I’ll start off by saying this — I’m not writing this article to brag about how great Catholicism is (even though it totally is) but rather to help others see what we’re really about.
Some view the Catholic Church as a bunch of close-minded, non-accepting, traditional robots who disagree with anything society says.
However, since Pope Francis has come into play, that misconception has started to turn around.
He says we need to be more accepting, and I completely agree.
If you go against our beliefs, we don’t hate you.
We don’t think less of you.
We don’t have anything against you.
We love you.
God loves you.
This doesn’t mean we are going to change what we believe — the Church won’t conform to society.
The Church will never change its opinions on issues such as abortion and gay marriage — but that doesn’t mean we won’t treat every person with love and respect.
It’s one of those, “Love the sinner, but hate the sin,” kind of things.
In a recent speech, Pope Francis said, “If someone is gay, and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Everyone is to be treated with respect and dignity no matter what the circumstance.
Pope Francis is changing the world.
Correction: the Holy Spirit is changing the world through Pope Francis.
He relates to each and every one of us.
He helps us see our worth and what we can do.
So how can this be applied to all of our lives?
First of all, we can try to love and accept other people as they are.
Everyone is on a different path. Everyone will find out where they’re supposed to be and who they’re supposed to be eventually.
As teens, we are all naturally so quick to judge our peers.
Whether it’s by what someone is wearing, who they hang out with or what they do, we all judge people from their appearance before actually getting to know them.
There are some really cool people out there if we would only make the effort to see what they’re like on the inside.