As Christians, we believe that God the Creator, sent His Son Jesus into the world.
He was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was crucified, died for us and rose on the third day.
‘He came to give us new life by sending His Own Spirit to be with each one of us‘ Luke 24:9
We believe that The Spirit, Jesus and the Father are One.
The Holy Spirit helps us to come closer to God, in whose likeness we are created.
John 10:10 ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full ‘.
In the first letter of John 3:1 we read:
‘Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children, and that is what we are‘
Taking the teaching from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans 10:9:
‘If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’
We do believe in the resurrection from the dead; therefore, those who have died before us, in God’s love, form the communion of saints.
We also believe that we receive grace, through the sacraments…….
Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Reconciliation (forgiveness of sin), Marriage, Priesthood and sacraments for the sick and the dying.
We believe that the Holy Spirit pours out spiritual gifts (charisms) on every baptised person, to equip us to build up one another, to be able to live the Christian life, so as to reach our ultimate goal; Heaven.
For more on the Spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, read 1 Corinthians 12.
As you continue to read 1 Corinthians 13 you will note that we are commanded to love one another as Christ has loved us.
The Mass, we believe, is the highest form of prayer.
It makes present the last supper, and the complete sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.
Read: John 6:53 – 59
Jesus said to them, ‘I am telling you the truth: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person to life on the last day. For my flesh is real food; my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives in me, and I live in that person………….‘
Recommended reading: The Supper of the Lamb, by Scott Hahn.
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, worldwide. We believe that he is the direct successor of St. Peter through the unbroken succession of our pastors.
He is called, as we are, to be Christ in the world.
We are to love and to serve one another as shown to us by Jesus:
Ephesians 5:2
‘Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God’
Mark 16:15 – 18
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Go throughout the whole world and preach the good news to all peoples. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues; if they pick up snakes or drink deadly poison, they will not be harmed: they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover‘.
We believe that this word is for Believers today, just as it was, 2,000 years ago, when Jesus walked the earth. All our beliefs can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.