Learning through the Sacraments

A fascinating blogger named Molly Sabourin who describes herself as an "orthodox Christian" writes a brief, but impassioned article entitled "And Yet Love Happens." She explains how she no longer feels obliged to be an apologist for her Christian faith... especially in the face of terrible tragedies, suffering, and grief. At the heart of her withdrawal from apologetics, she notes that she is instead centered in the Sacraments of the Church, which I would agree with of course- for truly the community of faith is marked by these means of grace. The mysteries of the faith after all-the Sacraments-are the means of grace by which faith is born. Through means such as Baptism, Absolution, and the Eucharist, the people of God die and rise with Christ, receive the full and free forgiveness of their sins by Christ Himself, hearts and minds are nurtured for the kingdom of God, and the children of God are fed and nourished by the body and blood Christ in with and under the bread and the wine.


Anyway, this is what Ms. Sabourin has to say in this brief, but beautiful article:

I feel no obligation anymore to explain God, or why I believe in the Resurrection of Christ despite the universality of death and suffering. I won't pretend that suicide bombers, plane crashes and children with cancer don't make my insides crawl with horror. The truth is I have no real answers to give, and that any I concocted would be speculative at best. Being confronted by tragedy is like a bucket of ice water to the head. Death and suffering, the way they breathe all hot and heavy down my neck, won't let me sleep, or forget that I am vulnerable - just as vulnerable as any and everyone else - to having my comfortable little existence shred to pieces in a heartbeat.

I feel no responsibility to whitewash the pain of being broken with glossy euphemisms proposing that sense can be made of injustice. Thirteen years ago I surrendered my opinions and dependence on reason to the ancient teachings of the Church - I retired my time consuming (wasting?) quest to figure things out (Who, what, where, when, why is God, exactly?) and learned through the sacraments to make peace with the Mystery that is God and His mercy, the Holy Trinity, salvation. And now I'm no longer in the mood for a debate about the peripherals, not when the end is all around me and my only real source of courage is, mysteriously enough, self-denial. No, I will not try and appease your anger, your disillusionment, your doubts; but God help me weep with you when you weep and love you, serve you, just exactly as you are, lest the monsters, pride and despair, sink their teeth into my soul.