Struggle, Learn and Grow Closer to God

Dear Faith Family,
I really love our Church. Not just our wonderful church community at Padre Serra, but the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. The rich history, the emphasis on philosophy and the promotion of a relationship with Jesus Christ through the Sacraments are so compelling to me and I’m so grateful every day that our Lord established this Church.

Within the rich history of our Church, we have had great minds invest their very being to the development of doctrine. Church councils have been formed throughout her history to simply pursue the truth so we can grow closer to God through it. These councils involved a lot of scrutiny and discussion and these have been happening all throughout our 2,000ish year history. I find it very comforting knowing that there have been greater minds than mine to pursue our dogmas and doctrines. I’m very glad that these truths don’t rely on my own personal research.

With that said, there are plenty of things that the Church teaches that I struggle with. Again, this is where the beauty of the Church’s pursuit of truth really helps me. Even though I may not understand something that the Church teaches (and maybe even struggle with it), there is something very humbling knowing that there have been so many brilliant minds who are not pursuing an agenda (like certain politicians), but rather, there are brilliant minds who just want to reveal who Jesus Christ is to the world.

This Sunday’s gospel really speaks to me because of my struggles to understand. Are we called to be like the Apostles, who know that Jesus “has the words of eternal life”? Or are we called to be the ones who see the Church and her teachings as something hard, and not worth pursuing?

Let me clarify, struggle is fine. In fact, if you read stories of the saints, I would say that struggle is a requisite of eternal life. It is through struggle that we understand our humanity, but we can also relate to Jesus. It is especially ok to struggle with things that may be happening or taught in the Church, as long as it compels an honest pursuit of the truth and Jesus Christ.
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I’m praying for all of you and I appreciate that you are doing the same for me and Youth/Young Adult ministry. If you have any questions of struggle, I just want to let you all know that I am available to talk about things. I may not have all the answers, but at the very least, we can pursue the truth and Jesus together.

God Bless,

​Brett Becker
Youth and Young Adult Minister

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