The Sunday Obligation

Homily 22nd Sunday Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., pastor, Saint Joseph's, Dalton GA

If someone were to ask you why Catholics must attend Mass each Sunday, would you be able to tell them why? You might say, “Well, we’re supposed to keep holy the Lord’s day.” And they might reply, “Yeah, but you can do that anywhere - stay at home, read the bible, listen to a good sermon on television.” Then you might say, “Well, it’s important to pray as a community.” And they might reply “Yes, but you can gather anywhere or just be with your family, why the Mass?” And then you might appeal to authority, “Well, it’s a law of the Church.” Well, why is it the law… the objections and the question why would still keep coming. Perhaps some parents here have had such discussions with your children.

Well, the answer to why is implied in both the reading from St. Paul and in the Gospel. Jesus reminds us that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him to Calvary, and St. Paul says, “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship.” And that’s the key: sacrifice.

Of all the things we can do on a Sunday to keep the Lord’s day holy – rest and relaxation as the Lord did on the seventh day, prayer, reading the bible, being with your family and the Christian community – it is only at the Mass that we can do the one thing we must do each week, and that is offer sacrifice – spiritual worship.

What does this mean? St. Paul says, “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” and Jesus says, “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” To offer sacrifice means that we must offer our whole lives.

And why must we do this at Mass? Because the Mass is the perfect sacrifice. The Mass is Calvary made present, and it is by the Cross that we are saved (CCC 1366). By participating in the Mass, we unite ourselves with our Lord, as if we were the good thief saying, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” The catechism describes it this way: CCC 1368, “In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offerings.”

When we participate in the Mass, we are, in a sense, offering him our whole lives. Jesus asks rhetorically, “What can a man offer exchange for his very self?” And the answer is nothing, so you must then offer “your very self”, your whole self. When we come to Mass, we are doing this in time on a continuous basis. We are bringing him the last week, with all of its joys and sorrows, successes and failures, good deeds and weaknesses, and we are giving it to him, offering the past week to him and dedicating the next week to him. Some people do this even daily, each day offering themselves to God, united to Christ's sacrifice and receiving it’s fruits.

And what then do we receive when you make that offering and dedication? We receive the fruits of the sacrifice of Calvary, the Risen Body of our Lord. We unite our sacrifice to his, and he unites himself to us in communion, forgiving our faults, strengthening our weaknesses, consoling our sorrows, while giving us the peace he promises, the joy he gives to his servants.

This is how we are transformed, as St. Paul says, “by the renewal of our minds, so that we might judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.” Weekly Mass keeps us focused on that time when the Lord will come again to “repay each man according to his conduct.” We continually renew ourselves, hopefully becoming more and more pleasing to him, transformed into the image and likeness of Christ.

The catechism defines our Sunday Obligation this way, 2180: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass.” It adds, “the faithful are obliged... unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.” So please keep in mind that this obligation is very reasonable. I define it as “you are obligated to attend Mass if you are able to attend Mass.” The Church does not want to impose heavy burdens on the people, but it does ask them to take seriously the Sunday Obligation. It also recommends that those who are not able to attend Mass should at least put aside an hour for the Word of God. You should do the same if you miss Mass for a non-serious reason.

Now, if we are able-bodied, and the Mass is available and accessible, and we have no serious obligations of health or caring for others, then not keeping holy the Lord’s day is as if we are telling the Lord, like Peter, “No thanks, Lord, I don’t need that Cross; I can find my own way; I don’t need to follow in your footsteps.”

But if we do understand the “why” behind this obligation, then perhaps we can say with the psalmist, “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting... So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory. For your love is better than life; so I will bless you all my life; my soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast.”

So if anyone should ask why you go to Mass each Sunday, you can ask them in return, “Why would I want to be anywhere else?”

Quién dicen que soy yo?

Homilía 21 Domingo OT A
Padre Paul Williams, San José, Dalton GA USA

Este fin de semana, el Papa Benedicto se encuentra en Madrid España para la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. Este maravilloso evento es una oportunidad para los jóvenes de todo el mundo para reunirse y celebrar su fe y escuchar al Papa. Una multitud de jóvenes están orando, confesando, asistiendo en la santa misa, y pasar el rato con otros católicos de tantas naciones - un gran signo de la unidad de la Iglesia Católica.

El Evangelio de hoy nos habla de San Pedro, el primer Papa, precisamente en el momento en que Jesús le anunció la función que tendría dentro de la Iglesia. Además nos informa de cómo Cristo gobernaría esa Iglesia fundada por El, a través de San Pedro y de todos los Papas que le sucedieran.

“Tú eres Pedro y sobre esta piedra edificaré mi Iglesia”, fueron las palabras de Jesús al que antes se llamaba Simón y que ahora llama “piedra” -o más bien “roca”. El Apóstol San Pedro es, entonces, la “roca” sobre la cual Cristo funda su Iglesia.

El Papa Benedicto es el sucesor de Pedro, el primer Papa, y las promesas que hizo a Pedro se siguen cumpliendo en la Iglesia Católica. El Padre se revela a nosotros en la persona de Cristo, y la verdad que Jesús vino a proclamar, las llaves del Reino de los Cielos, se transmite y confiada a la Iglesia y está protegido del infierno por el poder del Espíritu Santo.

Así que cuando el Papa habla a los jóvenes este fin de semana, está hablando sobre la verdad que nos ha transmitido la iglesia durante siglos a nuestro mundo moderno que todavía tiene que escuchar esas verdades. En su Mensaje a los jóvenes , dice, “La cultura actual, en algunas partes del mundo, tiende a excluir a Dios, o a considerar la fe como un hecho privado, sin ninguna relevancia en la vida social. Aunque el conjunto de los valores, que son el fundamento de la sociedad, provenga del Evangelio –como el sentido de la dignidad de la persona, de la solidaridad, del trabajo y de la familia–, se constata una especie de “eclipse de Dios”, una cierta amnesia, más aún, un verdadero rechazo del cristianismo y una negación del tesoro de la fe recibida, con el riesgo de perder aquello que más profundamente nos caracteriza.”

Como Jesús dijo a Pedro: "sobre esta piedra edificaré mi Iglesia", el Papa nos dice, “Es vital tener raíces y bases sólidas. Esto es verdad, especialmente hoy, cuando muchos no tienen puntos de referencia estables para construir su vida, sintiéndose así profundamente inseguros. El relativismo que se ha difundido, y para el que todo da lo mismo y no existe ninguna verdad, ni un punto de referencia absoluto, no genera verdadera libertad, sino inestabilidad, desconcierto y un conformismo con las modas del momento. Los jóvenes tienen el derecho de recibir de las generaciones que les preceden puntos firmes para hacer sus opciones y construir sus vidas.”

La Iglesia nos protege de esta mentalidad del relativismo y las modas del momento a través de su enseñanza. La enseñanza de la Iglesia es una guía segura y cierta en medio de la tempestad del mundo. Nos da ese punto de referencia sólido, Cristo, y nos muestra el camino a la verdadera libertad y la verdadera seguridad y la verdadera felicidad.

Jesús le pregunta a Pedro, “Quien dice que soy yo?” Esa es la cuestión central de nuestra fe, y la respuesta de Pedro ha sido nuestro guía por dos milenios. Dice el Papa “la fe cristiana no es sólo creer en la verdad, sino sobre todo una relación personal con Jesucristo. El encuentro con el Hijo de Dios proporciona un dinamismo nuevo a toda la existencia. Cuando comenzamos a tener una relación personal con Él, Cristo nos revela nuestra identidad y, con su amistad, la vida crece y se realiza en plenitud.”

El Papa Benedicto nos anima, “construye su casa sobre roca. Intente también ustedes acoger cada día la Palabra de Cristo. Escúchele como al verdadero Amigo con quien compartir el camino de su vida. Con Él a su lado será capaces de afrontar con valentía y esperanza las dificultades, los problemas, también las desilusiones y los fracasos.”

Jesús promete a Pedro que “los poderes del infierno no prevalecerán sobre la iglesia.” Y el Papa Benedicto nos señala donde viene los ataques del maligno hoy en día, dice, “En efecto, hay una fuerte corriente de pensamiento laicista que quiere apartar a Dios de la vida de las personas y la sociedad, planteando e intentando crear un “paraíso” sin Él. Pero la experiencia enseña que el mundo sin Dios se convierte en un “infierno”, donde prevalece el egoísmo, las divisiones en las familias, el odio entre las personas y los pueblos, la falta de amor, alegría y esperanza. En cambio, cuando las personas y los pueblos acogen la presencia de Dios, le adoran en verdad y escuchan su voz, se construye concretamente la civilización del amor, donde cada uno es respetado en su dignidad y crece la comunión, con los frutos que esto conlleva.”

Este ideal de "la civilización del amor" se basa en la vida de las personas que saben quién es Cristo y responder por amarlo. En la Iglesia Católica, este conocimiento y el amor es muy concreto y práctico. Lo vemos sobre todo en los sacramentos que Cristo dio a la Iglesia. El Papa dice, “Queridos jóvenes, aprende a “ver”, a “encontrar” a Jesús en la Eucaristía, donde está presente y cercano hasta entregarse como alimento para nuestro camino; en el Sacramento de la Penitencia, donde el Señor manifiesta su misericordia ofreciéndonos siempre su perdón. Reconoce y sirva a Jesús también en los pobres y enfermos, en los hermanos que están en dificultad y necesitan ayuda.”

Y esta es la belleza de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. Los jóvenes de todo el mundo, representando todas las naciones y los pueblos están unidos en la fe profesada por Pedro, que se nos da a través de los testimonios de los Apóstoles, transmitido a nosotros por incontables generaciones de los Santos, se celebra con nuestro amado Papa Benedicto. Debemos orar por los jóvenes, que cuando regresan a sus países, encendido con el Espíritu de Cristo, que pueden compartir todos los pueblos de todo el mundo. Como concluye el Papa, “Cristo no es un bien sólo para nosotros mismos, sino que es el bien más precioso que tenemos que compartir con los demás. En la era de la globalización, sean testigos de la esperanza cristiana en el mundo entero: son muchos los que desean recibir esta esperanza.”

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Homily 21st Sunday Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., pastor, Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, Dalton, GA

This weekend, Pope Benedict is in Madrid Spain for World Youth Day. This wonderful event is an opportunity for young people from all over the world to gather and celebrate their faith and listen to the Pope. Countless young people are praying, going to confession, attending Mass, and just hanging out with other Catholics from countless nations – a great sign of the unity of the Catholic Church.

Our church is universal because it was founded by Jesus on Peter, who professed his faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, as we read in today's Gospel. Jesus says to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The Pope is the successor to Peter, the first Pope, and the promises made to Peter continue to be fulfilled in the Catholic Church. The Father reveals himself to us in the person of Christ, and the truth that Jesus came to proclaim, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, is handed on and entrusted to the Church and is protected from the netherworld by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So when the Pope speaks to the youth this weekend, he is speaking that truth handed down to us over the centuries to a modern world that still needs to hear it. In his Message to the youth, he says, “today’s culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society... we see a certain “eclipse of God” taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.”

As Jesus said to Peter “upon this rock I will build my Church”, the Pope says to us, “it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! Today, many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure. There is a growing mentality of relativism, which holds that everything is equally valid, that truth and absolute points of reference do not exist. But this way of thinking does not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment. As young people, you are entitled to receive from previous generations solid points of reference to help you to make choices and on which to build your lives.”

The Church protects us from this mentality of relativism and the fads of the moment through its teaching. The teaching of the Church is a sure and certain guide in the midst of the tempest of the world. It gives us that solid reference point, Christ, and it shows us the way to true freedom and true security and true happiness.

Jesus asks Peter the question, “Who do you say that I am?” That is the central question of our faith, and Peter's response has been our guiding light for two millennia. The Pope says, “Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an encounter with the Son of God that gives new energy to the whole of our existence. When we enter into a personal relationship with him, Christ reveals our true identity and, in friendship with him, our life grows towards complete fulfillment.”

So that question is asked to each of us individually, “Who do you say that I am?” Do we define ourselves only by our family background, our place in society, our work and study, our accomplishments? Or do we define ourselves in reference to Christ? Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” All the gifts and challenges of life, our family, our work, our achievements, take on their true and greater meaning when seen in Christ.

The Pope encourages us, “Dear friends, build your own house on rock. Try each day to follow Christ’s word. Listen to him as a true friend with whom you can share your path in life. With him at your side, you will find courage and hope to face difficulties and problems, and even to overcome disappointments and set-backs.”

Jesus would promise Peter that the “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [the Church].” And the Pope points out where the attacks of the evil one come from today, he says, “there is a strong current of secularist thought that aims to make God marginal in the lives of people and society by proposing and attempting to create a “paradise” without him. Yet experience tells us that a world without God becomes a “hell”: filled with selfishness, broken families, hatred between individuals and nations, and a great deficit of love, joy and hope. On the other hand, wherever individuals and nations accept God’s presence, worship him in truth and listen to his voice, then the civilization of love is being built, a civilization in which the dignity of all is respected, and communion increases, with all its benefits.”

This ideal of a “civilization of love” is founded on the lives of individuals who know who Christ is and respond by loving him. In the Catholic Church, this knowledge and love is very concrete and practical. We see it especially in the sacraments Christ gave to the Church. The Pope says, “Dear young people, learn to “see” and to “meet” Jesus in the Eucharist, where he is present and close to us, and even becomes food for our journey. In the sacrament of Penance the Lord reveals his mercy and always grants us his forgiveness. Recognize and serve Jesus in the poor, the sick, and in our brothers and sisters who are in difficulty and in need of help.”

This individual love of Christ naturally expresses itself in community. The Pope says, “we come to see that our personal faith in Christ, which comes into being through dialogue with him, is bound to the faith of the Church. We do not believe as isolated individuals, but rather, through Baptism, we are members of this great family; it is the faith professed by the Church which reinforces our personal faith.”

And isn't that the beauty of World Youth Day? Young people from all over the world, representing all nations and peoples are united in the faith professed by Peter, given to us through the eyewitness of the Apostles, handed down to us by countless generations of Saints, is now celebrated with our beloved Pope Benedict. We should pray for our youth, that when they come home from this once in a lifetime event, on fire with the Spirit of Christ, they may share it with all peoples throughout the world. As the Pope concludes, “Christ is not a treasure meant for us alone; he is the most precious treasure we have, one that is meant to be shared with others. In our age of globalization, be witnesses of Christian hope all over the world.”

Prayer Motivated by Charity

Homily, 20th Sunday Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., pastor, St. Joseph's, Dalton GA

One of the most famous mothers in the early church was Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine. Her son was a wayward young man for many years, but she never ceased praying for his conversion, nor did she cease in enlisting the aid of wise and holy people to try to dissuade her son from his errors. One day, she was imploring her bishop, St. Ambrose, to do something, and he said, “Go your way Monica; as sure as you live, it is impossible that the son of such tears should perish.” And indeed, St. Augustine later converted and become one of the greatest of the Fathers of the Church. He would write later, “If I did not perish in error, it was due to the daily tears of my mother, who was so full of faith.”


I imagine that St. Monica was familiar with the story of the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel, for this story is a perfect allegory for the importance of prayer, and it teaches us several things we need to know about prayer if our prayer is to be fruitful.

First, it is important to realize who you are praying to. She presented herself to Jesus and cried out to him, “Lord, Son of David.” By calling him “Lord”, she used the hebrew word which was only used by the Jews to address Yahweh, or God. She first recognized his divinity. Then she recognized his humanity, calling him “Son of David.” With that brief title, she recognized the great truth of our salvation: that the Word became Flesh, the Son of God became one of us in order to free us from our sins. And it is only through him that we have salvation, indeed, only through him that we can pray, for he was the one who taught us to call God “Our Father”. The new catechism says this, (CCC 2664) “There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray ‘in the name’ of Jesus. The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.”

The second thing that the Canaanite woman teaches us about prayer is that prayer is especially pleasing to the Lord if you consider other’s needs before your own. She came to the Lord and said, “Have pity on me, my daughter is terribly troubled by a demon.” Her only concern was the welfare of her daughter, and she had such empathy that her daughters needs became her own needs, “Have pity on me” not “have pity on my daughter”. St. John Chrysostom puts it this way, “Necessity obliges us to pray for ourselves. Fraternal charity obliges us to pray for others. God finds the prayer motivated by charity to be more meritorious than the prayer motivated by necessity.” (ICG, v4, p394) Perhaps St. Monica prayed in the same way, “Lord, have pity on me, for my son has truly gone astray.”

But also in today’s story from the Gospel, we see that at first, the Lord delayed in answering the woman’s prayer. St. Monica also prayed for years, and I can imagine that each of us have turned to heaven and wondered why it seemed that the Lord wasn’t listening or was delaying his answer. Well, one characteristic of prayer is that it must be patient and perseverant. In many of our Lord’s parables he taught us the necessity of what St. Paul says, “Praying without ceasing.” Remember the widow who kept asking the judge for a ruling in her favor, and it was eventually granted because of her persistence (Luke 18)? And remember the man who went and knocked on his friends door late at night and wouldn’t go away until he got the bread he needed? Persistence is a necessary component of prayer. Without it, you’re telling the Lord that your need isn’t that important after all.

And another lesson on prayer from today’s story: if our need is really important, we should enlist help. The Canaanite woman apparently asked the disciples first, so that they would present her petition to the Lord. And she was so persistent that they eventually went to the Lord and said, “Get rid of her Lord. She keeps shouting after us.”

In other words, “Grant her request already, so she’ll leave us alone.” And that, I believe is a perfect image of the Communion of Saints. Jesus delayed his answer until the disciples interceded for her. And, indeed, the Saints in heaven are constantly interceding for us and if we invoke their intercession, then we gather those “two or three” whom the Lord said would be necessary for him to be present and then grant whatever they ask.

So, prayer in communion, with others here on earth and with the Saints, is especially important. But the most important communal prayer is that of worship. When the Canaanite woman finally came forward, the Gospel says that she “did him homage.” She expressed her petition in the context of worship. You know, I can’t tell you how many men have told me that they don’t go to church anymore because they pray to God while they’re outside in nature. And, of course, what that means is that they’d rather be fishing on Sunday mornings. We used to have a joke in the seminary: Can you fish while praying? And the answer was “no.” Can you pray while fishing? And the answer was “yes.” In other words, when you’re supposed to be praying, you shouldn’t be fishing, but when you’re fishing, it’s perfectly OK to pray. If your prayers are to be fruitful, they should first and foremost be in the context of Christian worship, which, for us, is the Mass. Prayer in other contexts is fine and wonderful, but worship with the Christian community is of prime importance.

And that is the most important thing to learn from today’s Gospel, for we, as a community, are gathered to celebrate the greatest prayer of all, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I imagine that there are a lot of mothers out there today praying for their sons. I wonder how many sons are praying for their mothers today? When St. Monica was dying she told her son, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” In other words, her dying wish was to be remembered in prayer at the Mass, which St. Augustine most certainly did.

And so today, if we bring all of our prayers and unite him to his sacrifice on Calvary, re-presented here at the Mass, and if we pray like the Canaanite woman did: with persistence and patience, considering others needs before our own, invoking the Saints in the context of worship, and uniting ourselves to the Sacred humanity of our Lord – then we can be confident that the Lord will hear our prayer and say to us, “You have great faith; your wish will come to pass.”

Keep Your Eyes Fixed on Jesus

Homily, 19th Sunday OT A
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., Pastor

In the Gospel today, after the great miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves, we witness another miracle: Jesus walks on water. The miracle here is not so much the “on water” part, but the walking part. Here the disciples in the boat were being “tossed about by the waves” with the wind against them. Not the only time the disciples find themselves in trouble at sea, frightened, except this time Jesus is not with them. Alone and on the troubled sea, you can imagine their fright and their crying out for help.


So the Lord comes to them, walking. Not running, not rushing or panicked. He comes to them calmly, walking on the sea in the midst of the torment. And the lesson is clear: for God, there are no troubles, and in Him, there is no fear.

Elijah experiences the same thing. He is told the Lord will be passing by, and he sees, “A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks — but the LORD was not in the wind... an earthquake— but the LORD was not in the earthquake... a fire— but the LORD was not in the fire... a tiny whispering sound...” and Elijah hid his face in his cloak, for there was the Lord in the whisper.

Life has its fill of tempests at sea, sudden storms, earthquakes and fires. But the Lord is none of those. Instead, he is peace, tranquility, serenity, calm, and courage. So he comes walking to the disciples and says “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Peter, overjoyed to see the Lord, but still incredulous, says “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” And Peter, with the great trust and faith in the Lord, begins to walk on the water too, still in the midst of the storm, because the Lord is stronger than the storm. But he makes a mistake: he took his eyes off Jesus. As long as he was looking at the Lord and walking towards him, he was fine. But he looks around.

It was a command that brought Peter out on the water. His walking on the water depends not on the sea or its circumstances, but on the Will of the Lord, who rules heaven and earth, the winds and the sea. He forgets that he was sustained by this Will; his faith in the One who can do all things wavers. He no longer thinks about the presence of the Lord and his strength and peace, but instead he lets the storms of the world fill his mind, pushing out the Lord. He sees how strong the wind had become and the fear returns, and Peter begins to sink. But he still has the presence of mind to call out “Lord, save me.” Jesus still has not rebuked the storm - it still rages - and he was pleased with Peters trust and faith. But he stretches out his hand and catches Peter. “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Only then do the winds die down. And those present know that only God can command the waves and the sea, and they worship him. “Truly, you are the Son of God.” The lesson we learn is simple: in the midst of trouble, keep your eyes on Jesus. He will come to you walking, calmly and will stretch out his hand to you should you falter.

Christ walks in our midst today. He has given so much to us, despite our little faith and frequent doubts. Saint Paul reminds us of the blessings we have received. He speaks of his people, the Israelites, “theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever.” The Church is now the heir to those promises. The boat on the troubled waters is the Church in the midst of the world, and Christ comes to her with his hand outstretched.

Ours is the adoption: by baptism we are made children of God, created anew, born again, adopted into his family, and have access to the fullness of salvation in his Holy Catholic Church, truly the People of God.
Ours is the glory: the Glory of Christ fills us, and his Glory is the Cross. In the sacrifice of service, we share in his glory, His Body on Earth, building up his kingdom on earth so that we might prepare all for the glory that awaits us.

Ours is the New and Everlasting covenant: the Law of the Gospel, preached by Christ and written on our hearts. He will be our God, we will be his people. And this is his New Commandment: Love one another as He has loved us. (CCC 1970)

Our is the giving of the law, for Christ guides his Church infallibly through the ages, through its moral teaching and the guidance of the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church, which is a sure and straight guide against the tempest of each age.

Ours is the worship: He gave us the sacraments, sanctifying our ordinary life, making us holy, to strengthen us on our journey. He gave us the incredible gifts of Sacred Scripture and the Mass, where his sacrifice at Calvary is made present so that we can participate in it and share in its fruits.

Ours is the promise: the Promised Holy Spirit poured out on the Nascent Church at Pentecost, the promise that the gates of Hell would not prevail against this Church that Christ founded on Peter.

Ours are the Patriarchs: we have the witness of two thousand years of Saints, who are, as it were, soldiers of Christ, laying down their lives so that their fellow people might be guided by their example, and guarded by their prayers of intercession.

And from us, according to the flesh, is the Messiah, who gives us his very flesh, his body and blood, in the Eucharist, so that we might partake of him and become like him, sharing in his divinity.