To really “know” Christ . . . is to deeply “love” Christ . . . is to faithfully “serve” Christ.
All that really matters in life is a faith that is active in love and filled with hope. Faith is never alone. A living faith is always accompanied by hope and love. Faith really works. Hope warmly encourages. Love makes things happen. And the greatest of these is the love that is at the heart of Jesus himself! Welcome to the Catholic Christian Spirituality of faithful Christian Service, which evangelizes and catechizes in the very process of lovingly serving Christ in the least of our brothers and sisters.
Evangelization and Catechesis lead to an Actualization of our Faith. In a certain sense, the word “faith” functions more like a verb than a noun. When faith is active in love, hope becomes reality. Where is the Holy Spirit leading you today in living out your Catholic Christian faith in hope filled with enduring love? With and through your parish community, support and encouragement will always be there for you, as you foster a truly Catholic Christian lifestyle. For more about this lifestyle, please click here.
The key to Christian Service is the virtue of humility, which inspires us to grow in gratitude and to express it in love for others. Please pray the Litany of Humility and reflect on The Path to Holiness to explore these values further. It takes a humble person to become a great saint through sacrificial Christian Service. God’s love for us overflows from our hearts in charity to those who need our assistance, our encouragement, and our faith in the providential goodness of the Lord.
To love your neighbor as yourself is the golden rule of the Old Testament. To love one another as Jesus has loved us is the platinum rule of the New Testament. Thus, for Catholic Christians, charity is more than just quid pro quo. Christian Service is self-sacrificial love after the heart of Jesus himself! What are you doing these days to imitate Simon of Cyrene in helping others take up their crosses, as Jesus has helped you take up your cross in your own life?
In-reach and Out-reach. When we allow Gospel values to reach-into our hearts and minds, our souls are transformed from within, motivating us to reach-out to others even more faithfully in devoted Christian service.
Out-reach and In-reach. As we reach-out to others in sacrificial service, even more blessings reach-into our hearts and minds, filling our souls with even greater love of both God and our neighbor in the Spirit of Jesus.
For more information, please check out Catholic Charities, the Saint Vincent DePaul Society, and parish Christian Service ministries near you. “Whatsoever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, that we do unto Christ.” Charity is thus faith active in loving service to others. For an introduction to the moral values that underly our charitable outreach programs and activities, please click here. Our ultimate work of charity and service is to spread the Gospel to others!
The Catholic Christian Lifestyle is one of prayer, learning, and service. As we look upward in faith and move forward in hope, we lead onward in love through charitable service after the example of Jesus himself. Our faith is never alone. It is always accompanied by hope and love.
Parish communities provide social and service groups who make a loving difference in their parish and in their local communities. How can you be personally involved in your local parish’s charitable outreach efforts? Please reach out to your parish community for more information.
“They will know that we are Christians by our love.” The virtue of Charity is faith that is alive in loving action. As the fruit of the New Commandment of Jesus, Christian charity goes above and beyond even the Golden Rule itself. Charity is sacrificial love after the heart of Jesus Christ himself.
For practical information about developing a genuine Catholic Christian Lifestyle as part of your personal spiritual journey, please click here. What we believe with our minds, and value within our hearts, is manifested in the way that we live out our daily lives in charity and service as Catholic Christian believers. For a compendium of the moral teachings of the church, please click here. For a presentation on the importance of our moral decisions in this regard, please click here. For, at the heart of Evangelization, charity and service are actions that speak louder than words. Let us therefore walk the walk as we talk the talk!
The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy are at the core of Christian Service, for they reveal Christ to us in the people whom we serve. We are blessed to have such wonderful opportunities! How can you respond to those in need through your parish community of faith? As Saint James tells us, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Who we are as Catholic Christians is the only sure spiritual foundation for all that we do for the sake of others.
When we are right with God, we are enlightened and empowered to do the right things very well in Jesus’ name.
Our justification by grace leads to an inner peace that transforms our pursuit of peace and justice in this world.
So, where are you at in your relationship with Christ these days? And how is Christ inviting you to grow in holiness and virtue right now in your life? When you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, you will not only become a channel of God’s peace. You will be transformed into a reservoir of God’s love that overflows in transparently “Christian” service. To really know Christ, is to deeply love Christ, is to faithfully serve Christ, as Catholic Christian believers.