YOUCAT*: “No one can believe alone and by himself, just as no one can live alone and by himself. We receive the faith from the church and live it out in fellowship with the people with whom we share our faith.” [CCC 781-786]
Yes, faith is a personal act, but our faith was passed on to us by our parents, our catechists and youth ministers, our priests and others. Through their teaching and witness, our faith is nourished. Our faith is the faith of the church.
Baseball players know they can’t play the game, nor win the game without the support of every player on the team. My favorite baseball player Ryne Sandberg once said, “If you played the game the right way, played the game for the team, good things would happen.”
Just as a baseball player needs his team to make it to the World Series, we need the ongoing support of our church ohana to make it to heaven.
Pardon my baseball analogy … fans will know it’s postseason time. (Go Cubs!)
“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)
*Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church
Lisa Gomes is the director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry