Door Mat or Door Way
By Rita Murdock
We Catholics have
become doormats. We get trampled on because we don’t know our faith. God expects
us to be doorways to Him. We must know our faith in order to live HIS life. Then
we become holy and become a doorway to Him for others. Remember, holiness is
required for heaven!
How do we become holy? We surrender our lives to God. We pray. We have confidence in Him. We know and live the Ten Commandments, Beatitudes, and Precepts of the Church. We attend Mass and participate in the Sacraments. We accept His grace for every situation. Study, contemplate, and be prepared to live a Catholic way of life at all times.
Jesus was the perfect doorway. He studied in the synagogue in
preparation for his earthly mission and shows us the way. Read your Bible and
Catholic Catechism daily and with your family to be a doorway for yourself and
your children. Be “present” when you attend Mass. Meditate on the readings and
homilies. Our Lady listened and “pondered” these things in her heart. What an
example of how to live a holy life! Ponder and incorporate a “Catholic” way of
life. Jesus went back to Nazareth after being lost in the temple and was
obedient to his parents. Mary and Joseph must have been models of holiness for
Jesus to be obedient to them.
Study the Bible, especially the Gospels, and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. We desire happiness, but perpetual happiness exists only in heaven. Life
on earth comes with its sorrows because we struggle with conforming our wills to
God’s will. St. Therese Lisieux showed us the “Little Way”, to do all things,
small things, for Him. The Bible, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority
of the Church (magisterium) continue to direct us in the mission of
“doorway”. Be a doorway for others to Jesus Christ. Know the Ten Commandments so
you can live the Greatest Commandments, “Love God first and love your neighbor
as yourself.
The Ten Commandments are a description of the basic freedom from sin that is
necessary to live as a Christian. They are a minimum level of living, below
which we must not go. It's important to note that each Commandment is simply a
summary of a whole category of actions. Don't be legalistic, searching for a way
around them because their wording doesn't fit you perfectly!
The Ten Commandments are linked to form a whole. If you break one of them,
you're guilty of breaking all of them.1
The Commandments express man's fundamental duties to God and neighbor. As such,
they represent grave obligations. To violate them knowingly & willingly in a
significant way is to commit mortal sin.2
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a detailed description of the Catholic
Ten Commandments. Read it! BE A DOORWAY!
1Catechism, #2069
2See Catechism, #2702-3