Jesus told His Apostles, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
This really isn’t that difficult a concept, yet so many today work to distort His commandments and to inject their own version or own interpretation into Church teaching. But the truth is, we cannot conform God to our demands. We must conform our lives to His commands.
The Bible teaches these truths, and Catechism of the Catholic Church lays out what the Church believes on any subject you can imagine. These are not teachings that we can change. Nor are they something we should want to change. These immutable truths serve as our guardrail. They keep us on the path to heaven.
Thus, it is immoral to choose which parts of the Catholic faith we want to believe or which are “easier” to follow and then discard the rest. We must give our whole heart and mind to Christ and do as He commands. If we allow desire for worldly things or beliefs to influence our behavior, if we follow a friend or a spouse or a politician who leads us away from Christ, and if we live in opposition to Catholic teaching, we are not truly loving Christ, and we will have to answer for our actions.
This is why education is so vital, especially today and especially for our kids.
Social media is destroying our culture, and it’s destroying the minds of our children. They are bombarded by immoral videos, by forces that seek to suck them into sin, and by people in leadership (whether it’s teachers, influencers, or politicians) who care little for their souls.
The solution to this culture of death that teaches “my body, my choice,” that screams obscenities on social media, that constantly berates others, that advocates for other threats to life, and that does nothing to stop violence in our streets is a solid foundation in and advocacy of Church truths.
Of course, we all have free will, so even giving your children a solid foundation in faith may not keep them from walking away or believing the lies that the culture barrages them with. But as parents it is our job to educate, to communicate, and to teach the dangers of following those steeped in lies rather than the one who teaches the truth.
Every parent, regardless of where their child goes to school, should teach pro-life values at home. CLSP makes this easy, but it’s important to give our children holy people to emulate, people whose stories resonate with them and who give them concrete examples for how to live a life according to God’s commands.
We want to highlight five saints, whose feast days we celebrate this month, who truly understood the importance of following God’s laws. We encourage you to read more about their lives, to befriend them, and then to look at how you and your family can become more like them.
1. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, November 8
From a young age, Elizabeth led a pious life, devoted to Christ and to doing good for others. She worked with troubled youth, teaching them about God and helping them grow closer to Him. Heavily influenced by St. Therese of Lisieux, Elizabeth entered Carmel at age 21. She died just five years later, but the faith she lived outwardly made a huge impact on the other sisters and on those in her community.
2. St. Martin of Tours, November 11
Martin was born to pagan parents and became a Christian at the age of 18. From then on, he worked to teach pagans about God and to fight the teachings of heretics. He understood that people cannot twist the word of God, and he helped people see the true beauty of the faith.
3. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, November 17
Though Elizabeth was the daughter of a king and could have lived a very lavish life, she understood that things of this world mean nothing if you lose your soul. She dedicated her life to simplicity and to serving the poor and suffering. On a daily basis, she would take bread to the poor and serve her community in a myriad of ways.
4. St. Galgano, November 30
Galgano led a sinful life, caring little about faith or doing God’s will, until one day, at the age of 30, he had a vision of St. Michael the Archangel. This vision, and a horse that navigated him to a certain part of the city, caused him to change his life and follow God. His amazing “sword in the stone” story is definitely worth reading.
5. St. Andrew, November 30
Jesus told Andrew and his brother Peter that He would make them “fishers of men.” And from that moment on, Andrew put aside things of this world and followed Christ, eventually giving his life for God and for his faith. He understood that life means nothing if you deny the one who rose from the dead and gives Himself to us in the Eucharist.
All of these amazing men and women conformed their lives to God’s will rather than demanding that God or the Church change their laws. They did this because they wanted to spend eternity with Him in heaven. They did this because they truly believed in the Church that Christ founded.
So as we contemplate them and any other saints this month, let us ask ourselves, and let us encourage our children to ask themselves, “What do I believe in, and will that belief get me to heaven? Or will it draw me further away from Christ?”
If the answer to the latter question is yes, we can be assured that that action is an evil one.
Today and always, let us remember that Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Yes, if we truly love God, we will keep His commandments—all of them, not just the ones we think are the easiest.