Christ calls his disciples to welcome the stranger and the outsider as though they were Christ himself (Matt 25, Rom 15:7) and to support them in life’s difficulties (Gal 6:2). This undiscriminating welcome of friend and neighbor and stranger alike are one of the defining characteristics of being a disciple ( John 13:35).
All of us are on a journey toward holiness; none of us has yet arrived. As recipients of the Church’s mission, we are formed into disciples of Jesus. As participants in the Church’s mission, we go into all the world and form disciples (Matt 28:18-10).
No one accidentally follows Jesus. Christ calls the life of faith a small road with a narrow gate. Just like driving on a narrow road, the life of faith takes focused attention and active intention (Luke 9:23).
We value preaching and teaching that remain true to Christian scriptures, divine revelation, and sacred tradition; as interpreted by the Magisterium, embodied in the Nicene and Apostles’ creeds, and summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Faith (CCC 1324). From the Eucharist flows all the ministries, liturgies, and activities of the Church; from it we receive the graces to live our lives individually and communally in holiness. All ministries, liturgies, and
activities – even our lives of holiness – are pointed back toward the Eucharist as the highest good we can achieve. It is the goal to which we aspire and the power by which we achieve it. The intentional disciple, strengthened by the graces of the sacrament, bears witness to the power of the Eucharist through their life of faith.
Empowered by the graces of the sacrament, the disciple joyfully witnesses in great and small ways to the difference Christ makes in their lives (CCC 425). This proclamation of the Gospel may be overt, or it may simply radiate from the way they live their life.
When Christ ascended, he gave the Church a mission that we participate in (Acts 1:8). The apostles started in Judea, right in their own back yard, and continued to proclaim the Gospel around the world. We too, start with our closest sphere of influence – our homes, the domestic Church (LG 11).
We continue by living the life of faith in community. We are strengthened by our fellow disciples, and they are strengthened by us.
Finally, our faith is not private, but it compels us to share the gifts of God with the whole world. Our community, our state, our nation, and the whole global family is enriched by the love of God that we share.