Continuing Education

Taking a course with Notre Dame called, Christian Doctrine for Catechists.  It's a basic course that starts in the beginning of belief, basically and we are in the second week of our studies.   It has been very interesting so far and I am very enlightened  by the other students in the course.  We are from all different places in the US, we are old, young, teachers, speakers, and bloggers in charge of the next generation or bringing in new Catholics each year through RCIA, me...just hanging out to renew my certification as a master catechist.  So, the education and experiences that we are sharing is really great.

One of the students talked about how a priest explained the necessity of scripture when teaching the doctrine of the Catholic Church as a piece of fruit.  Normally one would think the fruit's sole purpose was for nutrition and taste, but actually it is to protect the pit.   Scripture, in the same way, serves to protect the truths that must be "broken open" and discerned.  The fruit is to protect the pit, not to feed or be food....it is to protect the pit for the extension and furthering of the fruit for generations to come.   The scriptures help preserve the doctrines in the same way for future generations to come.

Probably each one of us knows someone who either firmly does not believe in God, or is struggling with it in some way or another.  The one thing we Christians want to do is share in our joy of believing and having faith.  We can plant seeds by being kind, inviting them to a Mass or church function, or just answering questions when asked.  What we cannot do is tease, chide, or coerse a person into believing and accepting what we believe.  We just cannot do that...it never works. There is one thing that gives me hope for these beautiful and struggling souls.   They, like me, have been created by God, so they have God within them, in their very core, God lives and loves them.  God is love and so they have been made by and with love, they too are holy love.

So, it is not for us to judge whether one is redeemed and saved, because if we know that they have God's love in them, then, I feel that God will work in them and they will be loved as we all are.