Spiritual Family Methodology

When God created the world, he made us to be in union with Him as the Trinitarian God, in communion with our fellow man, and in wholeness with our body and soul. When sin entered, it created a divide between what was meant to be one. Our relationship with God and others was broken. Our experiences within our body and spirit are disordered.

When Jesus died on the cross, he became that bridge for us to come back into union and communion with God, the saints, and in the wholeness of ourselves. Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth of all things, and the source of all life. Jesus conquered what sin brought into the world—death—and gave us the path to live the abundant life in the Kingdom of God. The plan is to become like Jesus as he taught us. When we fail, we can repent of our sin, return to God, and re-enter our relationships. Every time we fall, we are given another chance to get up and try again and continue on the journey of following Jesus to heaven. But then, the journey is heaven because of our growing union with him and how he mends our relationship with others and the alignment of our body and spirit as one. He will increase our faith in God, hope in his promises, and love for one another that will remain through the trials and disciplines we go through in life.

Jesus opened the way for us: he established the Catholic Church. By the cross, he espoused us to himself so that he can make us like him and he can bring us to heaven. He grows his perfection in us and we are granted entry into heaven by our union with him. Through the consecrated hands of those who have received holy orders, we are given the sacraments of Baptism, the Eucharist, and Confirmation—the vehicles Jesus chose to bring about our Divine Union with him. Once a soul receives these sacraments, these realities are true in the present and for eternity. However, because we are not in heaven yet where our union will be perfect, the human race will continue to fall back into its broken tendencies that bring division between God, others, and our body and soul. Examples of our fallen tendencies are idolatry, tribalism, elitism, self-independence, defiance, dehumanization, utilitarianism, deception, perfectionism, objectifying, over-spiritualizing, over-rationalizing, indulgence, etc. These broken tendencies won't change, but we will see a new iteration of them from generation to generation. 

Because we are made for communion, our minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits are oriented toward becoming one with something outside of ourselves. That is why it is of utmost importance that we are aware of our surroundings and intentionally choose what we allow into our lives. We want our minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits to be one with Jesus so that we can remain in the Kingdom of God on earth and into heaven.

The scriptures reveal to us the most effective way to keep the wholeness of our human experience in alignment with Jesus' human experience. That is to live in community with God's Family, his Kingdom on earth: a community that gives its full submission to God and enthrones Jesus as the Lord of their life, with all its joys and all its sorrows; a community that remembers it is Jesus who saves them when they experience the effects of their broken human tendencies; a community that keeps the vision of heaven always in view; a community that lifts its voices in praise of Jesus both now and forever; a community that treasures the unique reflection of God in each of his brothers and sisters in Christ; a community that lives the interdependence of one another’s unique vocation and gifts to build up the Kingdom through love, relationship, service, and mission; a community that holds its brothers and sisters accountable to their belonging to Jesus and to each other. Our minds, hearts, and spirits grow to become one with Jesus' and therefore one with the whole Mystical Body of Christ.

The world is constantly changing but God remains the same. 
It takes a community to help us remain who we are in God's Kingdom.