Since Lent I've been looking more into Catholic and religious topics. Prayer is also something I do more now than before... And so I am seeing a lot of things online that I have never thought of checking on in the past. I see many are about Christian teachings alongside Catholic ones.
Before I go any further I'd like to share this with everyone:
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From what I understand of that Scripture passage, as long as we are for God/Jesus Christ then why squabble with each other over any of our good deeds or actions? And thus with such understanding let me continue with what I would like to say about this topic.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in Catholicism but I was born, raised and live as a Catholic. Also, I went to a Catholic school for 4 yrs. This post is based on a combination of my opinion, what I've been taught, learned online/offline and/or experienced.
I'll just dive straight into the things I've learned about so far...
Will Non-Catholics Be Saved from Hell (and such)?
In one of Fr. Chris Alar's talks on YouTube, he says, at the end of our life we will be judged based on how we lived our life whether we are Catholic or not. In short, yes the Catholic Church teaches there is a possibility for non-Catholics to be saved. But ultimately salvation only comes from Jesus and the Church. (Unfortunately I don't know which video source it is now from everything I've watched so watch this video for his more detailed explanation.)
The priest also mentions that we Catholics are supposedly more burdened because of the things we have been taught. Basically, we have been given so much and yet we do not follow or do a lot of them. It reminds me of the Spiderman quote: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Then again, the Catholic faith is not as strict as other religions, like Islam. Muslims pray 5 times to Allah without fail! They even have Ramadan! And they strictly adhere to those two regularly and probably more.
So Catholicism as I know it, is really very lax in terms of implementing what people should and shouldn't do. Why? Because we all have been given free will by God.
Now here's my opinion on being saved from hell. Over the years I have learned that we can never change other people, only ourselves. Thus I have concluded:
We are all responsible for our own souls.
Should we decide to do more bad things than good, then I'm pretty sure common sense will tell you where the person will go after death.
On How We Can Go To Heaven...
As Jesus said in the Bible, going through the narrow road is not easy. Can we even strictly follow the 10 Commandments and fully avoid the 7 Deadly Sins? I doubt it. One cannot avoid sinning unless perhaps the person is already holy.
For sure you have realized, many of us do not wish to suffer or be inconvenienced by even a little bit. Pain and suffering is something we all want to avoid because those are painful! And yet, Jesus terribly suffered great pain and ended up nailed to the cross to die for everyone just to save us from original sin.
Can we be like Jesus and follow Him fully? It won't be easy for sure. Who in their right mind would, especially those who hate pain and suffering? But experiencing those make us stronger and better people. (Just look at all the rich and successful people who have a rags to riches story. Or a more noble example would be the heroes of our nations.) On top of that, over the years I've learned that comfort is an experience killer.
Something I made back in 2018
So who's the next best person to follow to be able to go to Heaven? Well we Catholics have Mama Mary. But we don't know much about her entire life so who's the next one we can emulate after the two of them? This is where the lives of saints come in.
Throughout Catholic history, there are many who have been canonized as saints. And stories of their lives have been told and written. Some even have their own personal diaries. And personally, I think those are the ones worth reading.
From such writings we can know their thoughts and actions. They are the closest people we could ever be like to be as virtuous. By following their example we can hope to also be with God in Heaven.
Of course as a Catholic it is also important to never miss Sunday mass, go to confession regularly, pray the rosary and do works of mercy. Aside from protecting us from evil, for sure one can garner many graces just by doing all that. Those can also help us get to Heaven!
The Lives of Saints, Humility and Obedience vs. Fallen Angels or Demons/Devils
When I was a kid, I was able to read a booklet on the lives of various saints. At one point I even wanted to be one. But while growing up I realized it would be easier to be a hero even if it's still hard to do. Oh well, the thoughts of youth. Haha.
Recently I've been going back to reading about saints and have realized something. One of the things they have in common is this: the virtue of humility abounds in them.
Some of the images of saints that I apparently have at home.
And with such, it means they are obedient to God's will. Only God's will be done. That's pretty hard to do, especially for independent people who like and prefer things to go their way. Thus it is very hard for such humans to accept the belief in destiny, fate or God's will.
I admit, it took decades for me to even get to just surrendering to God's will. 😂 I've been hearing about it all my life and yet it is only last year and recently that I have succumbed to such thinking.
Now I can say, truly I do not control anything. Nothing happens if He does not will it. Those are things I did not believe when I was younger. Heck, with age comes wisdom indeed.
Seriously, I also have certain undesirable behaviors that God surely doesn't like. Well now it's getting lesser of course. But until today I wonder where I got some of those and how they still keep happening. Still haven't delved that deep to find out why. But at least now I can say, whatever God wants of me I will follow. I know it won't be easy but heck I've lived enough to just let Jesus take the wheel at this point.
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So meaning, to be humble is to be closer to God. Being obedient to His will means a greater chance to go to Heaven. Now that's something we all need to work on.
Everything I've read and watched so far all say the same thing. Jesus was obedient to God and humbled Himself to even be born in a manger. Mother Mary was obedient to God as well. So being humble and obedient to God is really the key. Same thing the saints did, they followed the Lord's will and commandments.
What if we do the opposite? Well, look what happened to the fallen angels.
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Actually there's a third trait that saints have that I kinda used to gloss over. I'll let you know in my next post. For now maybe you can share your thoughts on the things I mentioned here. Or if you'd like to add anything feel free to comment.
XOXO,
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