For many of us who are of “a certain age,” we have grown up with the Gallup Poll as a constant mechanism of reporting what people think. For that reason, it caught my attention recently when a Gallup Poll was released with the headline, “U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion at Low Point.” But what really stood out was the subtitle, “Catholics’ confidence remains significantly lower than Protestants.” In effect, the poll concluded that while 56 percent  of Protestants express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the Church or organized religion, only 46 percent of Catholics offer that same response.

I am sure one could think about these findings and first raise some questions about the polling methods, specifically focusing on who was asked the question. One could well imagine a significant difference in the response of practicing Catholics (going to Mass each Sunday, praying daily, going to confession regularly) and those who identify themselves as Catholic but who have, for whatever reason, ceased to practice their faith. A failure to take that distinction into account could significantly affect the result of the poll. But I wonder if, even making such an adjustment in methodology, the poll doesn’t give us food for thought and highlight work that needs to be done.

For each of us, there is an essential question that we can and must answer in our hearts and consciences before the Lord. It is simply this, “Why am I Catholic?” It is the question that is linked to that personal decision and that moment when we have embraced Christ through our Catholic identity.

For some, this decision comes through grace and family upbringing that makes Mass and embracing Catholic teaching and moral conduct as natural as cornflakes at the family breakfast table. For others, there was an explicitly more personal decision, maybe even a formal conversion, that commits to the Church.

Whatever the mechanism that has brought us into the fold, as Catholics we believe that Christ established his Church. He prayed that all of his followers be one, gathered into that Church. The Church is built upon the rock of Peter and so we are united with Peter’s successor Pope Benedict XVI. So intimately linked to Christ is the Church that we call it his mystical body.

In a time and age when our individualism is exalted and held to be a defining value, we are constantly challenged by the existence and the obligations imposed upon us by the Church. Our belief that the Catholic faith is constantly guided and deepened by the Holy Spirit so that we can and must trust the Church’s teaching stands in contrast to our societal emphasis on the equality of each one’s personal opinion.

Certainly the human frailty and sinfulness of the Church can always be pointed out. It began with Judas and the bickering Apostles and was in full view with the recent scandals. But it is our faith that Christ is more powerful than the sinfulness or weakness of any members of the Church. Just a few weeks ago we read at Sunday Mass from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where Paul said the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

To be Catholic, to be part of the Church, is to accept Christ’s love and to give him our love. To have confidence in the Church is to trust Christ’s very love for us and his power to guide and save us. Scandals and poor catechesis over the past generation have obscured the beauty of the Church. We need to pray and deepen our understanding of Catholic teaching. But the reason for loving the Church and having confidence in Her has everything to do with Christ.