Some Essentials

I thank Almighty God for showing me some essentials for living this life I have been given...through His Holy Book, through Scripture Programs, through religious books, through inspiring people's stories, through lives of the Saints, through modern-day prophets, through Marian Apparitions, through mystics, through Holy Priests and Bishops, through Catholic Radio and the Eternal Word Network, through nature, through children, through the love of family and friends, etc. Here's just a few I consider important.

1) God loves us to death (literally), and wants us to be with Him for all eternity.

2) It is inevitable that we are all going to die, and we will have to answer to God when that happens. Only God knows when that will be. We are mortal pilgrims, each of us on a unique journey to our eternal resting place. The decisions we make today will not only effect us in this life, but, especially, in our placement in our after-life home. This earthly life is short compared to eternity.

3) Our life belongs to God. Our children belong to God. Everything belongs to God. God created humanity out of pure LOVE and knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us to be in loving communion with Him and with each other. He knows what's best for our human flourishing and has instructed us as such, often using imperfect human instruments for His divine teachings and awakenings. However, He has given us free will and we can choose to listen to and obey Him and His messengers or not. He continues to call us to Himself.

4) Scripture tells us God also created the Angels, highly intelligent spirit beings, before He formed the Universe. The Book of Genesis, chapter 31, says, "God looked at everything He had made and found it very good." Therefore, we all, Angels and Mankind, started out "good" and have been given the free will to make our own decisions. The Angels choices, however, because of their superior intelligence and ability to see instantly the consequences of these choices, would be final. The Angels were able to see that God created Humans in His own image and were aware of God's plan of salvation for them. They knew God would become man through Jesus, born of a (human) woman; and that this humankind would have God's favor, grace and blessing. Most of the Angels, led by St. Michael the Archangel, remain "good" and obedient to God, their Creator. But Lucifer, one of the most beautiful and powerful of the Angels, out of pride and jealousy, couldn't handle this reality. So He, "Lucifer," aka "Satan," "the Devil," "the Prince of Darkness," "the Serpent," "the Accuser," etc. knowingly chose to be master of his own destiny and go against God... and he took a third of the Angels with him. His mission now is a wicked one - to destroy mankind and to keep humans from their promised eternal blessing. Satan and his minions are out to seduce us into sin, confusion, and falsehood, thus separating us from God and from each other. His life manifests the antithesis of LOVE. We must be aware that his tactics are sneaky and cunning; and he uses this demonic intellect to infect and confuse us and make us think evil is good. His ultimate punishment will be eternal damnation (which he knows and has chosen), and he's out to bring as many of us down with him as he possibly can.

5) Our first parents fell to the evil temptation of Satan in the Garden of Eden, where they lost their perfect union with God. All their descendents (us) would have that stain of original sin on their souls. Through Baptism, we are cleansed from this sin, but concupiscence, or the tendency to sin, remains with us throughout our earthly lives. Without loving God, St. James says, we will become victim to our sinful selves with the help of the seductive efforts of the evil ones in the spiritual realm (Satan and his followers).

6) At times, God allows Satan's evil designs against us, especially when we deny Him or forget Him - when we drive Him out of our schools, our homes, our culture. But God is always there, to heal, to comfort and to love...God can bring good out of our darkest hours when we call on Him. He especially wants to walk with us and is much more powerful than Satan. E.G. The magicians of Pharaoh, powered by Satan, could only go so far against Moses, who was powered by the Holy Spirit of God. Moses triumphantly let the Israelites out of Egypt.

7) We are never alone. Good Angels are always there for us, as well as other saintly intercessors in the Heavenly realm. We have a Guardian Angel companion whose job it is to help get us to Heaven. He is always with us, 'to light, to guide, to rule and guard,' especially when we call on him. More importantly, God has given us a Heavenly Mother to call on as well, His Son's Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She knows Jesus better than anyone, and was given to the Apostle John (a representative of all of humanity), at the foot of the cross.

We can ask Mary to speak to her Son and intercede for us just as she did at the Wedding Feast at Cana of Galilee. When she realized they had run out of wine for their guests, she told the servers to go to Jesus and ...

Mary lights our way to her Son and has appeared all over the world to shine His love on us and help direct our steps to our Heavenly Home. There are over 300 instances of Marian Apparitions in the 20th century alone. Many of them have been scientifically proven to be authentic. It's no wonder, after the Protestant "Reformation" many Protestant denominations took away our "go-to for help" in our Mother Mary, proclaiming her to be falsely revered by Catholics as an idol of sorts. This has Satan's hand all over it and could not be further from the Truth.

8) God wants us to choose Him out of LOVE for Him. But, we cannot love what we do not know. God gives us many gifts - among them intellect, will and memory - to help us grow in holiness, so that we can know, love and serve Him in this world and be with Him in the next. God has been written on every human heart. A mind directed toward God will find fulfillment of the heart. Any true seeker and examiner of facts, will be led to God. Science is on His side.

9) Sin takes away our peace. The New Age Movement, that Science can explain everything, relativism and acceptance of those things contrary to God's teachings will never fill the space in the heart made for God. It will only separate us from Him and allow the Devil to take over. The more we ignore God's commands, the easier we make it for Satan to direct our lives. We often try to substitute God with the pleasures of this world, but they will never satisfy the longing of the human heart. St. Augustine in his Confessions says, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

10) We are a fallen, sinful humanity. But God's mercy and love are far greater than any sin. One of the greatest acts in the history of the world is Christianity, the fullfilment of Judaism. Salvation comes from the Jews, God's chosen people whom God prepared to receive the Gift of the Messiah. In the Old Covenant (Old Testament), God resides in their Temple, in the Holy of Holies, and sacrifice is made to Him in reparation for sin through the blood of animals. God's Old Testament laws are written on tablets of stone. In the New Covenant (New Testament), God sends His only begotten Son, Jesus, the Word made Flesh, the God-man. Jesus's words and actions - exemplifying love of God and neighbor - are to be written on our hearts (rather than on stone) and acted out accordingly. The old, bloody Temple sacrifice, is replaced with the ultimate sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ on the wood of the cross. (The Temple veil is torn in two when Jesus dies.) Jesus is the New Testament "Paschal Lamb" of the Passover Sacrifice. He, through His death and resurrecton, is our saving 'lifeline' to our Heavenly Home, our 'Ransom' for the sins of humanity. Jesus is our New Covenant "Lamb of God," offered to us at Mass in the Holy Eucharist. Science has proven Jesus is really present in this sacrificial gift offered by human hands.

11) At Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus rises from the dead, God sends His Holy Spirit (the Truth in love breathed forth from the Father and the Son) upon His Apostles, empowering them with supernatural gifts (charisms) to enable them to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth (despite persecutions and great suffering). We, too, through God's Church and His sacraments, are gifted with the Holy Spirit, so that we can continue to carry on this Truth in love to everyone we meet. God has given each of us a special purpose in His Kingdom.

12)The Catholic Church came from Jesus, the God-Man over 2,000 years ago. It's been attacked and infiltrated by evil ever since that time. But, I have learned that the Catholic Church, through the Magisterium (the teaching office), gives us the fullness of the Truth for our access to union with God. Its history is rich, washed in the blood of martyrs for the Faith, elevated by the witness of the Saints, documented by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other continually-being-unearthed relics; and by scientific scrutiny of proven miracles continued to be granted by Jesus, from His seat in Heaven. The Seven Sacraments offered in the Church - Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Anointing of the sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders are scriptural and part of God's life-giving plan; these were part of the Tradition practiced by the Apostles, Disciples, and the early Fathers of the Church, onward to today. These are outward signs of inward graces poured out on a people who are interiorly disposed to receiving it (with a pure heart). I thank God, daily, for these graces and for the blessing of my Catholic Faith.

We Catholics have learned and continue to have MUCH to learn from our Jewish and Protestant (etc.) friends; many of our best and brightest Catholic teachers, Priests, Theologians, lay persons, etc. today have come home from Jewish and Protestant, even Atheist belief systems. I feel I owe them to share what we have in the Catholic Faith, so they can be recipients of these eternal graces as well.

God bless us all and bring us safely to our Heavenly Home.