Receiving the Sacraments - Just A Stop Along the Way
From the day we are born until the day we leave this life, we are on a journey. It is a journey of learning, growing, and developing into the person our loving God created us to be. It is a journey growing in relationship with God and developing all the gifts God has given us. God sent Jesus into the world to walk with us and teach us how to live our lives, and Jesus gave us two laws to live by: love God, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus also left us with the sacraments through which we receive God’s grace in a tangible way that helps nourish our spiritual lives. To truly appreciate and understand all of this, we must continue throughout our lives to seek greater understanding of God through on-going and life-long faith formation.
Our children are in the early stages of their formation as Catholic Christians, and they are provided with regular opportunities to gather with others their age to be formed in their faith. This formation goes way beyond just preparing to receive sacraments. It is an opportunity for them to nourish and grow the seed of faith planted within them by God and to establish a relationship with God that will carry them through their lives. The sacraments are not the goal of this formation. They are but a stop along the way - a chance for these young people to enter more fully into participation in our Catholic faith.
This week we celebrate with twenty-six of our young people who are preparing to receive their 1st Holy Communion this coming Spring. They will state their wish to continue this preparation, and they will be reminded of the promises made by their parents and godparents when they were baptized. Let us join them on this journey, recognizing that we, too, continue our own journey towards deeper relationship with God. Let us acknowledge our own need to continue forming ourselves in the faith, remembering the words of St. Augustine, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in [God].”
Susan Lee Olsen, Director of Catechetical Ministry