The First of Every Catholic’s Obligations

Let’s talk about you for a moment as we prepare you for the moral obligation to share the faith. Since most of this series is dedicated to the hows and whys of evangelization, we can afford to deviate at this point and talk about you. Presumably, you’re a Catholic. I can’t imagine a non-Catholic reading this series or even having an interest. But a devout Catholic with all the right intentions? Hey, this is right up your alley.

You’re no doubt familiar with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the documents of Vatican II, the Apostles’ Creed, the Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, the Code of Canon Law and the seemingly endless obligations they place on a Catholic. Well, all those obligations can be boiled down to two primary obligations. Your two primary obligations are to become a saint and to share the faith. Every other obligation falls under these two primary obligations. And you can’t accomplish one without the other. So let’s begin by talking about becoming a saint.

Jesus told us in Mathew 5:48: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

You’ll notice by the language He used that this is not a suggestion, but a command, because He used the word must. He didn’t say it’s a goal to shoot for. He didn’t tell us to give it that old college try. He said we must become perfect. How perfect? As perfect as God the Father. And how perfect is God the Father? Infinitely perfect!

Is it possible to become perfect? You bet! Perfection is the very definition of sainthood. All of the saints were perfect by the time they died. They perhaps didn’t achieve absolute perfection until they went through their final passion just prior to death, but they did get there. Indeed, most saints probably had to have recourse to confession right up until their final passion, but because of all their past efforts and faithfulness they were able to persevere at the end and achieve perfection.

Achieving sainthood is more than possible, but we can’t do it on our own. While we become true men and women (the definition of a true man or a true woman is the same: one who does always and only the holy will of God), we simply have to develop a prayer life relationship with God and continually ask Him for the graces to advance in holiness. Will you mess up? Sure you will. You might even commit mortal sin from time to time on your journey to sainthood. The key is to take Christ’s example. The Church teaches that all three times He fell under the burden of the cross on the way to Calvary (a metaphorical description of mortal sin), He got right back up again. That’s what we have to do every time we fall. In other words, pray an immediate act of contrition and plod forward with a fresh resolve to do as you ought. (It goes without saying that you also need to go to confession at the earliest possible moment.) Now let’s talk about spiritual direction, very important to all serious Catholics.

I’d strongly recommend you get a good spiritual director. Be careful about whom you choose to direct your soul. Just because a man’s a priest doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll make a good spiritual director. There are some priests in the world who aren’t faithful to the Church’s teachings or their sacerdotal vows, but I’m not too worried about you seeking out someone like that as a spiritual director. Besides, most priests aren’t like that. Indeed, most priests are good, holy men who take seriously the teachings of the Church and their priestly vows. But you still have to be careful. Not because they aren’t good priests, but because they might not be equipped for the task.

Not all priests are at all equipped to be spiritual directors. Most aren’t trained for it, and among those who are, most haven’t been trained in classical spiritual direction. Priests who aren’t trained, or have been trained in this modern psychologically based mumbo-jumbo, might possibly end up having the opposite of the desired effect and cause grave consequences for your immortal soul. That’s not the intention of the priest, though; it’s just what it is.

In addition to avoiding the sort of priests mentioned in the previous paragraph, I whole heartedly recommend you avoid asking a nun or lay person to direct you. There may be some very good ones out there, I’m sure, but your best bet is always a priest, because a priest possesses the sacramental graces of Holy Orders. When you have a priest as your spiritual director, the sacramental graces kick in because he sees you with frequency and regularity. Consequently, he comes to know your soul intimately, and the sacramental graces of Holy Orders enable him to do and/or say what’s best for your soul. 

The age of the priest doesn’t matter; only the degree of apparent holiness. My spiritual director has only been a priest about eight years, but he’s a very holy man who’s well-versed in classical spiritual direction.

And under no circumstances let anyone get away with telling you the “old ways” of spiritual direction don’t work anymore, that mankind and the Church have advanced beyond those archaic ways. Baloney! Times may change, but man is the very same as he was when our First Parents gave us original sin, and the Church is a mere 2,000 years young. Besides, how many saints do we produce today with the so-called new ways? When classical spirituality and direction were at a peak, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of saints came flowing out of the heart of the Church! If classical spirituality was good enough for the likes of St. Teresa of Avila, St. Anthony of Padua, St. John Bosco, as well as innumerable others, it should certainly be good enough for you.

Next week we’ll begin talking about your other primary obligation as a Catholic: sharing the faith.