1. Special gifts of the Catholic Tradition

2. An Emphasis on the Communal We believe that God works through community, not just individuals We need the guidance and the fellowship of community “It is not good for man to be alone”

3. Commitment to Faith and Reason We recognize faith as a relationship and a gift from God We recognize that through the study of scripture, science, anthropology, history, languages, etc… we can come to know more about our faith, God, and ourselves

4. Love for the Saints Part of the emphasis on the communal We see and admire the saints’ love for God and long to imitate that

5. A Sense of the Sacramental We see all the world as sacred and filled with God’s presence We use symbols and rituals to make God’s presence known “That is why I have told you so often, and hammered away at it, that the Christian vocation consists in making heroic verse out of the prose of each day. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my children, on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your everyday lives.”