SFX RCIA 2015

NEED FOR COMMUNITY

THE HUMAN BEING IS A SOCIAL ANIMAL

“I CAN FOLLOW JESUS WITHOUT RELIGION”

• Autonomous Christians “doing their own thing” for God.

• Individual pietism, solo Christianity

• Is there such a thing?

OOPS!Jesus says in Matthew 7 21-23“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; go away from me you evil-doers.”

IN OTHER WORDS …We need the Church.

WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRISTRomans 12: 4 – 5For as in one body you have many members and not all members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually, we are members one of another.

1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 13

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews and Greek, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

CHRIST HIMSELF BUILT COMMUNITY

• Appointed 12 apostles (apostellein Gk.– sent forth, apostolos Gk. – messenger)

• Performed miracles which restored the outcasts and marginalised to full membership of society

• The perfect prayer, the Lord’s prayer refers to “Our Father”, “our daily bread”, “our trespasses”, nowhere does the first person singular appear.

CHRIST HIMSELF BUILT COMMUNITY• Commissioned Peter to be the head of His

Church. (Matt. 16:13-20; Jn. 21: 15 – 19)

• Promised the Holy Spirit. (Jn. 14:26, 15:26)

• This community had to be founded on love.Jn. 13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

• Sent the apostles out into the world to spread the Good News and promised to be with His Church till the end of time (Matt. 28: 18 – 20)

EPHESIANS 2:19-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: OVER 2 BILLION CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD TODAY 32% OR 1/3 OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION

The Roman Catholic Church

More than a billion followers

(Approximately 260 million people worldwide are Orthodox Christians.)

The Churches of over 40,000 other Christian denominations.

800 million Protestants

279 million (12.8% of the world's Christian population) identify themselves as Pentecostals,

304 million (14%) are Charismatics, and

285 million (13.1%) are Evangelicals, or Bible believing Christians. (These three categories are not mutually exclusive.)

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2011)

WE ARE A FAMILY BUT A BROKEN FAMILY

EIGHT GOOD REASONS FOR BEING CATHOLIC BY FR. RICHARD ROHR, OFM

1. An optimistic view of creation

2. A universal vision

3. A holistic outlook

4. Personal growth

5. Social transformation

6. A communal spirit

7. A profound sense of history

8. A respect for knowledge.

WHY DO PEOPLE BECOME CATHOLIC?

Eight reasons:

1. Visibility

2. Universality

3. Endurance

4. Authority

5. Beauty

6. Hierarchy

7. Saints

8. Moral witness

THE BENEFITS

• Clarity

• Sense of security

• Sense of belonging

• Friendship, fellowship, encouragement

• Support for the faith life of families

• Spiritual support for every stage of our lives

• Working together for effective ministry

• Gives us opportunities to serve and grow in unexpected ways.

JOURNALING AND SHARING

By becoming a member of the Catholic Church, what do I expect?