Welcome to Session 1 of this 30-session program of recordings, Hearing God’s Call: An Audio Introduction to the Catholic Faith. The series is produced by the National Centre for Evangelisation. The title of this session is Welcome and Introduction.

As you listen to this series of audio recordings you are invited to enter into a deep, rich and fulfilling relationship with God through the Catholic faith.

These recordings are designed to be listened to from beginning to end, at your own pace with each 10-minute session building on the sessions that have come before.

There are a broad range of topics explored in this program, which begins with stories of saints and heroes from the Bible and the history of the Church, moves then to examine some of the core beliefs of the Catholic Church before exploring the topic of prayer.

The program concludes with a session on the topic of Catholic social thought and offers some suggestions as to what resources you might want to get to assist you in your search for God who is calling you.

Each of us is called by God to fulfil a particular mission or vocation. Our task is to respond to the call. In this session we explore stories of call as recorded in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. We begin with the call of Abram, later named by God, Abraham.

In this session we explore stories of call and response as proclaimed by the prophets in the Old Testament.

The prophets provide us with powerful examples of call and response in prayer and action. Each prophet writes of his experience in his own way. From the many great prophets we briefly examine four: Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Micah.

This session explores stories of call as recorded in the Gospels, which are found in the second part of the Bible; the New Testament. The specific stories examined are the call from God to Mary through an angel, the call to Joseph in a dream and the call from Jesus to the first disciples.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. The apostles Peter and Paul provided the foundation and vision for the Church to consolidate and grow through the exercise of pastoral care and authority and the clear articulation of teaching. The Church celebrates a combined feast day for Saints Peter and Paul on the 29th June each year.

In sessions 2, 3 and 4 we explored the idea of call and response by looking at figures in the Bible. In this session we examine Saint Mary MacKillop and Saint Francis of Assisi.

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In this session we look at two different heroes of the Catholic Church: Dorothy Day and Saint Vincent de Paul.

In this session we look at two different stories of call or vocation. The first story tells of a young woman Thérèse of Lisieux who found God in the midst of the small joys and sufferings of life. The second story tells of a bishop, Saint Francis de Sales who, in the midst of violence and division, wrote about the rich diversity of the Christian world.

The Bible is the most printed book in history. The Bible is also referred to as Sacred Scripture or simply, the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit is the source of life for the Church. This one source has two aspects: The Bible and the living tradition of trustworthy teaching. This living tradition has been handed down in an unbroken line from the apostles who knew Jesus to the present time.