Aug 28 2008
Basic Rules for Living a Good Catholic Life
From a spiritual testament to his son by Saint Louis, King of France (my emphases and comment):
*
My dearest son, my first instruction is that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no salvation. Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin. [Reminds me of a passage from Veritatis Splendor: "[man] can never be hindered from not doing certain actions, especially if he is prepared to die rather than to do evil.” Both St. Louis and Pope John Paul see resisting temptation as a kind of martyrdom. The Church sees martyrdom as the greatest expression a person’s love for Christ. Just think: we love Christ with a similar kind of love by resisting our own sinful desires.]
If the Lord has permitted you to have some trial, bear it willingly and with gratitude, considering that it has happened for your good and that perhaps you well deserve it. [The Lord's single desire for us is our salvation; therefore, whatever happens to us must be seen as an aid to our salvation.] If the Lord bestows upon you any kind of prosperity, thank him humbly and see that you become no worse for it, either through vain pride or anything else, because you ought not to oppose God or offend him in the matter of his gifts.
Listen to the divine office with pleasure and devotion. As long as you are in church, be careful not to let your eyes wander and not to speak empty words, but pray to the Lord devoutly, either aloud or with the interior prayer of the heart. [Sound advice. Easier to say than to do.]
Be kindhearted to the poor, the unfortunate and afflicted. Give them as much help and consolation as you can. [It seems to me that the cultural and political landscape in America has hardened the hearts of many Catholics to the perennial commandment to help the poor.] Thank God for all the benefits he has bestowed upon you, that you may be worthy to receive greater. Be just to your subjects, [the rest of the paragraph needs to be understood as the advice given from a king to his son, the future king] swaying neither to right nor left, but holding the line of justice. Always side with the poor rather than with the rich, until you are certain of the truth. See that all your subjects live in justice and peace, but especially those who have ecclesiastical rank and who belong to religious orders.
Be devout and obedient to our mother the Church of Rome and the Supreme Pontiff as your spiritual father. Work to remove all sin from your land, particularly blasphemies and heresies.
In conclusion, dearest son, I give you every blessing that a love father can give a son. May the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and all the saints protect you from every evil. And may the Lord give you the grace [we can do nothing without God] to do his will so that he may be served and honored through you, that in the next life we may together come to see him, love him and praise him unceasingly. [It never ceases to amaze me how heaven oriented the saints were. We serve God in this life so that we may see him, love him, and praise him in the next.] Amen.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have political leaders like St. Louis - ones who have and live by a strong faith….
One thing that I notice about this election cycle is that faith issues - especially Catholic ones, seem to be front and center in the media. I think that this is a good thing.