Transcript

Sometimes the Catholic Church is criticized as being this overly bureaucratic organization with lots of rules and teachings that place excessive burdens on its members.

But the truth of the matter is that the teachings of the church act as guard rails that- that help keep us on that straight and narrow path that alone leads us to heaven.

One of the great gifts God has given man is the capacity to choose.

He's given us free will, and he's given us this important gift so that we can choose what is right and just in his sight.

And it's by the teachings of the church that we know what is right and just in God's sight so that we can live in a way that is pleasing to him and helps us get to heaven.

So on the- on the 10 Commandments, I think it's something a lot of people would say, Oh, the Catholic Church are- are very strict on those.

And- and to me these are- they're- they're really, uh, even before I converted, they're- they're just a tan, really guiding principles that are To me, it's- it's reasonable and it's absolutely something that, uh, uh, I grew up with, uh, not really with the 10 Commandments, but, uh, teach, uh, how my parents taught is really the same way.

And- and I think being a Catholic and you go back and look at the 10 Commandments time to time, uh, is really a reminder of, you know, how we should, um, really, um, treat our neighbor, treat ourselves, um, treat our spouse.

And- and it's more of a reminder to me than, uh, than rules.

I think, um, those are, uh, very simple moral principles that, uh, it should never change, uh, no matter how the world evolves.

Um, but, uh, I would have to say that the most challenging one there is, uh, for- for me and my wife is or for me at least is to, uh, go to church every week.

Uh, and in the beginning, uh, before I converted, um, I go- I go to church with my wife.

Um, it- it was a little bit of a struggle.

I, you know Usually, I always asked her the same questions like, Why do I have to go?

Um, and if, Well, I have to go, why do I have to go every Sunday?

Um, it's something that other- other religions don't hold strongly on and- and I don't I didn't understand, um, at that time.

But after I converted, you know, it's really It's- it's something that y- you know, you spend time with God.

You go worship him every Sunday, um, for all the stuff that he has done for us, all the love that he gave us.

It's really ver-, i- i- it's- it's just a minimal thing that we can do, uh, to really to show God, uh, our love to him as well.

In regard to the laws and the commandments, I found I did not find the laws, um, prohibitive to me because I think that we need laws to have a- to have a good society.

And I- I think in our- in our society, they have become hidden end.

So for example, um, where one- one- one- one proverb is that if you lay with dogs, you'll get fleas.

And so, a law keeps you away from- from sin, which is the- which is the dog and the fleas.

So, um, I- I- I am firmly, um, convinced that laws- laws are needed.

Um, and also, it's- it's important to teach them to Catholic couples so that they can teach them to their children.

It's in- in living by the church's precepts that I experience true freedom, um, freedom from sin.

And, um, I know with my children, they thrive when I give them boundaries and they know, Okay.

This is- this is where I can go, this is where I can't go.

And I- I see them really, um, really get comfortable, um, within those boundaries.

It's the same for me.

I need the church's boundaries in my daily life, um, in order to be free to- to move around and to- to do- to do what I- what will truly make me happy.

And true happiness comes from- comes from the sacraments and living by God's grace, not from the things that you can buy with your credit card.