Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch - USA

05/31/2026

What God is, we, created in God’s image, are to be.

In Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9, we learn about God’s qualities directly from God. God tells Moses that God is “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, 7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin….” We, too, should strive to exhibit these traits.

(Scripture quote from World English Bible.)

05/31/2026

On this Trinity Sunday, we turn our hearts toward the great mystery at the center of our faith: the Holy Trinity. God is One, yet God is also a living communion—Creator, Word, and Spirit—eternally giving, receiving, and sharing love. This divine life is not distant from us; it is the pattern of our own being. We are made in the image of a God whose very essence is relationship. To contemplate the Trinity is to remember that we are not meant to stand alone, nor to live guarded and divided, but to move in harmony with God and with one another. When we forget this, when we act as if we are self-contained or self-sufficient, we drift away from the flow of divine life. That drifting is what gives rise to so much of the disorder, fear, and conflict we see in the world.

Jesus, the Christ, enters our history to draw us back into the life of the Trinity. His teachings reveal a way of being that restores balance: a way of mercy, truth, courage, and self-giving love. He shows us that right relationship—with God, with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with creation—is not an abstract ideal but a daily practice. When we forgive, when we listen with compassion, when we act with justice, when we choose peace over pride, we participate in the very life of God. We become instruments through which divine order can once again take root in a world that longs for healing.

May this feast of the Holy Trinity remind us that we are called not only to believe in God, but to live from God’s own pattern of communion. As we open ourselves to the Creator’s wisdom, Christ’s compassion, and the Spirit’s renewing power, may we become bearers of balance and blessing in all we do. May the Triune God guide us into deeper unity and, through us, bring forth a more harmonious world.

05/24/2026

Happy Pentecost, often called the birthday of the church!

Pentecost is a reminder that we each have spiritual gifts, whether or not currently known to us. Each of us! Everyone has their own gift/s, and each gift is equally important and needed. Our gift/s allow each of us, and all of us, to do the work God has called us to do in this world.

05/17/2026

Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8 is one of the readings for Sunday. Many of us may be feeling confused, upset, even afraid about the conditions in the world today. If you are feeling this way, please read the words of this psalm - it's about believing in and trusting God. It might help to read these words often.

05/10/2026

As we read Acts 8:5-8,14-17, we may recall that in other Biblical stories, the Samaritans, although disliked by the Jewish people, were given as examples. Jesus told of the Good Samaritan, who cared for the injured man when others walked on by. And it was a Samaritan woman who accepted him as the Messiah and ran to tell the others, who then came to the well to greet him. And, in today’s story, the Samaritans accepted the words of Phillip.
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Who, or what group of people might we turn away from, due to historic or cultural antagonisms? These stories may well suggest our error in doing so.

05/03/2026

In reading the scriptures: Acts 6:1-7, Psalm 33:1-2,4-5, 18-19; 1Peter 2:4-9, and John 14:1-12, learn how we are to live. We are to work together and to find solutions when disagreements arise. We are to worship and trust God. Knowing we are all part of a community, we are to accept our differences and try to follow Jesus’ model for living. Do we do this? If not always, perhaps we can ask for guidance.

04/26/2026

The gospel reading for today is John 10:1-10, in which Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd and a gate for sheep. Another reference about being a shepherd is found in Luke 15:4-7, and Jesus’ ministry gives many accounts of his actions as a leader. This leads to the questions: So, you say you want to be a leader – really? Are you sure? Consider this.

Are you ready for the difficulties? While there are many joys found in leadership, there are also difficulties. Successful leaders commit to giving a lot of their time and energy to the leadership role.

Leadership is often a 24-7 responsibility. Are you ready to guide and help all of your people, even those who may not like you or whom you find it hard to like? Are you willing to protect your church or other organization and the people involved like a Mama Bear protects her cubs? Are you ready to stand up, speak out, and put yourself on the line for your people? And, are you ready to try to lead like Jesus did, doing all of these things and others, with a lot of love?

If so, you just may be ready to be a leader! God bless!

04/20/2026

Luke 24:13-35 gives us the beloved story often referred to as the Walk to Emmaus. While some of the more prominent of Jesus' followers are hiding behind a locked door, others, like the two in this story, are heading home. Along the way, a stranger approaches, and they start to walk and talk. While some are hiding, these two tell a stranger all about the events of the past few days and their dashed hopes. Then, as is the custom, when they arrive home, they invite the stranger in. During the meal, he takes bread, gives a blessing, and when he hands them bread, they recognize him.

What if they hadn’t befriended a stranger? What if they hadn’t shared their faith? What if they hadn’t invited him in?

How many times do we avoid doing similar things – and what might we be missing when we do?

04/12/2026

In John 20:19-31, we learn of Thomas’ disbelief when the other disciples told him Jesus had appeared to them. It wasn’t until Thomas saw and touched Jesus himself that he believed.

Maybe we also doubt. Those among us who have been hurt by the church might be convinced that nothing real, good, and true could come from Christianity’s readings and teachings.

And maybe we all wonder, yet want to believe. Perhaps we can take some wisdom from the 12-step movement, where people who are doubtful are told to keep the best and leave the rest.

We will likely never find physical truth in many of the Christian stories, but we can find spiritual truth. It’s the best!

04/06/2026

Message to the Church – Easter 2026

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Risen!
In truth, he has risen!

In this holy season of the Resurrection, the Church proclaims with joy that Christ is risen. Yet the Gospel accounts remind us that the first experience of the Resurrection was not triumph, but fear. The disciples gathered behind closed doors, uncertain of what the future held, burdened by loss, confusion, and apprehension. Into that very space—into fear itself—the Risen Christ came and stood among them, saying, “Peace be with you.”

This is not incidental to the Paschal Mystery; it is central to it.

The Resurrection does not occur apart from the realities of human fear, suffering, and uncertainty. It unfolds precisely within them. The Risen Christ does not wait for courage to return, nor for clarity to be restored. He enters the locked rooms of the heart as they are, not as we would expect them to be. And there, in the midst of fear, he breathes peace.

This truth speaks powerfully to our own time. We live in a world marked by uncertainty, global instability, social division, war, personal anxiety, and the quiet burdens carried in the depths of many hearts. There are moments when it seems that we, too, are living behind closed doors, unsure of what lies ahead. Yet the message of Easter is not that such conditions disappear, but that Christ enters into them and transforms them from within.

At the same time, the Resurrection is not only a consolation for the human heart—it is the beginning of the renewal of all creation.

In rising from the dead, Christ does not stand apart from the world; He draws all things into new life. The Resurrection is cosmic in its scope. It is the first movement of a transformation that embraces not only humanity, but the whole of creation. What was fractured is being made whole. What was divided is being reconciled. What seemed bound to decay is being drawn into the life of God.

This means that the peace Christ speaks is not merely the absence of fear—it is the presence of a deeper reality. It is the quiet but unshakable assurance that even now, beneath the surface of our uncertainty, the life of God is at work, renewing, restoring, and bringing all things toward their fulfillment.

To believe in the Resurrection, then, is not simply to affirm that Christ rose long ago. It is to trust that his risen life is active here and now—in our world, in our communities, and within our own hearts. It is to recognize that no fear is so great, no suffering so profound, no moment so uncertain, that it lies outside the reach of His transforming presence.

As a Church, we are called to bear witness to this mystery—not only in word, but in the way we live. We are called to be a people who carry peace into fearful places, who embody hope in times of uncertainty, and who trust that even in the midst of struggle, the seeds of new life are already being sown.

In this Easter season, may we open the doors we have closed in fear, and allow the Risen Christ to stand among us. May we hear again his word of peace, and may that peace take root within us. And may we come to see, with renewed vision, that the Resurrection is not only a promise for the future, but a reality already unfolding—within us and throughout all creation.

With every blessing in the Risen Christ,

‡ Mark Elliott Newman

Presiding Bishop
Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch – USA
"Reclaiming the Original Blessing"
Church email: [email protected]

“…The true Monotheist realizes that whatever one race does must be considered affecting all races; whatever one nation does will affect all races; whatever is considered proper for the conduct of one person affects all people for good or evil.”