I'm New to the Catholic Faith

• We believe in on God, who is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three Divine and equal persons in one Divine substance.
• We believe that God created all things and made human beings in his image and likeness so that we may enjoy eternal bliss in the love of the Trinity. He has called all to be saints.
• We believe that God is knowable and has revealed himself and his plan of salvation in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
• We believe that the eternal Son of God took on human flesh as Jesus Christ and was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to redeem humanity from sin and reconcile us with God.
• We believe that salvation was won by Jesus Christ through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven.
• We believe that we are saved by grace being infused into our souls through the Sacraments and our faith working through love.
• We believe that Baptism washes away all sin and justifies us, making us a new creation, an adopted son/daughter of God the Father.
• We believe that Jesus established one Church in his own mystical body and founded on Peter and the Apostles.
• We believe that Mary is the Mother of God, was conceived free from stain of sin, was a perpetual virgin, and was bodily assumed by God into Heaven.
• We believe that Jesus Christ will come again at the end of time to judge all humanity, resurrecting our bodies, and establish a new Heaven and new Earth.

• We owe God everything and thus he is owed our total and exclusive adoration and worship.
• The Mass is the supreme and commanded way of worshiping God in thanksgiving. It is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrificial love offering on the Cross. It is in Mass that we receive the Eucharist, the communion of his real and substancial presence, Jesus' Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity under the appearance of bread and wine.
• The Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life" because it is Jesus Christ himself, the Alpha and the Omega, who our life comes from and who we are being called to.
• The seven sacraments of the Catholic Church are visible signs and rituals instituted by Christ and ministered by his Church as the means of receiving sanctifying grace so as to partake of the divine nature and so as to allow Christ to work in us.
  • Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist
  • Sacraments of Healing: Penance (Confession), Anointing of the Sick
  • Sacrament of Service: Marriage, Holy Orders

• Catholics are called to live a life of virtue through God's grace, following Christ's example and teachings.
• We believe that sin is a free choice against God's will and injures or ruptures our relationship with God.
• Though we often fail, we strive to follow the two greatest commandments to love God and love our neighbor. We believe the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are the primary guide for following the moral life, which is essential for growing in holiness and living in communion with God.
• Through the sacraments, prayer, and a well-formed conscience, we seek to align our actions with God's will, avoid sin, and make choices that promote human dignity, love, and justice.
• The law of love challenges us to act selflessly and care for the weakest among us. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel, and so we practice the Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
• There are five precepts of the Church (minimum requirements) we are bound to:
  1. Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation
  2. Confess: Confess sins at least once a year.
  3. Receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season.
  4. Observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church
  5. Provide for the material needs of the Church

• Prayer is the means of spiritually lifting our whole self to God, expressing our covenant relationship with God the Father, in Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. It is a response to God of trusting faith. Prayer is essential to the spiritual life.
• We can pray in various forms including vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation. Our prayer can include adoration, thanksgiving, praise, petition, and intercession.
• The Saints in heaven (most especially the Blessed Virgin Mary) can intercede for us and we can ask for their prayers on our behalf.
• The Lord's Prayer (the Our Father) is the most perfect prayer as it was given by Christ himself to his disciples and contains all the elements of a good prayer.
• Catholics sometimes use prayers written throughout Church history by the Saints or devotions such as the Rosary. We are also called to spontaneous personal prayer.
  
  

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