Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Belief in a Creator God undergirds all of Catholic life and practice. Through the weekly recitation of the Creed, the Catholic faithful profess faith in this God: We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. At the heart of each act of thanksgiving that Catholics call Eucharist is the confidence that this God comes to restore the Creation, broken and sullied by sin, in the person of Jesus Christ. The conviction that material things are created good and can be the medium for God's grace informs Catholic sacramental life and shapes the art found in Catholic churches. Catechesis at all levels seeks to form Catholic Christians who recognize their responsibilities as beings made in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by God incarnate. These responsibilities include caring for the earth, building up human societies of peace and justice, forming relationships between women and men that respect differences and create community, and shaping and sustaining loving human families.The Creation story of Genesis is read annually at the Easter vigil, a special liturgy that prepares for the great Easter dawn. This reading keeps before the minds of Catholics revealed answers to the perennial questions about where the world came from, why it was created, what is its purpose – and ours. Belief in Creation is reinforced throughout ... log in or subscribe to read full text