The goal of man: to give glory to God, to know Him and to love Him 01 The goal of man: to give glory to God, to know Him and to love Him ©Fr. Mark Emman H. Sese

Compendium of the Catechism 1. What is the plan of God for man? 1-25 God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. In the fullness of time, God the Father sent his Son as the Redeemer and Savior of mankind, fallen into sin, thus calling all into his Church and, through the work of the Holy Spirit, making them adopted children and heirs of his eternal happiness.

To be a Chistian: belong to a family Baptism is like a second birth, which introduces us into the great family of the Church. We should be proud to belong to the family of the Church. The Church teaches us many things, which are in fact the most important ones, the ones that matter most. When we are born we belong to a family that gives us our name and our surnames; into this family we are born, we grow and we develop our natural capabilities. Baptism produces in us a second birth –this time, to the supernatural life of grace-, which makes us into christians and introduces us into the great family of the Church. As baptized persons, we are christians and we call ourselves as such. That is our name. Like Christ’s first disciples: Peter, James, John…, we too are disciples of Christ. In the same way that we are proud to belong to our family, where we learn a lot of things, we should also be proud to belong to the family of the Church. The Church teaches us many things as well, which are in fact the most important ones, the ones that matter most. GRECO, El The Baptism of Christ (detail) 1608-28 Hospital Tavera, Toledo

Main ideas ©Fr. Mark Emman H. Sese

1. Why are we here on Earth We Christians have had the chance to know our purpose here on Earth: Jesus preached this and the Church teaches it. Response to the fundamental questions: where do I come from? who am I? where am I going to? There are people who ask themselves the reason for their being here on Earth, what is the purpose of their being born, and nobody has explained it to them. We Christians –followers of Jesus Christ- have had the chance to know these things. Jesus preached them and the Church teaches them. The doctrine of Jesus Christ or the Christian doctrine gives response to the fundamental questions. And the fundamental questions that we make to ourselves are: where do I come from?, who am I?, where am I going to?

2. Where do we come from God has created man freely. God has created man in order that he may take part in His beatific life, in His own happiness. Each man has been created by God, with the cooperation of his parents: WE COME FROM GOD. The Christian doctrine teaches that God has created man freely, in order that he may take part in His beatific life, that is to say, in His own happiness. Each man has been created by God, with the cooperation of his parents. That is why, the answer to the question ‘where do we come from?’ is: we come from God. MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Creation of Adam (detail) 1510 Fresco Cappella Sistina, Vatican

3. Who are we God is close to man everytime and everywhere: God calls him and helps him to find Him. We have been created into the image and likeness of God. Adopted children of God through Baptism. I AM SON OF GOD. Not only has God created man, but He is close to him everytime and everywhere. God calls him and helps him to find Him. God wants man to get to know Him and love Him. We know that we have been created into the image and likeness of God, and through Baptism we Christians are made into adopted children of God, heirs of His glory. Therefore, if someone asks us who we are, the answer is clear: I am a son of God. EYCK, Jan van The Ghent Altarpiece: Adam (detail) 1425-29 Oil on wood Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

4. Where are we going God has created man to communicate His love, so that man can serve Him freely in this life and enjoy His company for ever in Heaven. Where are we Chistians going? TO HEAVEN. If we do not achieve this goal, our life would have been a failure. God has created man to manifest and communicate His goodness and love, so that man can get to know Him and love Him more each day and thus serve Him freely in this life, and afterwards to enjoy His company forever in Heaven. God wants us to be happy here on Earth and afterwards eternally with Him in Heaven. If they ask us Christians where are we going, the answer is also clear: to Heaven. If we do not achieve this goal, our life would have been a failure. BACKER, Jacob de The Last Judgement c. 1580 O.-L. Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp

5. What is the purpose of man To give glory to God, to manifest the goodness and love of the Creator. God has no other reason for creating. Man is the object of God’s love, and responds by loving Him. The happiness of man lies in this. We can now give a more explicit answer to this question, which each man has to make to himself: what is the purpose of my life? We have to say in an absolute manner: to give glory to God, that is to say, to manifest the goodness and love of the Creator.God has no other reason for creating. Man is the object of God’s love, and responds by loving Him. The happiness of man lies in this.

6. We should get to know the Christian doctrine We must know the teaching of Jesus Christ, since He is: Our God. Our Teacher. Our Model. His teachings show us the way to get to know and love God, to be happy on this Earth and afterwards eternally in the next. We should know the teaching of Jesus Christ, since He is our God, our Teacher and our Model. His teachings show us the way to get to know and love God, to be happy on this Earth and afterwards eternally in the next. RAFFAELLO Sanzio St Paul Preaching in Athens 1515 Victoria and Albert Museum, London

7. Main parts of the Christian doctrine The truths of our faith, in THE SYMBOL OF THE FAITH or the CREDO . How our Christian faith is celebrated, in THE LITURGY and THE SACRAMENTS. What God wants us to do in order to be happy and make others happy, in CHRISTIAN MORALS and THE COMMANDMENTS. The meaning and the importance of prayer, the PRAYER IN CHRISTIAN LIFE. Lo primero que hay que saber son las verdades de nuestra fe: quién es Dios, quién es Jesucristo, quién creó el mundo, quién es el Espíritu Santo, quién es la Virgen, para qué fundó Cristo la Iglesia, cuál es el premio o el castigo que nos espera, etc. Estas cosas las conocemos al estudiar EL SÍMBOLO DE LA FE o CREDO. Si queremos saber cómo se celebra nuestra fe cristiana, cómo nos hacemos cristianos, cómo se alcanza el perdón de Dios, de qué forma Dios nos ayuda para vencer las dificultades que encontramos..., lo aprendemos al estudiar LA LITURGIA y LOS SACRAMENTOS. También necesitamos saber lo que Dios quiere que hagamos para ser felices y hacer felices a los demás y poder llegar al cielo, cómo vivir en Cristo. Lo sabemos al estudiar LA MORAL CRISTIANA en LOS MANDAMIENTOS. Hay que conocer también el sentido y la importancia de la oración en nuestra vida; por eso la cuarta parte estudia LA ORACIÓN EN LA VIDA CRISTIANA. Codex Manesse Schulmeister von Esslingen

Resolutions for Christian life ©Fr. Mark Emman H. Sese

Resolutions to move forward To put effort in getting to know well and in putting into practice the Christian doctrine. Aside from other moments throughout the day, to make the sign of the cross –the sign of the Christian- upon getting up and before going to bed.