Jesus Christ Instituted The Church “Those who believe in Christ, who are reborn, not from a corruptible seed, but from an incorruptible one through the word of the living God, not from flesh, but from water and the Holy Spirit, are finally established as a ‘chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…who in times past were not a people, but are now the People of God’.” (Lumen Gentium, 9)

What is the Church? From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (752): ‘“The Church” is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ’s Body.’ The Mystical Body of Christ The Bride of Christ The People of God The Family of God Kingdom of God In summary: the Church is a communion to Christ, therefore, to be in full communion with the Church, you must be in full communion with Christ

God Prepared His People for The Church  With each covenant God makes with man in the Old Testament, He expands the boundaries of His family. How does this boundary grow?  Adam and Eve (marriage)  Noah and his family (family)  Abraham and his descendants (tribe)  The People of Israel & Moses (nation)  David (Kingdom)  What is the goal of each of these covenants?  To restore the communion between God and man (this communion was what God intended all along)

The Fulfillment of the Covenants  Each covenant is a stage of God’s plan to reunite his family and reveals an important aspect of the reality of the Church – the place of God’s final and perfect re-gathering of his people  The series of covenants in the Old Testament is God’s way of preparing the world for the Incarnation – the Word becoming flesh  The Incarnation was the fulfillment of these covenants  St. John calls to mind God’s covenant of creation with the same words found in Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word…”  St. Matthew identifies Jesus as “the son of David” and “the son of Abraham”  Sermon on the Mount (St. Matthew’s gospel): shows Jesus as a ‘second Moses’ when he gives the people the New Law of Love – parallels Moses giving the people of Israel the 10 Commandments

Typology  We often see a connection between the Old and New Testament…for example, Isaac is a type of Christ.  Know the chart on pg. 38

The Incarnation  St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians: “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman…so that we might receive adoption as sons.”  We should understand four things from this verse:  “When the time had fully come”…sometimes translated as “in the fullness of time”: the Incarnation occurs in a specific time and place in history – it is not random. Furthermore, Christ’s entrance into time actually stops time: it is the single most important event in history that we measure time by it – BC: “Before Christ”, and AD: “Anno Domini” in Latin, meaning “in the year of the Lord”  “God sent forth his Son”: Jesus is fully divine  “born of woman”: Jesus is also fully human  Our redemption in Christ is accomplished through our “adoption as sons,” that is, by being made part of the Family of God through the redemption of Jesus Christ, and our baptism

The Proclamation of the Kingdom “It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. “The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures.” To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Church “is the reign of Christ already present in mystery.” CCC 763  Jesus proclaimed the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ throughout his public mystery: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)  The Kingdom of God is not a temporal kingdom, such as David’s, but a state of communion between God and man that was intended from the beginning and reinstated on earth through the Incarnation  While the Kingdom of God is only made perfect in Heaven, it is also present on earth both visibly and invisibly:  Invisibly within the spiritual reality of the Mystical Body of Christ  Visibly within the communion of human members of the pilgrim Church on earth

The Proclamation of the Kingdom  Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God in parables  Two examples:  The Parable of the Sower; Matthew 13: 1-9  The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds; Matthew 13: Turn to Matthew 13 in your Bible. Read theses two parables. In your journal, explain what Jesus may be trying to tell us about the Kingdom of God on earth (the Church).

Proclamation of the Kingdom “The Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ,” To welcome Jesus’ word is to welcome “the Kingdom itself.” The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the “little flock” of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. They form Jesus’ true family. To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new “way of acting” and a prayer of their own.’ CCC 764  How does Jesus teach a new way of acting and “a prayer of their own” to his flock?  Institutes Law of Love – brings in the New Law to fulfill the Mosaic Law  Teaches the disciples how to pray – Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6)  Prepares the Apostles’ for their fundamental role as teachers and shepherds of the Church  Chose 12 disciples (later known as the 12 Apostles), just as there were 12 tribes of Israel

The Mystical Body of Christ  St. Paul repeatedly gives us the image of the Body of Christ as the Church in his letters. This understanding can be traced back to his own conversion on the road to Damascus.  Turn to Acts 9 in your Bible  The image of the Church as the Body of Christ indicates that the Church is a community of members not just around Christ, but that the Church is united in him.  This reality is shown explicitly in our reception of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Through this Sacrament, the faithful are united together in Christ’s Mystical Body – they are brought to communion with one another through the communion with Christ.  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remain in me and I in him.” John 6: 54-56

The Birth of the Church: the Church as the Bride of Christ ‘The Church is born primarily of Christ’s total self–giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.” “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.’” As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.’ -CCC 766  The Protoevangelium – the first prophesy of mankind’s salvation, written in Genesis – is fulfilled through Christ on the Cross  The blood and water spilled from Christ’s side represents the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, and shows us the birth of the Church, the Bride of Christ  Just as Eve - the mother of all the living - was created from the side (rib) of Adam while he slept, the Church - the Bride of Christ and mother to all God’s children in his new creation – was created through the side of Jesus Christ, the new Adam, as he ‘slept’ on the cross  Church as the Bride of Christ: St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, that Christ is the head of His Body, the Church, just as a husband is the “head” of his wife. Christ is united to the Church, just as husband and wife are “one flesh”.

The Birth of the Church “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; I am with you always, to the close of the age (Mt 28:19-20).”  Ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and gave them the grace to go forth “make disciples of all nations.”  The Birth of the Church is celebrated on Pentecost – why?  The Church was made manifest when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in the Upper Room  This was the event that gave the Apostles the strength to become courageous witnesses of Christ  Deposit of Grace—by his death, Jesus merited for us the graces of salvation.  Deposit of Faith—the truths that Jesus revealed during his three years of public life and during the 40 days after the Resurrection that were given in a special way to the apostles.