The purpose of doctrine

The beauty of reading something more than once is that you often see things that you never saw before. I have time and time found this to be true of the Scriptures…the more I read the Scriptures, the more I am amazed by how much God continues to open my eyes to treasures old and new.

Towards the middle of 2010 I finished reading through the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the first time. I was astounded by the beauty and balance of this wonderful deposit of faith that God has blessed His Church with.

As mentioned in a previous post, my wife and I have committed to reading through the entire Scriptures and the Catechism during the course of 2011. Well, in my reading of the Catechism a couple of days ago, the following statement really jumped out at me, and I wanted to share it because it really sums up the purpose of doctrine.    

The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love. (Catechism, para. 25; quoting the Roman Catechism, preface 10)

If our pursuits in theology don’t lead us to grow first and foremost in our love for God and neighbour, then we really have missed the point – much like the church at Ephesus in the the book of Apocalypse. May God grant that as we grow in the faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we would grow in our love towards Him and towards others…because He is Love.