The Way of Faith
Explain that “faith in God’s love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity” to all people (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2093).
In the news
President Barack Obama called on the Muslim world to respect people’s right to choose their religion in his Cairo address on Thursday. (Obama upholds religious freedom in Muslim speech)
In the readings
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…. (Mt 28:16-20)
In the tradition
A basic duty every human person owes to God is regular worship. Because of this, and because of the basic longing each person has for God, a fundamental human right is the right to worship freely. No one should be prohibited from a free exercise of their faith, either in public or in private, and no one should ever be forced to worship in a manner that violates their beliefs and convictions. Because freedom of religion and worship is such an important and fundamental right, governments need to enact and enforce laws that respect and protect this right. (U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 420)
The Way of Faith
Explain that the fifth commandment requires us to value all human life as sacred.
In the news
“Our bishops’ conference and all its members have repeatedly and publicly denounced all forms of violence in our society, including abortion as well as the misguided resort to violence by anyone opposed to abortion,” Cardinal Rigali said. “Such killing is the opposite of everything we stand for, and everything we want our culture to stand for: respect for the life of each and every human being from its beginning to its natural end. U.S. Bishops Express “ËœProfound Regret’ about Shooting Death of Abortion Doctor
In the readings
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever. (Dt 4:32-34, 39-40)
In the tradition
Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God. The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2319-2320)
The Way of Faith
Explain that God will always provide for our needs, no matter how bleak things may seem.
In the news
With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September. (Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent in May; layoffs slow)
In the readings
Brothers and sisters: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption…. (Rom 8:14-17)
In the tradition
The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God’s absolute sovereignty over the course of events: “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.” And so it is with Christ, “who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.” As the book of Proverbs states: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.”
We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God “face to face”, will we fully know the ways by which – even through the dramas of evil and sin—God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 303, 314)
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