Becoming Catholic (OCIA)

We are so glad you are interested in the Catholic faith!

We would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss your faith journey and if our OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) program is right for you!

Read below about what it means to be Catholic, and contact Tara for more information or to begin the initiation process.

What it Means to Be Catholic:

(click to download pdf)

We Believe

• God created human beings to be in perfect union with him and with one another. However, the sin of our first parents – called Original Sin – deprived us of our original holiness.
• Throughout history, God has worked to restore the love and trust that was lost through Original Sin by entering into covenants with his people.
• God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as savior for the human race. Christ, both true God and true man, became the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of the relationship between God and humankind.
• Following his death, Jesus was brought back to life in the Resurrection. Christ overcame death and opened Heaven’s gates for all the just.
• God has revealed himself to be Trinity, one God in three distinct and divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit has been at work in the world since the beginning of Creation, one with the Father and the Son, and is our advocate.
• Christ established the Catholic Church on the foundation of the Apostles. Christ and the Holy Spirit revealed the fullness of Truth to the Apostles and entrusted this sacred tradition to their successors: the pope and bishops.
• We profess all these beliefs in the Nicene Creed:
  I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
  maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
  I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, 
  born of the Father before all ages. 
  God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, 
  begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; 
  through him all things were made. 
  For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, 
  and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, 
  he suffered death and was buried, 
  and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. 
  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 
  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, 
  who proceeds from the Father and the Son, 
  who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, 
  who has spoken through the prophets.
  I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. 
  I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins 
  and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. 
  Amen.

We Worship

• We are called to participate in the liturgy, the official communal worship of the Church. The Mass is the central liturgy of the Church and the basis for most other liturgical celebrations.
• Our Mass structure includes two parts:
  1. The Liturgy of the Word includes readings from the Scriptures that usually include an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a New Testament reading, and a Gospel Reading.
  2. The Liturgy of the Eucharist involves an offering of the gifts of bread and wine (and the gift of ourselves), the consecration of the gifts, and the receipt of the Lord in Holy Communion (the Sacrament of Eucharist). 
• We celebrate the reception of seven Sacraments, tangible signs of God’s grace instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, the Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.
• The Sacrament of Eucharist, receiving the Body and Blood of Christ at the Mass, is our central gift of grace. In memory of the death of Jesus to save us from our sins, we do as he asked and participate in as well as honor his sacrifice.
• We believe that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, our offering of bread and wine is transformed during the Mass into the Body and Blood of Christ, called the Real Presence, and we are healed and strengthened by receiving his grace in the Sacrament of Eucharist. 
• We believe that only Catholics who have been taught the tenets of the faith (and participated in First Communion) should receive the Lord in the Sacrament of Eucharist, as they understand and believe in that Real Presence.
• We celebrate various seasons and feasts throughout the year, according to the liturgical calendar. These include Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time. Each of these seasons and feasts alters aspects of our worship, but the structure of the Mass and the receipt of the Sacrament of Eucharist remain unchanged. 

We Live

• God gave us free will; we can consciously choose the truly good life and can evaluate the morality of our behavior both before and after we act.
• When we choose to do wrong instead of doing good, we sin, hurting our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with God. 
• We are called to repent (and to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation) and to continually form our consciences to help us make better choices in the future.
• We are called to follow the Ten Commandments:
  1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.
  2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
  3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
  4. Honor your father and your mother.
  5. You shall not kill.
  6. You shall not commit adultery.
  7. You shall not steal.
  8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
• We are also called to follow Catholic social teaching, including honoring the dignity of all human life, having a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, and caring for God’s creation.

We Pray

• In prayer we lift our hearts and minds to God, praising him, thanking him for the blessings he has given us, asking for his forgiveness, and requesting his help for ourselves and for others.
• We speak to God with both extemporaneous (unrehearsed and conversational) prayer and through rote (pre-written) prayers like the Our Father, the Rosary, and other devotional prayers. We pray privately, together with family, and communally in worship.
• We make the Sign of the Cross at the beginning and end of our prayers remembering that we belong to God: “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
• We pray through our reading of the Scriptures, which we believe are written by men but divinely inspired by God.
• We believe in a communion of saints, that those who have led holy lives and are in Heaven with God are willing and able to pray to God for us, to intercede and to strengthen our prayer. We, therefore, can ask the saints for their intercession, but we do not worship them.
• We believe Mary, Mother of God, is also Queen of All Saints. She holds a special place in our faith as also Mother of the Church. We also pray for her intercession, asking her to pray for us, but we also do not worship Mary.
• We use icons or images of Jesus and the saints to assist in our prayer, but we do not worship those objects, only the God who made us.

For more information 
or to begin the process of becoming Catholic, contact:

Tara Stepanek, pastoral associate
314-739-0230, ext. 112
tstepanek@holyspiritstl.org