Jesus is Inviting You to a New Adventure!
1. God created everything good.
In the beginning, God created everything good. He didn’t have to make anything. He chose to. And as we can all see, God made this world beautiful and mysterious — rich with meaning, logic, and grandeur. He created us — man and woman — in His own image and likeness. We were made to be in perfect communion, perfect relationship with Him.
2. We chose to mess it up.
But then unfortunately, we decided to break that relationship. We freely chose to distrust and then disobey Him — thereby causing the whole created order to fall into chaos, corruption, and dysfunction. Death entered the world through this act of disobedience, and the long sad story of evil — manipulation, abuse, addiction, domination, and destruction — has followed in its terrible wake.
3. God came to rescue us.
But that’s not the end of the story. Because God loves us so much, He did not leave us abandoned. At just the right time, when we were totally helpless — He sent His Son, Jesus Christ on a rescue mission to restore us and to reclaim His ruined world. This rescue mission would make intimacy with Himself possible again.
And so, Jesus, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” freely laid down His life out of love on the Cross in order to pay the impossible debt we owed through our own fault. He died to save us from our guilt, even though he was totally innocent. This same Jesus was then raised from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. And we are convinced that because He lives, we have hope for eternal life in Him and by His blood.
4. How will we respond?
This Risen Jesus now says to YOU: “Follow me.”
Will you say yes?
He is meek and humble of heart. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He fills us with His Holy Spirit. He makes the Father known to us. He gives us His very Life in the Sacraments He instituted for His Church — He washes our sins away in Baptism. He fills us with the Holy Spirit and fire in Confirmation. He feeds us His Body and His Blood in the Holy Eucharist. He forgives us our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He heals us in the Anointing of the Sick. He gives our life meaning, mission, and power in the Sacraments of Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders.
He established the Catholic Church as our Mother — as the Sacrament of Salvation. We believe that the Church offers us the fullness of truth and the authentic, apostolic deposit of faith. It is the community wherein we live our our relationship with God and neighbor. We trust that the “gates of hell shall not prevail” against this Church built on solid rock.
So… yes or no? — Will you follow Jesus?
Getting started
The process for becoming Catholic is a journey through the “OCIA” which stands for the “Order for Christian Initiation of Adults.” Some people who join the OCIA are unbaptized, and will receive Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. Others have been already baptized in other Christian traditions, and thus will first be received into “full communion” with the Catholic Church, and then receive Confirmation and Eucharist when they are prepared to make that commitment.
There is no cookie-cutter path, and everyone’s story is different. God works with you exactly where you are at, and brings you forward into a new life with Him in the Church. We are here to help facilitate and partner with the work of the Holy Spirit. We look forward to getting to know you and supporting you in your journey of faith!
Helpful Resources:
- Formed.org — Holy Spirit Catholic Church has a subscription to this amazing resource with countless video series, audiobooks, and podcasts about our Catholic faith. To gain access, simply sign up with your email and type in our zip code (24073) to find Holy Spirit on their website.
- Catholic Answers — A great website where tons of questions have already been answered by trustworthy, orthodox theologians.
- Word on Fire — A ministry spearheaded by Bishop Robert Barron. Another wonderful collection of videos, articles, and books that can help us understand our faith more fully.
- Ascension Press — Yet another excellent place to find answers to your questions and tons of great resources like Fr. Mike Schmitz’ “Bible in a Year” podcast and the recent “Rosary in a Year” podcast.