The Birth of the Christian Church

Friends of Faith:

Christ’s church is built upon rock. That is why the Church still stands 2014 years later. It is a Universal Church who believes in the Trinity (God the Father, the Creator; Christ the Son, our role model; and with the Holy Spirit as it’s guide). This is the briefest history of the formation of the Christian church:

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Mt 16: 18-19

But even Peter denied and protested Christ and the ability of God to prevail. He didn’t believe and he was fearful. Without the Spirit which Christ sent and Peter allowed as his guide, Peter would have been nothing. But because of the Spirit he was able to evangelize and build a Church which continues to lead God’s chosen people today.

Division within the church has been caused by the same denial, disbelief, fear and protests as Peter himself felt when he was handed the keys of the kingdom nearly 2000 years ago.

And likewise, the mission, the vocation, of all Christians (Catholic and Protestant alike)—to lead others to Christ thru the fullness of the teachings of His Church—remains. The hope, joy and peace found through Christ is still being given through the Church, to it’s people, by the leadership of the same Spirit sent by God, through His son, those same 2000 years ago.

I am not sure what it is in our humanity that makes us try to figure everything out on our own but I think Blessed Mother Theresa says it best: “If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.”

 

Pride tempts us to choose partial truths, the “easy” outs, the happy road, and the “feel good” rules. Consequently, because we do not have enough room for God we also have difficulty finding enough room to fully love our spouses, our families and our neighbors. Pride causes us to believe that we are in power instead of trusting in the power of the Spirit to lead us and giving God real control of our lives.

 

Like Peter (the first leader of the apostolic church, from whom we trace the successor popes) we are all sinners who sometimes (even often) deny our faith, are in disbelief of Christ’s teachings and His presence, who protest His law (the ten commandments which form His teachings on love and the manifestation of love through our families in the vocation of marriage), and who are fearful of the day to day challenges and sufferings presented by this world.

Come Holy Spirit, Come. Christ promised Your presence as he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Help me to set aside my personal pride to follow Your will, not mine. Thank you for my daily bread, for the many gifts I have but that I don’t realize. Help me to open my heart in faith like St. Peter and Blessed Mother Theresa, by loving unconditionally so that the evils of netherworld shall not prevail. Amen.

Without Christ I am nothing. Without Christ’s church I am wandering without the guide of His Spirit. My prayer is always that I find it in my heart to take up my cross and willingly follow Him,

Blessings,

Charlotte

 

Too Important to Forget

Women of Faith:

It is too important to forget special birthday’s or anniversaries; the birth of our children; our First Communion or Confirmation; our wedding day; a best friend; a special celebration in our community; or where we were when a new pope was announced.

For most of us these are important days because they change us in some way leaving marks in our memories and in our very beings. They are too important to forget.

I remember anticipating the Jesus that filled my soul at First Communion and the Holy Spirit that entered my life at confirmation. I remember eagerly studying to learn all I could about who Jesus and the Holy Spirit were and would be in my life. Do I now anticipate their presence each Sunday by just as eagerly attending mass each week. Or do I deny that I need their presence, and forget that receiving Spiritual food every Sunday is just as important as the meals I eat every day?

We will never forget our wedding day, all of the planning and the pomp and circumstance, but how often do we as spouses forget the vows we took that special day? Do I accept the sufferings and challenges in my marriage the way Christ accepted dying for us. Do I work through the problems, or just give up and say it is too difficult to accept and more importantly forgive, the faults of the spouse I professed to love, for better, for worse, AND ALL OF the days of my life? What did and do those vows really mean? Do I encourage others to remain faithful to their wedding vows  or do I give them the courage to escape their commitment because it’s become a societal norm?

I remember my children’s birthdays and I will never forget the feeling of holding them tightly and safely as newborns within my arms. Yet some deny even trying to conceive a child because they prefer sex as a  choice with no responsibility and for temporary pleasure. Others deny their “first responsibility” to be teachers of their children about God, expecting others to teach them in school and at religious education class. And as they grow older are we afraid to discipline them? Do we forget that as parents our responsibility doesn’t end when they become a certain age, but that we must continue to pray for them, encourage them, and forgive them, welcoming them back to Christ?

As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road;  and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives,  the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”  Lk 19: 36-38

Yesterday at Palm Sunday we celebrated Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem with waving palms, tambourines and trumpets, and yet, the same Jesus Christ who we celebrated will be tortured and hung upon a cross in just a few short days, because His miracles of healing were forgotten and His true love for us was denied.

And Peter, one of his followers, one of his best friends, will deny even knowing Christ three times before the same week is done.

“This man too was with him.” But he denied it saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A short while later someone else saw him and said, “You too are one of them”; but Peter answered, “My friend, I am not.”
About an hour later, still another insisted, “Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “My friend, I do not know what you are talking about.” Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly.” Lk 22: 56-62

Would we forget our best friend the way Peter forgot Christ? Do we stand up for the truth of the teachings of the Church? Or do we try to hide the fact that we are Christians? And will we fail to ask for forgiveness when we realize what we have done to hurt our relationship with Christ, with another?

Or will we be like Peter and Christ, willing to ask and give forgiveness for our sin of denial. Peter asked for forgiveness and Christ gave him the keys to the kingdom, making Peter his first successor, the first Pope of His Church.

Gracious Father, grant mercy on us Your children who are so quick to deny Your son, Jesus, in our lives. Increase the faith of all who place their HOPE in You. Help me to forgive those who have denied Your presence in their lives by denying your commandments and who by those sins have in turn hurt me. Help me never to forget that Your sacrifice for me forgives “my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me.” Amen.

This Holy Week, may each of us remember to forgive others remembering that Christ died for us so that we may be forgiven.

May your faith in Christ never be denied, it is too important to forget,

In Faith,
Charlotte