1. Lesson One

2.  Jesus came to reveal the truth of the Father’s love for us. ◦ Why do we need Him to do this?  He became man for our sake. ◦ Christ becoming man is called the Incarnation  Revelation ◦ Comes from the word to reveal  Jesus shows us the hidden truths that God chose to reveal about Himself. ◦ Room full of Christmas gifts that we are still unwrapping

3.  Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we can come to know the TRUE nature of man from Christ ◦ We are meant to:  Think the way He thinks  Love the way He loves  Desire the way He desires  Desire what He desires  See the way He sees

4.  After Christ rose from the dead, He ascended back to His father, but He made us a promise. ◦ Matthew 28:20  He would never abandon us.  He established the Church and stays with us in many ways. ◦ What are some ways that Christ is still with us through the Church

5.  Christ and the Church make up one mystical person. ◦ What does mystical mean? ◦ Spiritual in nature ◦ We can’t feel it ◦ Or even completely understand it The relationship between Jesus and the Church is like that between our body and our soul.

6.  So what is the Church’s mission or job? ◦ She continues to help people in every time period understand Jesus’ teaching. ◦ The teachings have not changed, been added to, or adjusted…  They have just been explained differently for different people  For example, pretend you are going to tell someone how to make a cheeseburger  Now imagine that that person is 4 years old, would it change how you taught them?  Now imagine that that person is paralyzed and can’t use their hands, would it change how you explained it to them?

7.  Wrote the Gospel of St. John  Wrote three epistles  Only Apostle to not die a martyr’s death  Wrote the book of Revelation  Took care of Mary after the Ascension before she went to heaven  Do you think he knew Jesus pretty well?  So, I asked you last week, why is the New Testament so small compared to the Old Testament. Why does it not keep going because I’m sure there is more we could say about Jesus?

8.  St. John is the most likely the last eyewitness of Jesus. ◦ He died after all the other Apostles  Why is it important to not add any more after the last eyewitness died? ◦ Let’s play a little game of telephone

9.  Sacred Tradition ◦ This has to do with what the Church teaches ◦ What she has always believed to be true because of people’s stories being passed down  Sacred Scripture ◦ This is the written word of God that has been approved by the Church ◦ It is held as divinely inspired, so therefore it was very seriously scrutinized before being accepted as an approved text in the Bible

10.  How is this tradition preserved? ◦ Tradition is preserved through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Where does the word come from? ◦ Tradition come from the Latin word tradere "to hand over"  What is the first recorded statement of sacred tradition? ◦ The first recorded statement of tradition is the Bible, but it is not limited to this.

12.  Is the Bible one book? ◦ No, it is a collection of 73 books; 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament  Where did the Bible come from? ◦ The Bible was a collection of works that continued to be passed down. In 393 at the Council of Hippo it was decided which books would be included and which would not.

13.  Many human authors, but all written by the Holy Spirit  The authors wrote down the ideas that God wanted them to write down.  This is called divine inspiration  Can you think of a time that you may have been inspired? Perhaps to help someone? Or, with your school work?