Love is willing the good of the other for the sake of the other.
Original sin-Adam said, "My will not yours" to go. Man was disconnected from God, and in being disconnected could not be "partakers of divine nature." Jesus, the Word, became man and as mad said, "Not my will, but your will' to the Father. His obedience even to His death on the cross reconnected man to God.
Even though Jesus reconciled us to the Father, the human condition was not fixed. The effects of original sin are that we are born seeking our will, living a life without God's supernatural love/life/grace.
The Church has 7 sacraments. The sacraments are extraordinary means of receiving God's grace, supernatural love.
The first must be baptism, since it removes original sin and fills us with grace. "We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life." Romans 6:4
Confession is necessary because it is in our nature to seek our will, we sin again and again, needing God's mercy to return to a sanctified life.
Confirmation is a special strengthening in the Holy Spirit for our mission in life.
Holy Orders is for men called to be priests, to be 'inpersona Christi' in forgiving sin and to offer Jesus' sacrifice to the Father at Mass.
Marriage is a bond ('two become one flesh." Genesis 2:25) sealed by God with the graces available to aid the couple through any trial. The ultimate purpose in marriage is the sanctification and the salvation of the other spouse. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Eph 5:25-27
Anointing of the sick for the seriously ill for the healing of the soul and body.
The Eucharist is communion with Jesus Himself, the most intimate relationship anyone can have.
It is not a question of one being 'religious." It is a question of how open a person is to the divine life God wants for each of us. Being willed into existence by god, the ultimate purpose of our being is to be with God for eternity. That can only happen if we are living in that love. It is a matter of being in God, not doing religious stuff.
"What matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And without the love of Jesus, everything else is useless." St. John Paul II
+++++++++++++++++++++God's timing is not our timing, but He is never late.+++++++++++++++
"If we're open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives." Donna Van Liere, The Christmas Shoes
"If we're open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives." Donna Van Liere, The Christmas Shoes
Layers - in the knowledge of God and the path to holiness
Learning about God is like unwrapping a head of lettuce, pealing back one leaf at a time. Always there is another leaf below. We will eventually reach the center of the head of lettuce; but we will never unwrap everthing there is to know about God.
The path to holiness is like pealing an onion. God shows us what is sinful and convicts us that we have sinned. No matter how sweet the onion, there are always tears in the peeling. No matter how sweet the grace of repentence, there are always the pain of letting go of the sin. As the peeling of the onion reveals another layer, so God shows us what we lack in holiness, drawing us ever closer to "be(ing) perfect even just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
The path to holiness is like pealing an onion. God shows us what is sinful and convicts us that we have sinned. No matter how sweet the onion, there are always tears in the peeling. No matter how sweet the grace of repentence, there are always the pain of letting go of the sin. As the peeling of the onion reveals another layer, so God shows us what we lack in holiness, drawing us ever closer to "be(ing) perfect even just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
What I Believe
Why I am and always will be a Catholic. "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Tthe living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." John 6:53-58 The words and actions of man cannot sanctify. Only the priest, empowered by his ordination, can invoke the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into Jesus so we can receive Him - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity into our bodies and souls. This is the core of the Catholic Church; without this there is no purpose or meaning to the Catholic Church. There are other ways to holiness, to grow in grace; there is no better way than union with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Visitation Catholic Church
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