NOVEMBER 12
“Resplendent and unfading is Wisdom,” we hear the Church proclaim in our first reading this Sunday, reminding us of the incredible and lasting gift we receive of Christ through His Church. This past week while your priests were all on retreat, the Church celebrated the Feast of St. John Lateran, the first Church built in Christendom and the Cathedra of our Pope! We recalled in this feast the gift of the Church, the Body of Christ, the Living Stones we are called to be and the way our churches bring us Christ. It was beautiful for me, reflecting on the gift of the Church as we visited Our Lady of Guadalupe and as we visited even the Aztec Pyramids of Teotihuacan. How this Tilma, made of cloth that should not have lasted a decade is “unfading” 500 years later, and how the great empires of every age now stand in ruins like the temples that so many visit throughout Mexico. Isn’t it incredible, that with so many poor Christians, so many people like us who have not lived the faith, with popes and bishops who have lived with vice and not virtue, there is a Church at all?
Although the Act of Faith might seem simple in itself, we know that it takes a lot more than one good intention to change our lives. The early Christian communities used to spend years forming those who desired to enter the Church, taking them through a process of the catechumenate. These stages of formation correspond to the Sacraments given to us by Christ, and these Sacraments of Initation, which today we stretch out over the span of many years, are what conform us to Christ and make us full members of His Church. Discover these sacraments with us, and join our catechumenate if you are interested in becoming a member of Christ's Church.