UNIT THREE The Church is the People of God

3.1 Together as One

One For All, All For One Hope, happiness, and the ability to cope with difficulty all depend on a person’s willingness to live in solidarity with others. Being a mature Christian means standing in solidarity with those who are in need, freely offering our love and compassion to them, and responding to their needs and their hopes as our own.

Basic Human Truth: Our lives are meaningless unless we are connected to one another. Basic Religious Truth: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). God created us to be one with others, He offers us salvation as a people who are one.

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve are perfect companions because they are one, just as they are also one with God. The serpent convinces the woman that unity with God is a hindrance.

Adam and Eve’s disobedience They deliberately do what God has told them not to do. The unity which God intended is destroyed. The man and the woman no longer see themselves in one another. They see someone who is completely different than before the disobedience.

Salvation History Tells the long story of humanity’s return to unity with God and with one another. Abraham: God called him to make of him a great nation, a unified people. Moses: God called him to free the descendents of Abraham from bondage, lead them to a place where they might know and serve God as one.

A Communal Identity To be an Israelite was to be one of God’s chosen people.

Israelites The chosen people of God Descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, also known as Israel

Religious law Gave Israelites the continued strength to live as a people Gave Israelites the continued strength to live as a people Not only a demand but a precious gift from God Not only a demand but a precious gift from God Held the community together so that together they could do what none could do alone Held the community together so that together they could do what none could do alone Obey God’s will and avoid bondage of sin Obey God’s will and avoid bondage of sin

Catholic understanding of community Regardless of what we intend or desire, we are shaped by others and we shape others. Our relationship with God is dependent on how our community, the Church –relates to God.

Catholic Doctrine Rooted in Community Doctrine of original sin is related to our communal identity. The sin of two individuals affects the entire human race. Human nature itself was changed by Adam and Eve’s rejection of God.

Original Sin Absence of holiness and justice given by God to the first people Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, humans are inclined to sin and are subject to ignorance, suffering and death.

Doctrine of Salvation Also tied to our communal identity: Jesus’ life of complete fidelity to the Father affected every other person. As soon as there was one human being who conquered death, the possibility of avoiding the clutches of death was open to all humanity.

Jesus offered new community identity Identity which inclines us to live as one, to work in partnership with God, to share in the unity of the Trinity Jesus established a new people whose lives are governed, not by an external law, but by a law that was written on their hearts, a law that is a part of their very nature.

Reborn Through Baptism The baptized are reborn as members of the Church, the new People of God Those baptized have been changed; they have become “new creatures.” In Baptism, a person is given a new character: belonging to God and to other people through God.

Baptism is necessary for salvation! Baptism is the only way we know of giving oneself to God and of being incorporated into the People of God. God however, is free to make people his own through other means.

Baptism of Desire Seeking the truth and doing the will of God to the best of one’s understanding, even though the person may not understand the gospel or the necessity of the Church God allows these people who would have explicitly desired baptism if they understood its necessity to share in benefits

New identity Draws us into community Called to defer to one another and make our choices based on our communal needs and desires, not just on our individual needs and desires.

The Church as a ship Just as a ship’s crew must live and act as one if they are to survive and get where they are going, so too must our communal identity as the People of God be the deciding factor in all we do.

The presence of the Holy Spirit makes us who we are! The People of God are the people in whom God’s Spirit dwells. They are one because the Spirit within them is one

We Are A Chosen Race We are not saying: God ignores or dismisses other We are the “best team” We are separate individuals set against one another

We Are A Chosen Race We are saying: We are chosen as we were created, as one We are referring to the fact that God chose to be one with humanity, That God chose to offer us a partnership with the Trinity, That God chose to love us

We Are A Royal People Royalty understood in the Judeo-Christian tradition means “to be anointed by God” Christians have been anointed by God to provide others with that which is most necessary for life –God’s love Our status, dignity, and freedom are those of the children of the most high, the king of kings

Leading Through Service and Self- Sacrifice Christians are to rule as Jesus did We are to commit ourselves to those who are most in need and can offer us the least Our worship forms our identity and reminds us of this challenge

The Eucharist explicitly commits us to the poor. When we share the body and blood of Christ, we are reminded that there is nothing that we should refuse to share. When we share in the body of Christ we become what we eat.

We Are A Kingdom Of Priests All Christians are also priests. We are called to consecrate the world to God in his or her daily life We do this by asking the Holy Spirit to be part of everything that we do, and by offering all that we do to God along with the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Priest Every Christian, male or female, young or old, religious, lay, or ordained, who by virtue of their Baptism is called to consecrate the world to God in his or her daily life. This priesthood of the baptized is different that the ordained priesthood. Ordained priests consecrate the bread and wine during Eucharist and preside at the other sacraments.

The power of ordination is a power to serve. Guiding, supporting, and strengthening all believers By acting as a living sign of what it should be

We Are A Nation Of Prophets All who encounter the People of God should encounter the truth of God, the way which God established for humanity, and the life God intended for all human beings.

Prophet Someone through whom the will of God is made known Prophets speak and live the truth in such a way that others are able to hear and recognize God and God’s will for the world.

Prophets are the voices of freedom Freedom is the power to make the choices which will enable us to fulfill our potential and become the people we were created to be. By challenging us to live in communion and accept our responsibility for one another, prophets lead us to freedom.

In Conclusion God created people to live in community Our ability to live in unity with one another was damaged by the sin of Adam and Eve Now human beings are born with an inclination to distance ourselves from one another and from God

In Conclusion Jesus came so that our nature could be healed and we could take on a new corporate identity that is not marred by original sin. Jesus established a new people freed from original sin

In Conclusion When we choose to become part of the People of God we are joined to Christ and to one another. Who we are is now defined first and foremost by the essential characteristics of the People of God. Once united to God through Baptism, we are a chosen people.

In Conclusion We must begin to understand ourselves as priests, called to consecrate the world to God; as rulers, called to lead and govern others through love and service, and as prophets, called to be a living witness to the truth and a living sign of God’s presence.