“The salvation of souls must always be the supreme law in the Church.” This important reminder is found in the final canon of the Church’s Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II in 1983.
The mission of the Church first and foremost concerns the spreading of the Kingdom of God on earth to prepare men and women for entrance in the eternal life of heaven. All her laws and activities must serve this supernatural purpose. A well-ordered Church is a Church in which we all work together, carrying out, by God’s grace, the mission of drawing all people to Christ in the hope that, at the moment of death, they might rejoice to hear God’s saving invitation: “‘Come, you blessed of my Father. Possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34).
The salvation of our souls is a gift freely offered to us by God through the Paschal Mystery, the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our Lord calls all people to embrace His teachings and to conform their lives to His example of holiness. He gives us the grace to believe in Him and to be faithful to His teachings. It is up to us to embrace this call, each day, with the help of His abundant grace.
Our Lord commissioned the apostles to preach this saving message:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28:17-20).
The Lord wants us not simply to learn about His teachings, as we might learn about any other subject. No, the apostles were commanded to teach all nations “to observe all that I have commanded you.” We believe and we direct our lives in obedience to the Lord’s commandments. Our knowledge of the Lord’s teaching must never be merely theoretical or speculative. We should not simply admire its beauty and leave things at that. We are called by God to obey His commandments so that we might receive the reward God promises to those who put into practice what they have been taught. The Lord is always with us to help us to obey Him in love and fidelity.
Sadly, there has arisen at present in the Church a wave of doubt and skepticism being expressed by some, even by cardinals and bishops, concerning the truth of certain of the Church’s teachings. A host of voices have called for changes to the Church’s constant teaching about sexual morality and the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Some even ask whether God’s creation of man as male and female is subject to further revision, such that multiple “gender identities” might be recognized as in fact existing by God’s design. It is a scandal when the flock is misled by even one of her shepherds, but sadly this is happening.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, the retired prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, called out this tragic infidelity in his wonderful interview book God or Nothing:
The idea of putting Magisterial teaching in a beautiful display case while separating it from pastoral practice, which then could evolve along with circumstances, fashions, and passions, is a sort of heresy, a dangerous schizophrenic pathology. I therefore solemnly state that the Church in Africa is staunchly opposed to any rebellion against the teaching of Jesus and of the Magisterium. . . The Church of Africa is committed in the name of the Lord Jesus to keeping unchanged the teaching of God and of the Church.
Cardinal Sarah’s bold reaffirmation of the need to resist wayward teachings and false accommodations to the spirit of the age is a welcome reminder that we are bound to believe in what God has revealed as His unchanging and unchangeable truth. Our salvation depends upon conforming our lives to what God has taught us. Following erroneous paths draws us away from God and can put our salvation at risk. Let us not walk down that dark dead-end path. Let us follow Christ, the light of the world.