Have you seen or heard about the "I love Jesus but hate religion" video on Youtube?
Even though I don't watch news, it's been all over the blogs I read and it is interesting and great to see all the responses and videos made. It was especially interesting for me, seeing as I went on a long journey last year where I personally discovered this for myself. I used to think that Jesus was most important and that you could "sell" Jesus by himself, without his Bride. However, I realized that while Jesus IS most important (for us), it's true, that's only an incomplete version of the story. Now I hold three important facts as tested and true.
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| Trinity icon by Rublev |
- Jesus is not alone. He is ONE person out of THREE. He is one person in the Trinity and that's important. It means God himself is a community of persons, an exchange of love... and Jesus wants us to be part of that. He wants to include us in that community (John 17). So Jesus is most important for us, because He's our door and bridge to salvation, but you can't say He's more important than God the Father or the Holy Spirit.
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God has a family, He chose to have one because He is love and love overflows. Being saved by Jesus isn't just an individual thing, it's about being adopted into a family: God's family. We are His children, but we also discover that we have a mother (as Jesus says to John at the foot of the cross, this is your mother John 19:27), brothers and sisters. The Church is a reflection of that, we're called to live as a family here on Earth but we're also destined to be a family in heaven (and we call those who have died brothers and sisters go have gone before us). So when we are "saved" we are part of something, it's not just about us alone. We are part of a mission and we belong to a universal and transversal (through time) family. This leads to the concept of vocation withing the Catholic church, where you are called to a mission and a relationship at the same time within this family (you are called to be a father, mother, husband, wife, sister or brother). 
Nashville Dominicans
We really aren't smart enough and certainly not holy enough to reach the truth on our own. It's a gift and it's given to us.In fact, it's a person and He's the truth, the way and the life. And yes the Holy Spirit speaks to each person individually, but we are very broken vessels and many times (if not most of the time) get it wrong. How could we reach any decision if the only system was democracy? You just have to look at how many different churches and opinions there are even within the same Church. So it was amazing to discover that there is a system other than democracy for something as important as our salvation: the Holy Spirit's guidance. And that's what guides broken vessels and people that mess up over 2000 years continually to the truth... through the Church. Dogma, Church teaching, saints' writings, how to interpret the Bible aren't LIMITATIONS, they're a starting point for creativity as Flannery O'Connor said. In a world where everything is fallible and relative, it's essential to hold some things as true. You choose what and where to receive from. So it's not surprise Jesus gave authority to his Church (Matthew 18:18; John 20:23) and promised it would survive all attacks (Matthew 16:18). And it's a gift.
Links about the debate (in my order of preference):
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