The Great Commandment, the Great Commission

It's not that difficult to be a good Christian. Jesus' teachings were simple and his instructions were simple too. But it is we who make his teachings and instructions complicated and difficult to follow. We put obstacles before us and give opportunities to the devil to weaken our faith.

The Catechism program for teens in our churches can sometimes be rather complicated. Some churches have textbooks. Some churches have complicated Catechists. Teens are simple folks. Too much teaching can end up with only a little going into their hearts.

While it is good to teach our teens important stuff like how to read the Bible and what is Eucharist and sacraments, etc... we 1st need go take stock of the faith condition of our teens. Teaching the above things are not important if in the 1st place they have no faith. Often in every Catechism class there are more teens with little or zero faith than teens with faith. Many teens think this is what Confirmation means - "this one is a Catholic, confirm... this one may be not be Catholic, cannot confirm." Teens need people to come down to their level and share their faith(both ways).

So let's keep things simple the way Jesus did.

Number 1: the Great Commandment. Always go back to this. Love.. Love God because God loves us... young people want to experience God's love but they don't know how to open their hearts to him. Especially if they've been hurt and have locked up their heart and built a fortress around it. Only God can undo their hurt, heal their wound and love them perfectly.

Number 2: the Great Commission. Serve God. Make Disciples. If young people know and believe God loves them unconditionally, they will go all out to serve Him. We should not wait till the coming of Confirmation Day before we tell them about the Great Commission. We should tell them about this Commission all the time. Because God calls them to serve Him.

The Great Commandment and the Great Commission is for everyone to embrace not just teens. We can share this with our family, our friends, classmates or colleagues, neighbours. Talk about the Great Commandment. Talk about the Great Commission. The more we talk about it, the more people will know it... the more we will live it, the great commandment, the great commission!