Live 4 The LORD

FAITH IS A CHOICE TO BELIEVE 

Faith in the natural realm: 

I believe things based on others’ testimony and position. 

People teach and I believe so I can live a normal life. 2+2=4. H2O is water. The maps are correct. The chair will hold my weight. The bus gets me to my destination. This food is good for me. 

If I am constantly in doubt or suspicious I cannot function normally in this life. 

Faith in the spiritual realm: 

I believe things based on God’s Word and the Church. 

God has given His testimony in His Original Catholic Church, which holds all the doctrines of faith and gave us the Word of God.  (All the schisms are incomplete-have some truth with error)

If I am constantly in doubt or suspicious I cannot live my faith normally. Which is why I stay in the Catholic Church; God will not let hell prevail against it. If I’m outside the ark I will drown. 

I am to believe the church so I can live my faith normally. Faith is not some ephemeral feeling. It is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen, based on who God says He is. 

He came to save me from the worship of sin that destroys to the worship of the Savior who loves. 

To live a life of faith in God I must believe these truths and live them. (I must actually participate in actions not just appropriate with words)

Baptism regenerates, Cleanses original sin and imparts divine life of the Holy Spirit. 

Confirmation: Strengthens baptismal grace and seals the person with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

The Mass is split into two main parts—the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Church views both as a single act of worship where the faithful are nourished from one table. The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord. Scripture prepares the heart and mind to recognize and receive Christ, while the Eucharist brings believers into direct, sacramental union with Him. 

The Word of God, Scripture, features a real, spiritual presence during the readings, but it is not the substantial, physical presence of Christ's body and blood. 

Eucharist is the substantial, permanent, and real presence of Jesus Christ (Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity) through transubstantiation [Prayer of the word of God and the Holy Spirit], where the appearances of bread and wine remain while the reality changes. He feeds me His divine life of grace and washes me in His blood when I participate and apply it in faith at every Mass. (re-presentation [I relive it presently] of Passover, the Last Supper, and Calvary)

Confession/Reconciliation restores broken grace especially mortal sin. 

Anointing of the sick produces healing of the soul and sometimes the body. 

Marriage and Holy Orders are covenants of grace to show the world Christlike life in the world.