Many nonCatholics believe that Catholic faith is a blind acceptance of the Church's teachings without any attempt to use the powers of reason and logic. On the contrary, unless a person uses his own intelligence to come to the conviction that the truths of the Catholic religion have been revealed by God, he can never make a true act of faith. Even a child, before he can make an act of faith, must have some realization that it is reasonable to do so, at least from the testimony of his parents. And if an intelligent person examines the claim of the Church honestly and thoroughly, he will eventually conclude that the Catholic religion is the one true religion of God, and that all are obliged to believe it, Then, if he sincerely prays to God for light and strength to do what is right, he will surely be led to make a firm act of faith in the truths taught by the Catholic Church.
Bearing this in mind, the question naturally arises: Why are there so many persons outside the Catholic Church? There are many reasons for this. Many of those persons have never had the opportunity of studying the Catholic religion; many are so absorbed in the interests of the present life that they have no care for the welfare of their immortal soul; many have prejudices and false ideas concerning the Catholic Church. It must be admitted that sometimes Catholics themselves are to blame, by their wicked lives, which lead people to the erroneous conclusion that the Catholic religion cannot be true. For it is quite usual to judge the merits of a religion by the conduct of some of those who profess it.
Often the statement is made that Catholics are intolerant. This is partially true and partially false. Catholics are not intolerant toward persons belonging to other religions; for the Catholic religion commands that we be charitable toward all men and regard those who differ from us in religious matters as being sincere in their belief. But Catholics are intolerant toward doctrines opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church in the sense that they logically regard such doctrines as false since they are contrary to the teachings of the true Church which is protected from error by the Holy Ghost.
The Catholic Church has been authorized by Christ to teach the truths of divine revelation, found in the Bible and in divine Tradition. The Bible contains 72 books 45 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Most of the books of the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew and most of the books of the New Testament in Greek. The Church can teach and explain authoritatively and infallibly not only the doctrines that are contained in the Bible and in divine Tradition, but also doctrines which have not been revealed but are connected with divine revelation; and Catholics are bound in conscience to accept these teachings of the Church.
There is need of Catholics who understand their religion and perceive how reasonable it is to accept its teachings, and who will bring to their nonCatholic friends, when the opportunity is offered, the arguments for their faith. Often a Catholic lay person can be the means of leading a soul to the knowledge of the truth. But only Catholics who know their religion thoroughly can hope to perform such a deed of charity, for objections and difficulties in great numbers are brought up, and if a nonCatholic sees that the Catholic cannot give a satisfactory answer, he will wrongly conclude that the Catholic religion offers a very unsatisfactory solution of the problems of the modern world. Of course, the Catholic himself must lead a good, honest life, if he wishes to persuade his non-Catholic acquaintances that his religion is the only true one.
Catholics themselves should show their appreciation of the great gift of the one true faith by studying it constantly and by daily endeavoring to put it more perfectly into practice in their lives. It is indeed a great privilege to be a Catholic. That privilege is possessed by only one out of every six persons in this world. Truly, a sense of gratitude should impel us all to live up to the duties of our Catholic faith so exactly that each day we shall draw nearer to God and increase our merit in the glorious kingdom of Christ, when we shall pass from the Church militant to the Church triumphant.