All About Obedience

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐍𝐮𝐦 𝟐𝟏:𝟒-𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟐:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟏 “𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟖:𝟐𝟏-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧,

𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐞…”(𝐯.𝟐𝟖) 

           People over time have always struggled with obedience which is why we find the world today to be an entirely different environment than before. And some people will do anything just so they could be free, literally speaking. They want to make their own decisions, choices and when they are told what to do, they regard this as loss of freedom or autonomy. 

          Many of you will deny this but if there is one thing that people have a hard time doing, it is obedience and this is what get us into trouble most of the time.

          The Gospel passage we have for today that we read in Jn 8:21-30 shows Jesus telling the religious leaders of his time that he has come to fulfill the Father’s will, even death unto the cross. In fact, what he is telling the Pharisees is that they should also follow his example of obedience through faith in his divine identity.

          Today’s Gospel also implies that dying without being forgiven of your sins and or to breathe your last without knowing that you could be saved by Jesus our Savior is probably the worst that could happen to any man.

         This is actually the main message in the Gospel passage and when Jesus said: “𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐞" (𝐯.𝟐𝟒) he meant that it would not be good for the light of the world to go out on any man without him realizing and repenting of his sins for it is only through repentance and forgiveness that will help us unlock the gates of heaven for us to enter in.

         As we are on the subject about salvation, let me run you through with what our Catholic doctrine says about salvation of which there has been some confusion with regards to claims there is salvation outside the Catholic Church and this appears to oppose all the past teachings of the Holy Church. This is why we need to spend some time to review some of those teachings that are found within the Catechism.

        The Catechism of the Catholic Church par 816 reads: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭'𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴: '𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵'𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.”       

        As stated, not only is salvation found in the Catholic Church, but also the “fullness of the means” of salvation. In addressing the needs of our separated brothers and sisters, CCC 818 says: “𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 [𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯' 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩.”       

        These statements, however, do not imply that all religions are equal but it teaches us a number of things, that: (1) 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉; (2) 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅; (3) 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 (𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕), 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕.

        Again, we need to understand the two planes from which the Catechism of the Catholic Church is coming from. While it is true that the spiritual Body of Christ is the Church of Christ and that the physical Catholic Church is also the Church of Christ, the membership of these two bodies varies greatly.

        To become a member of the spiritual Body of Christ, a person, Catholic or non-Catholic, is required to: (𝒂) 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔; (𝒃) 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 (𝒄) 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 "𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏" (2 𝑪𝒐𝒓. 5:17) thus qualifying him to receive his free membership in the spiritual Body of Christ.

       These requirements are not the same as the gift of salvation, however, because these requirements only provide the believer with his "first installment" (𝐄𝐩𝐡. 𝟏:𝟏𝟑-𝟒; 𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫. 𝟏:𝟐𝟐, 𝟓:𝟓) towards the inheritance of salvation in the Kingdom of God.

       We should also remember that when Jesus instituted His Church, He instituted the spiritual Body of Christ and its physical counterpart, the Catholic Church.

       This is not to imply that Jesus instituted two Churches. In truth, He instituted only one Church, the physical Catholic Church reflecting the spiritual Body of Christ. (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟗)       

       When Jesus instituted His Church He simultaneously instituted its spiritual and its physical counterparts as these are inseparable. To receive and maintain membership in the spiritual Body of Christ, believers would be required to enter the door through the physical Catholic Church.

        This truth is affirmed in the characteristics of both, the spiritual and the physical counterparts of the Church of Christ. Both are characterized as being One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Without getting into the specifics, it is sufficient to just believe that to maintain our membership in the spiritual Body of Christ we must seek and maintain his righteousness and to maintain His righteousness, he must have access to the Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist, over and above being of one mind with the Catholic faith.

        The unity that proceeds from the reception of these Sacraments is what brings us to a unity with God and with one another: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞...” (𝐉𝐧. 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟐-𝟑).

       What this Gospel passage is telling us and which we should reflect upon as we prepare for the Holy Week is that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation - that Christ is the mediator and the only way to salvation. While Jesus spoke, many believed him, but the religious leaders persisted in opposing him and mocked him when he warned them about their sin of unbelief.

       As we go through life, let us remember that we cannot remain indifferent to Jesus, His Word and his judgments. We are either for him or against him. There are no middle ground or neutral parties. When Jesus spoke about going away, he was speaking about his return to his Father and to his glory.

       The people who opposed him and even those of us who continue to sin could not follow him because by their and our continuous disobedience to the Word of God they and we have closed the door to the Kingdom of God.

       Jesus warned them that if they continued to refuse him, they would die in their sins. Jesus' words echoed the prophetic warning given to Ezekiel (𝐄𝐳𝐞 𝟑:𝟏𝟖; 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟖) where God warns his people to heed his word before the time is too late.

      Sin diverts us from God and from our true purpose in life – to know the source of all truth and beauty who is God himself and to be united with God in everlasting joy. And out of the goodness of his heart, Christ still gives us an opportunity to recognize him when he is "lifted up" on the cross of Calvary.

       This is a one-time opportunity that may come and not return but each of us is given the opportunity to know and to accept Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. But that opportunity can be rejected and lost.

       Life here on earth is limited and short, but how we live it has everlasting consequences. God gives us time to turn to him and to receive his grace, but that time is 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐖! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 24, 2026)