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Dear
New Parishioners: One of the
most important parts of the Universal Church
is the parish. The reason is because the
parish impacts on people's lives. It is in
this setting that personal faith finds
communal support. Here, together we receive
the Body and Blood of Christ and listen to the
Word of God proclaimed. Here, sins are
forgiven in Reconciliation. Here, in the
company of others, life's most significant
passages take on eternal dimension: the birth
of a child in Baptism, the beginnings of
adulthood in Confirmation, the love of a man
and a woman in Marriage, the passing of a
loved one in Christian Burial.
The parish is
a living, breathing entity because in it God
interacts with His people. It is a
mystery because people themselves are
transformed into what they would not otherwise
be: Christ's Mystical Body -- His hands and
feet, His eyes and mouth, His ambassadors to
this time and place. |
