Welcome

All your life you have been on a spiritual journey.  Sometimes you are very aware of your search for something more, for a deeper meaning to your life, for a closer relationship with God. Other times you are unaware of being on this journey, or of God's presence in your life.

According to a study on the "Status of Global Christianity, 2021" of the more than 7.8 billion people estimated to live on earth,  more than 2.4 billion identified themselves as "Christians," of which more than 1.25 billion of these Christians identified themselves as "Catholic."  The birth of Christianity is almost two thousand years old.

The Catholic Christian faith tradition is at a unique crossroads. For the first time in its recorded history, Pope Francis initiated a two-year process, called the "Synod on Synodality," calling for the entire Church--the "People of God"-- and not just the Bishops, to be involved in the decision-making process of the Universal (the meaning of the term "catholic") Church, by listening to the Holy Spirit through each other on the specific questions provided by the Vatican. For a better understanding of this Synod, you may wish to view the Vatican's "Preparatory Document" and Handbook intended to guide the consultative process that began in October 2021. Since this is at least a two-year process, we will discuss more about this Synod in later posts.

In order to engage in meaningful dialogue about the Catholic faith tradition, and how it relates to our current life circumstances and experiences, we must first seek to understand its teachings and basic beliefs. In that regard, I would suggest that the Catholic Church is the only major religion who routinely publishes--one could argue, voluminously and extensively--about what it believes, teaches, and practices.

As Catholic Christians, we are blessed to be part of a universal Church and a vibrant faith community, with guides and resources which explain and help us to understand and to reflect on our faith. We invite you to journey with us as we explore and reflect on our Catholic Christian faith tradition through its teachings, scriptures, spiritualities, rituals, sacraments, prayers, music, and practices.

Along the way, we expect to raise questions or thoughts that may challenge or create cognitive dissonance for some of us. After all, it was Jesus who said, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31b-32). Where there is "truth," there you will find the presence of God. Therefore, ours must always be a search for "truth," wherever that may lead us. We must surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who will guide us to the "truth ."(John 16:13).

You might think that you already know everything there is to know about the basic tenets of our Catholic Christian faith tradition, so there is no need to go deeper. But, as with life, there is so much more to discover about God, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Spirit, our Catholic faith tradition, and living that faith. As with anything worthwhile, it takes commitment, time, and practice to do this.

For your reference, in addition to the Bible, there are two publications available that offer  practical and systematic presentations of the Catholic faith tradition: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults ("USCCA"), that can be viewed for free online in either English, or in Spanish, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church ("CCC"). A copy of the CCC, together with the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, can also be viewed online for free, in a variety of languages, on the Vatican's website.

The "Links to Resources" on the left-side of this page will lead you to a list of links to a variety of other resources regarding the Catholic faith. These resources are periodically updated. As with life, this is a work in progress.

Our journey of the Catholic faith will begin with an exploration of the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. We will post an article and other resources each week pertaining to one chapter of the USCCA. All of the postings for our journey of the USCCA can also be found under the "Journey through the USCCA" section at the left-side of this page. With each such post, we respectfully request and encourage you take some time each week to read the referenced chapter of the USCCA, view the other resources provided for that week, and to include what you experience in your reflections and daily prayer. You may wish to use a journal to write down your thoughts, feelings, insights, inspirations, or questions that arise during moments along your journey.

Perhaps you and your spouse, a friend, or others would enjoy sharing what you have each discovered or experienced. You could also discuss the Saint's story, found at the beginning of each chapter of the USCCA, with your younger children, and sharing with them those other discoveries from your review and reflection that may be appropriate to their age and understanding.

After completing our Journey through the USCCA, we will continue with a journey about "Catholic Social Teaching." In addition to the weekly posts on the USCCA, we will also publish periodic posts on other beliefs, thoughts, ideas, questions, or practices pertaining to the Catholic Christian faith tradition.

Please pray that we may each experience a meaningful and transforming Journey together. To begin our journey, we offer the following prayer by Thomas Merton from his book Thoughts in Solitude:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me. 
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that
I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.