“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” it says in the First Letter of Peter.

And really, that’s it. That’s the line, the thought, the prayer for the day. Do this, and you will have achieved much—holiness and the dignity of authentic Christianity.

Jesus wants disciples, not admirers. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” This isn’t rocket science or esoteric. If you say you love Jesus, but if it’s a love without obedience, then you don’t really love Jesus. You just say you do, you’re playing. You’re mistaking faith for sentimentality.

There are, of course, many Christians who practice this shallow sentimental charade, this fake faith. Many churches even, some thriving on the surface, practice and promote this false gospel. Many Catholics as well as many Protestants have fallen for it: this idea that we can love Jesus without being obedient to what he taught. And this will likely continue until kingdom come, because shallowness is convenient.

But hopefully not in your church, and not in your heart. At least that’s my prayer. Now my parish is not perfect, far from it! And, undoubtedly, yours isn’t either. But my hope is that we may at least be people honest enough to struggle with the real Gospel and not its cheap replica, that we may struggle for fidelity and not just settle for sentimentality. May we be mature enough to handle the hard teachings of Jesus and the Church, not ignoring them but struggling for authenticity, for obedience—no matter how hard fidelity is.

If so, we will have achieved much: real Christianity.