I have a very high “cheese” detector.

This has nothing to do with food, but has everything to do with detecting when things are trite, insincere, “goobery,” unserious, and embarrassing.

Secondary embarrassment is a common emotion in me, which if you don’t know, is the emotion one feels when others are doing something embarrassing but don’t realize it.

In the West’s effort to make Christianity just the Church of Nice, the effects have been devastating, especially for men.

The hallmarks of the Church of Nice are tolerance of everything, a watering down of Christ’s teachings so as not to offend, removal of discipline because it seems too legalistic, and bland, boring sermons that spout off simplistic platitudes.

Worst of all, though, is that the Church of Nice allows the secular culture to infiltrate and spread its dark tentacles around. It isn’t long before the church looks no different than the culture.

And then, what’s the point?

One of the things that began to attract me to Catholicism, once I started actually learning about it, was the seriousness it had about the Faith.

Sure, there are wishy-washy Catholics that want the church to be the Church of Nice, but overall, there is a seriousness and sincerity to it that was appealing.

I don’t want everything tolerated.

I don’t need watered-down teachings that tell me I’m “perfect just the way I am.”

I need discipline. I need a challenge. I want to be strengthened. My soul requires a higher standard than the world’s standard.

The Church of Nice is cheesy with a high cringe factor, but worst of all, it inspires no one and can’t be taken seriously.

Christ called us to live differently, Catholic Pilgrims. We are to mirror Him, not the world.

Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.