Part One : Summarization of Ten Characteristics
1. Evangelical Catholicism is friendship with the Lord Jesus.
Focused on a personal encounter with the person of Jesus
Friendship with Jesus conforms our lives to self-sacrifical love
Gives the postmodern world freedom from the guilt of the past
2. Evangelical Catholicism affirms divine revelation and embraces its authority, which continues through history in the teaching authority of the Church.
Embraces Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who chose to preserve the truth through the Apostles, passed onto the Bishops
Encorporates one into the unity of the Church
The authority of the Church is Christ's authority and allows me to live in a fully human …show more content…
Evangelical Catholicism is a call to constant conversion of life....
Conversion is a continual rejection of evil and a turning towards Christ which allows the Church to continually be renewed
The moral life allows for the ordering of mind and heart to be fixed on God, and requires frequent self-examination
Conversion prevents and restores breaks in communion and provides a foundation for works of charity
5. Evangelical Catholicism is a litrugically centered form of Catholic life....
The beauty of liturgy provides a pathway to God in this “disenchanted” world, showing that Christians are disciples of the beautiful nature of Jesus Christ
There is an understanding that the liturgy is primarily God's work which we participate in an act of grace,
Worship is giving God what is due, but it is done so with joy because of friendship and missionary fervour
6. Evangelical Catholicism is a biblically centered form of Catholic life...
The Holy Scriptures provide a central way of encountering the living God
Evangelical Catholicism reads the Bible as a whole with a well informed theological lenses
There is call for daily reading and study of the Bible, and for it to be the foundation of all programs and …show more content…
The third characteristic of Evangelical Catholicsm stresses the importance of a sacramental life. The Sacraments are concrete avenues of grace which allow us to enter more fully into relationship with Jesus and his Church. In the New Evangelization, people are longing to encounter Christ spiritually and physically. The sacraments provide an answer for this since they are tangible yet also call us deeper into the mystery of God, that mystery which ignites a desire for more. I have come to rely so deeply on the grace of the sacraments and have seen myself grow tremdously through frequent reception of Confession, and the Eucharist. Also, a greater understanding of the graces of Baptism and Confirmation have enabled to to take confidence in call to live joyfully and with purpose. I believe that for all Catholics, a sacramental life enables the encounter that is essential for growth in friendship with