It is my hope that the New Year brings all of us good health, peace and joy in abundance, prosperity in good measure for all, and a deeper spiritual connection to our Lord. These hopes and wishes will be built upon the actions of many—from government leaders and everyday Americans to our ministry leaders and people right in our pews.
One of these hopes that we have already begun to build up here at Saint Catherine of Siena is the deeper spiritual connection we seek with our Lord. Deeper spiritual connection will come only to those who come to know God more intimately through learning of His healing Word, in finding new ways to praise Him, and to learn more deeply about the ways in which He desires each of us to live our daily lives faithfully through simple acts of love and charity to others as a way to show our love in a practical way to the unseen God.
In November and December 2013 we introduced Taize, Penance Service, and more. In January we will provide new conduits for spiritual growth: from Making Music, Praying Twice for children and parents offered by Susan Zybert; Father Michael will offer a program explaining the celebration of the Mass and what is actually taking place along with your role in the Mass; guest speakers will come in in future months to explain Church teachings on topics of interest ranging from Divorce and Remarriage, the sanctity of human life in relation to stem cell research and cloning to Pope John Paul II’s teaching on The Theology of the Body. Father Michael and Lou Daniels will hold a Lenten Bible Study program; mini retreats, Theology on Tap for young adults; Judy Pluta will again offer talks on the Rosary and with others will offer talks on different types of prayer—from contemplative and meditative to Lectio Divina and more.
It is my sincere hope that we will all take part in these Catholic learning sessions and come away with a greater under-standing of the depth and breath, the richness of our faith—one that has for more than 2000 years attracted billions of people to it and have led to the most powerful changes in human history. It is a faith that leads people to righteousness through acts of human goodness and charity, thus to God.
The unique thing about faith is that you get out of it only what you put into it. God desires us all to come to Him and seeks to open all our hearts to His Life. But if the “input” is only a little bit—Say Mass when it is convenient—then what might come from it will seem ritualistic and repetitive and temporary; for some—even useless. But if one dives deeply into the Word of God, listening to the healing love that God has for each and every person, if we come away and see that the teachings of Christ do not burden us—as many believe the Commandments do—but rather free us and make us fully human, after all, who wants to be lied to or cheated on or worse?
I remember being told when I was a child that the common denominator between a virtue and a vice is practice. The more you practice lying, the better liar you become, and then you become known as a good liar. If you practice random acts of kindness and charity, sooner or later you become a kind person. The same holds true for our Catholic faith: the more you know, the more you’ll be. After all, our Archdiocesan radio station, WJMJ has a great tagline—where Faith Meets Life. Perhaps a truer tagline would be—Catholicism: Where Faith Can Become Life.
Please watch the bulletin and the website (stcatherine.info) for more details, times and locations. Join us!