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Journey in Faith (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) 2022 For adults who are interested in being received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil (Saturday 16th April) or for baptised Catholics who wish to be confirmed, these coming weeks are an opportunity to reflect on who Jesus is and how you can have a personal relationship with him through the life of his Church. To help you consider this relationship and how you can best have this friendship, we invite you to do two things: a. Begin Practising Your Faith What do we mean by “practising your faith”? When human beings practice something (for example, playing an instrument, kicking a football or learning to drive a car) they do it repeatedly until their abilities develop and it becomes “second nature” to them. Of course, if you only practice occasionally or intermittently, it is unlikely to make much change to your ability or who you are. Our human relationships, especially our friendships, call for practise. The more time we spend with a person and engage with them in profound ways, physically, emotionally and spiritually, then, the deeper the friendship is likely to be. This is why married couples often describe themselves as “best friends” or “soul mates”. While, the people we spend less time with or are an occasional exchange of a text message are more likely to be described as acquaintances than real friends. Our Catholic faith is about our personal friendship with Christ, the Son of God. We believe that Christ waits for us weekly at Sunday Mass. It is through this sacred meeting that our friendship with him is nurtured and grows. It is there that Christ speaks to us as friends through his living word, the Sacred Scriptures, and feeds us with his own divine life in Holy Communion. And the reason Catholics call this “the practice of our faith” is because meeting Christ every week in this way, over time, deepens our relationship with him and prepares us for that time when we will be with him eternally in heaven. b. Attend Sessions For those of you who are interested in deepening or re-establishing your relationship with Christ, there is an opportunity to reflect on your faith through the following five sessions:
We hope that these two things will lay the foundations for a lifelong relationship with Christ through the life of his Catholic Church. If you have any queries or we can help you in any way please do not hesitate to contact us at Clergy House either on 01277265235 or cathedralbrentwood@gmail.com May God enlighten your minds and open your hearts during this time of discernment, Fr Martin |