“You formed my inmost being; You knit me in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13 These beautiful words, this awesome truth, as revealed to us in the Psalms give us a small taste of God’s great love for us, His creation. Each of us is specially formed by the Creator of the universe. And from our creation on, God continues to form us and to call us to be formed. Our Baptism immerses us into God’s family, gracing us with the Holy Spirit to become more like Christ and build his kingdom. The Sacraments continue these forming graces. God places others in our lives to guide and direct us to closer relationship with Him. And, then, of course, some of our formation depends upon our own initiative…through seeking and devoting time to it!
We are created in the image and likeness of God. And becoming more of this image requires us to better know God, for how can we hope to fully become what we do not know? So, in addition to the sacraments and others He places in our lives, God gives us specialty “tools” to come to know Him and be like Him: prayer and study. And study of our faith is easier and more readily available than it’s ever been.
Have you discovered Formed.org yet? Our parish offers all parishioners a free account, and we currently have 330 users from St. John. It’s easy! Just click here, create a user name, and a personal password (a special code is no longer needed), and you’re all set to start using the plethora of free materials, from books to audio to video–for adults and kids! Plus check out our recommendations on our St. John homepage on Formed.org.
In addition to formed.org, we recently started what we hope will become a monthly feature in our bulletin, a section you may have noticed two weeks ago called “Curiosity Corner.” The first topic was Divine Mercy Sunday, and at Formed.org, you can find out even more about this special day and the gift of Divine Mercy.
The further we dive into learning about our rich Catholic faith–the more we are formed–and couple that with prayer, we begin to know and be conformed to God’s will and be transformed into his apostles. Learn from the saints and theologians, learn from some of the best Catholic teachers of our time…so much is available on Formed.org. The apostle Paul echoes God’s own yearning that we be formed in Christ when he writes, “My children, for who I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19)