ministry. If the apostolic authority says no to women’s ordination, then to affirm the greater good of apostolic authority you will have to deny the lesser good of women’s ordination. Because if we deny the greater good, then eventually we will lose the lesser good as well.”

In this series of columns, you have heard the rationale for belief in a creator that is far more reasonable than the beliefs of those who don’t know God.

You have heard the reasons for believing that this creator has given us the Bible, and his Son. You have heard the rationale for why Christ died for us all, and reasons for believing he subsequently rose. And finally, that he founded the Catholic Church for the benefit of us all.

My hope is that by grasping the reasonableness of Catholicism you have found your Catholic voice and can fulfill what the Catholic Catechism calls our obligation to “spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” (CCC 1285) (emphasis added).