For much of the Church's history most ordinary people were illiterate. The primary way the stories of the faith were communicated to people was through the celebration of the Sacraments, religious festivals, plays, and the arts. Art depicts spiritual experiences in way that people of all ages can access. Christ was incarnate and became of part of the physical world. The Church has long supported the arts and has utilized art in her worship and in her worship places. The team guided a tour of the Detroit Institute of the Arts to give a deeper appreciation of Catholic culture and aide in the transmission of the Faith. Many of the works displayed were once used in the Mass or were part of worship places. We can still encounter the beauty of the truth represented in them.   

The Mass has two main parts; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. During the liturgy of the Word (formerly called, "The Mass of the Catechumens") the scriptures are proclaimed and then broken open. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist the bread is blessed and broken and the Christ is made present in the wine and bread which become his body. This is an encounter with the Risen Lord. The Church's understanding of the Eucharist is explained in four main New Testament writings; Paul's Letter (1 Cor 11), The Last Supper (Mk 14), The Road to Emmaus (Lk 24) and the Bread of Life Discourse (Jn 6). The Eucharist is a celebration by the christian community of the real presence of the risen Lord in their gathering and communal meal. It is a sacrament or sign of the presence of the risen Lord to the community of believers.  

We believe that God is present in the world and near to his creation. However, the presence of God is a mystery. As a mystery it can never be perfectly and totally explained. As the ocean cannot fit into a hole dug by a boy on the beach, neither can we fit all of God's reality into our minds. The ordinary things and events of life hint at God's nearness; be it food, water, human relationships, touch, beauty. We find that we are unfinished and God is constantly calling us into being and toward completion.