Starting the Week Off Without Compromise Again

Last Sunday we talked about "living without compromise." And so I started off my week with that front and center in my mind. (Since then, it's been bugging me. How much have I compromised just to "get along" better with others? I think I opened up a Pandora's box, at least for me. We'll see where this all goes.)

Here's a further thought on this for this week: Don't bother asking people what they think. Just go ahead and live your life without compromise despite what others may think.

What brought this to mind was all those polls that ask Catholics their "opinion" on Church teachings. For example, a recent poll asked Catholic women what they think about contraception. Sadly, the poll points out that a majority of those asked don't follow the Church's teaching.

"...33% of Catholic women incorrectly believe that the Church teaches that couples have the right to decide the moral acceptability of contraception regardless of Church teaching..."

Of course, again sadly, there's nothing surprising here. On the other hand, there's an interesting and somewhat encouraging pattern that shows up:

"While few Catholic women overall (13%) completely accept the Church’s teaching, that number doubles (27%) among young (18-34) women who attend church every week. And it climbs still higher among women who both attend Mass weekly and have been to confession within the past year—37% of these women completely accept the Church’s teaching."

You see how the percentages increase for people who actually practice their Faith (going to Mass and Confession)? (You can read the whole article by clicking HERE.)

Then again, I wonder why we should care what people think here. Wouldn't it be more interesting if the article said that our bishops, upon reading this, ordered their priests to begin preaching the truth, especially at Sunday Mass, about the Church's teaching on contraception?

Which takes us back to living without compromise. We can't compromise on living our Faith. Living without compromise includes complete fidelity - in every possible aspect of our lives - to our Catholic Faith.

So this story reinforces living without compromise as a continuing theme for this week.