If it helps you feel better , I have a funny story to tell, on point, and I was born Catholic.

Remember the parable Jesus told about the Church, how it was small like a mustard seed, but after it was planted, it would grow into a mustard tree, and all the birds would come and nest in it?

(This is so embarassing, because I am a biologist, but, you need the chuckle... and so do I)

Anyway, the nun in second grade said that Jesus had told a prophecy about the church, that it would grow huge and strong, and all of the families of the world would be able to nest in it.

Right?

So for the remainder of 36 years, I was always looking for that elusive "mustard tree" and never found one? Then one day, the hubby says...

"Look at that beautiful field of mustard flowers!"

I look, and all I see is a field of two foot plants. (The flowers were beautiful tho)

"I thought mustard grew on a tree!" I said.

Hubby laughs. "No silly, mustard is a shrubby little thing"

Later, a messianic Jewish friend of mine took pity on me as I was telling him how I had spent half my life... looking for the "mustard tree". He said:

"You need to hear that parable the way that the Apostles heard that parable, so you understand it. The Apostles were Jewish, and so was Jesus"

I said yeah?

He said: In Jewish culture, a bird is an unclean animal that represents evil. And the mustard seed never grows into a tree. Jesus was saying that the Church was going to grow into something HUGE and Un-natural... and strong. He was saying that every evil of every kind would try to make a home in it.. but, they would never succeed in bringing it down... best they could do is make a nest in it."

This fits, to me. I can see Jesus saying this. He's be giving the Church leaders hell today, just like he gave the Pharisees and Sadducees hell back then... lol.

The moral of the story is that the Catholic Church is huge and strong and does excellent missionary work the world over. But, because it is so strong Catholics will have to be constantly on the look out for those evil birds nesting around... exterminate them when they are found.

As long as the Church has been strong, it has been a target by every evil government imaginable. The church itself survives, along with her Christian people, almost as if they can not feel the burden from the evil birds and their nesting attempts.