From Aleteia:
The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.
Day 2 (CCC 11 - 25): the four pillars of the Catechism are Profession of Faith, the Sacraments of Faith, Life of Faith (moral teachings), and Prayer in the Life of Faith. When we share the teachings of the Church, we should meet the people where they are at in their faith journey, their age, season of life, etc., but always with charity (love). Most of all, let the end goal of learning be love of our Lord and sharing that love with each other.
From Bishop Cozzen:
Authority is a great gift because it allows us to be obedient. What saved us? It was by the obedience of the Son to the Father that saves us. Our obedience unites us to our Lord Jesus Christ's obedience which unites us to God Himself.
Day 3 (Intro with Jeff Cavins"): There is a lot of unpack in this episode but my biggest take away is that there are two movements we should have when we read or listen to the Catechism - intellectual assent and personal entrustment. For me, the first two pillars - Profession of Faith and Sacraments of Faith - is the intellectual assent, us receiving God's revelation. Then, the second two pillars - Life of Faith (moral teachings) and Prayer in the Life of Faith - is us entrusting ourselves to God and our belief in what He has revealed to us is Truth. God reveals Himself to us through words and deeds; we are called to respond to God's revelation to us in faith through words and deeds. Most of all, it is encountering the living Word of God and entrusting our lives to our Creator.
Day 4 (CCC 26 - 35): God created us out of love and, through His love, we are sustained. We can know our Creator in His Creation (the world around us both natural - fellow human beings, animals, etc. - and artificial - cars, houses, etc.) and our heart seeks a relationship with our Lord God and our heart is restless unless it rests in God our Father. We need intellect, sound will (not fickle), upright heart (depth of character), and witness of others to help us to know God in our lives. The beauty in the world points us to the beauty of our Creator. We need His grace to know Him, to believe in Him, and to have a personal relationship with Him. That is our prayer.
Day 5 (CCC 36 - 43): In His Creation, especially man who is created in God's image and likeness, God reveals Himself to us. Therefore, God is knowable through the gift of reason even though we are limited by our fears and imagination and even our words to fully know God. However, the words we use to describe God tells us what He is and, at the same time, tells us what He is not. For instance, we call God, Father; however, our Father in heaven is a loving Father even if our earthly father might not be. Throughout Scripture, particularly with our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels, God tells us "Do not be afraid." Let us not be afraid to come to Jesus and know Him better.
Day 6 (CCC 44 - 49): Today is a recap. We can know God through His Creation, including each other - man. Man are by nature physical and spiritual (religious) beings. We are also called to a vocation in our life that gives us purpose, which fulfills our desire for "more" in our life. When we find our purpose in God and unite our will with His will, we have joy even in the midst of trials and tribulations. Moreover, faith and science go hand in hand - questions of science is "what is this and how did it come about?" and the questions of faith is "who made this and why? - they do not contradict each other but complement each other and help us to find meaning and purpose in our life. Moreover, objective truth can never be replaced by subjective (experiences) truth. "Without the Creator, the creature vanishes" (Guadium et spes).
Day 7 (CCC 50 - 58): God comes to meet man. God reveals Himself so that man can know Him and love Him "far beyond our own natural capacity." Throughout Scriptures, we read how God reveal Himself to His people through the His covenants because He refuses to abandon us to death, even though we reject Him time and time again. Providentially, in the first reading for today, Saint John had this to write: "If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life." God does not give up on us sinners; therefore, let us not give up on each other when we sin but let us rather be like God and forgive each other and help each other.
Day 8 (CCC 59 - 64): Who we know God to be is revealed to us in stages by Him. For example, who we know God to be as a child is different than when we are adults. God is the same, but our understanding of God as He reveals Himself to us is different based on our age, experiences, and understanding. Jesus is the one who fulfills the old covenant and establishes the new and everlasting covenant that is written on our hearts. Fr. Mike believes that God moves slowly so we retain the freedom to deny Him, the freedom to reject Him, and the freedom to love Him. Finally, the holy women, including Mary, suffered but always remain hopeful in God so we can look to their examples in our own lives.
Day 9 (CCC 65 - 73): Throughout salvation history, God spoke to his people through the prophets. In the fullness of time, He spoke through His Word, by His Son, and has no more to say. Therefore, let us know be prideful and offend God by asking Him to reveal something new or different than what He has already revealed to us through His Son. As Saint John of the Cross teaches us, "Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty." No matter how often we ask Him, His answer will not change. . . His Word. Take the Baptism of the Lord for example, which we celebrate today, the Holy Trinity is revealed to us and we do not fully understand it but grasp the significance of this revelation over time. As for "private revelations", the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and Divine Mercy, the message contains nothing contrary to "faith and moral" but help us grow in piety.
Day 10 (CCC 74 - 79): The deposit of faith, the revelation of God through His Word (our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), is transmitted from generation to generation in word and Tradition of the Catholic Church. This is so that God's will for "everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth" can be carried out by the apostles and the Church. CCC 79 - God continues to speak with the spouse of His Beloved Son, the Church, so that the fullness of truth can be revealed to the faithful people of God in all its richness, handed on through the apostolic succession - from the apostles to the bishops of the Church. Therefore, let us take that baton and run with it, and pass it on to the next person, especially fathers and mothers to their children. I always tell engaged and married couples that the greatest gift that can give their children the the gift of faith in Jesus Christ so that in difficult times, they know that they are loved by their Father in heaven.
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