A depiction of God, “God the Father,” Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano (1459–1517)
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Friends, my message today for all us, you and me included, is that God is calling us to have a life with Him. I’d like to give a little background about this and share what concretely He is asking us to do.
God created the entire universe, and each of us. We’ve all likely heard the names “Adam and Eve;” they were the first human beings. God in the beginning also created a sort-of “Heaven,” where all this creation lived and was in communion with Him, and all were immortal. But Adam and Eve willingly broke this Communion with God, and so lost this life; Christians believe this is when “death” entered the world because of their willed acts against God, their sins. Unfortunately, all humanity as descendants of Adam and Eve inherits this sin and its consequences – Communion with God is fleeting, and we tend towards acts against God, which include acts against our “neighbor,” other human beings, so goodness among humans, too, is, and as we well know, can be, fleeting.
God with Adam and Eve, From “The Garden of Eden,” Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)
But this isn’t the end of the story – God is a compassionate God who has always sought to redeem this “death” among humans – “death” in any shape or form certainly cannot be a good thing. This desire to redeem reaches its summit in Jesus Christ, who walked the earth in the first century, living 33 years among us. Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, set in motion God’s plan for redemption through His acts and plan for the future – He “sacrificed” himself for all sins so that man and God can be reconciled – sin is like a debt that must be paid to restore an account, and He willingly paid all debts through this sacrifice so that all accounts are reset. But besides atoning for all sins, He created a church, so that all of humanity would be gathered, and this divine life He wants to give us could be dispensed to us in different ways.
Jesus Christ depicted in the “Sermon on the Mount,” Carl Bloch (1834–1890)
But I must share that Jesus Christ, God, visiting humanity is no small event. God, who created the entire universe, and His glory have no equal. In our Holy texts, the Bible, prophets from before Jesus’ time had been talking about the great works and wonders Jesus would accomplish. Isaiah says:
“Then the eyes of the blind shall see,
and the ears of the deaf be opened;
Then the lame shall leap like a stag,
and the mute tongue sing for joy.”
(Chapter 35)
Isaiah continues that Jesus was sent:
“…to bring good news to the afflicted,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives, …To announce a year of favor from the LORD…
To comfort all who mourn; …To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning…”
(Chapter 61)
Another depiction of Jesus Christ, “The Resurrection,” Carl Bloch (1834–1890)
God’s plan in this work of redemption includes the working of wonders and miracles, including many physical healings, but His main work would be spiritual healing, achieved through “baptism.” Baptism removes this inheritance of death we have of Adam and Eve: when we are baptized, we are cleansed of this sin, and God’s spirit comes to dwell inside of us, so we are in Communion with Him once more. He also works in us a movement toward a “wholeness” like that which Adam and Eve experienced before breaking Communion with God, before experiencing “death” and leaving this fate to all future humanity.
So, God has chosen to redeem us, but “claiming” this redemption requires action on our part – though God obviously has his preference, we are free to receive this life that He wants to give us, or not. One of the ways we “receive” this life includes first and foremost baptism.
So what do we do with all this information? We act.
This “church” that God uses to give this divine life to us is the Catholic Church: it is a blessing, and as per God’s plan, that the Church is everywhere: just in my home of Miami alone, which is part of a Church area that includes two large urban counties, there are about 100 Catholic churches. The Bible tells us that before Jesus left the earth, He told his chosen leaders to go out into all the world and, in essence, invite all to come to God:
“Go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of [God], teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”
(Matthew chapter 28)
It is important to note to whom He told this, His chosen leaders: the Catholic Church maintains a succession of leadership all the way back to these original leaders.
Basilica of St. John Lateran, Highest ranking Catholic church in the world
To continue about the Catholic Church, each individual Church, or parish, is equipped to welcome us into this divine life: for adults who have never been a part of the Catholic Church, the Church asks for about nine months of initiation time of once-a-week sessions so that we can learn the fundamentals of God, this divine life, and the church, more than I’m covering here, and the initiation period actually ends with Baptism and other “Sacraments,” or the actual ways God dispenses His divine life, done by official and approved ministers of the Catholic Church. Most initiation periods run from around the fall until about May.
Today, we are called to concretely take this step – if we believe this I say about this God that created the universe and all of us, we are called to receive this life through this initiation program called RCIA or OCIA, meaning “Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults” and “Order of Christian Initiation for Adults,” respectively. I invite you to inquire at your local Catholic church about their RCIA/OCIA programs and the schedules. Children have a longer formation period and actually have phased initiation over three phases (adults over 18 don’t have a phased initiation, but are initiated after the 9 month period), but your local church too can give you more information. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message here, or below at the end of the article to my email or phone number (text is best to set something up), or if you need help finding a Catholic church near you, feel free to submit your name, email, and zip code here and I can help.
One last point is that this “reconciliation” that I speak of isn’t only for those who have never heard this message: it’s also for those who have already been initiated into the Catholic Church. God calls us to live this life with Him deeply and richly – if we’ve stopped or gone away for a time, God is inviting us back to meet Him once more and to be reconciled through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As the Church shared in the Gospel recently during the 4th Sunday of Lent, when we go away from God’s house, God eagerly searches for and awaits our return so that we might continue to have abundant life with Him. When we return, not only are we accepted back, but God’s joy overflows, He clothes and adorns us once more with our Divine dignity, and there is a feast in God’s house!
“Return…” by Rembrandt (1606-1669)
My Bishop recommended this examination of Conscience, but if you have any questions on how to use it or how to make a Confession, please use this guide or feel free to reach out as well via email or phone, but you can also message us here.
Dear friends, I’m so grateful for your time and attention, may God bless us!
Juan B
juan@holyfirecatholic.com
+1 561 571 5404
Image credits
1 – Public Domain
2 – Public Domain
3 – Public Domain
4 – Public Domain
5 – Public Domain, from https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/prodigal-son-art/ Accessed 1 Apr 2025
6/7 – St. John Lateran – from Civitavecchia Port website https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/basilica-saint-john-lateran Accessed 1 Apr 2025