The Catholic Church – Chapter 1

Major Concepts

1) Why study history at all

2) Why study Church History

3) Six Ways of Seeing the Church

Why study history at all?

• Help us understand who we are and where we came from

• Help us avoid re-making mistakes of the past• Make intelligent decisions for our individual

future, the future of our Church, our society and our species

• Studying multiple histories helps us put each item of history in context

Types of Histories

• Oral

• Written by the winners

• Composite of written and oral (ex Genesis)

Why study Church history

• Christianity is based on the life of a historical person “Jesus bar Joseph” or “Jesus of Nazareth”

• The history of the church records how Christians have lived out the Gospel message over the centuries

• Knowing Church history helps us to know Jesus through the history of His church

• To distinguish the essential from the inessential in Catholic Christian practice

History’s impact on recent Church changes

• Discovery that Mass was originally meant to be understandable lead to changing Mass to local language in 1960s

• Discovery in the 1960s that the church originally allowed married deacons lead church to extend the scope of who could be a deacon from just men on the road to the priesthood to allow married men who are willing to undergo the preparation

Our Church

…. is a product of Jesus’ message as played out in the history of our Church throughout its time since Jesus life on earth

Historical Change: A Case in Point

• What is a “Vatican Council”?• Were the 1960s a turbulent period in world

history?• Vatican Council II – 1960s• Helped which segment of the world?• Might have offended what segments of the

world?

6 Ways of Seeing the Church

• Body of Christ – emphasizes people’s relationship to one another as members of an interdependent, caring family

• Institution – refers to the formal organization, rules, and structures that ensure the church’s carrying out of its mission

• Sacrament – a visible, physical sign of God’s love in the world

6 Ways of Seeing the Church continued

• Herald – proclaims the Good News “to the ends of the earth”

• Servant – points to the example Jesus offered, serving God by serving all of humankind

• Community of Disciples – gives witness to Jesus by taking on his vision, standards, and way of life

The Church is a Mystery• It cannot be completely known or analyized• We learn about and appreciate both the church

and its history using those siz models• Each model is a dimension of the Church and its

role in this world and the next• Individually each model highlights a particular

dimension or role of the church• Together the models give us a fairly good idea of

the church’s overall structure and workings

Complete the following statements

• Today, I can be the mouth of Christ by . . .

• I can be the hands of Christ by . . .

• I .can be the eyes of Christ when I . . .

• I can be the ears of Christ when I . . .

An Analogy to the 6 Models of the Church

DNA

Understanding the Church as the Body of Christ

• As St. Paul says, the body is the sum of its parts• Pick any object and after you identify and

define each component you will have defnied the object as a whole

• Every object is made of of parts which exemplify diversity

• The Church is a variety of members, languages, national customs, races, saints, etc.

Understanding the Herald of the Word

• Words are the ultimate in human power – words control how we think because we think in words

• As Herald, the church proclaims the word of God

• There are a multiplicity of ways that God’s word can be heralded

The Meaning of Servant• Refers to the work the church does for the

welfare of others – not a degrading or subservient role

• Jesus came “not to be served but to serve”• Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a

servant”• “As servants of God, live as free people”• “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…”• “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus

Christ …”• Jesus washes the apostles’ feet, acts as a servant

The Church as Institution• The Pope as the Bishop of Rome• The Body of Bishops• Various Vatican organizations, Congregations• Each diocese is a sort of mini-Vatican

organization• Each parish is a sub-set of the diocese it’s

located in• Each levels does the functions most

organizations due: place people in positions, allocate funds, collect donations, decide what efforts to suport and to what extent, etc.

The Church as Sacrament

The Church is in and of itself a Sacrament – a rite in which God is uniquely active

The Church as the Community of Disciples

• The church is the sum of its people, the followers of Jesus

• We are a community which shares certain common beliefs, traditions and practices that define us as “Catholic”

The Mission of the Church Jesus has just risen from the tomb. Although you

and all the other Christians are overjoyed, you now have to decide what to do. The events of the last week seems to have erased any plans you may have made over the last three year. The following pages list 6 possible initial steps the Apostles might have taken. Think about each one and how the Church might have evolved differently from then to now depending on which step was taken first.

Option #1

Proclaim on the streets and in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ; encourage others to repent, believe in Him, and be baptized.

Option #2

Go to those who are afflicted or poor and comfort and care for them.

Option #3

Organize people who share your belief in Jesus into communities to consider action.

Option #4

Go to an isolated place to pray and to sort out the meaning of the last two years.

Option #5

Record immediately as much detail about the life of Jesus and his followers as you can.

Option #6

Organize classes to teach about the lessons you have learned from Jesus.

And on to Chapter 2:

“A Church of Converts: Widening the Circle of Jesus Followers”