Obedience Makes God Happy

The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Jn 8:29

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 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)

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 today’s 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 of 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 being a reflection of 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 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 is 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 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 8, 2025)