In the Gospel, Jesus says something startling. He says whoever believes and is baptized, will be saved. Does this mean that all we have to do is believe mentally in Jesus saving us and we will be saved? In fact, some protestant denominations believe if you accept Jesus as your personal savior, you are already saved. What do we believe as Catholics? Well, we believe it’s not that simple.
First of all, when Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is Baptized will be saved,” what does He mean by believe? He means it in the fullest sense. In other words, we need to believe with all our being, with our hearts, minds and actions and we need to keep believing until we die. This sounds a lot tougher. Still, it makes sense, because even the fallen angels declare belief in Jesus in the scriptures, but they believe only with the mind and not the heart. We need to believe that Jesus who is Love Incarnate, is our everything and nothing can stop the power of God’s love. The demons didn’t believe in this way.
Although it may seem daunting, we can believe with our whole beings. Jesus will help us and we can grow little by little. We will make mistakes and fall many times but Jesus will always be there to help us back up. All that Jesus expects is that we try—try to be our best and to love God and others with all that we have and are.
