One of the more confusing parts of our redemption is how we are made righteous by Christ. Many want to call Christians a bunch of hypocrites, but such a charge misses the fact that we are sinners saved by grace.

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At the heart of the gospel proclamation is the message that we are new creatures. There is a new birth of our souls that is the seed of redemption for our complete human nature. If we can grasp this it will cause us to see how we relate to each other in a communion of fellowship with God.

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Too often people limit the grace of God to only a spiritual redemption. They end up seeing their struggle with temptation as a fight they cannot win because their nature is corrupted and they are too weak to overcome sinful desires. Or they only see ailments in their bodies as a hindrance that they will never overcome. But, redemption is something that has been acquired for our entire being, body and soul. This was the message found behind the Theology of the Body message of St. John Paul II. And if we will understand this, we too can become saints and overcomers in the world through the redemption we inherit as part of the communion of saints.

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What makes faith more definite than a firm adherence to the truths that God has revealed? If we truly do not add to, nor take away from the message of the gospel we will have the word that God spoke for us to live by.

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Jesus did not have honor in his home town. There they knew of his history. They knew him as a little boy that did no miraculous deeds. And, when he came home as a celebrity they wanted him to amaze them. But, when he told them that they would not see the miraculous because of how they perceived him, they got mad. They wanted to kill him. They acted in a very unloving manner.

But, God calls us to love. To be merciful. And this is the lesson for today.

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Today is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, otherwise known as "Candlemas." This day recalls the presentation of Christ in the Temple according to the Old Testament Laws. It is a day that reminds us of the good works that we are to be doing, not as a means of earning salvation, but rather as a way to reveal or present Christ to others.

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In recent decades there has been a great confusion over whether or not one can have mansions and money and things and be a righteous person. This is due in part to a war that has been ongoing between those of the prosperity gospel message and those who see poverty as a sign of humility.

But, the answer to which of these perspectives is truly proper is something that the catechism informs us is based on our detactment from the things of this world and our stewardship of them before God. Because in Christianity our relationship with God is paramount. We must love the Lord our God above all things and not have a love of money or some other gain.

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Many people have a false understanding about Christianity because they think the wrong thoughts about it. It is more these false notions that are to blame for a poor experience of Catholicism and Christianity than that the teaching of Christ found in them are false.

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Why should anyone be a Christian at all? Is the only benefit about knowing that when you die you will go to heaven or is there more?

While it is true that the gospel is a message about our salvation from eternal damnation, it is also a message about how we can live a life overcoming sin and various bad situations in our lives because God is for us.

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Is faith something that causes change or is it an attitude that believes in things that cannot be seen? The simple answer is that when we believe we perceive the world in a way that makes spiritual realities something we experience in our everyday lives.

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