Psychological Healing
in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

Four Fundamentals of Christianity

 
The Demand for Spiritual Fruits | The Eucharist | The Passion | Repentance | A Holy Lifestyle

The Demand for Spiritual Fruits

True Christianity is far more than a collection of intellectual assertions; it demands a way of life that produces real spiritual fruits. Therefore, if you say you love Christ, and if you want to follow Him, and if you are willing to do anything it takes to live a holy life, then cling reverently to the following four fundamentals of Christianity. Any teaching that neglects these fundamentals should be shunned. Be wary, too, of any bishop or priest who advocates any teaching that neglects these fundamentals.

 
1. The Eucharist

The entire mystical basis of Christianity is Christ’s real presence in this world. He came into this world in the form of real flesh and blood, as an act of divine love, on a mission to save us from our slavery to sin. And, on the eve of the day when He would be tortured and crucified by His enemies, He instituted the Eucharist, so that His Church would never be without His real presence.

	Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. . . . Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him.
	—John 6: 53, 56

Therefore, anyone who wants to live a Christian life must adore and receive the Blessed Sacrament with purity of heart, making the Eucharist the core of life.

 
2. The Passion

When Christ shed His blood for us, He fulfilled a triple purpose. First, He gave us life—that is, freedom from our bondage to sin. Christ’s death was a glorious mystery that reverberated from Heaven down to earth, for “obliterating the bond [of Original Sin] against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, He also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). Second, the redemption worked in Christ’s death was an example to us. It showed us, in a way that no event in the world has ever shown before or since, how we, in our hearts—the very hearts God has created—and through our own free will, constantly injure others and defile, mock, and execute divine love in every moment of our lives. Third, Christ died in order to be raised again, to show us that God raises into His glory only those who, without obstinacy or presumption, without cunning or intrigue, without strife or schism, empty themselves of all their social illusions in humble, obedient service to Him.

Therefore, anyone who wants to live a Christian life must meditate on Christ’s Passion, thinking His thoughts, participating in His mission, and, by repeating what He suffered, being filled with Him, over and over, day after day, persevering until the end.

 
3. Repentance

For us, repentance is the key to the redemption worked in Christ’s Passion. Having understood the depth of our sins, we must then repent those sins, dying to the old way of life that is caught in pride of self, and desiring above all else to be purified of all that is not holy.

	Come now, let us set things right,     says the LORD; Though your sins be as scarlet,     they may become white as snow . . . Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked man his thoughts; Let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
	—Isaiah 1:18, 55:7

But we can’t do any of this if we tell ourselves that the sins we are committing are not really sins! We can’t repent our sins if we condone sin.

Therefore, anyone who wants to live a Christian life must recognize sin for what it is. Only the Catholic Church preserves the teaching that tells us what sin really is, so fidelity to the Tradition of the Church must be absolute.

 
4. Holy Lifestyle

Every sin you commit after your baptism will be accounted for, and you will pay for them all, either in Purgatory or in hell, depending on whether you repent or not. It makes sense, then, to keep yourself free from grave sin, doesn’t it?

Therefore, anyone who wants to live a Christian life must do anything it takes to avoid sin and remain pure of heart. Well, the only way to do this is to live a lifestyle of chastity, humility, and self-sacrificial service to others, in imitation of Christ Himself—and in imitation of His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. It’s that simple.