Topic: 1 - Our Experience of God’s Revelation in the Church

I INTRODUCTION:
AS we commemorate the Lenten season especially after the Holy Thursday Celebration,
Christians went to the different churches to pay homage to Jesus being placed in the repository,
we call this Visit a I g l e s I a.
List the churches you have visited with your observations and some brief history / information
about the church.
Church Visited Observation Brief History or Information

Of the Church You Visited

Saint Joseph

What comes first to your mind when you hear or see a church?
II LEARNING COMPETENCIES
Explain the four marks of the church
Identify the images of the church
Make effort on how to become a real Church, an image of God
III DISCUSSION
A. Presentation of the Lesson
God reveals himself in the church (Dei Verbum 4) God continues to manifest himself
today through the Holy Spirit in the church. He is present in the Church preaching of the
truth of the sacred Scriptures in his witnesses of his loving service and though the
celebration of its Christ –given sacraments. Christ’s revelation in the church is The “new
and definitive covenant which will never pass away. No new public revelation is to be
expressed before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pentecost is the official birthday of the church. The Church elaborates how the
apostles get out of their hiding place and proclaimed the Good News. The same as
expected of us today as members of the church.
Thus, it was the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Risen Chris, that gave birth to the
first Christian community., the apostolic church. St Paul describe people of his New
covenant as a “letter of Christ…written not with ink but by the spirit of the Living God, not
on tablets or stone but on tablets of human heat. (2 Cor:3:3)
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit appeared to the apostles like ‘Tongues of
fire “that were separated and stood over each of them. The Church taches us about the
Holy Spirit as co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Son is the Third person
of the Blessed Trinity. In the Bible there are different images used for the Spirit like
water, fire, wind, breath and dove, which gives us insight into the Spirit’s role and
activity. He dwells in all of us who follow God and He seals us, keeping us securely in
the family of God. He was the One promised by Jesus Christ before ascending into
heaven. The One sent to us by the Father and the Son to be our helper or Paraclete.
The Pentecost event brought the firs magnificent work of evangelization of the apostles.
This era is called the Apostolic Church (30-70 AD) The growing communities of
Christians came to be called ecclesia the Greek word for the Church in the New
Testament. It comes from the Hebrew word Qahal, which means the assembly of the
people. Peter and Paul were the two prominent figures in the Church in the Acts of the
Apostles. Through the dedication and perseverance of the apostles in doing the ministry
of evangelization, the church grew and stretched to the farthest nations. Alongside the
growth of the church are the growing and continuous persecutions of Christians.
In the Christian history, we can see many emperors initiating the persecutions of
Christians across the roman Empire. This began when they saw Christianity as the
threat to the power and its rule. They accused Christians of engaging cannibalism in
their Eucharistic rites; the refusal of Christians to worship pagan Gods and payment of
the temple tax where also counted as their violations. The severest persecutions under
the Roman empire were with Nero and Diocletian. This bloody and faith-shaking event
ended with Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan, granting Christians
complete tolerance.
The church is the Sacrament of Christ,the continuous presence of Christ in the world. As
a sacrament, the Church is Christ’s instrument for the salvation of all. It is the universal
sacrament of salvation, but which Christ is at once manifesting and actualizing the
mystery of God’s love for humanity, because God desires that the whole human race
may become one People of God, form one body in Christ, and to build up into one
temple of the holy Spirit (CCC 776) Sacrament, as a sign of Gods continuous presence
and love in the world. As Christ founded the Church, to continue his saving acts, the
Church continues the salvation worked by Christ in all of her activities, most fully in the
seven ritual signs called sacraments. Every time the church gathers through the
inspiration of Jesus’ words and spirits (Koinonia - sharing or fellowship) as an assembly
or community to carry out her mission and ministry through its rituals sacraments and
liturgy. She makes present and effectively continues the saving works of Christ
The Church is the Body of Christ. (1Cor.12:12-30) we are part of his body and each part
of his body has unique and specific works to do. We cannot live separated from the
body, just like the vine and the branches, we cannot do everything apart from Jesus
( John 15:5)Vatican Council II spelled out clearly that the Church is the People of God
Thus, strong community-oriented image pointed how the Church should be a community
focused on the interrelationship and mutual loving and service among members, to work
and operate on the principle of shared responsibility. In the way of practicing and living
out the humble servanthood way of living is a concrete manifestation of becoming a
Church as a Body of Christ and the People gathered by God. The third image of the
 Church leads us to a deeper understanding that each of the member is a dwelling place
of the Holy Spirit. (1 Coe, 3;16)
The Four marks of the Church
The church can be identified as the church established by Christ by four basic marks.
These marks are the unique and essential characteristics of the church
1. The Church is one because of her source, the one living god in Three persons, her
one founder, Jesus Christ, her one soul, the holy spirit, who dwells in the life of the
faithful and who unites them into one communion of believers.
2. The Church is holy because of her founder Jesus Christ, the source of all holiness.
3. The Church is catholic because it possesses fullness of faith and all means of
salvation. the origin of the word “catholic” is derived from Greek word meaning
“universal”
4. The Church is apostolic because she guards and transmits the teachings and
witnesses of the apostles.

B. Formative assessment
- Why do we say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church?
_________________________________________
- What three functions does the Spirit do for us as a Church?
__________________________________________
___________________________________________
- In what ways does the church make Christ present in this world?
___________________________________________
- ___________________________________________

C. Broadening of concept /Integration

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC751-752) the word “Church”
(Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka lein, meaning to “call out of “) means a convocation
or assembly of the chosen people before God. Above all, it is used for their assembly on
Mt. Sinai where Israel received the law and was established by God as his holy people.
By calling itself “Church,” the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as
heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is calling together his people from all the
ends of the earth. In Christian usage, the word “Church” designates the liturgical
assembly, and also the local community or the whole universal community of believers.

What significant characteristics of the Church do the following images present?

a. Body of Christ__________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
 b. People of God___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
c. Temple of the Holy Spirit___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
IV Summary

- The Catechism in the light of Sacred Scriptures teaches us that the Church is the
people of God, the Mystical Body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. By
virtue of Baptism, we become members of this universal and communal family of
God. St. Paul on the First Letter to the Corinthians, explained the role of the
members of the Church as the Body of Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles, we can
see how the early Christians lived out their identity as members of community, the
Church founded by Christ.
- The Church is one, holy catholic and apostolic
- By her relationship with Christ, he church is a kind of sacrament or sign and
instrument of intimate union with God, and of the unity of the whole human race.
- The Holy Spirit empowers us to make it possible for us to strive to be holy and to live
a life of true freedom according to God’s will. The main purpose of the gifts of the
Spirit, then is to build up the Church- the Body of Christ - and not just for any one’s
own individual’s growth.

V. Evaluation;

1. in what way you will become the real image of God? (the Church)

2.In what way does the holy spirit influence your aspiration in life?

REFERENCES

1. Live Your Faith Everyday Series Grade 11- RVM Christian Series
By John Carlo S. Hiyastro
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church(CCC)
3. New American Bible
4. Dei Verbum