I once had a conversation with a Catholic who wasn’t practicing his faith. At one point, he said, ‘‘My parents always brought me to Mass, but, during university I stopped going. Now, they’re always encouraging me to go back, but I’ve never understood why we have to go every Sunday.’ I said, ‘Okay. But, before we get to Sunday Mass, can I ask: What do you think about Jesus’ dying on the Cross to forgive your sins, and rising to offer you eternal life?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.’ I told him that the Sunday Mass obligation is important but doesn’t make sense until we deal with the fundamental reality of Jesus’ love for us. I told him, ‘No pressure. But think about that. That’s the most important part of Catholicism.’
We mentioned two weeks ago that, when we make a decision to place Jesus at the center of our lives, it involves our will, intellect, and heart. Last week, we talked about our will (making decisions). Today, we’re focused on the intellect. We need to know: To what are we saying ‘Yes’?
Let’s look at two ideas in the Second Reading. The first has to do with saying ‘Yes’ to a Person. St. Paul writes, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction [He’s referring to the Old Testament—it was written so that we can know. Knowledge isn’t the most important thing because St. John of the Cross says, ‘At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love’ (CCC 1022), but, without knowledge, we can’t love God or we’ll love the wrong things], so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). He’s referring to eternal life, the hope of being with God forever.
In Catholic schools, when we ask students, ‘What’s the most important part of Catholicism? What does God want us to do?’ they typically answer, ‘Be a good person.’ Their hope is not in being with God. So, it would seem they’re lacking a kind of knowledge. Being a good person is not bad, but it’s not what Christianity is about.
Could I ask everyone’s help on this, please? We talk about this at least four times a year for years now, but it’s getting through too slowly. And it’s not the children’s fault. They must be picking it up from us, the adults.
In September, we said Christianity is like marriage. Who says, ‘I got married to become a better person’? We get married to love the other person and love children, if God gives them. Our school and PREP program don’t exist to make our children good! They exist so that children can be with Jesus. One difference we usually see between young people who stop practicing their faith and those who continue is that those who stay focus on Jesus. They understand that they’re saying ‘Yes’ not to being a good person, but to a relationship, and so they have an advantage!
St. Paul refers to the Old Testament. Here’s a fascinating fact: In the Old Testament, God only gives the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai after He’s made a covenant with the people (Cf. CCC 2060).
A covenant is a family relationship, like marriage or adoption—once there’s a relationship, then God gives the rules of love. Just like Advent: Jesus comes first to re-establish our relationship, but His second coming is about judging our love for Him.
For anyone in RCIA right now or if you’re ever thinking about becoming Catholic, we want to set you up for success. Remember: Relationship with Jesus first, commandments second. Over the years, we’ve had brothers and sisters who become Catholic then leave. We later find out that they became Catholic because they liked our community (which is great but not enough), or had an experience of God (which stayed at the level of emotions and they didn’t make a decision to love Him in return). It’s only now that I’ve realized: They were saying ‘Yes’ to being part of a community—uh oh, that’s not going to last.
Here now is the testimony of Anah Teele, who received the Sacraments of Initiation on November 1.
Notice that she said ‘Yes’ first to God the Father and Jesus, and then this necessarily includes the Church, the Sacraments, and loving others.
The second idea has to do with an ongoing ‘Yes’ to God. After we place Him at the center of our lives, we need to keep on saying ‘Yes.’ We can do this if we know that He is the God of encouragement. St. Paul speaks about “the God of steadfastness and encouragement” (15:5).
For example, whenever we feel a guilt that pushes us to Confession, that’s from God! We normally don’t think of guilt as encouraging but it is because it helps us meet Jesus and the power of His Cross and Resurrection! But, whenever we feel like Confession is a waste of time, it’s embarrassing, it’s not working, that’s not God’s voice. Any voice that leads us away from Mass or the chapel, the 10 Commandments or Church teaching, resist it. It’s great to have Matthew Leonard here today, because he’s going to lead us to hear God’s voice in new ways!
Another example: We sign up to go to the chapel or for a ministry when we’re spiritually well. Later on, we have a misunderstanding with someone, we get sick, and stop praying. We want to step down from this ministry—should we? No. That’s the voice of spiritual discouragement. The voice of God calls us to spend time with Him in prayer first, to wait until we’re in a good spiritual state before making big changes.
We sometimes legitimately feel that life is overwhelming and we can’t make it. When this happens, St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us to think: I know God is with me even when I don’t feel it. And when we feel like turning in on ourselves, for instance, during this dark time of year, Jesus’ voice says to be gentle on ourselves. At the same time, we can hear His voice calling us to go out of ourselves to help others. As mentioned last week, Max Leal announced our Backpack Project for men without homes. This is a way to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus.
Catholicism is about a relationship, being with a Person, which then includes His teachings. If we know this and place Jesus at the center of our lives, our faith will be rock solid. And if you agree with the assessment that all this is getting to people too slowly, then don’t start talking about His teachings and commandments—that comes later. Ask them first: What do you think about Jesus’ love for us, that He died and rose for us?