14. Should Christianism Be Practised?
INTRODUCTION
You are holding in your hand a very brief “book of justification” about the meaning of happiness and life purpose. You may dismiss it as a useless bullshit document. People have freedom anyway.
But who knows if it is a chance, a precious gift that God gave you especially in your favor.
I hope the shared reflections, very brief and clear, and convincing arguments will help you form a correct, intellectual, simple view of the Catholic faith. You will see that the practice of Catholicism is a natural thing, happiness, and the indispensable meaning of life.
What is the new evangelization? In my opinion, it is simply to remove cumbersome forms, ambiguous inferences, erroneous feelings, to return to the simple teachings of Jesus in the gospel and to live in the same spirit: to worship God in spirit and truth.
St. Basil the Great expressed this view, which I find very reasonable about the true meaning of the Christian life:
“If we turn away from evil for fear of punishment (go to hell …), we live like slaves. If we run after rewards (go to heaven …), we are like hired workers. If we obey for the good and for the love of the Lawgiver, we are truly children.”
Catholicism practice is to live in good father-son relationship with God, and it’s that simple.
Following is a brief introduction to some aspects of Christianity: an overview of Christian doctrines, morality, and spirituality.
- CHRISTIANITY: SUMMARY OF DOCTRINAL AND MORAL TEACHINGS
- Entrance to Christianity:
- Religious sensibility:
When primitive men were filled with knowledge, they suddenly found themselves “naked” and the world around them was full of interesting surprises, poetic inspirations and ecstatic joy.
In joyful dawn, midday sun, and then late afternoon, they began to feel a sense of confusion and fear in their hearts: someone’s footsteps seemed to glide softly on the blades of grass. Men felt an invisible force enveloping their fragile plights and immediately wondered: where do I come from? What am I doing here? Where will I go now?
Thus, religious perception is something inherent in the early man when his perception started. From there, he embarked on a pilgrimage in search of the primordial reason of being. Religious ideas appeared as naturally as a breath, as an indispensable way of life.
- Is man capable of encountering the Invisible One?
It is said that: Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut who was the first person to orbit the Earth aboard the Vostok I spacecraft in 1961, looked at the distant earth and declared succinctly: I have been out of the earth and did not see God anywhere.
My friends, the object of scientific research is matter and the laws that govern it. Even if you fly to the edge of the universe, which scientists say billions of light years away, no one will see God, because He is not material to be seen. What’s more, this astronaut has only discovered a few hundred kilometers, only 0.001 light seconds.
Then philosophers, from ancient to present times, were confused about trying one theory or another to explain the primordial reason of all things: from materialism, idealism, to rationalism, empiricism … Tired and bored, they concluded that God is unknowable, or as philosopher Nietzche declared, “God is dead”, and no more interest was needed … But the anxiety and preoccupation with God is still there.
Philosophers, after all, do not fully understand the Invisible One, which surpasses man’s wisdom and his limited little mind.
Karl Jaspers, an outstanding German philosopher and psychoanalyst with great influence in modern philosophy and psychoanalysis, said: “On the frontier of reason lies the inconceivable and a mystery. The inconceivable does not mean the absurd” (Karl Jaspers, Great Philosophers, Munchen / Zurich 1997).
That is the limit of philosophy and also the starting point of the realm of religion and faith, the realm of mysteries.
So religion is:
- A very simple feeling of the old country woman earnestly praying to the lime pot or the banyan tree.
- Some contemplation of the scientist Louis Pasteur, when he saw in his microscope the extremely strange world of microorganisms, causing him to exclaim: “I see God at the top of my microscope lens”.
- A “Mr. Heaven”, very far and also very close to the majority of Vietnamese people, is represented in the altar for his cult, full of incense smoke in the middle of the yard.
- A moment of Buddha’s ecstatic eternal enlightenment during his meditation under the bodhi tree, hoping to get rid of the ocean of human suffering.
- A revelation of Allah to Prophet Muhammad.
- Or in the birth of Jesus, the revelation of God Himself, with the mystery of the incarnation through the history of salvation, the Old and New Testaments among the Jewish people.
- Christianity: Doctrinal and Moral Teachings
- Doctrinal Teachings:
Judaism, Islam, and Christianity share a common origin, beginning with God’s call for Forefather Abraham to leave his homeland, set off and establish a people of his own: “God revealed to Abraham, he elected his own people through his descendants” (St 12:1).
Christianity holds that: God, the almighty, has three persons but only one Lord, created the universe and in history has contacted, revealed himself and taught people many times through the prophets in Old Testament times. He issued rules so that they can live according to their identity (10 laws of God to Moses).
To the end times, He has revealed himself through Jesus, his beloved Son, the Messiah (in Hebrew), Christos (in Greek), that is, the anointed, as proclaimed in the scriptures. “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son” (He 1:1-2).
Jesus is also God, incarnated. Born of Virgin Mary, he lived on earth for 33 years (in present-day Palestine), performed many miracles, taught his disciples his doctrine, and finally accepted a tortured death on the cross, as the price of blood, for humans who have been disgraced by sin to be reconciled to God, who is infinitely holy and perfect [please refer to the archeological reportage of BBC radio: “BBC Jesus, the real history (google search)].
On the 3rd day after burial, Jesus conquered death, rose again, met the disciples, gave the Holy Spirit, commanded them to found the Church and evangelize the nations. He also instituted the sacraments to pour in his grace. He promised to come again when the time is up for the final judgment.
In the eschatological period, the soul will merge with the resurrected body, the evil will be punished in hell, the good will be eternally rewarded in heaven, and will share in the full happiness of God’s life.
- Moral Teachings:
- Natural morality: conscience.
In order to survive and grow, all things must operate according to laws. Nature endows animals with a survival instinct. Humans are endowed with intelligence, freedom of choice, and sociality, and in addition to instincts, there is also a behavior mechanism to help people exist and develop harmoniously. That is conscience.
Conscience is the elementary moral laws with which nature endows each person to behave appropriately in social relations.
Conscience is the ability to distinguish between good and evil, what to do or avoid. You will feel a guilty conscience when you do unethical things; on the contrary, you will feel a sense of serenity and joy when you do good and useful things.
Saint Thomas d’Aquin considered the presence of conscience as proof of the existence of God.
Conscience is universal for all persons and for all peoples. Everyone has the same notions of good and evil such as: not doing unethical things, not stealing, not killing one’s neighbor, honoring parents, etc.
- Christian morality:
Christian morality is based on natural moral laws and is further enhanced, and clarified by the Jesus’ teachings. Man is not merely a rational being, but he is also a creature made in the image of God.
Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17).
The natural law of conscience favors severe reward and punishment in strict justice: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Christian morality teaches believers not only to practice justice but to be tolerant, patient, forgiving, even more positive: to love one’s enemies.
Moses, in the Old Testament, obeying God’s command in praying to Him on the mountain, inscribed on a stone tablet 10 commandments for the people of God to observe: you must worship God, you must not commit adultery, not kill, not steal, not cheat, etc.
Jesus, in the New Testament, taught his disciples the sermon of the Beatitudes. He commanded not only to observe the prohibitions, but also to act with more positive elements such as:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
(Mt 5:3-12)
Jesus, man and Lord, is seen by Christians as a perfect ideal model to imitate.
Therefore, Christian morality is not limited to human dignity, but also elevated to the value of transcendent dignity: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5, 48).
In short: Christian morality is that of the natural law of conscience and further perfected by the law of love, as Jesus told his disciples: “I give you a new commandment that you love one another” (Jn 13:34).
- CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY: PATHWAY TO HAPPINESS OR SALVATION
Tao is the pathway. Christianity is a spiritual path, aiming at the perfection of human life.
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6):
- The way means journeying, which requires commitment, progress, and action. This path is not smooth or easy, but it is a narrow, bumpy road that requires the stoic sacrifice of “denying himself and taking up his cross” (Mt 16:24).
- The way of truth: The truth is bright and righteous, with clear, reasonable and healthy wisdom.
- The way of life: God’s way is the way to life, to growth, to joy, to happiness, to peace. The Lord said, “”I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
- Virtues and demons: good and evil.
- Virtues: the good.
A virtue is the character of a person who has the constant habit of doing good things, always maintaining a good character of always doing good and altruistic deeds.
Catholic doctrine divides virtues into two categories:
- Theological virtue (toward God):
Theological virtues are our admiration, worship and reverence for the Creator. The heart of the Christian life is faith, hope, and love for the God we worship.
- Faith:
Faith is the knowledge of God as the origin and end of our lives.
Man is finite, God is infinite. As a finite being, we cannot comprehend the transcendence of God. So He had to reveal Himself to us, through the revelation of Jesus.
If we do not believe, all our efforts will turn out to be in vain.
But it is through the sense of life, through reason, and through God’s grace that we have faith. Faith also needs to be nurtured and cultivated to grow by action.
Faith is a gift: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (Jn 20:29), and again a gift that can only be received when we know how to open our hearts to receive it.
- Hope:
Hope and trust in God’s providence.
You believe in God as the authoritative Creator of all things, understanding everything. God is so gracious, patient, “slow to anger and abounding in kindness” (Nu 14:18), so we trust in Him. Hope is a humble attitude, trusting God’s providence to take care of our lives.
Hope is not casual reckless attitude, or avoidance of the struggle against adversity, but humble acceptance of our imperfect reality and compliance with God’s omnipresent power over our lives. Found in the sequence of events, His profound will is for us to act in accordance with His instructions: “Seek first the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 6:33).
I suddenly remembered the story “Mr. Tai lost his horse”:
Once upon a time, an old man named Tai, suddenly lost his precious horse one day. People came to offer condolences, but he did not show any sadness and said: maybe it is lucky for me. Indeed, a short time later, that horse brought home a herd of wild horses. Neighbors came to celebrate his sudden big gain. But the old man Tai was unhappy and explained: maybe it’s a bad thing for us. While taming a herd of wild horses, his son fell and broke his leg. The world came again to offer condolences. Soon after, there was war in that area, the king forced all the young people to join the army to fight the enemy, none of them returned alive. His son, because of his crippling leg, was exempted from the military service and was allowed to stay at home with his family.
That’s it, our little minds don’t know whether a path of life is good or bad, and what destination it may lead us to.
Thus, sometimes it seems that bad things, disappointments, sufferings, injustices, disasters come to our lives as if because God hated us, but they later turn out to be our luck, our grace and our merit.
God is our Father:
“Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread?” (Mt 7:9)
“Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Mt 6:26)
Failing hope, arrogance, always thinking that we are the best of all, is the rejection of His love for our lives.
- Charity:
Love, compliance with His word.
God is the father who gave birth to us and gave us life. Although we are often dissatisfied with our life, no one with a clear mind will try to give it up. However, we still have to recognize that life is a gift, a very precious gift. He also gave us both beautiful nature and human society to share and love.
God is merciful and full of love, and always lovingly cares for us, so there is no reason why we should not love Him.
Jesus taught us the most important commandment to worship God and to love him “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt 21:37).
God is indeed worthy to be adored and loved above all things.
Why do we not love Him?
That may be because we don’t know Him well enough: “Ignorance causes no love”.
- Virtues for humanity
The natural tendency of human beings is to seek comfort, indulgence in lowly desires, pleasures, enjoyment, laziness and selfishness … It is not easy to overcome oneself, which requires some determination and iron will, constant practice, control of bad habits, and elimination of weaknesses. Many times we fall and fail, but we know how to get up and are determined to stay away from the path of sin, transforming ourselves into a good person.
A virtuous person always knows how to live wisely, courageously and firmly, live in moderation, restraint, justice, patience, charity and altruism.
Of these virtues, selfless charity is the most important. According to Saint Paul, “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7).
- Demons: the evil.
Reasonably, you can see why we must be truly humble in our hearts. Has any of you been consulted about your birth in this world; and you can’t escape death which you don’t want at all.
So you are not in control of your life? Why are you proud of yourself?
But you obviously are. Surely there must be the intervention of some invisible force that wants you not to share in the happiness promised to the righteous.
This force is called “the devil” in the Bible.
The devil, the force of darkness and evil, is always envious and finds ways to keep us from realizing the truth, to separate us from God and to suffer the same fate as demons.
In the Garden of Eden, God placed the tree of life (Genesis 3:22) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to test people’s loyalty. I think the most precious thing God gave humans is freedom. Freedom is meaningless, if there’s no antithesis to choose.
The evil is against the good, as the antithesis of the dialectic. Jesus said: “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur” (Lk 17:1).
At some point in your life, you feel that you don’t do the good things you want to do, but you do the bad ones you don’t want to do (Saint Paul’s words). Does evil have its accomplices?
Wealth, for example, is just a means, but so many of us see it as the goal and hold on to it no matter what. There are people who are about to die, knowing they will have to leave empty-handed, but still try to keep their wealth and refuse to let it go. Material wealth is a “magic force” that is difficult to understand.
- Prayer:
To love God is to always desire to be united with Him, which is prayer. Prayer is raising the soul to God, showing admiration, adoration, gratitude, and the heartfelt filial respect to his father.
Prayer is so simple and easy, isn’t it?
Humans are destined by God for a social life, as brothers and sisters with the same father. You often visit and talk to God the Father. Sometimes, it’s better if you invite your brothers and sisters to come along as a crowd. It is the collective prayer, the celebration of rituals, and a church is where people gather together to honor God. You as an individual have a duty to your father, and the society also has its duty to God. Religion is deeply rooted in the society. Salvation is personal and has an inseparable social dimension.
In addition, society is the environment in which to practice the equally important second commandment: “Love your brother as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
- Practicing love and charity
And more: “If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 Jn 4:20). The practice of Christianity is caring and loving one’s neighbor.
It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
But in practice, there is a problem: loving yourself and your loved ones is too easy. But not everyone is cute and lovable.
Ordinary people often discriminate on the basis of classes, social statuses, wealth, personal relationship, etc, to behave accordingly.
How can we love those who aim to annoy or harm us and who often indulge in a lot of vices? This requires a sublime personality with self-denial, self-liberation, courage, and virtues of a sage. Saint Paul said, “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Ro 13:10).
Christian spirituality is the self-cultivation journey to transform oneself into another Christ, to become “conformed to him” (Ro 8:29), to attain enlightenment as Saint Paul said: “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Ga 2:20).
Then your life is a prayer, the most beautiful hymn.
- The Role of the Church and Mary:
- The Church is mother and teacher:
On its mission of caring for God’s people and proclaiming the good news, accompanying people in the ever-changing history, the Church has the task of setting concrete principles to guide people in their social morel life, to strictly follow the spirit of the gospel.
Catholic social doctrine is not intended to replace any policy. But they are the principles, perfected through the ages, as compass needles to guide believers in earthly life, while participating in political, social, economic, cultural-educational activities, etc., according to interpretations always consistent with the revealed morality of Christ.
You can find specific guides to the topical issues of today’s world such as:
- Same-sex marriage: The Church does not approve same-sex marriage, because it is not natural according to the laws of creation.
- Death penalty: Incompatible with Christian charity and tolerance.
- Euthanasia: The Church considers that human intervention to the death of the patient, despite the desperate situation and with good intentions, is still an act of usurping the Creator’s power, because it only He has absolute power over life and death.
- Abortion: The Church is against abortion, because human beings have absolutely no right to take the life of the unborn baby, etc.
- The role of Virgin Mary:
Ever since sin and evil entered the world, which the story of the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis illustrated, God has intended to save humanity and the role of Mary has been shaped. God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel” (Gen 3:15).
Mary was chosen as the mother to give birth to Christ, accompanied Jesus since he preached publicly until he was crucified, at the foot of the Cross, and also lived with the apostles in the early established church.
She has a special mission in the history of salvation, to assist believers in their earthly pilgrimage.
FINAL PART
God is not something difficult to understand, nothing too abstract, far-fetched and certainly not a strict, cold, dry, emotionless Lord. But He is a tolerant and gentle father, full of love. He is here concretely with us, like Saint Augustine said, “in the depths of our hearts, deeper than we are with ourselves” (Confessions, III, 6, 11).
The practice of Catholicism is not to find something and not to lose something. But it’s just an expression of the son’s filial piety towards his father. A heartfelt thank you to God: for our life as a gift from God, for his saving forgiveness and for his promise to share in his divine life.
Perhaps the time has come for us to seriously return to the source of God’s teachings in the gospel, which is to proclaim our mature faith, and put aside cumbersome forms, trivial details, and emotional deductions.
Jesus said: “True worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (Jn 4; 23-24).
Saint Paul also says: “When I was young I acted like a child, but when I grow up I live like an adult (1 Cor 13:11).
Nowadays, in the 21st century, people have matured a lot, at least in terms of knowledge and humanity … Catholics must also grow up in cognitive thinking and lifestyle.
Saint Basil the Great said, “If we shun evil for fear of punishment, we live like slaves. If we look for the reward, we are like hired workers. If we obey for the sake of good and love the One who makes the law, then we are really children” (1001 quotes of saints, Iphan, Religious Publishing House-Hanoi 2009).
Mature Catholic life is living a father-son relationship with God, not being childish like a child with only fear of punishment or desire of reward.
I advise you, when waking up every morning, to look at the magnificent splendor of nature, watch the blooming flowers, the fluttering butterfly wings. Let the soul settle down with sincere humility. You will hear His voice and His footsteps. You will acknowledge His existence.
Professing the presence of God is a tremendous life-changing happiness, then you will see that faith is a priceless and incomparable gift.
Tiếng Sa Mạc