It is not easy to apply the teachings of The
Catholic Church,
but Jesus Christ is the Only Son of God.
It is demanding to be a professed and practising catholic.
Very difficult, the bar is set high.
It is, after all, a supernatural religion.
But that does not mean that we are in the clouds, on the contrary;
it is crucially important to be in the here and now; physically, psychologically,
emotionally, being realistic, awake and aware, no matter the circumstances.
Personal awareness plays a large part also because that allows us
to see the links between the intentions of the heart, prayers, trusting, adherence to
the faith, confessions, etc., and to what actually comes into our life; real, concrete
manifestations.
All my experiences has taught me to take care with people,
therefore I do not «follow» people.
What does it mean to «follow» people? It means that one supposes
that the majority are right, whatever the issue, it means that one goes with the trend.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, we might believe that if all
«the others are saying or doing it», it must be correct.
The fact that opinions and trends change frequently, proves that
these «truths» are not really true.
So what is really true, what is the truth that does not change?
Jesus said:
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.»
(John 14:6 ( New International Version ))
The Word Became Flesh:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
it."
( John 1, 1-5 (New International Version))
“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
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Jesus is not a mythological creation, but a historical person, a
man that really lived,
in Palestine, during the roman
occupation, under the roman governor Pontius
Pilate.
He was a simple carpenter
who lived in an insignificant little
village who, after just 3 years of active ministry, was put to death by
crucifixion on a trumped up charge of blasphemy, but in reality
was killed because the moral authorities of the day wanted to eliminate
him, because he
threatened their own authority.
What has He got to do with me and you, today?
"The true light that gives light to everyone
was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world
was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God— children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of
God»
(John1, 9-13)(New International
Version)
By following the teaching, it reveals itself gradually interior the person to be true.
The light of the heart's intelligence can never again be switched off.
Force
and efforts of brainwashing cannot succeed, it goes against human
nature, and if it happens in childhood it can have serious consequences;
the person as an adult just rejects the
entire or essentiel parts of the faith.
And then there is the problem of how Christianity has been
banalised and made into clichés, often by the Christians themselves, with ready made responses to genuine
questions, and where the person asking perceives that the person responding has perhaps
never reflected in a personal way on the question.
That might be off putting.
I think that out of the 12 apostles, it is the personality of
Thomas (who doubted) who resembles us most, and I think that is ok.
It seems reasonable to check, ascertain and verify that Jesus is
the Truth.
As for Judas; well I think nearly everybody has had some
experience with him.
Also, the goal we are aiming for is not about having a good
time or having good feelings.
That does not mean that good feelings are banned !, but rather
that they occur naturally, because of our human nature, but it is not what we are concentrated
on.
Our concentration is on The Trinitarian God; The Father, The Son,
The Holy Spirit.
To acquire knowledge of Jesus in order for Him to heal and save
me, I need first of all the desire, in
order to fuel my motivation.
Because it takes time and determination to keep going, once the
«honeymoon» is over.
I need to read the Holy Scriptures, I need to hear His Word
proclaimed at Mass, I need to receive Him in the Holy Sacrament of
the Eucharist, I need Him to forgive me for my sins in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation and I need to pray to Him on a one to one basis, in
private.
I need to try and implement his
commandment of loving those who hurt me, to pray for them, to forgive them, because
bitterness is poison, and it blocks the relationship with God.
Here is the first difficulty.
It is fine as long as it is on the academic level, «loving
everybody and all that», but no, what is asked here is something concrete, and in reality it
surpasses the basic human nature, it is supernatural.
Because what happens inside me when people offend me?
Answer: I feel anger towards those people, and I feel a need to
defend and justify myself.
«Yes, but that is only human», I hear you say.
Yes, exactly, that is only human.
Trying to put only just this one into practice of my daily
life is difficult.
The mechanisms of our defensive system are triggered
automatically, it sometimes takes place outside our awareness.
That is why it is important to increase the awareness of our
interiour space.
The teaching tells us also to be in control of all our feelings.
Because if we can not master our feelings, we become their
victims.
With the attitude that this is work, a
spiritual practice, it becomes a training programme.
But what for?
«The true children of God are those who let God's Spirit lead
them. The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear;
it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, "Father."
And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God's
children. If we are God's children, we will receive blessings from
God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered so
that we will have glory as Christ has glory.»
(Romans 8:14-17)
https://www.biblestudytools.com/ncv/romans/passage/?q=romans+8:14-17
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