I am Catholic!

I AM A CATHOLIC ... Because the founder of the Catholic Church is the God-Man Jesus Christ, Who was foretold by the prophets, and Who proved the divine character of His mission and teaching by wonderful miracles, especially by His Own Resurrection from the dead; Because Christ established upon Peter and the Apostles the Church, one, holy, universal, apostolic, with which He declared He would remain all days to the consummation of the world, and against which the gates of Hell would not prevail; Because Christ gave this society certain well defined doctrines which all men everywhere must believe under pain of damnation, to which they may not add or from which they may not subtract; Because Christ the Author of all holiness, promised to guard this society from error and preserve it until the end of time; Because the Catholic Church possesses all marks of this Church established by Christ: The Catholic Church is ONE because she everywhere professes the same faith, has the same sacrifice and sacraments, and is governed by one and the same visible head, the Pope. All non-Catholic sects lack unity. Because of the principles of private judgment they are conditionally splitting and subdividing. They have no central authority to hold them together. Their doctrines and practices are changing from day to day. The Catholic Church is HOLY because its Founder, Jesus Christ, is all-holy; because its doctrines are holy; because its means of sanctification, the sacraments, are holy; because it produces holy, saintly men and women. The Catholic Church is UNIVERSAL because it subsists throughout the ages, teaches all nations, and maintains all the truths given to it by Christ. The sects are not spread over the whole world but rather localized, nor do they they teach everything that Our Lord taught the Apostles. The Catholic Church is APOSTOLIC because it was founded on Christ's Apostles, because it is governed by their doctrines through their lawful successors, and because it never ceases to teach their doctrine. The sects cannot trace their origin to Christ or to the Apostles. I am a Catholic, finally, because God Who is Supreme Truth and Holiness could not possibly be the Author of the countless sects with their mutually destructive and contradictory teachings and practices.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

How to practice what you preach?

I know what I believe when it comes to my faith. I accept all teachings of the Catholic church and want nothing more than to follow Jesus Christ. Why, then, do I have so much trouble doing just that? I feel like such a hypocrite at times. I should be patient, kind, and loving and yet I find myself doing the exact opposite. I get irritable, I judge others, I hold grudges. I let stress rule my emotions rather than counting on God to handle things. I feel so totally inadequate at times! I have a little dog named LittleMan that I rescued several years ago. He was injured, bloody and very afraid when we brought him home. I sat with him on my lap and calmed him. I spent a lot of time with him; gradually he stopped shaking and started to come out of his shell. He has since become my best buddy. Everywhere I go, there he is. He looks at me with golden brown eyes full of devotion. He never fails to show me unconditional love. He trusts me completely. His favorite place is to be snuggled up next to me. There's a good lesson for me. When I feel stressed, put my trust in God, and snuggle up next to Him. Look at Him with eyes full of devotion and let Him take over. Feel the peace of His presence. He is always there for me as my protector and His love is never ending. Thanks, LittleMan, for the good example.
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