What practices keep us growing?
Catholics believe in continuing Jesus’ mission — in loving, serving, and forgiving one another as Jesus did us. We practice the new commandment Jesus gives his friends in Sunday’s gospel: “Love one another.” How do we love one another? As Jesus loves us. We practice the two commandments Jesus says are greatest — to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12.30-31).
Catholics believe in praying as Jesus taught us. The Our Father summarizes Jesus’ teachings and the goal of bringing heaven to earth.
Catholics believe Jesus still acts in the seven sacraments — baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders.
Catholics believe in celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Eucharist. At the last supper Jesus gave us a way to remember him by making bread blessed, broken, and shared a sign of his wholehearted self-giving love on the cross. He made a cup of wine a pledge of pouring himself out totally on the cross. His resurrection affirms Jesus’ self-giving love is life-giving, a new covenant with God. We receive the Body and Blood of Christ when we gather for eucharist in order to become the Body of Christ on Earth.
Catholics believe the story the scriptures and creeds tell.
God is creator. All that is evolves out of the oneness at our beginning in God.
God becomes one of us in Jesus, who was born of Mary, taught us to love and heal one another, and gave himself in love for us unto death, and whom God raised up to new life.
God is not only transcendent and beyond us but with us in Jesus Christ and within us in the Spirit. The Spirit animates all that is as breath animates a living body.
We believe that Jesus calls us into a communion of saints, a community in whom the Spirit moves and ever renews. We believe we will rise again as Jesus promises.