Ministry Day of Renewal for Liturgy and Formation
Saturday, September 21, 2013 from 8:30am to 2:00pm at Our Lady of the Valley Church 
 “We Are the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic"

In the Creed we profess the Church to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic.  
These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, indicate essential features of the Church and her mission.  The Church does not possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.

In his last words to the apostles, Jesus gave them a mission:
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."  (Mt 28:19-20)

Thus, the teaching mission of the Church comes from Christ himself. The responsibility for fulfilling that mandate passes on unchanged to the bishops and to all Catholics.
Each and every one of us is made by Love and made for love. God has created us in such a way that we have a compelling desire for truth, goodness, beauty, and love. To overcome apathy, we must draw men and women beyond the distractions of this life and invite them to encounter the reality for which they were created. 
As Catholics, we have discovered that the transcendent does not refer to mere abstractions; it exists, in perfection, in a Person.  The first step in evangelization is an encounter with Jesus Christ, who came for you, lived for you, suffered and died for you, and rose again to heaven where he waits for you.
It is not sufficient to know about Jesus Christ. We must come to encounter him as a living person.  While this encounter can take many forms, in its essence the encounter with Jesus Christ moves from an object for our consideration to a subject with whom we enter into personal relationship.

Our Day of Renewal will help us to understand our faith in order to be able to share it with our families and friends, as well as those we encounter at Liturgy and in the different aspects of our daily lives.