Protestants believe in sola scriptura, the idea that Scripture alone is the final authority for determining Christian beliefs and practices. Catholics contend that we need an authoritative Church to correctly interpret the Bible.

Some Protestants have countered this by saying that Catholics believe that the Church is more important than the Bible.

That’s not true. Here’s why.

The Church is not a source of revelation.
When we speak of the “three-legged stool” of Scripture, Tradition, and the Church, note that only Scripture and Tradition pass on God’s divine revelation. The Church is not a source of revelation but rather the infallible interpreter of the other two “legs.” In this sense, you could say that the Bible is more important than the Church.

But Scripture needs an authoritative interpreter, which is the Church’s Magisterium. When there seems to be opposition between the words of Scripture and the Church, we listen to the Church.

“Doesn’t this put the Church above Scripture?” you may ask.

Nobody likes to wait, especially in our fast-paced world. We enjoy fast food, instant connections with people via social media, and on-demand news updates.

Yet life still makes us wait on many things, whether it’s discovering our vocation, finding a new job, or recovering from a long illness.

God gives us a special virtue to help with the waiting: patience. It’s something we can all use more of.

What is patience?
Patience is a form of courage. There are two parts to courage: attacking and enduring. Enduring involves patience.

Patience helps you hold onto something good and preserve the use of your reason despite obstacles, especially obstacles that have stood in your way for a long time.

For example, you may have to care for a sick loved one for a month. This places some obstacles in the way of certain goods you want to pursue, such as traveling. Patience helps you wait for that good or opens you up to another good God wants to give you in its place.

Patience balances you between two extremes.
Some people expect nothing but bad things out of life. Others think they are above misfortune. Both extremes are dangerous.

God wants you to experience some trials in life to help you grow, but He doesn’t want you to be destroyed by them. Patience helps you peacefully accept that bad things will happen and fortifies you so you can face them. The good will win in the end.

Patience doesn’t require you to be a doormat. There are some obstacles in life that you should confront. For example, if you’re bullied at work or school, you should take steps to stop it. (This may require getting help from others and that’s OK.)

Be assured that God will grant you complete freedom from tribulations if you follow Him. He can neither deceive nor be deceived. Meditate often on this truth to find the patience to bear whatever life brings you.

Sadness is part of our human condition. But admittedly, it burdens the soul and can negatively affect our relationships, especially when it persists for a long time.

So what do we do when we’re feeling blue? The internet is full of quick fixes for sadness, but the root often goes deeper than what life hacks can cure.

Instead, let’s turn to our Christian tradition to find constructive ways to manage sadness.

Recognize that sadness is morally neutral.
In itself, sadness is neither good nor evil. This is freeing. Sometimes well-meaning Christian leaders can make us feel guilty about being sad, saying, “The Gospel frees you! Why are you sad?”

It’s true that God’s will for our future is eternal joy in heaven. But on the way there, sad seasons will come and go. There’s no escaping it.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do to mitigate a particular moment of sadness (we’ll get to that soon). But you’re wasting your time if you think you can go through life without ever experiencing a heavy heart.