Catholic Action
Insight™ Episode
No Reason for Despair with
Karl Keating
Dear Friend,
If you sometimes wonder what is
going on in the Church and how to respond to all the chaos and
confusion, a few minutes listening to Karl Keating on our
recent Catholic Action
Insight™ episode should
fill you with great hope for the future. Interviewing him was
certainly inspirational for me!
As most know, Mr. Keating is the
founder of the Catholic Answers apostolate, which germinated in his
soul in the late seventies when he felt called to respond to some
anti-Catholic literature placed on the cars in the parking lot of his
parish. I won’t give away the storyline for you, but it is one for the
ages, and you’ll want to hear it directly from him in our short
video.
Given the explosive growth of
Catholic Answers over the years, the story simply confirms Karl
Keating’s message of hope for Catholics in modern times. If we were to
ask the question, “Where do Catholics go from here?” Mr. Keating would
answer like St. Junipero Serra who founded the missions of California:
“Forward! Always forward!” It’s that attitude of indomitable hope that
drives Karl Keating and all of us here at Catholic Action.
In the interview, he backs up his
message of hope with a deep understanding of Catholic history, which
is what he calls a “very sobering” reality for all of us. Whenever we
are tempted to complain or think we have it bad, we should read the
history of the saints to know that our forebears often had it much
worse than we do and continued in fidelity to the Truth and love for
the Church that Christ founded.
He cites the famous French diplomat
and writer, Paul Claudel, who received a grace of deep conviction
about the Truth of the Catholic faith as he stood by a pillar in the
Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. (To this very day, a placard in the
cathedral marks the spot of his conversion.) From that point on,
Claudel used his influence and talent to promote those truths to the
world.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta was told
by Jesus that she would not have consolation in her practice of the
faith, and she humbly accepted His will. For fifty years she
persevered and marched always forward in the work Christ gave her to
do, and we all know the extraordinary impact her Missionaries of
Charity have had on our modern world.
Karl notes that these models of
active faith apply to Catholics of every day and age, not just those
who receive extraordinary graces. God tests every one of us to grow,
and the tests are often difficult. But we are not people who despair
at challenges or at the abysmal state of the Church or the world. We
are in the company of the saints, and so we march forward and do what
we can to increase the light amid the growing darkness.
Yes, things are bad and, quite
frankly, the Church is in terrible shape today. But there is
absolutely no reason to despair—take it from Karl Keating, who knows a
little bit about giving people hope.
Yours in Christ and Our Lady,
Thomas J. McKenna
Founder and President
Catholic Action For Faith And Family
https://www.catholicaction.org/
P.S. If you would like to help offset the
studio production costs for Catholic Action Insight™, please
consider making a
donation. It is through our generous
supporters that we are able to enhance our ability to defend and
promote the great treasures of the Church in order to hand them on to
the next generation.
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