You're Invited

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Have you ever talked with someone about faith and they say that they are spiritual but not religious?  Then they go on to tell you how they pray and are in-tune with a greater power and being but they choose how they practice their faith in the way they want.  They feel like they have the freedom to have their religion be how they define it to be.  In this light, why do we need to follow the 10 Commandments and the "rules" of our Catholic faith?

It is a common theme in the present culture for people to prize their freedom.  This is good and should be prized if it is the true form of freedom.  Most people think that the ability to think whatever they want to think, do whatever they want to do or be whatever they want to be is what freedom is all about.  However, this is not the definition of freedom in our Catholic faith.  True freedom is the ability to choose what we ought- what is good.  It is the opportunity to make the right decision, to be what we were designed to be- the best versions of ourselves. 

God wants what is best for us- even more than we want this for ourselves.  He wants us to be happy and to be fulfilled.  Most of all, God wants us to be free.  God wanted us to be truly free so that we would choose to love Him, not be forced to have a relationship with Him.

Knowing this, the reason that God has established a church that has guidelines, rules and laws, is because He knows that when we follow these ways, we will be happy and content.  When we live lives of integrity and choosing the good we ought to choose, we will avoid the many problems that infidelity, disobedience, law-breaking and leading a life of selfishness will most definitely bring.

Out of love for us, God has given us guidelines to follow, as in the beatitudes, to ensure that we will be happy on this earth and also for eternity in the next life.  If we are well-disciplined, we will be able to choose the good with ease and choosing what is God's will for us (our holiness) will be easier for us to do. 

Put in these terms, by God giving us the laws of our faith to follow, they are, in a sense, an invitation.  They are an invitation to become a part of the Love Story between God and His people!  God is inviting you today to be part of the story He is writing.  A story of His reckless and merciful love for you. 

You are the beloved of God the Father.  He loves you more than you could ever fathom.  He loves you as if you were the only person in the world.  And it is precisely because of this deep love for you that God established a church to help you one day reach Heaven, so He could be with you for all of eternity.  He wanted to create a church that would guide you, support you and uplift you all your life, so that one day you would be able to look back and see God's particular love for you- in the laws and commandments of our faith.

Will you accept the invitation today from your Heavenly Father?  Will you follow the church He has established for you, out of love for Him, knowing that by following the laws of our church, we will lead a happy and content life.  If you are looking for true freedom, use your freedom to follow the laws God has laid out for you.  In accepting this invitation, you will experience what freedom can really mean.