I was blessed to do a series of talks on the Catechism of the Catholic Church recently at St. Dennis Parish. I was impressed with the intense interest and attendance level every night.
People are hungry to learn more about the Faith and to put it into practice. Copies of the Catechism flew off the back table at an inspiring rate, which made this bishop’s heart very happy!
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Dr. John P. Joy |
Picking up where we left off last time, the next lines of Pope Paul VI’s Creed of the People of God profess our faith in the necessity of the Church:
“We believe that the Church is necessary for salvation, because Christ, who is the sole mediator and way of salvation, renders Himself present for us in His body which is the Church. But the divine design of salvation embraces all men; and those who without fault on their part do not know the Gospel of Christ and His Church, but seek God sincerely, and under the influence of grace endeavor to do His will as recognized through the promptings of their conscience, they, in a number known only to God, can obtain salvation.”
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Dr. John P. Joy |
Continuing our series on St. Pope Paul VI’s Creed of the People of God, we come next to the profession of faith concerning the Church.
This Creed is based on the Nicene Creed we say at Mass, but it goes into greater detail about what Catholics are required to believe in order to be “practicing Catholics” and (more importantly) in order to have that faith without which we cannot be saved.
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John Joy |
Continuing on with our series on the Creed of the People of God, in honor of its 50th anniversary this year, the next two sections are about the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This creed of Pope Paul VI is based on the Nicene Creed we say at Mass, but it goes into greater detail about what Catholics are required to believe in order to be “practicing Catholics” and (more importantly) in order have that faith without which we cannot be saved.MADISON — “Not One Iota! Why We Say ‘Consubstantial’ in the Creed” is the topic of a St. Ambrose Faculty Lecture to be presented at the Cathedral Parish (St. Patrick Church) on Thursday, Sept. 11, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. by Dr. Constance Nielsen.
Nielsen has taught extensively on the ecumenical councils in Church history in her religion classes at St. Ambrose Academy in Madison, where she is the director of classical education. She received a doctorate in religious studies from Marquette University.
What a great feast day we celebrated on Sunday, a feast that calls us to focus on one of the phrases in the Creed over which we might grow accustomed to pass too quickly. We say at the end of the creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints…”
