By Francis Van Uden This week the prayer we’re gonna look at is the Nicene Creed! This prayer is usually said at mass, although because we are Roman Catholic we can say either the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed, which are very similar. Both prayers highlight the beliefs of the Catholic Church and during the “Profession of Faith” at mass, the prayers are said. As people of the Catholic Church, we recite exactly what we believe as a Church and are reminded of it every time we celebrate the mass.
“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of all that is visible and invisible.” This highlights that even though we believe in the Trinity, we believe in ONE God, and that he has created EVERYTHING. “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made." This part of the creed explains Jesus and God, and the relationship between them as the same being from one God, just in different forms. "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man." Jesus became human through the power of God’s Holy Spirit which allowed the Virgin Mary to conceive. "For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried." Jesus chose to give up his life and be brutally crucified so that WE could spend eternity with him in Heaven. "On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end." Jesus rose and conquered death, and is in Heaven with God the Father, as one, but in two forms. Jesus will come again, and this talks about his second coming, and how because we are able to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus, his kingdom will NEVER end! "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets." The Holy Spirit is from God and Jesus, and is His presence on Earth and how he is in a relationship with us on Earth. God, Jesus along with the Holy Spirit are all within the Father, and are all worshipped without being separated. This is the Trinity: three persons, one God! "We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church." As Catholics, we believe that the “one” church Jesus started on Earth was the Catholic Church. It is “holy” in the sense that God is completely a part of all we do as Catholics and what we believe. And “catholic” (with a lowercase ‘c’) means ‘all-embracing’ or whole, or diversified, which implies that the Catholic Church is true world-wide and throughout the eternity of time. “Apostolic” means that we follow the Pope’s guidance, and have since the church was started by Jesus, with our first pope, Peter. "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." When someone is baptised, they are in union with God and the rest of their lives they hopefully spend growing closer (or possibly further) from him. We also believe that Jesus forgives all of our sins, as long as we repent and are truly sorry from them, and this happens in the sacrament of Reconciliation. "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." We believe that when Christ comes again, we will be reunited with our bodies in a glorified way, similar to Christ’s resurrected Body. We do not know exactly what this will look like. And we look forward to the life of the world to come which is eternal blessedness in the company of the angels and the saints in constant praise and love of God. We will want for nothing and all suffering will be no more. "Amen.” We believe all that we have said! Fun fact: The Nicene Creed is actually called the “Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed”, although that would be a mouthful to say, so Nicene works. I hope this gave you a bit better understanding of the prayer that we might recite during mass, and if you notice that you’re praying this one at mass, try to pay attention to what you and others are actually saying you believe in!
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PulsePulse is our Jr High group (Grades 6-9) for those who want to be journeying to learn more about God and how He fits into this crazy thing called life! From Saint of the Day to talks to activities, we work to understand more about our faith and its importance in our everyday lives as we all work to become modern day saints. Categories
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