THE BEAUTY OF CATHOLICISM
I thank God He made me Catholic! I am Blessed to be Catholic and involved with many groups who accompany me in my journey as I accompany them. Our good and great Lord I believe made us for this accompaniment as He chose Apostles and disciples to accompany Him as He accompanied them.
We listen, learn, love, live and laugh with each other. What separates us as Catholics, which by the way may we never forget what it means to be Catholic, is, we are one, universal, holy, apostolic! That is what the body of Christ is and all of us together make up the body of Christ. In addition, we were started by Jesus’ command around 33AD to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing in the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, and He told us “I will be with you until the end of the age”. How is he with us? Through the Sacraments, which He instituted. Yes, The 7 Sacraments are not man made; they are God made! Only Confession, which we also call it, The Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Communion can be received frequently, so we should; and it’s bliss to receive both so know I am praying for all of you who are Catholics to frequent the Sacrament of Confession and Holy Communion. We must, and it’s Christ command – please read the diary of St. Faustina – to go to His priests in The Sacrament of Confession and I call this The Beauty of Catholicism and it is most beautiful!
We must also have grateful hearts and be thankful to our almighty creator for the beautiful sunrise and sunset, a full moon and a clear night when it appears we can touch the starts, our bare feet on a beach or freshly cut lawn, a gentle breeze on our face, the love of another and so much more! God is in all of this and we should cherish it and thank God. Every breath we take actually is a gift from God and it is very important we acknowledge this! Let’s just not stop there, as Catholics, let’s meet with God and kneel in front of Him and sit with him and receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion that He gave us as well as all The Sacraments He gave us!
We are called to be more than good, we are called to be holy! See 1 Peter 1:15. If we follow and study the lives of the saints who preceded us they will show us the way so read the life of your favorite saint and of many saints. It’s The Beauty of Catholicism.
It is best to take scripture as a whole from cover to cover as a living document which it is and inspired by the Holy Spirit rather then rely on your favorite quote as the Gospel Truth on everything, and I like many Bible quotes and go to at least 12 daily and in addition these two are good ones to keep us faithful and humble – 1 Peter 3:13-17 and Romans chapter 14.
We can also learn from many other Christians and even non Christians who are people of good will and/or have Christ! We are all in this together, however do not be afraid to Live Catholic and be the light and salt so needed in the world. The Catholic Church has it all! The fullness of truth!!!!
Be Holy! Be Catholic!
VACCINES AND EVERYTHING ELSE
Vaccines have been a God send over the years, for instance, the polio vaccine, however, we should tread cautiously and “test the spirits” – see 1 John 4:1 and I encourage you to read this article -https://www.catholic.com/audio/cot/covid-19-vaccines-and-the-usccb – which says a lot so I will not repeat it here but ask you read this article and realize the Catholic Church, although it did state receiving the coronavirus vaccine can be or possibly is an act of charity, there is no moral obligation to receive it. No one really knows how or why the coronavirus started. Also, follow the trail of money related to vaccines and everything else, always. I do not see the need to rush in and get the vaccine and I am also not saying to never get it, but rather those who want to get it, go and get it, those who do not should not be shamed into getting it. We don’t even know what long term affects, if any, this vaccine may carry. There is also too many politics surrounding it and that’s sad.
So, in closing I encourage you to read this article – https://www.catholic.com/audio/cot/covid-19-vaccines-and-the-usccb – and continue to pray, study, listen, learn and not to go it alone, doing all of it and everything else with God and others, and especially with your brothers and sisters in Christ!
God Bless you and keep on walking by faith to live joyfully!!!!
Charles DeFeo: Catholic Blogger and Useless Servant of Christ 