A human being grows into adult maturity when they have a good understanding of their strengths and their weaknesses. We may be very strong on being organized and well planned out, but we may be very limited on having a sense of humor. “He is great at getting things done but he seldom ever laughs!”
One of the best ways to describe our Catholic Church is that it is a “big tent church.” It involves the rich and the poor, the well educated and the people who are illiterate, it involves people who have a strong understanding of their Christian faith and those who barely know much more than how to make the sign of the cross.
One of our strongest needs is to educate in our faith. In other words, to help people understand and come to a basic experience of prayer, Eucharist and service to their fellow human being. Simply put, we need to put ourselves in the position where we can be educated in the Christian faith.
It is not sufficient to have parents run their children through the sacramental preparation program and then think “Well, I ‘ve got them done.”
What we do with children must become a lifelong learning season of walking with our God. We are on a journey of transformation into the likeness of Christ.
We need an understanding and a commitment to the Christian way of life. Born Catholics are so surprised when you outline that he Christian journey is a lifelong process.
We need to encourage a prayerful reading of the four Gospels in the Bible and an understanding what each of the seven sacraments is all about.
Born Catholics are slowly being educated in the social teaching of the Church about justice, peace making and compassion toward the poor. There is just so much here that the average born Catholic is unaware of.
The Church is an educating church. It has the gospel mandate to go forth and share the good news with everyone. Today, we will begin with all our born Catholics.
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