Santa Maria Addolorata/RCIA

In this session and in the remaining weeks, we focus our attention on prayers & Catholic practices. Now that we've learned the Church's teachings & dogmas on the Bible, the Creed, Mary & the Saints as well as the Seven Sacraments, the question remains how do we apply these teachings in our own lives. As I've stressed during this evening's class, "In the past couple weeks, we took look a look at the Sacraments. Remember, in the sacraments we receive God’s “grace” That grace is God, Himself . Put in another way: when we receive the sacraments, God first calls us to Him , then we  respond 'Let it be'   by celebrating the sacraments that Christ instituted. In that celebration, God offers Himself; His grace. In the next couple of weeks, we will look into other ways that God calls out to us. It is God who inspires us to pray." This evening we've learned what is prayer and what are the traditional Catholic prayers. Before looking into the ...

Hang on tight, we only have 6 sessions left of the RCIA / Adult Religious Ed program. :) I can only hope and  pray that this journey for you has been informative enough for you to make an honest "yes" when you receive your sacraments. We have just completed the Seven Sacraments. Just remember the key to each of the sacraments is God, himself. In each sacrament, God offers his 'grace' to us. The grace he offers to us is enough to sustain us as we journey on in life. Here's a the sacraments in brief: Sacraments of Initiation: 1. Baptism - We become adopted children of God and members of the Church. 2. Confirmation - Our baptismal promises are "sealed" with Holy Spirit. 3. Eucharist - The Sacrament of all sacraments. The true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, in the form of bread & wine. Sacraments of Healing: 1. Reconciliation / Penance / Confession - In this sacrament, the sins we commit after Baptism is forgiven & absolved. 2. Anoi...

In this week's session, we look continue on with last group of sacraments the Sacraments of Service: rather, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church , The Sacraments at the Service of Communion. A. The sacrament of Holy Orders was entrusted to the apostles by Christ. There are three (3) degrees of Holy Orders (in other words 3 steps = 1 Ordination): Deacon Priest Bishop B. The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church. CCC 1661 Here are the PowerPoint Presentation with notes & video shown in class: Sacraments of Service Sacrament of Holy Orders (Loyola Press) Sacrament of Matrimony

My apologies for not uploading this sooner. I am including both class session's PowerPoint presentation. You will notice that one is for the First Communion Class and the other is for the RCIA & Adult Religious Class. You will notice that the focus from both classes are quite similar, with one exception; in the First Communion Class, I focused more on the Eucharist. The Sacraments of Healing are probably the most, in my opinion, misunderstood sacraments. Here's why: The sacrament of Reconciliation is misunderstood because we, as individuals, have go to a priest to confess our sins to God and the Church and we have to verbally admit what we have done wrong. The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick was thought to be for those who are on their death bed. Jesus truly did give authority to his apostles to forgive sins . This SACRED TRADITION has been passed down to the priests and bishops since the apostles. Jesus understood that Baptism was necessary but because of ou...

In this blog post, I will go over what we have discussed in both classes on the topic of the Sacraments of Initiation  (RCIA & Adult Religious Ed which meets on Wednesdays & Adult Rel Ed/First Communion which meets on Sundays.)  I've used two different PowerPoint presentations for both days because our focus was different; so I'll sum them up here. First of all and as a reminder, a sacrament is an outward sign of God's grace. It is not just what we do for God but more importantly what God does for us . The Seven Sacraments in which we celebrate in the liturgy were instituted by Jesus. In other words, God calls us nearer to Him, we respond to His call in faith and He further blesses us with His 'grace' through the sacraments. So who can receive the sacraments?  Anyone who asks for it. It is good to remember that God does not impose Himself on anyone. So one key word to remember is  Freewill,   a gift that was freely given to us by God Hims...

I can’t believe that we are halfway to the end of RCIA/Adult Religious Ed program. Counting this session, we have completed eleven sessions together and we have covered a lot. Here is a breakdown of what we’ve covered thus far: 1.      Intro to RCIA : We discussed “ remembering” or reflecting on the past or any situation as well as making good & honest choices . 2.      CREED/The Trinity: God’s desire for us & our desire for God. It is God who calls us , draws us nearer to him and our response to God. 3.      CREED/ Holy Trinity: Three beautiful & very distinct persons in ONE God…Father, Son & Holy Spirit. 4.      CREED/ Mary and the Saints : God had called Mary to be the mother of our Lord and with complete trust in God, she responded with a yes. We look to her as our mother and role model of faith. 5.      CREED/ The Four Marks of the Church : on...

Liturgy: Sessions IX & X We have just wrapped up the on the topic of Liturgy in the Adult First Communion class. The RCIA & Adult Religious Ed group that meets on Wednesdays will continue on this topic & finish this week. Here are some key points that I would like to stress: Liturgy is an act of worship. It has been an act of worship long before Christianity began. The rituals we use today has its roots from the New Testament. Also, in Matthew 18: 20 , Jesus says “.. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Here is more historical & biblical information to an online source Catholic Encyclopedia on the topic of Liturgy and Lessons on the Liturgy. In a Christian Liturgy, the center of our focus will always be on the Trinity; Father, Son & Holy Spirit. On page 177 in our books “Doctrinal Statements” it reads: a) In liturgy, we praise and adore the Father as the source of all the blessi...