From Jesus Christ to Church

Pascual

Session 4.1

Learning Goal

• What is the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church?

Gameplan

• We’ll define the word “church”

• Consider reference of the word in the Old Testament (pre-Jesus)

• Then try to answer the question: what is the relationship of Jesus and the Catholic Church?

Defining the word Church

• Obstacles: everyday usage today• Might be the building: “the big church downtown”• A parish: “San Francisco Solano, St Timothy, Holy Trinity, Mission

Basilica”• An ecclesial community: “the Lutheran Church, Presbyterian

Church, Saddleback Church”• Catholic Church.

How did the early Christians use the word?

• In the New Testament, the Greek word that translates as church is EKKLESIA.

• Means to “call out”

• In the Greek Old Testament, EKKLESIA refers to the people of God, an assembly chosen by God.

• In other words, the people God calls and gathers.

For Christians…

• Church (EKKLESIA) refers to the assembly God calls.

• It is to show the connection to the people of Israel.

• Quite literally, in the Church God calls people together from all over the earth.

Church as the people God calls and gathers

• This idea and understanding is evident in the Old Testament

• It is a common theme for the people of Israel and finds its culmination (or fulfilment) in Jesus Christ

Foreshadow in the Old Testament(Church as the people God calls and gathers)

• Abraham - father of faith

• Moses – Israel and the Law

• King David – the House and the Kingdome

Jesus Christ and the Church

• Jesus made use of the Jewish understanding, calling all people to himself: The Kingdom of God is at hand (Mk 1:15)

• To make it clear, Jesus did some things that were incredibly symbolic…

• Jesus chooses TWELVE • Jesus picks Peter among the Twelve• Jesus institutes the Eucharist with the Twelve

Jesus and the Twelve

• Jesus chose twelve disciples to be part of his core group of disciples.

• Jews 2000 years ago would understand this symbolism to refer to the TWELVE TRIBES of ISRAEL.

• In short, Jesus was making his own EKKLESSIA with his own TWELVE.

• Remember, Ekklessia means the people whom God calls and gathers• Israel was the original ekklessia

Jesus institutes the Church on Peter and the twelve

• “And so I say to you, you are Peter (which translates as ROCK), and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.* Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19)

Some general background Mt 16:18-19

• Gospel of Matthew, whose audience is Jewish-Christian

• Occurs after Peter’s confession (recognition) about Jesus’ identity

• Scene takes place in Caesarea Philippi

• When Bible character’s name changes, something important happens. Example: Abram to Abraham. In this case, Simon’s name is changed to Peter (Rock)

• Keys is an important biblical image linked to Eliakim (Is 22:15-25)

• Binding and Loosing is imagery that reflects rabbinic authority

Historically…

• Peter becomes the first Bishop of Rome

Jesus Institutes the Eucharist with the Twelve

• Recall the scene of the Last Supper, the night before he died

• Jesus connects the Passover meal to himself as his Body and Blood in the form of bread and wine

• “This is my Body, which will be given up to you.”

• “This is my Blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant..

• “Do this in Memory of Me.”• Memory = Anamnesis. In Jewish understanding, to remember

means to make something present and real again.

Historically…

• The breaking of the bread (which became known as the Eucharist) was seen as the renewal of the covenant.

• The Eucharist “calls and gathers” all believers to “remember” God’s saving work in Jesus Christ

• The Presider of the Eucharist was the successor of the TWELVE disciples (later known as Apostles). They were known as episkopos or managers (Translated today as Bishops)

Consequently, this is how the Catholic Church sees its relationship with Jesus Christ:

- Jesus Christ is the origin and foundation of the Catholic Church, establishing its structure and means of worship

- This is most evident in the Eucharist that acts to fulfill all the covenants (and to “remember” him)

- This is also evident in the leadership he left behind, the TWELVE

In Summary…

• God the Father has planned the Church and foreshadows it in the Old Testament, especially seen in the Covenants of Abraham, Moses and David

• Jesus Christ is the origin and foundation of the Catholic Church

• The Catholic Church identifies itself in the Early Church that developed after the Biblical era.

Questions

• Can you define the Biblical definition of the word “church”?

• How does the Church of Jesus fulfill the covenants of the Old Testament?

• How does the Catholic Church see Jesus Christ as its origin and foundation?

Socrative?

Pascual Session 4.2

The Marks of the Church

Background“As the Church moved through the centuries and

interacted with different ideas and cultures, it came to recognize a set of criteria for understanding whether developments were legitimate”

This criteria is known as the Marks of the Church:ONEHOLY CATHOLICAPOSTOLIC

The first Mark: The Church as ONEA basic concept of Christianity as portrayed in the NT:

there is only one “Church”, one body of Christ

Through the centuries, this mark of unity has been used to refer to the mystical communion of Christ (transcends traditional

Christian denominations)Strictly the Church denominations (Catholic Church, Lutheran

Church, Saddleback Church etc)

John 17: Jesus’ prayer for unity

Bonds of UnityThe Unity of Faith

The creeds, statement of faith such as the Nicene and Apostle’s Creed

The Canon of ScripturesThe Unity of worship

In the early Church, the Eucharist was the sign of unity“the bread though broken is one.”

The Unity of Apostolic SuccessionThe bishop is the symbol of unity for the diocese

And the bishop of Rome plays a special role of thatThe Councils

EcumenismThe effort by Christians from different churches and

ecclesial communities to be more open to one another and to work to restore unity among all Christians.

Catholics and Lutherans find agreementThe Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

essentially says that Lutherans and Catholics explain justification in different ways but share the same basic understanding. 

The signing occurred on October 31, 1999 (Reformation Sunday)

http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/jun2000/feature2.asp

General ConclusionThe Catholic Church lives out the Mark as One in its “bonds

of unity” (faith, worship and apostolic succession)The Catholic Church as an institution seeks out unity with

other Christian denominations in the movement of Ecumenism

The Catholic Church’s official stance to other religions is “inclusive.”

SECOND MARK: THE CHURCH IS

HOLYPascual

Session 4.3

THE SECOND MARK: THE CHURCH IS HOLY…

What does Holy mean?How is the Church holy?Our individual response

WHAT IS HOLINESS? Most literal definition: To be of God. Sin is a rejection of God. (un-holy) The rejection of holiness and sin is like light and

darkness.Darkness is the absence of lightSin is the absence of GodThis also shows that sin is not equal to GodEVIL is not equal to GOOD (not yin-yang)

PART 2: HOW IS THE CHURCH HOLY? Obstacle: Aren’t we all sinners?

The reality: The Church is both human and divine In the visible aspect: Human reality In the invisible aspect: the Divine RealityPOINT: The Church’s holiness is REAL but IMPERFECT.

THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH:

It is called together to be the People of God It is gathered together to be the one Body of Christ It is made holy to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit

IN OTHER WORDS… The Church’s very nature is OF GOD.

Isn’t that the definition of holiness?The Images of the Church is Trinitarian

People of God Body of Christ Temple of the Holy Spirit

Images are analogies of understanding the Church

A POPULAR IMAGE: BRIDE OF CHRIST See Eph 5:25ff

The husband and wife are a radical communion of “one flesh”

The Church and Jesus Christ are a radical communion of “one body”

Both are relational covenants. Because Jesus is holy, so is the Church because it is

“One body” with Christ.The Church IS the Body of Christ

THE CHURCH AND SINNERS

It is the Church of sinners

and a Church for sinners

After all, we are all sinners…who is perfectly attuned to God?

GENERAL CONCLUSION The Mark as Holy is perhaps the most theoretical of

the four marks By its nature, the Church is “of God.” This is the

invisible reality of the Church. The human reality is that the Church is human and

therefore imperfect and prone to sin.

The Church’s holiness is real, but imperfect. It is called to constant reform to visibly reflect its invisible reality.

The Church is CATHOLICPascual Session 4.3

Goals of the Lecture

• Explore the term “catholic” as a mark of the Church

• Articulate the Catholic Church’s stance on salvation outside the Church

History of the Word “catholic”

• The earliest use of the word goes back to Ignatius of Antioch around 110AD

• “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as whereas Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” –Letter to the Smyrneans 8

• Seemingly, the word “catholic” which means “universal” was meant to describe the Christian Church in the 2nd century.

Catholic is used to distinguish

• St. Cyril of Jerusalem continues the use of “catholic” in his “catechetical lectures” around 350 AD.

• Context? the Schismatics were identifying themselves as “Christians.” So the word was used to differentiate the schismatics Christians from what he describes is the One Apostolic Christian Church.

• As a result, the term “Catholic Christians” came into use.

Catholic as a Mark of the Church

• In the Council of Constantinople, 381 AD, the Creed of Nicea was expanded to describe the Church as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.”

• These four marks have become the criteria for the Church as it moves on in history.

“Catholic” becomes popular

• The word catholic becomes popular to describe the Christian Church, mainly by Augustine of Hippo.

• Context? The Donatist Schism (a bunch of churches broke away from the Church in northern Africa).

• Augustine made the point that the Catholic church (seen as the Church) was a WORLDWIDE communion.

• Meanwhile, the local Donatist church was not.

Catholic Church

• Rather than call the Church the “One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic” Church, it became easier to simply call the Church Catholic.

• Everyone knew what ONE, HOLY, APOSTOLIC meant, but what about CATHOLIC?!?!?

• The intent is to emphasize its “universality.”

Models of Salvation• Exclusive – No one outside visible structure of religion

is saved.

• We have the fullness of truth, but no one else has it. No one is saved unless they are part of our religion. They must be visible members.

• Inclusive – Those outside visible structure have possibility of salvation.

• We have the fullness of truth, but others can share in it in some mysterious invisible way. Salvation is possible outside of our religion.

• Pluralist – All truth is equal.

• It doesn’t matter what religion you are in to be saved.

From LUMEN GENTIUM 8Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

• This CHURCH (of Christ) constituted and organized in the world as a society, SUBSISTS in the Catholic church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him,(13*) although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.

• (emphasis mine)

• SUBSISTS: Lives in or exists.

Road to Salvation:

Established by the One

Mediator, JESUS CHRIST

Subsists…God

(Salvation)

Catholic Church

The Church and non-Christian religions?

• See Lumen Gentium 16 and NOSTRA AETATE

LG 16

• Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.

Foundations for Lumen Gentium…

A genuine response to the Spirit is a response to Christ who brings us to the Father. A Trinitarian understanding.

humankind

God

Vatican II Understanding of Salvation

GodGod

Son

Father

Spirit

A visual…

• CHURCH OF CHRIST

• Catholic church

???

Socrative

• According to the Catholic Church…

• Are non-Christian religions saved by Jesus Christ?

• For example, are Buddhists saved by Jesus?

• OR, are Buddhists saved by Buddha?

Catholic Answer

• They are saved because of Jesus Christ’s Paschal Mystery.

• The non-Christian is still a part of CHURCH OF CHRIST (remember, Church means Gathering of People).

• Karl Rahner calls this “the anonymous Christian.”

• Because they are technically Christian, but don’t know it.

• Is the Catholic church exclusive, inclusive or pluralist?

Pascual Session 4.5

The Church is APOSTOLIC

Gnosticism in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries was threatening Christianity.

Gnostics was a heretical group claiming that salvation came from a SECRET KNOWLEDGE from Christ.

They claimed that the Church’s teachings were false because they didn’t have the secret knowledge.

History of the term APOSTOLIC

The early Church fathers responded saying that the teachings of the Church were TRUE because it comes to us from an unbroken line of apostolic succession through the bishops.

The most clear apostolic succession? The bishop of Rome, successor to Peter, the Apostle.

Apostolic succession

Hence, in the early Church, a church was not apostolic unless it was in full communion with the church of Rome.◦In other words, was in communion with the Bishop

of Rome.

Apostolic Communion

Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox and most Lutherans hold that their bishops maintain an unbroken link of apostolic succession.

Apostolic Succession

Apostle means “to be sent out.”Here, refers to the Twelve that were SENT

OUT by Jesus. In the laying of hands, the Apostles appointed

managers to the churches they founded.◦These are the Presbyter-Bishops◦Eventually, they simply became known as Bishops.◦These bishops in turn appointed successors.

APOSTOLIC

Most non-denominational Christian churches will claim that they are apostolic because as a local church of Christ, they are sent to proclaim the word.

Most non-Catholic churches will point out it is unnecessary to have a historic apostolic line of bishops.◦Because they have the Word of God, that is

proclaimed to them and calls them to preach it as well.

FYI

The Catholic Church believes it is founded by Jesus Christ, who sends forth his Twelve Apostles, guided today by their successors the bishops.◦Peter and the Twelve Apostles◦The Pope (bishop of Rome) and the College of

BishopsLike Peter and the Twelve, the bishops

shepherd the Church as pastors of their own churches.

At any rate…

Church StructureThe Catholic Church comprises of two distinct but interconnected groups:

-the laity-the hierarchy

The hierarchy is the Apostles and their successors, the Pope and bishops (with their co-workers: priests and deacons).

Hierarchical meaning leaders and institutions are organized in a specific order.

-the Catholic belief is that this institution is established by Christ.-Hence the term: HOLY ORDERS~ in other words, institution of God.

Holy Orders To be ordained is to be “of an order”, designated for a

specific social group or class. Ordo of senators Ordo of knights

The fullness of orders: the Bishop Successors of Apostles

The Bishop All bishops are united with one another The Bishop of Rome is the “first among equals.”

Like Peter and the Twelve Apostles Their relationship to each other is COLLEGIAL, meaning

they share equally in authority of their particular area In this case, they have their own diocese to oversee NOTE: decisions always made in communion with the Bishop

of Rome, who symbolizes the unity of the whole Church.

Collegiality

Diocese of Rome

(Holy See)

Archdiocese of Los

Angeles

Diocese ofOrange

Archdiocese of New York

Archdiocese of Baltimore

Fun FactsModern Word

Original Greek

Literal Definition

Role

Bishop Episkopos Overseer/Manager

Oversees the local church (diocese)

Priest Presbyter Elder Assist the Bishop in the particular parish

Deacon Diakonos Servant Assist where the priest cannot, especially in Service

Organizational Structure of the Catholic Church

See Page 152: The Holy See (the Diocese of Rome) that heads all dioceses

The Diocese, a geographical area governed by a bishop. It is also called the local church.

The Parish, a distinct community within a diocese. The bishop appoints a priest to be pastor of this parish, who is assisted by other priests and deacons.

The Family, the most basic social unit of people. It is where faith is first taught. Vatican II and John Paul II call this the domestic Church.

And The Laity…

•Simply, those who are not clergy

THE PRIEST THE LAITY

Spiritual Dignity

“In the Church not everyone marches along the same path, yet all are called to sanctity and have obtained an equal privilege of faith through the justice of God.” (LG, 32)

All are equally spiritual, holyEqual in human and spiritual dignity

Laity: Temporal Affairs

•The duties of the laity primarily reside in work, family, and political/social involvement (John Paul II)▫Not enough priests to go around▫Laity are involved in places priests aren’t normally located

Media, social media, schools, politics, movie, work, family…

Remember…

•Everyone is of the same spiritual dignity ▫We all have the one same Baptism

•But we are called to different roles and ministries▫VOCAB WORD: VOCATION

The specific and individual response that we all have to our universal call to holiness.

In other words, we are all called to be holy, but how we live that out depends on us…

The Mark refers to Apostolic Succession, the hierarchical successors of pastoral leadership

The Laity participates in this Mark by being “apostles” in everyday life (where you don’t typically see clergy)

General Conclusion to the Mark of Apostolic