The goal of Christianity?

[Justin_Mary]

If the average Catholic attended CCD classes then Sunday Mass for (let’s say 20 years) what would you think the goal of Christianity is?

I ask, because I’m in formation with the Third Order Carmelites. & I’m completely fine with the direction I’m headed. Union with Christ.

Thinking of my time spent in Mass I don’t know if I would get that message. But I haven’t been going to Mass for the last 20 years & I didn’t go through CCD through confirmation.

So assuming that the average lay person would get that they’re supposed to be striving for union with Christ, what would be the method to get there?

 

[TheLittleLady]

The goal is heaven.

 

[Jbrady]

what would you think the goal of Christianity is?

The goal is to become God, as stated by Athanasius: “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”

If that is not your goal, then Christianity is a waste of time.

As to how to achieve that goal, Jesus was VERY specific and concise:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So if you are not following those two commandments, in accordance with the parable of the Good Samaritan, you are wasting your time.

Anything else is secondary.

 

[Vico]

If the average Catholic attended CCD classes then Sunday Mass for (let’s say 20 years) what would you think the goal of Christianity is?

I ask, because I’m in formation with the Third Order Carmelites. & I’m completely fine with the direction I’m headed. Union with Christ.

Thinking of my time spent in Mass I don’t know if I would get that message. But I haven’t been going to Mass for the last 20 years & I didn’t go through CCD through confirmation.

So assuming that the average lay person would get that they’re supposed to be striving for union with Christ, what would be the method to get there?

Catechism of the Catholic Church

1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor , the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.46

46 Cf. Jn 1:12-18; 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4.

 

[Justin_Mary]

The goal is heaven.

Excellent. How is that achieved?

I’m reading St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Therese, and they’re speaking of something I don’t get from weekly attending Mass. Meditation, mental prayer, detachment.

I just started reading Divine Intimacy & again, I was blown away by it.

Another reason I decided to start this topic was because our Eastern brothers & sisters seem to think along the same lines, at least the ones who post here.

But your answer is direct & to the point. The goal is heaven. How do we get there? We must become like God. How do we do that?

We don’t, right? He does. But we have to cooperate, we have to be predisposed. & we are told how to do that every week.

Thanks for your reply, really helped me think it through

 

[Shakuhachi]

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

 

[TheLittleLady]

How do we get there?

It is not something that requires advanced theological training, specific sorts of prayers, mystical knowledge or experiences.

Heaven is there for those who love Him and do His will. One who dies in a state of grace goes to heaven. Simple as that.

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1821.htm

1821 We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere “to the end” and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God’s eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for “all men to be saved.” She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:

Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.

 

[Lasergeek64]

To spread Godly love upon the planet and then, ultimately, to merge or fuse with God.

 

[Dlee]

My RCIA leader always says “to get to Heaven and take as many people with me.”

 

[Dlee]

“For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”

I had to look this up as it didn’t sound right to me. CA addresses it: What "So that We Might Become God" Means | Catholic Answers
According to the original Greek of St. Athanasius, from which the Catechism quotes, the phrase, “that we might become God” is better translated as “that we might be deified.” The Greek word for “deified,” theopoiethomen, has the connotation of participation in rather than becoming God.
Thank you for sharing this quote @Jbrady. It’s always good to learn something new.

 

[yankeesouth]

Key to Heaven…

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength

Jesus tell us how to do that.

“If you love me you will obey my commandments”

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.

“Go and sin no more.”

 

[Dan_Defender]

I’m reading St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Therese, and they’re speaking of something I don’t get from weekly attending Mass. Meditation, mental prayer, detachment.

Neither of those failed to participate in Masses especially the Eucharist. So that shows that the two complement each other, spiritual growth is not confined to meditation/contemplation/mysticism alone.

 

[No3]

assuming that the average lay person would get that they’re supposed to be striving for union with Christ, what

As saint Paul wrote

Ephesians 1:18 I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you …
)

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the … know the hope of His calling , the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

 

[bob4]

“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.” Mt 28:19-20

The work of the Church is to carry on the work of Christ. We, the faithful, have a duty to proclaim by our words and actions the faith we have received.

 

[Justin_Mary]

Divine Intimacy 327

It is somewhat as with a plant which, although possessing an innate fertility, cannot produce fruit and bring it to maturity without the rain and the sun which only God can send. Just so, although through baptism a Christian is made capable of producing the fruits of holiness, still he cannot bring them to full maturity without the special influence of the Holy Spirit. Man’s virtues need to be abundantly watered with the grace of the divine Paraclete, warmed by his love, and made fertile through his energy.

May not have been these words, or even the same analogy, but I know I’ve heard this teaching on Sundays