How many times have we heard that Catholics believe they can earn heaven?

This is not only false, there is more to this statement than one might think. Some Catholics may think this, but it would be a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of what the Church actually teaches.

Earning heaven presupposes our actions and their fruits get us across an invisible “finish line,” while others may fall short. It relegates Christ to a petty Judge who–when we take our last breath–will calculate our deeds and wag an index finger and declare, “You almost scraped by…”.

Slaves versus sons

It also rests on the false premise that our ability to get into heaven is transactional–that somehow we deserve heaven if we pray just the right amount of Rosaries, spread the faith to this many people, or perform more charitable acts than the average Christian.

But this can’t be true. Because of our fallen nature, we could never merit heaven; we all need God’s mercy, forgiveness, and grace.

This old heresy, called Pelagianism, is rooted in pride because it leaves out Christ’s sacrifice and God’s love for us altogether.

His sacrifice proves that we are not slaves to a cruel taskmaster. Through His death, resurrection, and the supernatural grace of Baptism, we are made into a “new creature” (2 Cor 5:17) and initiated into a family–God’s family.

But our Christian faith is not our doing; it’s God’s. Our doing is responding to God’s love–not in a “one and done” fashion–but in millions of unique opportunities throughout our entire lives.

Family

Families mirror our walk with Christ because we are social creatures and not made to walk alone. In every family, we have a duty to obey, love, and serve God and each other in accordance with our respective roles within the family unit.

This is not always easy, and that is precisely the point. (Obviously, in situations of abuse we have a duty to protect ourselves.) But outside of abuse, when rightly ordered, families force us to exercise forgiveness, understanding, long-suffering (the supernatural gift of fortitude), patience, generosity, and accountability for our actions.

As G.K. Chesterton famously quipped:

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”
– Illustrated London News, July 16, 1910

Family is the hammer and chisel God uses to form us into saints.

We recognize sins committed against us by members in our family, and they let us know when we are being selfish, hypersensitive, arrogant, or rude.

God designed the structure of our families to encourage us, rebuke us, correct us, and help us to love.

Like our human relationships, our relationship with God should not be transactional but relational.

In transactional relationships, there is no relationship because there is no mutual love but simply “making use” of each other.

Thankfully, the sacraments give us the grace to preserve relationships, come back to God when we fall, and strengthen the supernatural love of God within us. Every saint in history stayed close to Christ in the sacraments. They know that with their own ideas and efforts, they can accomplish nothing (John 15:5).

God is a father

Why is our relationship with God “familial”?

God is our Father and, like any good father, He doesn’t trick, dominate or manipulate us into loving Him. He wants to teach us our inherent worth and dignity, protect us from evil, and see us succeed.

Tragically, in today’s culture, the true meaning of fatherhood has been misconstrued.

Fatherhood

The model of the family is hierarchical, not democratic. The father is both the spiritual and physical head of the household for a reason–not to be domineering or authoritarian–but to shoulder the immense responsibility of protecting the dignity of his wife and children.

As head of his family, he is their shield. When he lowers his “shield,” he is not exercising his God-given authority to protect, lead and provide, and his family is left vulnerable to spiritual, psychological, and physical attacks.

Spiritual Fatherhood

Likewise, The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church is also familial.

Although the Catholic Church has a pope who confirms the moral absolutes, he is not a dictator but a spiritual father.

Authority does not mean authoritarianism or an “iron fist,” but the grave responsibility to protect the persecuted, the victims of abuse, and the most vulnerable to physical, mental, and spiritual exploitation.

This is true spiritual fatherhood.

Clerical authoritarianism, on the other hand, is the abuse of the God-given authority of governance and the safeguarding of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, also known as the Deposit of Faith (Depositum Fidei) (CCC 84).

Like a family, the Church hierarchy is about order, structure, and service. And like a family, when that structure is hijacked and undermined, chaos reigns.

Likewise, when the fatherhood of God is undermined in our world, chaos reigns.

But that’s a blog for another day.

St. Blaise, pray for us.