We are in the Catholic Church, as were our parents and grandparents, and this is what we consider to be normal. However, there are also other churches or denominations. Moses gave the Israelites Ten Commandments, as a direct path leading to God. Other churches or denominations also recognized the Ten commandments – to a smaller or greater extent – and use them as guidelines for their moral conduct in order to live a morally good life. Thus, the Catholic Church also adopted the Ten Commandments for its faithful people who are actively trying to advance on their journey towards God. The Catholic Church, however, distinguishes itself greatly on behalf of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Let us turn our attention to how far away we still are from God, even though we hold fast to the Ten Commandments, which often is difficult for some of us to do. Let’s listen to what Jesus replied to a young man when he asked Jesus, “What should I do to be saved?” Aside from the fact that Jesus told the young man to follow the Ten Commandments, He also told him what would bring the young man closer to God and how he should continue living. It was not an easy choice for this young man, who surely contemplated on the words of Jesus and reconsidered what to do next. Although we do not entirely know how the rest of this young man’s life had played out, we do know that he held fast to following the Ten Commandments. Based on this example, we can see how very far away we still are from God. What does this mean, that we are far away from God? Here, Jesus shows us what else we can do to come closer to this great unconditional love of God. Other religions do not teach this, only the Catholic Church. Jesus goes further as to show us the next steps we can take on our journey towards God, while he was on the mountain teaching the people about beatitudes. Through this, we continue to see how far away we are from the unconditional love of God, which God wants to grant to us. Our next step along this path is to gain such great love for others that Jesus showed us by offering himself up for us on the cross. Only now we can see how our Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, helps us unite in true and unconditional love – with God.
Reading the Holy Scriptures, we noticed how Jesus shows us, step by step, the path leading to perfection. Besides this, Jesus instituted the Holy Sacraments in our Catholic Church, which give us the power to journey on the path to perfection. This will let those who follow Jesus grow in love and, thus, approach the Kingdom of Heaven. This teaching surpasses the wisdom of other religions.
Joanna M. Maj
