What it means to be the "Church"
A Searching People / Faith in Jesus Christ / Following Jesus Christ / Jesus' "New" Presence
/ A People of Worship / Inside Our Churches / Mary, Our Mother / A People of Life/
Building A Better Life/ A Tradition of Caring
We, your Catholic neighbors at St. Mary's Church, Visalia,
would like you to get to know us |
All of us human beings, no matter what our beliefs, have felt the presence of a Power beyond ourselves. We may have sensed it in the splendor of a sunset or the crash of waves upon the beach. We have felt it almost tangibly in the smile of a child or the loving arms of a friend. Inwardly we have heard the call of eternity even as we have struggled to leave a lasting mark on the world as we pass through. But, like all those before us, we have also witnessed the destructive powers of nature. We have seen the atrocities of war, the unkindness of others, and even the dark side of ourselves. These challenges and contradictions force us to look within ourselves. And searching for meaning and inner peace, we try to balance the ugliness with the beauty, the pain with the joy, death with life.
It is the work of a lifetime, and for us as Catholic Christians it is a journey of Faith. A journey guided by the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. A journey we share with a community of caring friends--a family of Faith who love us and accept us as unique and special in the eyes of God.
Today our entire "Church family" of 1.03 billion stretches around the globe,
present in every nation in the world. Here in the United States and Canada we number about
75 million, representing all races and social groups. Perhaps you have a friend or
co-worker who is Catholic. Maybe there is a Catholic church in your neighborhood and you
have wondered what draws so many of us there every Sunday. It is possible that you have
come across statements about the Church that you find confusing or contradictory. St.
Mary's Catholic Church, Visalia, is here to help you.
The power of our faith springs from the conviction that Jesus Christ was sent by God to be our Redeemer. We believe that Jesus is fully human as well as divine. Every Christmas we are reminded of the wonder of this act: God, out of love for us, came into this world a helpless infant, born in a cave where animals are sheltered--a poor person among the poor. Jesus chose to share all that we humans experience--our joys, our fears and even the agony of death--all except sin.
Jesus is for us the promised Savior spoken of so often by the ancient Hebrew prophets. Our Faith centers on Jesus. He is the founder and the head of the Church. Jesus showed us that God--like a loving mother or father--cares for each of us, and Jesus gave us the beautiful prayer which is shared by all Christians, the "Our Father."
Like other Christians, we Catholics see ourselves as friends and followers of Jesus Christ, companions on the shores of the Sea of Galilee some 2000 years ago. He taught them, and all of us who would come after him, how to live a full and loving life--that will continue for all eternity. He showed by his own life how important it is to be true to what we believe no matter what the price. And he asked us to be concerned for one another--not just for friends and loved ones but for everyone, even our enemies.
The Holy Spirit continues to inspire saintly and heroic individuals to help the Church in its sense of direction and its dedication to the mission of Jesus Christ. That is why the Church has remained strong for twenty centuries and why it is an important presence in the world today.
In the years after Jesus' Resurrection, the Apostles whom he chose were the leaders of the early Christian community. The Apostles are considered the first Bishops of the Catholic Church, and the Bishops today are their direct successors. The priests and deacons whom the Bishop ordains to minister to the people share the Bishop's Apostolic ministry. The Pope as the Bishop of Rome is the direct successor of Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the first Bishop of Rome. The Pope in consultation with the Bishops of the world guides us in our understanding of the message of Christ and how it is to be lived in the world today. On the local scene, the Bishop and all those working with him, are involved in making the Faith a lived experience for the people. And the Bishops of each country meet regularly to advise each other on how to guide the Catholic community in such areas as personal responsibility, family life, social justice and peace. With the Bishops as our leaders, the Pope as our symbol of unity, and Jesus Christ as our Head, we the people are the Catholic Church.
God is present to each of us every moment of our lives, but there are occasions when we Catholics take time out to worship as a family. We do this usually in our neighborhood Catholic church (called a parish) and in the company of our fellow believers and the priests and lay ministers who lead us.
As God's people we come together at least every Sunday (or Saturday evening) because God holds a central place in our lives and because we want to celebrate Jesus' continuing gift of himself to us. We do this through the words and actions of the Mass, also called the Celebration of the Eucharist.
Every Catholic church where Mass is celebrated has several features in common. Here at St. Mary's there is a table, known as an altar, around which we gather to hear God's Word and to celebrate Jesus' presence among us. Above our altar is a cross bearing the image of Christ, a reminder of his death for us some 2000 years ago. There will also be a pulpit from which God's Word is proclaimed and a "tabernacle"-- a small enclosure where the Eucharistic Bread is kept and reverenced. You will also notice a few statues or some stained glass windows bearing likenesses of men and women. These are representations of the "Saints," beloved members of our Faith family. These statues and glass images are like photos of deceased relatives in a family album, who though they are no longer living, give us a sense of our family history and a pride in their achievements.
For Catholics the most special Saint is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Because Mary consented to carry Jesus in her womb and gave him to the world that first Christmas, we honor her as the mother of God and the human person most beloved of God. The Rosary beads carried by so many Catholics are a way of remembering through prayer how important Mary was in the earthly life of Jesus and how close she brings us to God.
We Catholics have always believed that each person is made in God's own image. Therefore every human life is sacred; every person beloved by God. This affirmation of life--of the intrinsic worth of each individual regardless of background, education or personal accomplishment--is at the core of Catholic values.
This belief in the sacredness of all creation, especially of all human beings, has led us as Catholics to a consistent "ethic of life." This affirmation of life has been compared to a seamless garment, in which each part is equally important and cannot be removed without damage to the entire garment. This is why Catholics affirm the sacredness of life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. It is this same belief in the value of life which prompted the American Bishops to call for a halt to the nuclear arms race and which inspires many Catholics to oppose capital punishment. On the positive side, the Church gives strong support to the family as the nurturer of life--the place that should be for every person an experience of personal affirmation and love and the seedbed of Faith.
But Catholics affirm more than the value of simply existing. Throughout the centuries the Church has issued strong statements calling for social justice: statements pleading the cause of the homeless, the laborer, the politically oppressed, the hungry, even the environment.
All over the world Church members work side by side with the poor in their struggle for a better life, and a leader like Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador is gunned down because of his public stand on behalf of the poor. In many cities, locally organized groups work to sensitize those of us who are more fortunate to the experience of poverty and the examples of injustice all around us. Awareness of these issues on our part is the beginning of compassion and a personal commitment.
In the history of the Church, many of the men and women we honor as "Saints" were people who were extraordinarily dedicated to making life more human and more hopeful for all of us.
The Tradition continues today as Catholics in every segment of our society work to realize the vision of the prophet Isaiah as it is recorded in the Bible.
In all of our efforts to make the love of God and the teachings of Jesus a reality in our world, we Catholics find that the Church gives stability and direction to our lives in this age of so much confusion and moral uncertainty. Our way of life is based upon the Commandments of God and the teachings and example of Christ as well as on the traditions of the Church as they have been defined and interpreted from the time of the Apostles to this very present age. All of these are guides to us in forming our personal conscience--the ultimate determinate of all our actions.
(1986 Franciscan Communications. With ecclesiastical approval Most Reverend Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, July 14, 1986)
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