Transcript Introduction to The Church

Please take your assigned seat
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,
and he will give you everything you need. – Mt 6:33
Stephanie
V.
Kaitlyn
Maddy
Alex
Hannah
Dugan
Ryan
Nadine
Kyle
Ashley
Ned
Beatrice
Genevieve
Zach
Haley D.
Ainsley
James
Paige
Ella
Stephanie
W.
Ciahna
Samantha
Sunny
Symeon
Hailey A.
Rachel
Nik
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
What do we mean by Church?
 Brainstorm the ideas and
images that come to mind
when you think of Church
Church
The Church as the Body of Christ
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The Church is
A sign of salvation in the world
A sacrament
Made up of people
A structured institution
For celebration and worship
A teacher
A sign of Christ among us
The Catholic Church – a Sacrament of Christ
 Read pages 170-172 of Christ
and Culture
 Each of us is called to reveal
Christ to the world
 The Church celebrates
Christ through official
worship
 Second Vatican Council
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1962-65
Major council of bishops and
church leaders
Led to the modernization of
the Church
E.g.: the mass is no longer in
Latin and the priest faces the
congregation
The Vatican
 The Centre of Roman
Catholicism
 Located in Rome, Italy
 The Pope lives and works
there
 All major decisions and
encyclicals come out of the
Vatican
The Catholic Church as an institution
 The Catholic Church took shape slowly with the first
disciples
 They brought the message of God’s kingdom to the
communities around the Mediterranean Sea
 Constantine the Great declared that Christianity was
to be the official religion of the Roman Empire after
he became emperor (AD 312)
Church Hierarchy
 The Church, like many
institutions, is hierarchical

The Church is organized in a
specific way according to different
levels of authority
 All of us are given the task of
being priests, prophets, and
rulers
 The diagram is not organized
according to importance (one
tier is not more important than
the next)
Christ
Pope
Bishops
Priests
Religious
Deacons
Laity
The Body of Christ
 As Church, we are called the
Body of Christ
 Human body made up of many
parts  the Church is made up
of many different parts
 Every part of the body/church
plays a role and is dependent
on the other parts
 Christ is the head of the Church
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Like the human head, he provides
direction, unity and strength
We, the Church, are the arms and
legs because we do the “work” of
Christ on earth
Five actions of the Catholic Church
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2.
3.
4.
5.
To proclaim Jesus Christ
To worship
To form a community
To give witness
To serve others
Day of Pardon – Learning through history
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5.
Read pages 176-77 in your text
Copy and answer the following questions on lined
paper
What does it mean to ask pardon?
What does it mean for the Church to ask pardon?
What four sins does the Church ask for pardon?
How are we implicated in these sins of the Church?
What does it mean to be reconciled?