Jesus started the church and gave St Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus remains head of the Roman Catholic church and Pope Francis sits in the Chair of Saint Peter himself. He is God's visible representative on earth.
Mary is mother of the church and her husband, Saint Joseph, is its patron. Michael is its guardian and ever the defender of the people of God.
Located somewhere in every catholic church will be found a statue or picture of Saint Joseph. Catholics have a deep devotion to this honourable man of God. After all, he is Jesus's father and he brought Our Lord up to be a righteous and just man. Jesus looked up to Joseph. He was his hero. He deeply respected him and took on many of his characteristics.
Joseph was a man of good virtue and was devoted to Jesus. Many of the things Jesus said were learnt from his father Joseph. Ask yourself this: Was it Jesus or Joseph speaking about the Pharisees and their habit of broadening their phylacteries and lengthening their tassels? Many conversations took place in their workshop. They were good friends and Jesus confided in Joseph. Joseph put Jesus to work. This is where he first learnt discipline and obedience to God.
Jesus, being fully human, needed Joseph to bring him into manhood and help him to understand who He was and what his job would eventually be.
They say parenting is the hardest job but Joseph's task seems almost impossible. How could he possibly be the Messiah's father, the one of whom it is written would free his people from their sins? Initially he was intent on stepping aside because, when he discovered Mary had conceived, he knew her well enough to know that the child she carried was the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As he did not consider himself sufficiently worthy he concluded that stepping aside and divorcing her without a fuss was the only way forward. He'd reasoned that God must have someone much more worthy and had just made up his mind to go quietly when Gabriel came and told him put aside his concerns.
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to make Mary your wife".
This was permission from God himself and it was all Joseph needed. He was to live with Mary as her husband and raise the Christ-Child as his own son. God had honoured him - shown him great favour - and he was overjoyed. It is believed by some that he ran to tell Mary what the angel had said and, overjoyed, picked her up in his arms. Needless to say, she was beside herself with joy.
This was a couple who had found true love. It truly was a marriage made in Heaven and they were united on every level. Devoted to each other and never tiring of one another, they both loved Jesus - the fruit of Mary's womb. Just as it was in the house in Nazareth, wherever Jesus is to be found, Joseph and Mary are never far away. Teaching Mary, nurturing Mary, disciplining Mary, loving Mary. And her devoted hard working husband, Joseph. They were the first Christians and they are our models and mentors.
He was brought up in Galilee and he was indeed their son - in every way. He learned through Joseph how to be thankful, work hard, think cleverly and put God first. It was Joseph who taught Jesus about women and the ways of the world. He tutored him into master craftsmanship and taught him to think outside of the box. It was Joseph who guided Jesus in ways that gave glory to God. Being close to God and knowing His ways meant Joseph emulated the Heavenly Father. When Jesus needed something it was done. Joseph took care of it. When Jesus dealt with the Pharisees they found themselves confronted by Jesus-son-of-Joseph.
When the family took flight into Egypt Joseph was there to protect them on their journey. He was no shrinking violet and was certainly capable of looking after his dependents.
And it is still so now. Saint Joseph is patron saint of the Roman Catholic church for very good reason and he is our spiritual father. We are all spiritual sons and daughters of Jesus's earthly dad. This means that he is our father in every way and will work just as hard to educate, guide and care for us in exactly the same way as he did Jesus. And Jesus is more than willing to share him with us.
Joseph was not a poor man. Nor was he old with a grey beard as is often inaccurately depicted. He was a young man full of life and vitality and was capable of making a good living for his family. He was a skilled and intelligent professional who was excellent at managing the family business. His work was first class. Mary and Jesus were never in need because he was no slouch.
And neither should we be.
We must pray to Saint Joseph to help us become an alter Christus - another Christ. However, being Christ-like is not easy. The starting point though, is to keep the first commandment (Just as Saint Joseph did), to be grateful to God and to try and do everything for his greater glory. This was Mary's way.
Mary loved Joseph with her immaculate heart. She is the only woman to ever be conceived without sin and Joseph knew he had been truly blessed. His life reflected and echoed his gratitude.
We must learn to do the same. We must aim to be like the first Christians.
God is good and, like Saint Joseph, He meets us all individually at our level. Each one of us experiences our entry into Christianity and the Church differently. We are all priests of the most high God and we all should try to live this priesthood in our own inimitable style. We all fail and succeed in one way or another.
One of the main things about being a Catholic is that we're telling the world that God is our father. That's a big thing. People will look at us and wonder what it's like to be a child of God as we're meant to be living evidence of what it's like to be under the parentage of the divine papa. We're expected to have wisdom and love and to somehow reflect His majesty. And if we live a life which is contrary to the Gospel then we're not authentic. If we are not genuine and do not live authentic Christian lives then people will think the whole God thing is rubbish. So it's a big responsibility. We must take our faith seriously but without becoming spiritually muscular. We must learn to worry less because Jesus tells us that we must not concern ourselves about our needs for tomorrow as God will provide for us.
For many people, us Catholics will be the first bible they ever read. If God's word comes to life in us and we bear the appropriate fruits then we've done a good job.
For us it's all about stewardship. We see Jesus as God, he is our father, our brother and our best friend. We have been given what we have been given and if we want to be good and faithful servants then we must be vigilant and prepare to be burgled (Matthew 24:43).
God asks us to live our lives for Him. And when we come before Him in prayer then we must at least bow and bend low. When we are before him in the Blessed Sacrament then we genuflect. There are some who prostrate themselves.
Our journey into the church.
As far as Church membership requirements are concerned, we are all bound to attend mass once a week.
We also have to observe holy days of obligation and go to confession. Prayer and study are also very important and one needs to pray for a hunger for scripture because in it is all truth. It is the Word of God. We are to be obedient to church teaching and above all to have a burning love in our hearts for Almighty God. If this is yet to develop then we must ask for it and tell God we want our hearts to burn in the same was as those of the disciples when they met the Lord on the road to Emmaus. He'll give that to us because it is written "Ask and it will be given to you".
The most important thing about being a Catholic Christian is understanding one's baptism and living the priesthood to the best of our ability. Baptism is this: Through water we have our sins washed away and we fully partake in the life, death, resurrection and ascension into glory of Jesus Christ. We are priests, prophets and kings who have lives hidden with Christ in God. The stain of original sin is washed away and baptismal grace never stops flowing through our lives.
As we grow into our priesthood it's worth considering though, that the primary focus of it is sacrifice. We must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves i.e. to eventually die to self. This is the hardship part of the apostolic calling and for many is the longest road. And we all fail in some way. Hence the confessional. If the truth be known, God isn't so bothered about our success; it's in the trying that we give Him glory. And he loves to bring us forward, show us new things and help us to grow. God the Father is the God of surprises and once we realise this then our lives will never be the same again. And we may ask of Him what we will.
If we want to grow then we must be merciful. We must be merciful to ourselves, to God and to others. We must love God and be loving like our heavenly Father and we'll grow like a watered garden on a warm sunny day. To love one another as Jesus loved us is the way of perfection.
Luke 6:36 "Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful".
The full passage is as follows: "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.…" We must always try to live this way because scripture says that God pays back like-for-like.
The second thing we must consider is baptism in the Holy Spirit. John said that he baptised with water but that the one who was coming after him would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. For more on this see the page on 'Spiritual Gifts'.
And we must try ardently to keep the commandments.
The whole of the church's teaching hangs on these and as Catholics we are called to obedience.
It's important to take to heart the fact that we can't make up the rules ourselves or cherry pick otherwise we'll be in error or a state of disobedience. Obedience to church teachings is the key. Failure to honour our commitments results in hurt for ourselves and others.
Sooner or later though, each one of us has to come to the realisation that we've been given much responsibility - the price of which Jesus speaks in the Gospel of Saint Luke.
The full text is as follows: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
In many cases Jesus uses the example of stewards: these are either good or bad. We are the stewards. In the bible we are given examples of good ones who carry out their duties. They know their master's will and they invest wisely what they have been given and are able to show a profit, they're faithful and live in a state of readiness for their returning master. They have sought to remain in a state of preparedness to give an accurate account of how they have managed the landlord's affairs. And they are rewarded for their diligence accordingly.
In direct contrast the bad stewards are lazy, unjust and treat others unfairly. They drink, get drunk and are irresponsible. The master (on his return) berates them, taking from them what they were given and - in the case of the parable of the talents - giving more to those found to be hard working.
But take heart because this is a resurrection story. This is our God telling us how our love, mercy and hard work will be rewarded. " For to every one who has, more be given, and he will have more than enough". It's important to realise though, that reward is not just in the next life. It's now. "Seek the kingdom of God and all of these things will be given to you".
God is generous and does not want to wait until we die to bring us into prosperity. He wants to give us the riches of his kingdom here on earth. He does not want us poor. He does not want us in want. Poverty is not of God and we know this because of the above parables. Wealth and abundance are for us in this life.
"A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap".
So it's important that we remain faithful and not tire of our work:
Jesus tells us the parable of the ten prudent women who were waiting for the bridegroom so they could accompany him to the wedding. Half of them brought enough oil for their lamps. They others didn't. They were not prepared for the eventuality that there might be a delay in the bridegroom's arrival.
The five women who were not prepared found themselves embarrassed as they had not made adequate provision.
This is God telling us that if we do not act and are without perseverance then the upshot is much sadness.
Why? Because we knew the way but we chose a path of our own making. We gave God lip service when we recited the words 'your will be done' and when the bridegroom comes for us we will not be ready.
Jesus is telling us that we must take a thoughtful and considered approach and prepare for the fact that God might not do what we expect in our timeframe. We must therefore not presume that we have done sufficient to merit entry into his kingdom; He is warning us of the consequences of taking our responsibilities lightly - or not at all.
We can begin to understand God's way's when we look at how He brought Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land. If he'd marched them as the crow flies then it would have only taken around two weeks. God did it over forty years.
We must be patient with God because we do not know the hour at which he will come calling. Tempting though it may be to relax our guard, we cannot and we must always be in a state of preparedness. As Catholics we have been entrusted with a great gift and with that comes a substantial duty. We weren't given bronze or silver. We have been given gold.
Waiting on the Lord is a recurrent theme in scripture. In the above picture we see the Israelites (who have grown tired of waiting on God) so have fashioned a calf of gold and began to offer it sacrifice. When Moses saw this he burned with justified anger and rightfully castigated his people. Righteousness demanded it because he'd been in the presence of God who, through his angel, had given him the ten commandments.
The wandering tribe of Israel had grown impatient and had fashioned a God of their own making. We must make doubly sure we don't do this and that we make God our God.
When we do this He will pull out all the stops and help us to achieve our ambitions and desires.
An example of what it's like to wait is Simeon. Below we see him thanking God for honouring His promise. We don't know how long ago God gave this good man his oath; what we see is the Father doing what He always does and being true to His word. If he's made you a promise, or if you have asked of him, then have faith and he will be faithful because His word is His deed.
Simeon thanked God for allowing him to see Jesus. But this promise was not just for Simeon. It was for everyone; it is for everyone because it is written that "the just will see God" and "blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God". If you want this then consider the following: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it."
The price you must pay.
In scripture we meet Jesus in his reality. Here we see him reprimanding and challenging the scribes, Pharisees, and doctors of the law. He tells his disciples that if their virtue goes no deeper than that of their religious leaders then they will never enter God’s kingdom. Jesus is not shy about expressing his opinions concerning these learned classes. He tells them that he thinks they pay lip service to God, that they lack mercy and that they’re thieves.
He is, of course, absolutely correct because they are crooked and guilty of hypocrisy. This is evidenced in a number of ways: one being Jesus’s admonishment concerning their practise of defrauding widows of their deceased husband’s property. We often think of widows being elderly but there were many who were with children in those days. They were without husbands for a number of reasons. Diseases, agricultural accidents and public executions to name but a few. It was a fact that an unscrupulous scribe could easily defraud a powerless widow of her inheritance and raise her to destitution with the flick of his quill.
The Pharisaic sect had turned its back on the teaching of Moses who stated that their must be honour for mother and father. The Pharisees circumnavigated their responsibility by fencing off money (which would have helped out their own elderly parents) by proclaiming it Corban i.e. that which is set aside for the service of the Lord. Jesus was outraged by this and we can see him feeling it viscerally as he watches a widow putting her last two coins into the temple treasury coffers. This was a concrete example of how those who had power misused it by placing heavy burdens upon those who really needed support. This is why Jesus told those in power and authority to go and learn the meaning of the words “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. He quoted the prophet Hosea, who, centuries earlier, had condemned the Jews for trying to excuse their idolatry and their oppression of the poor by offering animal sacrifices.
What Jesus was doing was taking them to scripture. A mere carpenter from up-north Nazareth taking them to the holy word of the Most High God. How very dare he! But it wasn’t just the words, it was the contextual meaning which had the leaders up in arms and wanting to shred Jesus limb from limb. Jesus didn’t remonstrate with leaders, lawyers or chief priests. He took them before scripture. And he does this with us, particularly when he states that many will come having cast out demons and healed the sick in his name. And he says he will rebuke them by saying he does not know them.
We must not be Pharisaical, we must be honest with ourselves. We must be penitent souls who go before God like the publican, not the Pharisee. Otherwise it’ll be “Woe to you blind guides!”
Jesus tells the Pharisees they should be displaying justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These characteristics need to be our hallmarks otherwise we are set for similar admonishment.
The picture at the top of the page is of Jesus carrying a lamb. That's whom we need to be. We just need to relax into his goodness and fully trust that he has our best interests at heart and that we can rely on him fully to meet every one of our needs. And then we need to get our boots on and prepare for the hardships of the apostolic calling.
Welcome to the family.