7 paths for growing in your spiritual life

Our Catholic faith is so rich, sometimes it's hard to know where to start if we want to learn more about it. Should we sit down and read the Bible? Read the Catechism? Discover more about the saints?

The Institute of Catholic Culture-a free adult faith formation platform offering live seminars on a myriad of topics-says that there are any number of ways you can approach increasing your knowledge of the faith. Whether you consider a certain subject area at a time or immerse in topics as you encounter them, as you grow in knowledge, you will increase your capacity to grow in your spiritual life as well.

Here are just 7 paths you could take to continue your faith education:

1. Apologetics: Study the teachings of the Church not only so you understand them more fully, but also so you can defend or explain those teachings to others! Answer questions such as: is there really any evidence Christ rose from the dead? How do we know the world was created by someone? What does it mean to say that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist? https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/living-bread/

2. Church History: Its pretty amazing that our Church has been around 2,000 years! There is so much we can learn from the Christians who have come before us and their relationships with the Lord. Just a few examples include learning about what really happened in the Crusades, how the blood of martyrs has fed our Church, and about how Pope Saint John Paul II helped bring about the fall of the Soviet Union. https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/blood-of-the-martyrs/

3. Sacred Scripture: If the only time you are hearing the Scriptures is on Sunday during Mass, you're missing out! The Bible is literally God's Word written for us. There is so much we can learn about our own spiritual journey from passages such as Christ's sacrifice during the Passion, what Scripture has to say about Christ's Second Coming, and what the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple has to do with our salvation.  https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/mine-eyes-have-seen-thy-salvation/

4. Theology: What about the many questions we have about God and our understanding of Him? Learn more about the meaning of the Sacraments, how the devil deceives us, and how we can find freedom from spiritual bondage. https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/who-am-i-to-judge/

5. Catholic Culture: One of the many things to love about being Catholic is our many traditions and practices. You can more fully live out your Catholic faith by embracing Catholic culture. Celebrate feast days! Gain an appreciation of Sacred art and architecture. Discover God's fingerprint in things of this world. https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/discovering-gods-fingerprint-at-the-san-gennaro-festival/

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6. Our Modern World: As Catholics, how do we approach some of the critical debates of our time? Our faith shines light on everything that happens in the world and through that lens we can understand more fully what positions to take on issues like politics, homosexual marriage, religious liberty, and more. https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/liberty-religion-and-matrimony/

7. Philosophy: If we approach the world with an inquiring mind, some significant questions arise about the nature of reality: Is there such a thing as objective truth? What does true freedom really consist of? Are science and faith at odds with each other? Delving into these questions gives us the foundation we need to approach our faith with greater wisdom and clarity. https://instituteofcatholicculture.org/talk/understanding-understanding/

The Institute of Catholic Culture offers seminars (live in Northern Virginia and through live web streaming) on all of these topics and more. Plus, they have 700+ hours of video content in their library from past seminars. It's all free-part of an apostolate that seeks to invite men and women to enter more deeply into all that our Catholic faith has to offer.

(visit www.instituteofcatholicculture.org)

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