Does a Good Person Need Christ?

We work honestly, love our families and try not to harm anyone. But what happens when we need forgiveness, the strength to begin again or hope in the face of death? This question leads us all to the newness of the Gospel: a gift we cannot give ourselves, but can only receive.

“I don’t go to church very often, but I try to be a good person.” Such a statement should not be met with ridicule or hasty judgement. Honest work, care for our families and helping our neighbours are not trivial matters. We recognize genuine goodness in them, whether they are practised by someone who attends church regularly or someone who has drifted away from the Church. The question therefore deserves a serious answer: what does Christ give us beyond the call to live honestly?

The question also applies to those of us who come to Mass on Sundays. We may have spent years praying, receiving the sacraments and serving our parish, yet we still need to rediscover what sustains our faith. Do we come before God seeking confirmation that we are good enough, or do we come so that his love may change our hearts and enable us to do what we cannot accomplish on our own?

This is precisely the kind of deepening of faith encouraged by a document on the evangelizing mission of the Church in Canada, published by the Commission for Doctrine of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The document distinguishes between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus: religious knowledge and the practice of faith need to be united with a living communion with the Lord. These are not competing alternatives, but dimensions of the same Christian life.

The photograph of the crucifix in our church brings us back to the very heart of that life. On the cross, we see more than the example of a noble man who remained faithful to his convictions. We profess our faith in the Son of God, who died and rose again for us. If Christianity offered nothing more than a few rules of decent behaviour, such a proclamation would make little sense. But the Gospel speaks of a gift greater than moral instruction: salvation and communion with God. What does this mean for our everyday lives?

More Than Good Intentions

The Gospel recounts an encounter that goes to the heart of this question. A man approaches Jesus seeking eternal life and says that he has kept the commandments from his youth. Jesus does not dismiss his efforts. Mark tells us that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Yet he invites him to take a further step: to let go of what holds him captive, help the poor and follow him. He calls him to an act of love, but also to something that no single act can replace: becoming his disciple (cf. Mark 10:17–22).

We recognize our own experience here. We know we should forgive, yet we keep turning an offence over in our minds. We resolve to listen more attentively to our family, only to find ourselves interrupting them again that same evening. We can be generous towards strangers, yet harsh towards someone who shares our table. Good intentions should not be belittled, but neither should we mistake them for love already put into practice.

The Church speaks of human nature wounded by sin. Sin is not merely a mistake in our behaviour: it wounds our relationship with God and with our neighbours. We have not lost our dignity or our capacity for goodness, but we need forgiveness and healing. We need a Saviour, not simply a better set of resolutions. Through his death and resurrection, Christ reconciles us with the Father and opens the way to eternal life. Salvation, then, is more than a quieter conscience or a more successful plan for our lives. It embraces the whole person, reaching as far as the promise of the resurrection of the body.

Grace Is Not a Wage

This brings us to a word we hear often but may rarely consider: grace. The Catechism describes it as God’s unmerited help and a participation in his life (cf. CCC 1996–1997). God does not simply offer advice from a distance. He draws near, forgives us and, through the Holy Spirit, enables us to live as his children. We did not first have to become perfect before he began to love us. Saint Augustine, quoted in the Catechism, reminds us that God’s mercy goes before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that we may persevere in the life we have been given (cf. CCC 2001).

Saint Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith!” Immediately afterwards, he speaks of our being created in Christ for good works (Ephesians 2:8–10). These two statements belong together. We cannot earn salvation as we earn a wage, but the grace we receive calls for our free response and love expressed in action.

Good works are not the price of God’s love, but the fruit of grace with which we freely cooperate. This does not mean that our efforts are merely an illusion. Grace does not take away our freedom: it is we who must forgive a neighbour, return money obtained unjustly and speak the truth. God moves and strengthens us to act. The Catechism therefore holds together the primacy of God’s gift and the genuine value of our cooperation (cf. CCC 2008–2010).

Faith Is More Than a Feeling

Speaking of a personal encounter with Christ can sound as though some extraordinary spiritual experience is required. But closeness to God is not measured by the intensity of our feelings. Some find consolation in prayer; others experience dryness and distraction. Christ’s faithfulness does not end when our enthusiasm fades.

A personal relationship with Christ does not mean a private faith that no longer needs the Church. In baptism, God truly unites us with Christ and makes us members of his Body, the Church. Baptism is not merely the memory of a family celebration that only acquires meaning later. The gift has truly been received; we are called to live from it.

In the Eucharist, Christ is not merely someone we remember: he gives us his Body and Blood. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he forgives the sins of the repentant person through the ministry of the priest. When Sacred Scripture is proclaimed in the Church, he speaks to his people. The Catechism emphasizes that the sacraments are effective because Christ himself acts in them, while their fruits also depend on the disposition of the person receiving them (cf. CCC 1127–1128).

What About People Who Do Not Believe?

Someone may rightly point out that they know a non-believer who is more selfless than many believers. That goodness should be acknowledged, and our inconsistency as Christians should not be excused. Belonging to the Church gives us neither a reason to congratulate ourselves nor the authority to pass judgement on another person’s eternal destiny.

The Catechism teaches that those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ and his Church, but sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive to do his will as they recognize it in their conscience, may attain eternal salvation (cf. CCC 847). This does not mean that all paths are the same or that Christ is unnecessary. Such salvation, too, comes from him, not from human self-sufficiency.

Preparation Is Not the Price of the Gift

When preparation for the sacraments begins, families also face a question of time: how can they balance school, work, sports practices and catechism classes? A parent who asks this should not automatically be considered uninterested in the faith. Families who bring their children to Mass every Sunday deserve particular appreciation. Parish preparation seeks to build on the faith already lived at home, not to dismiss that effort.

Nevertheless, participation in Mass and structured catechesis serve distinct but connected purposes. Children need help to understand what they celebrate, to learn to pray and to recognize how faith shapes their decisions. Confirmation is not a reward for spiritual maturity already achieved, but the gift of the Holy Spirit who strengthens them for Christian life.

Preparation, then, is not the price of a sacrament. Grace cannot be purchased with hours of attendance. Yet the fact that the gift is freely given does not mean that how we approach it is unimportant. For First Communion, the Church requires preparation suited to the child’s capacity; for Confirmation, appropriate instruction and disposition. At the same time, she safeguards the right to the sacraments of those who meet the prescribed conditions. The purpose of preparation is not to create obstacles, but to help people receive the gift with faith (cf. Code of Canon Law, canons 843; 889; 913–914).

Making Time for What Sustains Us

Sports and other activities are not enemies of faith. Yet it is worth considering together what place faith formation holds in our family schedules. When commitments clash, can we first look for ways to make adjustments on both sides, rather than assume that catechism classes must always give way?

This question also places a responsibility on the parish. Preparation needs to be meaningful, age-appropriate and well organized. Registration, schedules and regular attendance support our shared work and the responsible care of each child; they are not measures of anyone’s worth before God. Genuine difficulties need to be discussed early, and a workable way found for each child to receive the necessary preparation.

Parents and catechists are not on opposite sides. Together, we want children to come to know the Christ to whom we bring them. We do not need to choose between demands without understanding and understanding without any commitment. We need both commitment and care: an agreement we honour, and help when genuine difficulties arise.

Does a good person, then, need Christ? We all do. Not so that we may consider ourselves better than others, but so that we may receive the life no one can give themselves and learn to love with the love that comes from God.

Fr. Filip Pavlović

Sources: Commission for Doctrine of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Evangelizing Mission of the Church in Canada (September 14, 2026), nos. 3–6; Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), nos. 405, 846–848, 1127–1128, 1308–1309, 1996–2010; Code of Canon Law, canons 777, 779, 843, 889, 913–914; Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 6–7; Redemptoris Missio, no. 11. Archdiocese of Toronto, official guidance on “Mass (Eucharist)” and “Confirmation”. Scripture references: Mark 10:17–22; Ephesians 2:8–10.