Open Wide the Doors to Christ: Discovering Catholicism by Pollice Lucas

Author:Pollice, Lucas [Pollice, Lucas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Emmaus Road Publishing
Published: 2013-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

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Part two

The sacraments:

the celebration of the christian mystery

Chapter 13

Introduction to the Sacraments

Reading the Catechism: Paragraphs 1113–1209

You set a table before me

in front of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me, all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of the LORD

for endless days.

—Psalm 23:5–6

Has anyone ever said or done something for you that really showed their love for you? It may have been heartfelt words of love or appreciation, or perhaps a special gift or something that the person went out of their way to do for you. If you think about it, love and friendship are almost always expressed to us through some sort of sign or words. We may understand the definition of love, but if I say, “Show me love,” it must be expressed in some sort of concrete action. If I never told my wife or my children that I loved them or expressed it through my actions, would they really know I loved them?

It’s not any different with our relationship with God. It is a relationship of love and gift of self like any human relationship, where love is expressed through words, signs, and actions. As we have seen, prayer is absolutely necessary in the Christian life. It is through prayer that we lift our hearts up to God and through our words and actions express our love.

But just as we desire to communicate our love to those we love and to God, even more so does God desire to communicate His love and share His life with us. He is not a distant and indifferent God, as some may assert. Rather, He is a passionate God who loves us with a love that far exceeds any stretch of our imagination.

In fact, God’s love for us brings to mind the many romantic movies, or what we call “chick flicks,” with which we are all so familiar. It usually goes something like this: A man meets a woman and they fall madly in love. After a short time of blissful love and companionship, something tragic happens that seriously endangers the relationship, and they find themselves drifting far apart. Finally, it is usually the man who comes to his senses, and realizing his great love will do anything to get his girl back—risking his life chasing her in a car to the airport before she leaves, or riding wildly through town on a motorcycle and bursting into the church to passionately express his love for her the moment before she gets married.

Well, our God is that same passionate lover, and the story of salvation history is much like a romantic movie. Even after man sinned and turned away from Him, God shows His passionate and undying love for us. He sets out on His plan to save us and does whatever it takes to get us back, even giving up His own life so that we can know His love and share in His life.

Even

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