Catholic Faith Formation Resources

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" — Psalm 103:8 ( NRSV ) Our sins separate us from being in right relationship with God ( cf. Isaiah 59:2). 1 Although our sinful acts can weaken, harm, and even sever our relationship with God, nevertheless, God is always ready to reconcile with us, forgive us, and restore us into right relationship as a child of God ( cf. Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 86:5; Romans 6:23; John 1:12; Galatians 3:26; 1 John 1:9). Unfortunately, too often people commit sins for which they erroneously believe there can be no forgiveness from God. They abandon or refuse to trust and hope in God's unconditional love and mercy. 2 Fortunately, although we may abandon God, God never abandons us. As the parable of the "Lost Son" or "Prodigal Son" — perhaps better called the "Parable of the Loving Father" — exemplifies, God waits with love and open arms for any sinner to return to Go...

Intolerance, hatred and violence are gripping our communities and tearing them apart. It is becoming a standard response by some against people who disagree with them or their group, or who do not hold the same opinions or values. Meeting hatred with hatred and violence with violence only provokes further retaliation and escalation of the situation. Take time to reflect on the following pearls of perennial wisdom: "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind" — Mahatma Gandhi "If there is to be peace in the world, it must begin with me" — Thomas Paine. "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves" —Dalai Lama. "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love" —Francis of Assisi "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other" —Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. "Peace* I leave with you; ...

" Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2) "Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8) Many books and articles have been written about what it means to be a disciple— a learner or apprentice — of Jesus. Discipleship is an ongoing and continuing process of growing into a more loving and deeper relationship with God, and the people who God loves, as taught, exemplified, and lived by Jesus Christ— the human face of God for us. Through God's grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we strive to learn and follow what Jesus taught and how he lived his life centered on God and God...

"God is love." —1 John 4:8 1 "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother [or sister], he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother [and sister] whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother [and sister]." —1 John 4:20 Love is not just a thought, feeling, or an emotion that you create or possess. Love is the essence of God's Being, whose Presence is the energy and spiritual reality that grounds, sustains, permeates, and is inherent in and at the depth of all of creation. God's love is unconditional and freely given to all who accept it. Such love is active, generative, expansive and, since it derives from the essence of our eternal God, it is never diminished nor exhausted. The paradox is that love only increases and expands the more it is given away. You are called to respond with love for God, others, yourself, and all of creati...

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work." —John 4:34 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." — 1 Corinthians 10:31 "For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:8). Devotion is often defined as a deep love, loyalty, and commitment you give to someone, some thing, cause, or activity. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Matthew 6:21). You exist solely due to God's love and grace and for God's purpose. God, as the eternal, ultimate and underlying reality and the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of all, is entitled to your steadfast love, faith, and devotion. You express your devotion to God through your loving acts of worship, prayer, and service. You dedicate yourself to growing in a deepening personal and loving r...

Another way that will help you to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to clean or purify your heart of that which defiles you, restore you to right relationships, and help align you with God's will for your life is through allowing the Holy Spirit's gift of the "fear of the Lord" (see Isaiah 11:1-3) to ground your life. Scripture teaches, “Happy the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands” (Ps 112:1), and “the beginning of wisdom is to fear of the Lord” (Sirach 1:14; cf. Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). Fear of the Lord is your recognition and acceptance of God’s eternal and unchanging transcendence, holiness, perfection, greatness, truth, love, goodness, and mercy on whom you can firmly depend and in whom you can place your trust. "For 'in [God] we live and move and have our being'" (Acts 17:28). It is your acknowledgment that you are not God, and that God’s “thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the L...

But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile. (Mark 7:20-23; cf. Luke 6:45; Genesis 6:5). Jesus teaches that your desires, thoughts, and actions that oppose God's will and defile you arise from within your heart rather than from external influences. That's not to say that external influences cannot tempt or test you but, rather, it is what is in your heart that determines whether you recognize these desires, thoughts and actions as being against God's will and, if so, what you do about it. Generally, the term heart denotes your soul—your spiritual center where you encounter God—and all of its faculties or dimensions such as your intellect and its capacity to reason, discern, and judge; your emotions, imagination, and your deepest feelings; ...