As they were watching Jesus he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
(New Revised Standard Version)
Today we look at the Catholic Church. By that we mean the Roman Catholic Church, for the word "catholic" means "universal" and is used by many other denominations in worship (see near the end of the Nicene Creed). There are roughly some 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world, whose leader is the Pope. The Roman Catholic Church believes in the following:
These statements hide a lot of differences (eg that the bread and wine at the Eucharist/Mass becomes the body and blood of Jesus), but there are also many points of agreement with non-Roman catholic Christians. Perhaps we should pray a little harder for reconciliation with each other!
Almighty God,
we pray for unity among Christian churches
around the world.
As we seek to follow Your will,
may Your presence guide and unite us
in love and purpose.
We ask for Your intervention
in overcoming barriers that separate us
and for Your grace to foster collaboration
and understanding among believers.
Help us to work together in harmony
to advance Your kingdom
and share the good news of Jesus Christ.
May our global unity reflect Your love and power,
and may we be a beacon of hope and unity
in a divided world. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
(from 'Godsverse')
You might like to look at this report from the Catholic News Agency (NCA) produced this January: