May is the month of
Mary. This is a good time to review our
own response to the Church’s invitation to learn with Mary how to respond to
God’s call in our lives.
As Catholics, we have a
living relationship with God through the Sacraments. Baptism, which is available for human beings
at every age, opens the doorway to Eternal Life and to the Sacramental Life
that is its anticipation in time.
Parents bring their
children to the Church and promise to raise them up in the Faith, giving them
an example. The idea that children ought
to be left to decide for themselves on this matter is ultimately a failure on
the part of their parents to discern their own responsibility. “Let the children come to Me” is Jesus’
response to His disciples when the question comes up.
Often, children are the
agents who bring their parents to Faith.
Recently, we have had many occasions where the children who have learned
about Baptism and the other Sacraments have asked their parents to become
Catholic and they have done so through the Rite of Christian Initiation of
Adults (the R.C.I.A.).
We experience the touch
of God’s Love through the Sacraments.
In Baptism,
Confirmation and Eucharist, we are incorporated into the very Life of Jesus
Christ and have a unique relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit.
In Holy Matrimony and
Holy Orders, we live in a Communion of Love with God and with His children.
These help to build up the Family of God, the Church.
In Reconciliation and
the Anointing of the Sick, we are given the touch of God’s Love through His
healing Mercy, strengthening us and enabling us to continue the journey of
Faith through the limits of our human weakness.
Jesus calls us His
friends. Mary, His Mother and ours,
makes known to us how to live in response to the grace that He offers. The Sacraments are where we encounter Jesus,
Who makes us His own, forms us as the People of God, and leads us to fullness
of Life. Let us live with our Friend as
faithful members of His Church.
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