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Father Cleary
Father Richard James Cleary was born and reared in Wichita. After graduation from Cathedral High School in 1947, he attended the seminary operated by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Northwestern Missouri. There he came to appreciate the life of the monks and, having obtained the permission of Bishop Mark Carroll of Wichita, he became a monk of that monastery. After being ordained a priest in 1955, his superiors sent him to get his master’s degree at the University of Ottawa, Canada, then to study in Athens, Greece, and then in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in Theology. Finally, he spent a year of study at Harvard University. Later, Fr. Cleary was assigned to teach for many years in Rome. In 1998, he returned to Wichita, where he served in parish ministry at St. Mary’s Cathedral and at Blessed Sacrament parishes. In 2001, his abbot (superior) transferred him to Arkansas, where he served as chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, and helped in the parishes of northeast Arkansas. In March 2010, he was re-assigned to his monastery, Conception Abbey, Conception, in Missouri 64433. He can be contacted there at, 660-944-2877, or by email: rjcleary@juno.com.
Religion
2011-12-27 09:22:01
Do you have to go to church to be saved?
A: In the gospel of St. Matthew (19:16-24), a man asked Jesus: “Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?” St. Luke (10:25-28) relates the same on a similar incident, in which “an expert in the Law of Moses asked: ‘Teacher, what must I do to enter heaven?’” To the first inquiry Jesus responded: “If you want to have eternal life, you must obey the Commandments.” To the second, Jesus asked: “What is written in the Scriptures?” and He endorsed the reply: “The Scriptures say: ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind. Then you must love your neighbor as yourself.’ Jesus said: ‘If you do this, you will have eternal life.’” You ask whether there are different requirements for people of different religious persuasions? The answer is no. Whoever fulfills the above requirements of Jesus will enter heaven. You mention your brother, who says: “he does not have to go to church and tithe to be saved; he says that so long as you lead a good life, believe in God, and treat your neighbor right, you will be okay.” You feel there’s more to it than this. Who is right? Both of you are correct but if your brother truly is a good man, leading a good life, a man who observes ALL of God’s commandments, worships God regularly, generously shares his goods, not just with family and friends, but with persons who are truly poor and needy, and who never sins or offends God in the slightest degree; then your brother is a saint and destined for heaven. But, by reason of original sin -- which is a natural inclination towards selfishness and evil -- very few people are free from sin and selfishness. In fact, only Jesus and his mother Mary and St. John the Baptist were born completely free from sin (the natural inclination to evil). If your brother is not completely free from sin and selfishness, then he is not okay and is not headed for heaven. Indeed, he will go to hell when he dies -- unless he gets out of his self-complacency and gets busy about fulfilling all God’s commandments. St. James the Apostle, who was also Jesus’ cousin, writes in his epistle (2:19) “Even the devils have faith, and they shake with fear.” That ought to take care of your brother’s argument that his belief in God can save him. True belief in God proves itself by regular worship of God, by reverencing God’s holy Name, and by contributing to worthwhile causes for the honor of God. Your brother says he believes in God. I hope he puts that belief into action; otherwise, his belief will be like that of the devils. This relates particularly to those politicians, who proclaim: “I don’t let my religious faith influence my private life or my political decisions.” Then, I ask, what good is such faith. Such a person’s faith is dead, useless to God and to himself and to others. The devils believe, but their faith is useless (by their own choice) and they are excluded from heaven. The Church was established by Jesus for sinful human beings: to help us on our journey in this world to heaven. The Church continues to guide and help sinners. And most of the people, who sincerely relate to the Church and accept her guidance, do get to heaven. But most of those people, who ignore the Church and do not tithe, do not reach heaven. As Jesus explained in the parable about the sower of wheat and the weeds in his field, many people hear the Word of God, but it does not develop in their souls and they are unproductive in virtues and useless for God. Such persons will find themselves excluded from the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, to the brother who says he doesn’t go to Church and tithe, I would say: “Good luck!” A good life consists not only in avoiding evil but also doing virtuous actions, which help merit heaven. “Treating the neighbor right” means a lot more than not hurting the neighbor; it involves generosity to many people; it requires the maintenance of strict justice in all our dealings with another person; it means observing all God’s commandments relating to our neighbor. I hope your brother is aware of this. If your brother truly lives a good life, practicing all the virtues, including: the worship of God, giving generously to the poor, to worthy causes and IF he never sins in the slightest degree, then he is correct and will go to heaven. But, if he is guilty of some sin, which he has forgotten and has not repaired, and he ignored the duty of going to Church and of tithing (almsgiving), then all his supposed faith and his assumed righteousness is not sufficient to get him into heaven. Heaven is God’s gift and reward for those who truly believe in Him and prove it by their worthy lives. Those persons, who are indifferent and choose to not be bothered about religion in this life, simply do not fulfill the requirements for entering heaven.
 
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