Our Life With God: The Basics of our Faith

PLEASE NOTE:
The following book is a work in progress. The final version of this book shall be a Ukrainian Catholic R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) Program. This version has been prepared so that those young people who are traveling on the “Caravan for Christ” (the official Western Canadian Ukrainian Catholic Pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto) may use it as a catechetical program during their voyage.

The final version will include sections on the Liturgy, History of the Church, the sacraments (in much greater detail), the liturgical year, the Theotokos and saints, and much, much more.

A special thanks to the following people for their contributions:

We would really appreciate your feedback. Please E-mail any comments to: kadylo@telusplanet.net and or chancery@edmontoneparchy.com

As Christians we are all “torch bearers.” We have received the light of life from its source in God. The torch was handed to us by a great line of believers stretching back to Christ himself . . . If we fail to pass on the lighted torch they have given us, we fail not only them but we also deprive countless others in the future of the light of Christ. 1

This book is an introduction to the fundamental beliefs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. It is intended to be read by those who have no prior exposure to the Ukrainian Catholic Church, for those who are learning about the faith in preparation for baptism, and for those believers who wish to broaden or deepen their knowledge of the faith.

This book provides information about the teachings and practices of the faith for us to study, analyze and evaluate. Those believers who have gone before us have left us their wisdom and experience of God. This experience, which we call Tradition, we use as a guide in our own relationship with God here and now. Just as God has worked in the past, God is active and present today in our midst. We learn the patterns of how God has worked in the past to help us to see how God is working in our presence.

Learning about the Tradition of our faith is an example of intellectual learning. We learn about God, and about how God works in the world. However, we must realize that faith is about far more than intellectual knowledge. Faith is about a relationship, the experience of being with God. The knowledge of God that we are called to involves the total person: the heart, the emotions, the senses, the intellect and the intuition. We are called not only to know about God, but to know God Himself, to experience God and to be in relationship with God.

We encourage the reader to pray while using this book and to pray frequently, including participation in the liturgical life (worship) of the church. Prayer is being with God, and knowing God by being with God, just as we get to know people by being with them.

So read on then, in a spirit of prayer, the spirit of “faith, hope and love,” knowing that we, the authors, also pray for you. May you find in this book, and in the pages of divine scriptures, and in everything that is good, pure beautiful and lovely, the path which leads to Christ Jesus to the fullness of eternal life!