Fr. Lawrence Lovasik - What Catholics Believe: Sketch Talks

What Catholics Believe
Sketch-Talks

Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S. V. D.

Imprimi Potest:

FRANCIS HUMEL, S.V.D.
Superior Provincialis

Nihil Obstat:

RT. REV. MSGR. A. H. WIERSBINSKI, LL.D.
Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:

JOHN MARK GANNON, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D.
Bishop of Erie

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

1977

FOREWORD

This booklet first appeared as "Catechism Sketched." It was reprinted with the kind permission of The Catechetical Guild in order that it might be available to more readers at a low cost.

WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE is written:

1. For Non-Catholics, that they may get a comprehensive view of the teaching of the Catholic Church;

2. For Converts who are being prepared for reception into the Church;

3. For Catholics who perhaps are not well informed about their faith;

4. For Children in the Catechism class.

This booklet is lovingly dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. May She bless those who use it.

SACRED HEART MISSION SEMINARY
Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, S. V. D.
Girard, Penna.

CONTENTS

.

PART ONE

THE CREED

LESSON 1 . THE PURPOSE OF MAN'S EXISTENCE

(1) To know God, (2) To love God, (3) To serve God.

Why you are in this world

God is the Highest Being who made all things. He made you to show forth His goodness and to share with you His everlasting happiness in heaven.

You are in this world to know God, to love Him, to serve Him, and thereby gain heaven.

Fig. 1

You are in the world, but God made you to be happy with Him in heaven. Before you can reach heaven, you must go up three stepsknowing, loving, and serving God. You must know God before you can love Him. You must love God in order to serve Him well.

To know God

You can know something about God because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has told us many things about Himself; that is to say, He has "revealed" (made known) many things about Himself. You must believe what God has revealed, because God is truth and can neither deceive (tell a lie) nor be deceived. The Catholic Church teaches us what God has revealed.

To love God

Besides believing what God has revealed, you must obey His laws. The two great commandments are: to love God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself.

Fig. 2

You cannot see God, but the Church takes His place. God speaks through the Church, that is, through the Pope, bishops, and priests. They tell you what God wants you to believe. If you believe them, you believe God.

To serve God

To serve God means: to do the will of God. It is the will of God that you:

1) Believe all that God has revealed;

2) Keep the commandments;

3) Receive the sacraments;

4) Pray.

Fig. 3

The Catholic Church is like a bridge that takes you from this world to the next. Four pillars hold up that bridge: faith, commandments, sacraments, prayer. Love of God and our neighbor are its two strong braces. If, as a Catholic, you are held up by these four pillars and if you keep the two great commandments, You will reach heaven and eternal life with God.

You learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church in the Apostles' Creed.

The Apostles' Creed

Shortly after Jesus Christ died, the twelve most important truths that He had taught the apostles were put into one prayer called the Apostles' Creed. It contains the main truths which God has revealed.

The Apostles' Creed has three main parts. Each part tells what each Person of the Blessed Trinity has done for you. God the Father created you and all thingsCreation. God the Son saved you by His death on the CrossRedemption. God the Holy Ghost makes you holySanctification.

Fig. 4

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

LESSON 2 . GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS

God the Father"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth..."

Who God is

God is the Highest Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence (continuing to be).

God is the Highest Being, because He is above all creatures. He made all things; no one ever made Him. He had no beginning. He is, He always was, and always will be. He is eternal.

God is a spirit, because He has no body. He can live without a body, and so will never die. He cannot be seen with your eyes, nor felt with your hands. He has understanding and free will.

God is infinitely perfect, because there is no limit or end to His greatness and goodness.

Fig. 5

This triangle stands for the Blessed Trinity (3 sides3 Persons; 1 triangle1 God). The circle has neither beginning nor end; so, too, God has no beginning nor end. The word "infinite" means without end or limits.

God's greatness and goodness

God knows all things, past, present, and future, even your most secret thoughts, words, and actions. He is all-knowing.

He can do all things; He is almighty.

He is everywhere, because He knows all things, sees all things, and can do all things. Without Him nothing can be. He is all-present.

Everything that is good can be found in God, and all that is good comes from Him. God is the highest good. He cannot be better than He is; God is all-good.