OUR FAITH

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.  For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man.  He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.  He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church.  To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior.  In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel:  “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;  and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”  Strengthened by this mission, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.”

Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world.  This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors.  All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer. (CCC, 1–3)

The sacraments of Christian initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist—lay the foundations of every Christian life.  “The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life.  The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life.  By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.” (CCC, 1212)

"Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life ‘in earthen vessels’, and it remains ‘hidden with Christ in God’.  We are still in our ‘earthly tent’, subject to suffering, illness, and death.  This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.  The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members.  This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick." (CCC, 1420–21)

— Catechism of the Catholic Church

RECONCILIATION:   Community Penance Services are celebrated during each Liturgical Season.  Individual confessions are scheduled every Saturday from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. and also by appointment at the church office (228-374-1717).

ANOINTING OF THE SICK:   Available 24 hours each day in acute cases, this Sacrament is offered to the community several times a year for the chronically ill.  An Annointing Mass is held annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:  CCD classes begin in September for all grade levels. Classes are held each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on the 2nd floor in the Sacred Heart Center.

R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults):  R.C.I.A. classes are held on Tuesdays, September – May at 6:00 p.m. on the 2nd floor in the Sacred Heart Parish Life Center.