Fi

rstQuar
ter
TheCat
hol
icChur
ch
Modul
e2:TheDi
vi
neOr
igi
noft
heChur
ch

Obj
ect
ives:

Thel
ear
ner
swi
llbeabl
eto:

 Expl
aint
hatGodi
stheor
igi
noft
heChur
ch

 Bearwi
tnesst
othef
ounderoft
heChur
ch

 Pr
ayf
ort
heuni
tyoft
heChur
ch

I
. I
ntr
oduct
ion

Act
ivi
ty1.JumpSt
art

TheAr
chi
tecti
nMe

Imagineyoursel
fcreat
ingadesignoraplanonhow y ourli
fewil
lbeli
ved.Beguidedbythe
fol
lowingquesti
ons:Whatwillbethei
mportantev
ent
si nyourl
if
eplan?Whowillbethebest
contr
ibut
orsinthi
sli
feplan?Why?Howwil
lyoumakeyourli
fewor
thwhi
le?
 I
I. LessonPr
oper

A.Shapi
ngMi
nds

TheChurchcouldhaveper i
shedeasil
yifit
sf ormationhasbeenmer elybasedonthehuman
dimensi
on.She has suffer
ed persecut
ions,exper i
enced divi
sions,displayed moralweakness
amongherleader
sandmember s,yet,
shecontinuest osurvi
ve.TheChur chcannev erbeputdown,
fort
heChurchhasadivineori
gin.TheChurchwi l
lcontinuetoexistbecauseGodwi l
l
sit.

Looki
ngbackatwhattheChurchwentthrough,wecanr eal
izeherdi vi
neor i
ginusi
ngt he
sameargumentGamal
ielusedwhenhespoketot heSanhedri
n.Hear guedthatiftheendeavorof
theapost
leswereotdivi
neori
gin,t
heycoul
dnotbedest roy
ed.Inf act,i
ftheSanhedr i
nwoul d
att
empttodest
royt
heapostl
es,
theywoul
dbefightingagai
nstGod(cf.Acts5:34-42).

Consequentt o herdi vi
ne origin,the Church possesses the fol
lowi
ng char acter
ist
ics:
i
mmut able,indef ectible,andperennial.Thei mmut abi
li
tyoft heChur chmeanst hatnoonecan
changeheressent ialaspects.Thisimpliesthatthedoct r
inesofthechurchandt heirmeani ngsare
permanent.TheChur chkeepst hedeposi toff ait
hintact.Sheislikewisefai
thfult ot heSacred
mal
achi3:
6 
Tradi
ti
on.( “
Ithe LORD 
donotchange. 
Soyou,thedescendant
sofJacob,ar
enotdest r
oyed.)

The"Church’si
ndefect
ibil
i
ty"i
sr ootedinherdivi
neor i
ginwithJesusast heHeadandwi t
h
theHolySpiri
tast hesourceofherlif
e.Fi r
st,i
tmeanst hatt
heChur chshallneverper
ish.Second,
the Church shal
lnotf ailin hersalvifi
c mi ssi
on.Thir
d,the Church can neverundergo any
consti
tuti
onalchange.Herfai
th,moral
s, doctr
ine,andworshi
pwi l
lbeindef
ecti
ble(cf
.Ripl
ey,2002).

"TheChur
chisperenni
alShecanbepersecuted,butshecannotbestopped;shecanbe
assai
l
edbutnotdest
roy
ed,norcanperi
sh.TheChurchwillsur
viv
ehist
oryasJesuspromised(
cf.
Mt28:20).

WhenChristent
rust
edthekeysoftheChurchtoPet
er,Hehadavowedthatthegatesofhel
l
woul
dnotprevailagai
nstHisChurch(cf
.Mt16: 18)
.TheChurchwil
lbeindest
ructi
blenomat t
er
what
.Herenemieswouldnotbeabletoputherdownbecauseshei
sdivi
nel
yinst
it
uted

B.I
nfl
ami
ngHear
ts

Studi
esshow thatinthePhil
i
ppinesoci
ety
,theCat hol
icChurchremainst
obet hemost
respected,andi ti
sregar
dedasthemostcr edi
bleinst
it
utiondespi
tethehumani mper
fecti
ons
displ
ayedbyl eader
sandmembers.Thisi
safactamongCat hol
icChur
chesaroundt
heworld.

TheCat hol
icChur chwhi chhasgr ownexponential
lyfr
om thedeathandresurr
ecti
onof
Jesusi sthelongestsurvivi
nginsti
tut
ion.Thi
shist
ori
calcharact
eroftheChur
chisinsuf
fici
entt
o
rat
ionali
zehowshewi thstandsmanyt ri
alsandchall
enges.Wecanbesecuredandcomf ort
edby
hertranscendentdi
vini
ty.

From SacredScript
ures,Jesus'f
oundingofHisChurch:"
AndsoIsayt oy ou,y
ouar ePeter
,
andupont hisrockIwillbuil
dmychur ch,andthegatesofthenether
worl
dshallnotprev
ailagai
nst
i
t.Iwillgiv
ey outhekey stothekingdom ofheaven.Whateveryoubindoneart
hshallbeboundi n
heaven;andwhat every
oul ooseonearthshallbel
oosedinheaven(Mt16:18-
19).

Thi
spr
ovest
hatt
heChur
chwhi
chJesusf
oundedi
simmut
abl
e,i
ndef
ect
ibl
e,andper
enni
al.

C.Cat
hol
icTeachi
ngs

Itisadogmaoff aiththatChri
stfoundedaChur ch.Heest abli
shednotonl yanor gani
zed
rel
igionbutal
s0aChur chthatwouldconti
nueHi ssavi
ngwor kunti
ltheendoftime.Thedocument
oft heSecondVat i
canCounci lLumenGent ium expl
ainst heor i
ginoft heChur ch:"Theet ernal
compassi onofGodt heFather.
..det
erminedt ocallt
oget heri
nahol yChurcht hosewhoshoul d
beli
ev einChr
ist
.ThisChurchwasal r
eadypr esenti
nfigureatt hebeginni
ngoft hewor ld;shewas
preparedinmarvel
ousfashioninthehi
storyofthepeopleofI sr
aelintheOldAll
iance"(LG, 2).Thus,
theChurchfoundedbyChr i
sti
sahistori
calr
eal
i
tybecausewhatwasapr
omise,apref
igur
ati
on,
or
aprepar
ationinthepeopleofI
sraelbecameareal
it
y,aful
fi
ll
ment,
andacomplet
ionintheChur
ch
ofChri
st"(
Belmonte,1993).

Seeki
ngtheori
ginoft heChur
chisalsol
ooki
ngintoherhi
stor
ici
ty.Godl
aiddownt he
f
oundati
onoftheChurchbychoosi
ngapeopl
eHecall
edhisown.Heest
abli
shedacovenantwi
th
Hi
schosenpeoplei
nthreest
ages.

Fi
rst
,duringt heti
meoft hepat r
iar
chs,Abr
aham,Isaac,andJacob,Godi nit
ial
l
ymadean
all
iancewithAbr aham whichbecamet heseedofanew anddeeperr el
ati
onshipoft heenti
re
humani t
ywithGod.Abr aham wasappointedasthe"fat
herofmanynations"and" t
hefatherofal
l
thosewhobel i
eve,"t
hus,al
lgenerat
ionsonearthwoul
dbeblessedinhi
m.

Second,duringtheti
meofMoses,t hechosenpeopl
erecogni
zedYahwehastheoneand
t
rueGod,thei
rmightyLordandprot
ector
.Godbequeat
hedtheTenCommandmentstoHispeopl
e
t
oshowt hemessiani
cori
entat
ionofthecov
enant
.

Thi
rd,inthet i
meoft heprophets,mostespecial
lyIsaiah,Godmani fest
edtherel
igi
ous
natur
eoft hecov enantaswel lasitsfulf
il
lmentintheMessi ah.TheIsrael
i
teswerecall
ed" t
he
peopl
eoft hepromi seand" t
hepeopleofbeliev
ers"onthebasisoft hef
aiththatGodwouldful
fi
ll
Hiswil
l f
orthem.Inr etur
n,Goddemandedabsolutefai
thfr
om them.

However,t
hechosenpeopl ehadbrokent
hef i
rstcovenant(cf
.Jer31:31ff:Ez36:
25f).They
wereexiled t
of orei
gn l
andsand l iv
ed i
n suf
feri
ng Hopef i
l
led t
hei
rhear tsanew when God
announcedthatHewouldest abli
shtheNewCov enantwit
ht heremnantofIsrael(cf
.Is4:
2-3),t
hat
i
s,thosewhowoul dremainfait
hful.

Thisfi
rstcovenantwasan ant
ici
pat
ionoftheChurch.TheJewswai
ted f
ort
heNew
Covenantwhi
chwast obeestabl
i
shedbytheMessi
ah.Thr
oughHim,t
henewPeopl
eofGod,t
he
ChurchofChr
ist
,wouldbefor
med.

I
II
. Ev
aluat
ion

A.Wr
it
eTont
hel
i
nei
fthest
atementi
scor
rectandW i
tthest
atementi
swr
ong.

1._
___
_TheChur
chcoul
dhav
eper
ishedi
fiti
sonl
ybasedont
hehumandi
mensi
on.

2._
___
_Thei
nfal
l
ibi
l
ityoft
heChur
chmeansnoonecanchangeheressent
ial
aspect
s.

3._
___
_TheChur
chcanbeper
secut
edbutcannotbest
opped.

4._
___
_Chr
istent
rust
edt
hekey
soft
heChur
cht
oAndr
ew.

5._
___
_TheChur
chf
oundedbyJesusi
simmut
abl
e,def
ect
ibl
eandper
enni
al.

B.Fi
l
lint
hebl
ankst
ocompl
etet
hef
oll
owi
ng.

1.I
tisadogmaoff
ait
hthatChr
istf
oundeda_
___
___
___
_.

2.Thedocumentoft
heChur
chent
it
led_
___
___
___
___
__expl
ainst
heor
igi
noft
heChur
ch.

3.Duri
ngtheti
meof__
___
___
___
_thechosenpeopl
eofGodr
ecogni
zedYahwehast
he
oneandtr
ueGod.

4.Duri
ngt heti
meoft he___
___
____
___
__ _
___,especi
all
yIsai
ah,Godmani
fest
edt
he
rel
i
giousnat
ureoft
hecov
enantaswellasit
sfulf
il
lmentint
heMessi
ah

5.TheJewswai
tedfort
henewcov enantwhi
chwastobeestabl
i
shedbyt heMessi
ah
andwhi
chwastobethenewpeopleofGod,t
he_
___
____
___
_____
__ofChr
ist.
GODBLESS&KEEPSAFE!:
)