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One. You are born with Original Sin and can do nothing about it. Even if you have lived a blameless life you are still not assured an immediate entry into Heaven but will need to go to Purgatory to be purified.
Two. You have to accept the complicated concept of the Trinity - God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – and how are they related. Imagine trying to explain this to a non-Catholic.
Three. You have to praise God constantly even though there are times when you feel He has let you down or ignored your pleas.
Four. You have to accept his Commandments, many of which are routinely broken in the modern world. You have to obey God´s representative on Earth, the Pope, even though you may disagree with some of his decrees.
Five. You have to turn the other cheek and forgive your enemies even if they don´t forgive you.
Six. You have to accept being taken for granted and your good works counting for little. The Prodigal Son was a waster yet was received with joy while his hard-working brother´s efforts were overlooked. There was greater rejoicing in Heaven for one lost sheep that wandered off and caused the shepherd lots of trouble than for the 99 that stayed in the pen.
Seven. You have to confess your sins to someone who is often a total stranger and who has himself committed sins. You have to accept that he might decide not give you absolution.
Eight. You have to observe the rigors of Lent – 40 days of penance, prayer and fasting – followed by the heartbreak of Good Friday and the vigil on Holy Saturday.
Nine. You have to believe in the Virgin birth, an event that can only be accepted through blind faith.
Ten. You have to accept that we live in a world in which the Catholic Church is denigrated by the mainstream media. A fault or error of judgment by a single priest makes headlines while the fact that the Catholic Church is the biggest provider of spiritual solace and charitable works in the world is ignored.
Despite all this, there are approximately 1.4 billion Catholics in the world ready to confront these difficulties and form a global community unified in faith and fellowship.
© John Brander Fitzpatrick 2025
John Brander Fitzpatrick is a Scotsman who lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He spent many years as a journalist and translator and has published three books of fiction - two collections of short stories and a novel - and a collection of articles that have appeared on Catholic365.com called "Mystery of Faith". John Brander Fitzpatrick can be contacted at: johnfitz668@gmail.com
