The Catecumenate

The Catechumenate period is and should be a long one. It lasts at least a year or more.  During the catechumenate period you come to mass weekly and become a part of the assembled people of God by participating in the Liturgy of the Word. It is expected that in making yourself a part of the worshipping community, you participate in parish events as is the duty of all Catholics. You also have to show a readiness to turn to God in prayer, be a witness to Christ and keep your hopes focused on God. You must follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and show a sincere love of neighbor. You grow in strength with Gods’ blessing by being present and active in this process. After the Liturgy of the Word, you get dismissed to further feed your hunger for our God.

St. Vincent de Paul

The Man

Born to a family of peasant farmers in 1581 with four brothers and two sisters, Vincent did not go to school until he was 15, showing a mastery of reading and writing. He studied theology and humanity in college, being ordained at age 19 in 1600. On the way back from Toulouse he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave where he spent 2 years in bondage until he escaped.

 

 

The Society

In organizing the Society, Ozanam (The founder) modeled the rule upon the same principles that were in vogue in the seventeenth century. The rules adopted were very simple; it was forbidden to discuss politics or personal concerns at the meetings, and it was settled that the work should be the service of God in the persons of the poor, whom the members were to visit at their own dwellings and assist by every means in their power. The service of the members was to embrace, without distinction of creed or race, the poor, the sick, the infirm, and the unemployed. It is a noteworthy fact that, at the first Vincentian meeting, there was enunciated by Père Bailly a principle of vital importance, now universally accepted wherever organized charity is known, namely that the service of the poor ought to consist not merely of the doling out of alms, but must be made a medium of moral assistance and that each member should help in his special line. Simplicity characterizes the society. The membership is divided into three classes, active, subscribing, and honorary. The active membership is composed of Christian men who desire to unite in a communion of prayers and a participation in the same works of charity. Subscribing and honorary members are those who "cannot devote themselves to the works in which the society is engaged but who assist the active members by their influence, their offerings and prayers". In the make-up of its membership the society is most democratic. Men of all walks of life are engaged in its service; the lawyer, the doctor, the professional and business man freely mingle with the untutored laboring man in relieving the wants of the poor. The conference is the unit of the society and is an integral part of the parish organization. While the clergy are not included in the normal membership, they are always welcomed in the work. The conference exists only with the approval of the pastor who as spiritual director enters actively into the work. Women are excluded from membership, but through auxiliary associations or as benefactresses they may co-operate in the work and share the numerous indulgences. The business of each conference is administered by a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer who constitute the board of the conference. The president is elected by the conference, while the other officers are appointed by the president with the advice of the board. The parish conferences hold weekly meetings. 

The Church as One

The first mark of the Church is one. In One, the Church expresses its unity, uniqueness, and the fact that it is the ONE Church that God intended for. I know, all of the non-Catholics get offended or touchy when we say this, but its true: God intended only for the Catholic Church, the One Church that God wanted people to be part of so that they could come back into communion with Him.

First, when we say in the Nicene Creed at Mass and we say that the Church is One, we state our belief that the Church is unique and that it is a singular Church, not multiple Churches, with its source as the one God. Jesus says in John's Gospel that through Him is the only way to salvation: "I am the way, the truth, the light; no one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14: 6). By establishing this One Church, Jesus gave us the opportunity to believe in God and come into communion with him at the end.

Next, by saying that the Church is One, we agree that the Church is fully and completely organized and united under the Holy Spirit. The three ways that we can see that the Church is united are unity in faith, worship, and leadership. The creeds are the way that we express the Church's unity in faith under the Holy Spirit. The seven Sacraments are ways that we as Catholics celebrate unity in worship. And finally, the unity of leadership is shown through Holy Orders. The three wounds to unity in the Church are apostasy, schism, and heresy. Apostasy is the total rejection of God by a baptized Christian. Schism is the rejection of unity of the pope with someone that is already baptized. Schism is often the worst of these wounds because it typically breaks more than just yourself from unity with the Church. And Heresy is the deliberate and persistent rejection of some Doctrine of Faith or morals in the Church.

Apolicity Mark

There are four marks of the church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Today im going to talk about the Apostolic mark. The church is apostolic meaning it was founded on the twelve apostles chosen by Christ. They were Christs servants in spreading the word of God to the ends of the earth. The threefold sense that the the church is founded on include: Apostolic Foundation, Apostolic Faith, and Apostolic Succession. Apostolic foundation means that it was founded on the apostles. Second is Apostolic Faith meaning the church guards and transmits, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the teachings of the apostles. Lastly, is apostolic Succession which means that the church continues the tradition of being taught, sanctified, and directed by the apostles i the persons of their successors the bishops. You can only trace your lineage back to the apostles if you are a bishop or a Pope. They are also responsible for preserving and proclaiming the teaching of Christ that has been passed down from the apostles in scripture and in the church's Sacred Tradition.

Miracles

The things that don't follow physics, biology, or chemistry. Of course, without God, there would be no science, so it makes since that God can bend the "rules" to make something extraordinary happen every once in a while. The truth is that God preforms miracles every day at Mass. God sends the Holy Spirit down through transubstantiation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Babies being born, Marian apparitions, incorruptible bodies, good grades, people that suddenly can see and have been blind their whole life, and other extraordinary things that are divinely moved by God are considered miracles. God said: "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." (Matthew 17:20)

God in "The Lion King"

I was sitting at home watching tv and "The Lion King" came on. As I started to watch it I was just thinking how it might relate to the bible. I realized that it relates to the story of Moses. Simba and Moses are both princes who were exiled for being accused of murder. While they are exiled they start to mature and basically just hangout until God/Mufasa tells him to go back to his homeland. So, both Simba and Moses both go to their homeland and free their people from the evil ruler Scar/Pharoah. In the end they say, "You see he (Mufasa) lives in you." Since Mufasa is God he lives in Simba like he lives in the hearts of all the christians. Mufasa died to save Simba just like Jesus died to save us from sin. "The Lion King" is filled with several biblical stories. The next time you watch a movie try and see if you can relate it to a story in the Bible.

Four Marks

There are four marks of the church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. First I want to talk about how the church is one. The church is one because its unique, singular, and there is only one God. There is nothing in the world like the church that we catholics have. Second, the church is Holy. The church is Holy because it was established by Christ, Christ is God and God is the most Holy of all things. Third, the Church is Catholic, meaning universal. The church is catholic/universal because it is all around the world. The faith has been spread to the ends of the earth dating back to the apostles. Lastly, the church is apostolic. It is apostolic because it was founded on the apostles with St. Peter as its rock. These four marks define the church. There is no other religion in the world that has these four marks. 

Basics of the Sacraments

The sacraments are gifts given to us to help us get closer to God and to be cleansed from sin. There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, holy orders, anointing of the sick, holy matrimony, reconciliation, and Eucharist. The sacrament of baptism is usually taken as a baby. The priest will wash you with water and oil, cleaning original sin from your soul. The sacrament after baptism is the sacrament of communion. This sacramrnt will usually happen when a child is in second grade. The sacrament allows you too eat the Eucharist and drink the blood. The next sacrament is confirmation which is taken around your sophomore year in highschool. It is confirming you full initiation into the church. The sacrament is done by the laying of the hands. The next two sacraments which cann be done several. Times are reconciliation and anointing of the sick. Recolnciliation is a sacrament used to ask God for his forgiveness for the sins you have committed. Anointing of the sick is a sacrament given to those who are in a near death situation and need Gods help for survival or just there is no more suffering. The last two sacraments include holy orders and holy matrimony. Holy orders is a sacrament for people who want to devote the rest of their life to God. Lastly, holy matrimony is a sacrament for a couple who are united together under God with Love. These seven sacraments are only for those who are catholic.

Why Theology is Important

Short answer: It brings clarification. Long answer: Unlike the way teachers so often present it, theology is not a settled issue of firmly established facts. Theology is theory, forever alive and growing. In the early Church questions arose about doctrine and something to answer them had to be developed. For instance, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Church was faced with the problem of what to do with all the Gentiles who wanted to take part in the salvation of man. Did they have to become Jews first, before they could be saved? Or was entrance into Christianity by grace alone? And then, even if it was by grace, shouldn't they follow the laws of Judaism? Later on, people began wondering who, precisely, was Jesus? Was he really God, or simply an emanation, or maybe a created being? These questions were all answered by studying the Bible, God's special revelation, and the universe, God's general revelation, and finding out what they say. Theology gives us the answers about the Church that we want to know in order to fully understand the Church and what It is that made the Church.

The Bible

Sometimes when i have a big problem and i have no idea what to do about it, I will usually grab my bible, open it to a random page, and start reading. The Bible is full of answers for anything that you may run into in your life. For example, "God works all things together for good" - Romans 8:28.This verse says that God does everything for a Good reason even though you may not like it you just need to trust in him and believe that there will be better to come. You can also use the bible as a tool to pray when you want his forgiveness or really need his help in your life. The bible was written by apostles and people who were being guided by the Holy Spirit so you know that God was the one in which the scriptures initially came from. The Bible is a really good tool if you ever need guidance in your life.

Why are there 2 Creeds?

At the Easter Sunday Mass this past weekend, when we said the Nicene Creed, I wondered why we had the Nicene Creed as well as the Apostle's Creed, and what the differences were. At a regular Mass we always say the Nicene Creed, but in the case of a children's Mass or in the Rosary, we pray the Apostle's Creed. Why is that?

When I finally looked it up, I found out that the Apostle's Creed is called that because it was used on the day of Pentecost and was the basic sum-up of the Church's beliefs to the people that crowded around the apostles that day. The council of Nicaea was an Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D. that had the sole purpose of proving that the Arianism, or the belief that Jesus was not divine, was wrong. So, a more precise Creed was made in the Nicene Creed. Later, in 381, the Council of Constantinople modified the Nicene Creed and adopted a creed written by St.Epiphanius of Salamis, called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol, which is the Creed that we say in Mass starting in around 500 A.D.