Exploring new ways to pray is a good way to reignite your prayer life. I know that I can get stuck in a rut and merely rely on the rote prayers that we learned as a child. Being in a relationship with God requires more than just sitting around waiting for an epiphany. Think about your life. Think about the things that make you happy and fulfilled and the things that make you sad or repel you. When you draw up the list of things that are valuable to you, where is God on that list? As a free person, are you making choices that bring value into your life? When you look at the man-made things around you, are you relying on those to make you happy? Are they bringing you closer to God? Money, power and influence just were not on Jesus' bucket list. Are they on yours? Why? God will attend to your every need. What are the things that turn you to God and make you more loving to Him? The What Would Jesus Do bracelets were a good thing. I wonder why they have gone away? It is a great reminder for how to live our lives. What would Jesus do about the abortion epidemic in our world? What would Jesus do for the poor in our community? What would Jesus do if He visited our church on Sunday? Would Jesus recognize me as a Christian? Do the things that I cherish make me more authentic? Am I making decisions based on the accumulation of more things instead of gaining eternal life? Allow God's power to work within you. Allow God's wisdom to collect inside you. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father" (John 14:6-7).
Jesus Came to End Death and to Build a Church
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...
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