If you google “How to improve” you will find things to improve you didn’t even know needed improvement. According to Yahoo there are 2,540,000,000 sites that will help you improve.
One objection that is brought up about the Catholic Church is what some people would refer to as its legalism. People say they don’t want to be told all the things they are not allowed to do. We just learned about the concept of “positive laws” when we reviewed the Precepts of the Church. Positive laws tell us what we should be doing rather than what we shouldn’t be doing.
The Catholic Church was given the authority, in my simple thinking, to “get us to heaven.” It exists to save us and bring us to everlasting life with God. And the way it does this is by teaching us in a positive way how to live. Just as the majority of the teachings of Christ are framed in a positive, such as the Beatitudes and the wisdom of adhering to and practicing the virtues, so also does the Church teach with primarily positive messages.
Someone who comes to the conclusion that the Church consists of a whole bunch of “rules” and “thou shalt nots” is a person who is turning their back on the teachings of Christ. We are taught to practice the Virtues so our consciences will be formed in such a way that it will become second nature for us to choose good over evil. We study the Beatitudes to learn how to live in such a way as to bring peace and freedom into our lives.
The Church recognizes that when we have positive laws, there is a corresponding negative. Sometimes it becomes necessary to explain the flip side to the positive law. That is not legalistic or harmful – that is loving and honest.
So, instead of googling on how to improve your life, try practicing the Virtues or applying the Beatitudes and watch your life improve. Simple? You bet!
7 comments:
You sure know your stuff. Some people don't like the message so they toss it off to the side right along with the messenger.
It's hard to believe Tony Soprano turned out the way he did with you around (or is that why he turned out the way he did?) LOL!
Great posts on here Adrienne!
I agree with Tom......you sure know your stuff....and you present it in a Positive way. You make it seem so simple, strong and easy to understand. More power to you.
adrienne, just to let you know, bia did not claim her prize in my give away, and its been 3 days now. so if you want it let me know via email.
It's that fear of the "Narrow Way", again!
I've added a link to you from my blog. Hope that's okay? If not, drop me a line.
God bless.
I say "AMEN" to philip re: the narrow way. I am also adding your link to mine also.
nothing simple about your way of thinking, adrienne, all the wisdom of the church there ... keep it up.
Adrienne: You are ON FIRE! I'm getting caught up. Great posts!
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