We are your neighbors
We live throughout this area. Across the country, over 25 percent of Americans are Catholic, and our intenational family numbers over one billion.

We are a mixed bag
Our membership includes Mother Teresa and Al Capone, smart and dull, rich and poor--people of all races and nationalities. One wit defined Catholcism as "Here comes everybody."

We are Christians
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh. We believe that He died to save us from sin and rose to gain us eternal life.

We are the People of God
That sounds like a proud boast, but we are stuck with it. We are aware that others make similar claims, and we respect their opinion. We trace our blood line through the saints of all the centuries to Jesus and back to Abraham.

We are the Body of Christ
It is not only that Jesus is our Lord and savior and brother. It is not only that we are his disciples and friends. We also believe that, since Jesus rose from the dead, he is now connected to us spiritually through his Holy Spirit. We call this fantastic union "the mystical body" of which Christ is the head.

We are an earthly people
We believe that, since God came to earth, then earth itself is "Christ-alized." The world is good, life is good, people are good. Of course, we know that people sin; but we believe that sin is forgiven--entirely wiped out--not just overlooked.

We are a sacramental people
Sacraments are signs of God's grace, signs of God's special presence. Jesus is the most important sign of the Father: God in flesh. We believe that God is also present to us in obvious, powerful ways at important events in our lives. So we celebrate this graceful presence in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, forgiveness, eucharist, marriage, ministry and healing in Christ. We affirm that God is everywhere at all times but, by the celebration of these sacramental events, we call the whole church all over the world to attend to this person at this point in life.

We are a heavenly people
Along with other Christians, we believe in everlasting life after death. We view heaven as a joyous place, a banquet at which God is our host, Jesus our waiter and a crowd of angels as entertainers. Our celebration includes friends and old enemies. We believe that all creation and all people are bound for glory.

We are a people of tradition
We trace our lineage back to Eve. We do not start each day as if it were not based on yesterday. We do not face each question as if we had learned nothing from experience. We combine the wisdom of scripture and the experience of our life with God through the centuries. This gives us respect for the past, openness to the future and hope in the present.

We are a people of values
Following the promise of Jesus, we expect even greater things in the future. But we insist with Paul the apostle in holding on to all that is true and good. We believe that some values never go out of style. And we guard them with our lives.

We are a people of life
We are convinced that Jesus came to give us life to the fullest and that God alone is in charge of life. We are absolutely opposed to the destruction of life at either end of its spectrum, and we insist on the right to a certain quality of life in between. We pledge ourselves to fight the life-denying forces in our " culture of death."

We are a church of the people
Catholicism was started by a poor carpenter and a dozen poor fishermen. We have never lost our bond with working people. We formed the craft guilds in the Middle Ages and helped found labor unions in America. We have a grand tradition of the Catholic social gospel. Eleven of the 12 proposals in our "Social Reconstructon" document became part of the New Deal over 60 years ago. And we contnue to help the poor in hospitals, schools, shelters, food banks, etc.

So - what's wrong with us?
God is not finished working on us. We are applying our ancient faith to the modern world. Prodded by the Holy Spirit, we are searching for God's will in such areas as: the function of authority, the role of women, following Jesus in a consumer society and working for the world's poor.