I need to make a couple of corrections to Friday's blog. At the end of the Creed, the text should have read, "I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church." and "I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." I had "on" instead of "one" . Sorry. The text has now been corrected. Okay. Moving on to today's blog...
I Believe…
The Nicene Creed begins with these simple two words, “I believe”. In a previous English translation that Catholics are used to reciting the creed used to start, “We believe”. However, we can’t believe until and unless I believe. These first two words challenge us. What do we, what do, I really believe? Do I just recite the creed because it’s that time of the mass, or do I prayerfully offer up the words I am saying as the expression of my heart?
The writers of the creed understood that as humans we need to be reminded of what it means to be a Christian. Of what our beliefs really are. Maybe that’s why the phrase is repeated four times. Four times we state, I state, just what it is I believe. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the church as the body of Christ.
This is the core of Christian teaching. In fact, one can’t call themselves a Christian without believing these things. That may be hard to hear, but it’s true. If you don’t believe in God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, the Church, then why go to church?
Everyone believes something. That belief system governs their actions every day. Sometimes it’s unconscious. But it still is there. The need to believe is something that has been put in the heart of man by God, because (as St. Augustine said) “we are made for God and are restless until we rest in him. When we don’t believe, or we aren’t sure what we believe, we feel a tension in our soul. We may not be able to identify it, but we know at our deepest levels something isn’t right.
In our busy, every day lives most of us don’t think much about what we believe. That’s why the creed is such an important part of the mass. It reminds us, if only for one hour on Sunday mornings just what it is we stand for, what we believe, both individually and collectively as the body of Christ. We need that reminder because for most of us it’s something that fades out of our conscious thought by…Monday. Maybe even by Sunday afternoon.
Someone, I forget who, once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
That is what these two simple words, repeated four times accomplish. They remind us what we stand for. What I stand for. Whether the world likes it or not or agrees with it or not. It’s what I stand for. What do you stand for?
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What Are You Looking For? Part 1: The Nicene Creed
RandomThis started as a blog about what Catholics believe and why. I am following the outline of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Part 1 begins with the Nicene Creed, which forms the base for almost every Christian tradition. Each part focuses on...
