You have probably been hearing a lot about the scandal in our church, and based on our discussion in class recently, you may still have questions that are unanswered or feelings of confusion around these events. What a time to reflect on the need for unity in our faith community! The word “catholic” means “universal”, and as we all know, you can go anywhere in the world and hear the same daily readings and psalms as we would have at Epiphany. It’s one of my favorite things about our faith – the fact that our church presents such a unified front to the rest of the world. We all know what the Catholic church teaches, because we have the Catechism, and a rich tradition that goes all the way back to Jesus himself. Our own church community comes together in times of joy, like weddings, feasts, and other celebrations, but they also come together in times of struggle and sorrow, like funerals and natural disasters. There is a strong community of faithful adults and young people on Twitter, and I have seen them all come together to react and respond to the sex abuse scandal in our church in amazing ways, providing support and expressing their anger and feelings of betrayal so that others can feel that they are not alone. This is what community is about – supporting each other and giving validity to all member’s feelings. We as a church have a commonality that we can get behind – we are called to serve others, give our lives to Christ, and to spread His light through our lives. I will forever be grateful to our community – the Catholic church at large, and Epiphany specifically. Without our church community giving my opportunities to serve and socialize, I would never have met my closest friends, supportive mentors, or even my husband! I highly encourage you to find friends who will support you in your faith journey, not only here in Katy, but wherever you end up after graduation – it will make a huge difference in your life and your future if you find the right people to surround yourself with! The unity that our community provides for us is a tool just waiting to be used – grow in friendship and unite in faith, so that we can go out and change the world together.
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“What the heck? We are confirmed, we are going to school and studying all the time, and you are telling me I need to take MORE CLASSES?!” No, well at least not necessarily. Today I will talk a little about L-earning about our faith. In many ways, learning is even more important for you now. When I was a younger man (makes me think of Poomba singing about when he was a young warthog – ok, back to the subject at hand) I really didn’t care much about my faith. I had some reasons why faith wasn’t that important or not for me. Most of those reasons could better be classified as excuses, because they were reasons that were intellectually and spiritually shallow. Then, thanks to a loving God, I got glimpses of the love of Jesus Christ. My world was rocked, quite literally. I opened up my heart to God’s grace and He not only showered me with amazing experiences, He also lit a fire within me to learn. Why did I have this fire you ask? Well if the fullest love I would ever experience was the love of our Lord, I wanted to know as much about it and Him as possible. The more I learned about Him, the more I could know Him. The more I know Him, the more I know who He is calling me to be. I am taking a class right now titled “Christology”. We are studying the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus from both a historical and a theological viewpoint. It is fascinating and has helped me in my relationship with Christ, and I am WAY older than all of you! From a practical standpoint, you probably don’t need another classroom obligation right now, understandably. You can still take time to learn. Keep coming to class. We will have fun the rest of the year while still continuing to learn about our faith. Pick up that bible of yours and read, maybe with a guide. If you need a guide, or need a bible, come see one of us and we will happily provide them. If you are struggling with something, jump onto the internet and search for the patron saint of that particular struggle – there is even a patron saint of foot problems, St Roch! Then ask that saint to pray for you. If you have a question, and don’t have time to look it up, ask. If we don’t know, we will find the answer. Remember that Jesus is the Lord of our hearts, bodies, souls, AND minds. The more we get to know Him, the better we know the love that is Him. Blessings, Eric |
AuthorYour confirmation teachers - Kathleen, Eric, Sophia, and Valerie, and with contributions from 410 alumni Archives
September 2021
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