OCIA is the process for interested persons to become a part of the Catholic Church.  It has its origins in the earliest centuries of the Church as a way of welcoming new members into the Catholic community.  OCIA is about growing in faith as we respond to the words of Jesus: “Come, follow me.”

The OCIA program is intended to serve:

• The unbaptized who would like to learn more about the Catholic faith.

• Those baptized in another religion who may wish to become Catholic.

• Those baptized Catholics who have not completed the Sacraments of Initiation (Eucharist and Confirmation).

OCIA provides an opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge of the Catholic tradition through weekly meetings which include prayer, study, and discussion.  These meetings combined with the experience of Mass, Parish life, and Church teaching all work together to bring a deeper understanding of the beauty of our faith.

If you, a loved one, or a friend would like to know more about OCIA, please call MJ Antone at 904-222-0608, or email mjstpaulre@gmail.com.  For children over the age of seven, contact Carol Burns at 904-249-2660 or email cburns@stpaulsjaxbeach.org.

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What are we professing when we recite The Nicene Creed?

Imagine a world where Christianity was often misunderstood.  Where people followed a distorted version of Jesus, one that denied his divine nature.  That’s exactly what was happening in the 4th century, when a priest named Arius denied that Jesus was truly God.  His ideas spread quickly, dividing the early Church and threatening the core of Christian belief.  To stop this, bishops from around the Christian world met at the Council of Nicaea to clarify the truth. The result? The Nicene Creed.

It was a bold declaration that Jesus was not just a wise teacher, or a holy man, but God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.  1,700 years later, Christianity is once again misunderstood.  Skeptics argue that Jesus was just another religious leader, and many Christians miss the depth of our ancient statement of faith.  Bishop Barron’s new book, What Christians Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed is meant to change that by guiding readers through the Creed line by line to clarify what Christians truly believe.

St. Paul’s is honored to have a generous donor who has gifted us with free copies of this book, and Fr. Maurice, Fr. Ernest, and Deacon Mike will be donating their time and talent to help us understand and defend what we believe so that we can do a better job of evangelizing our culture.

Books will be available next weekend in the church lobby and our book study will begin Tuesday, August 26th at 6:30 in the Family Life Center.  Please plan to join us for the next 8 weeks as we explore what Christians actually believe through the Nicene Creed.