The Way or Catholicism
The Way
In the early years after the death of Christ and when his Disciples were the Catechists, the Catholic Religion was simply called "The Way." Although, I haven't been taught this and it is an assumption on my part tothink the term must have come from the teachings of Christ when he said, "I am THE WAY, the truth and the light....." The Apostles simply called their religious teachings "The Way."
The symbolism is there for us to follow today. We need to be mindful of the teachings of Christ and choose to follow him in our daily lives. We need to make what we have learned THE WAY we lead our lives.
We can pray for the poor, but do we support people we know need our help? How do you do this? Simply by sharing what you have in any way you can. You can give to the homeless or your time to the Soup Kitchen or you can simply put a donation in the poor box at your church. It will find it's way to the people who need it.
Giving from the heart is not the same as giving from a surplus in our own lives. The best gift is the one you can't really afford yourself but choose to give it anyway. I have heard that God rewards you three times over but this is not a reason for giving.
Today the Catholic Church is simply called Catholic Church, but we need to fall back a number of centuries and take on the old way of following Christ. A good way to do this is to remember to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, which is the second most important commandment. We need to assess our own inner beings and choose to live in the way that Christ taught us by giving alms to and clothing the poor. We are to give comfort to the sick and tend to their needs even when it isn't convenient for us to do that. By just visiting an acquaintance in the hospital with a few cheery words is sometimes the best thing that happened to that person that day. Your prayers are always needed but going out of your way to help those who need it is ever so much more effective.
I heard a far better lecturer than myself speak on this and I'm trying to convey the feeling of inner spiritualism his words gave me. It made me want to try to convey his message to you. I hope I've done that.
