The Creed: WE BELIEVE

This morning I gave a brief talk on the Creed (Our Profession of Faith) to a group of adults who are preparing to be confirmed in a couple of weeks  by Bishop Vann at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Creed defines and enunciates the important elements of our faith.  In fact, it makes up the first of the four parts which constitute the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Suffice it to say that a one hour class on the subject does not nearly begin to cover the full meaning of the Creed.

I thought I would use this opportunity to flesh out some of the talk while creating a built in method of finding additional resources through the internal links in these postings.  I plan to cover the parts of the creed in separate posts so it's easier to just sit down and read one at a time and not get overwhelmed by a long post.

WE/I BELIEVE:

It would be so easy to breeze by the significance of these first two words and that would be a mistake.  It ALL begins with belief - a belief in God instilled in us at Baptism through God's grace.  He gives this to us freely.  We have done nothing to merit .  When we open ourselves to this grace, the belief grows into faith.  This inherent belief is that inkling we all have in us to seek out happiness.  St. Augustine once said, "Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in thee."  In other words, when we seek our happiness in  worldly things (wealth, fame, sex, power, drugs, etc.)  we will always be left feeling empty - not satisfied.  True happiness will not come until we rest with our Lord in eternal peace.   We can enjoy some of that happiness here on Earth if we place our hearts in His.  If we let His grace seep in... and we believe.