Catholicism as a Way of Life
by Fr. David M. Knight
Friday, November 15, 2024
Thirty-Second Week of the Year
Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
2 Jn 4-9/Lk 17:26-37 (Lectionary 495)
2John 4-9: What is the difference between “keeping the commandments: and the phrase John uses: “walking according to the commandments”?
It gives me great joy to find some... walking in the path of truth.... Love involves our walking according to the commandments.... The commandment [to love one another] is the way in which you should walk.
“Keeping” the commandments implies staying in bounds; “walking” implies 1. movement; 2. a sense of direction. “Walking in the path of truth” describes people who have a goal in life that they are consciously pursuing, guided by the truth revealed to them.
The New American Bible Revised Edition notes say this is “an expression used in the Johannine writings to describe a way of living in which the Christian faith is visibly expressed.” Yes: visibly and dynamically. Jesus called himself, not just the Truth, but the “Way, the Truth and the Life.”
If we don’t experience the truth we were taught as something that gives direction, purpose and motivation to our lives we are in danger of abandoning it for something that does. The widespread defection of Catholics to other Christian churches proves this.
The principal reasons given by people who leave the church to become Protestant are that their “spiritual needs were not being met” in the Catholic church (71 percent) and they “found a religion they like more” (70 percent). Eighty-one percent of respondents say they joined their new church because they enjoy the religious service and style of worship of their new faith. (See Thomas Reese, citing The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, National Catholic Reporter online, 4/18/11.)
Doctrine doesn’t seem to be an issue. It appears that many people will accept almost any truth, provided it guides them along a way that gives life. This should convince us that teaching Catholic doctrine is not enough unless we teach it as a way of life.
Luke 17:26-37: In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a prophetess upon whom Apollo placed a curse so that no one would ever believe her predictions. Her combination of deep understanding and powerlessness exemplify the ironic condition of mankind. Jesus gives examples.
Both Noah and Lot foresaw disaster, but no one would believe them. Jesus says it “will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” He saw—and sees—people ignoring the truth that would save them, both here and hereafter.
Initiative: Take the truth seriously. You don’t unless you act on it.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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