"I believe in order to understand; and I understand the better to believe."
St. Augustine of Hippo
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church to preserve the truth He gave us and hand it down through the centuries, so that people may encounter the love of God in every age and every corner of the earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, sent to mankind by an ever-loving Father who desires for us to have everlasting life. We believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. We believe in the Incarnation - that God became man without ceasing to be God; thus, Jesus is true God and true man. He walked here on earth, and established a new covenant that calls us to be adopted sons and daughters of God, and therefore heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. This greater inheritance begins with eternal life. That became possible because, by taking our humanity to the cross, Jesus crucifies to death the old humanity, conquering sin and death through death. This victory is completed in his resurrection where he is raised from the dead, no longer subject to corruption or death, with a body definitively glorified. His resurrection is the first fruits, a sign and basis for the hope that we will be raised from the dead in glorified bodies.
We believe in His Good News.
As His sons and daughters, we were created to be in relationship with our Heavenly Father forever in paradise; however, through the sin of Adam and Eve (our first parents), this relationship was broken. In His love and mercy, God laid out a plan to restore our relationship with Him. He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who was condemned to suffer for our sake -- leading to His death on the cross. His death bore our sin and shame and through this one act of love He fixed the broken relationship between us and the Father. We believe that Jesus died and went to the grave, and that in three days He rose again in glory. Through His death and resurrection, He conquered sin. His victory over death is our hope and our salvation. Through Christ we can rise again and through Him we are invited into the heavenly inheritance that awaits us. This is the Good News. This is the Gospel!
We belong to the Church that Jesus founded.
Jesus Christ founded the Roman Catholic Church during his earthly ministry around 30 A.D. He preached repentance, taught love of others, healed the sick and blind, and cast out demons in order to bring people to a meaningful life of faith and salvation. Jesus had many followers, but He set apart and transformed 12 Apostles that He called by name; Jesus gave them authority to take care of the Church that He started on Earth. Peter is the leader and spokesman of the group -- we know this because his name appears more times in the Gospels than any other apostle, and whenever the apostles are listed, Peter's name is always first (and Judas' is always last). Upon Peter's declaration that Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16-19), Jesus appointed him as royal steward or prime minister of His Kingdom -- His Church! Jesus promised His believers that when He returns to Heaven, He will send for us an advocate. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down to the early Church, giving courage to the apostles to become fearless and courageous witnesses to Christ. On this day, the Church was born. The Holy Spirit broke down ethnic and linguistic barriers and united the Church, making us into a universal family. We are called the Catholic Church because, in Greek, the term katholikos (καθολικός) means “universal”.
We are called to love.
Over 2,000 years later, the Catholic Church is now a family of over 1.2 billion people around the world. We are made up of people from all walks of life, called to different vocations, but with a simple mission: to love God and to love others.
It is essential for us to continuously engage with our faith through a pursuit of knowledge and understanding. We need to be ready to answer the questions "Why are you Catholic?" or "Why should I become Catholic?" by engaging the mind to reach the heart. Being baptized and attending Mass do not necessarily create a faithful laity who understand the Church and her teachings.
Thankfully, there are many resources available for us to re-discover our faith, and be reminded of the beauty of Catholicism. Here are a few of them; click on the images below to get you started!
