At the Easter Vigil this year, the Catholic Church received me into full communion.  Along the road to this night, Monsignor Peter Vaghi, pastor of the Church of the Little Flower, met with me over many months to teach me the Catholic faith.  As a resource, we read four books he wrote about the pillars of the Catholic Faith.

We began our discussion with The Faith We Profess: A Catholic Guide to the Apostles’ Creed.  Pope Benedict referred to the Apostle’s Creed as the “summary of everything we believe.”

The Apostles’ Creed has twelve articles (like the twelve disciples) and is broken into three sections on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Studying the Creed can be intellectual and spiritual.  “Religious by nature,” we humans are “created to transcend ourselves.”  The Apostles’ Creed gives us a view of the transcendent that we seek.

At the Easter Vigil, one particular song, based on the “litany of saints,” moved me the most.  The singer invokes the heroes of the faith, name by name, asking for their assistance and prayer.

The Apostles’ Creed affirms the belief in the communion of saints as a vital part of the Christian faith. G. K. Chesterton referred to this as the “democracy of the dead” which reflects the continuous witness to the truth through history.

To read the Apostles’ Creed is to understand better the faith Catholics profess.  Using the Creed as a mirror, “look at yourself” St. Augustine suggested, “to see if you believe everything you say you believe.” Such reflections on the Creed might lead you in unexpected directions, as it did for me.