It’s a common problem...selective hearing...and we all suffer from it to one degree or another. Ask my wife – she’ll tell you that I am very good at it.
In any event, it never ceases to amaze me (although it really shouldn’t anymore) how – whenever I talk to Protestants about the Catholic faith – they only hear what they want to hear.
There are many ways to exemplify this, but a classic example is any discussion about Mary. I have often quoted Mother Teresa who said “No Mary, no Jesus”. But at the same time, I try carefully to explain everything the Catholic Church teaches about Mary is fully centred on Christ i.e. Mary would not be who she is if it wasn’t for our Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet, the only thing many of my Protestant friends selectively choose to focus on is the way we say “No Mary, no Jesus”, without acknowleging that what we believe about Mary is absolutely 100% based on Jesus. It’s as if they think that we Catholics believe Mary was the mother of the Trinity – and yet nothing could be further from the truth. For once...just once...I wish even one of my Protestant friends would take his/her theologically biased blinkers off for even a split second to honestly examine the REAL Catholic position rather than having their minds made up before even examining the argument in the proper way.
To paraphrase the late Bishop Fulton Sheen:
“There are not 100 people who hate the Catholic Church; but there are millions who hate what they THINK the Catholic Church is”.
So, an exhortation to my Protestant brothers and sisters – rather than accepting as “gospel truth” what you have always been taught about the Catholic Church by your own tradition – take the time to study Catholic teaching from a Catholic perspective; honestly asking for the Lord’s light and guidance. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may even be (pleasantly) surprised.
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