CHURCH AND SACRAMENTS

 
  
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course aims to make the learners understand the meaning and the
significance of the Church in the life of a believer by helping them to realize that
in and through the Church they encounter the living Jesus Christ. They will be
introduced to the fact that the Church was founded by Christ through the Apostles
and is sustained by him through the Holy Spirit. This course will also help the
learners appreciate the Sacraments they receive and to clarify the value of the
Sacrament in living the Catholic Faith. Through this course, the teachers and
learners are equipped in establishing a culture and environment in the school
whereby the Church and the Sacraments are valued, lived and shared to others.
 A. INTRODUCTION
Part one of this course focuses on the Church. Today, we see a
proliferation of ‘churches’. It is ironic that each of these churches claim to be the
‘True Church.’ Most often than not, some members of these churches are at odds
with one another engaging in bitter debates, polemics and negatively portraying
by way of caricatures those churches whom them are in disagreement with.
Different social media platforms have been used to attack and caricature other
churches.
It is unfortunate that many Catholics do not have the confidence to defend
their faith. Most, if not some, are easy preys to fundamentalists who try to win
members for their church by making false claims about our Church – the Holy
Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church. Mindful of these, there is then a need, not
only for a renewed Evangelization but also for a New Apologetics. We study the
Church – its nature, origin, purpose and destiny, not only for academic purposes,
but in view of living out our identity as belonging to the Church (Mission) and in
view of being able to effectively and confidently dialogue in charity with people
of different faiths (Apologetics) especially those who are hostile to our Catholic
Christian Faith.
As such, at the end of this this Unit, we hope to answer the questions: 1)
What is the Church? 2) How did it come about? 3) What is its purpose? 4) Where
does it subsist?

PART 1
THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH: CHRIST ESTABLISHED HIS ONE
CHURCH TO CONTINUE HIS PRESENCE AND HIS WORK

Lesson 1. UNDERSTANDING THE TERM “CHURCH”

Learning Outcomes
 understand the concept of the Church
 recognize God as the origin of the Church.
 to recognize the Church
 to value and live out what it means to belong to the Church.

EXPOSITION & INTEGRATION

1) The word “Church” (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to “call
out of”) means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the
assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose. Ekklesia is
 used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the
Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount
Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his
holy people. See Exodus 19
 We learn here that the Church is not something that people
establish. It is NOT MAN-MADE. The gathering or the
assembly (ekklesia) is a result of someone who calls them out
(ekkalein) together. Mayroong pagtitipon (gathering or
assembly) sapagkat may tumawag (ekkalein) sa kanila.
 The people’s unity is not the making of an individual within a
group. Ang kanilang pagtitipon ay hindi dahil sa pagtawag ng
isa sa mga kasapi sa pagtitipon. But their unity is a result of
their response to the ‘calling forth’ of Someone Other – other
than the people who are gathered together. They are united
because God calls them forth.

2) In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for ekklesia is qahal. What is
referred to as Ekklesia in the New Testament is rendered qahal in the
Old Testament. In the Book of Exodus, qahal designates the assembly
that was guided by God in the wilderness toward Mount Sinai.
 There is a continuity of the assembly of the people of God in
the Old Testament to that of the Assembly or Gathering of the
disciples of Jesus Christ. Makikita natin dito na may
koneksyon, ugnayan at pagpapatuloy yung pagtitipon ng bayan
ng Diyos na nakasaad sa Lumang Tipan (Old Testament) at
yung pagtitipon ng mga disipulo ni Kristo sa New Testament.
In fact, the Assembly of the Old Testament find their fulfilment
in the gathering of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Maari nating
sabihin na ang simbahan ay nagsimula nang mabuo nung
nakipagsalamuha ang Diyos sa mga Tao. Ang Diyos ang unang
tumatawag. At dahil sa pagtugon ng mga tao sat wag Diyos,
sila ay nagtitipon. Itong pagtitipon na ito na nabuo dahil sa
pagtawag ng Diyos ang simula ng simbahan. The Church
began to be formed when God called his people and set them
apart as His very own.
 By calling itself “Church,” the first community of Christian
believers recognized itself as heir to the assembly of the Old
Testament. In the Church, God is “calling together” his
 people from all the ends of the earth.
o Let us try to examine what some sects say:
o This binding to God, this relationship to GOD opens us
up into a communion, into a community of belivers.
 Relationship as meaning without religion simply
neglects the Biblical fact that our union with
God unites us and makes us a community of
believers.
 Where two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I in there midst.
 The rituals that we celebrates manifests this
relationship to God. This rituals are not man
made. They are preordained by God: see the
Book of exodus and Leviticus. The priestly
Tribe of Levi etc.

3) The Greek adjective Kyriake (which often precedes the noun ekklesia),
from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are
derived, means “what belongs to the Lord.”
 The Church has its origin in God. It is for this reason that the
Church belongs to God. Ang simbahan ay pagmamay-ari ng
Diyos. Hindi ng sinumang tao. Masasabi natin na ang tunay na
Simbahan ay yung itinatag ng Diyos. Ang anumang simbahang
itinatag ng tao ay hindi tunay simbahan.
 The Church originated from God’s initiative. God calls and
man responds. Because the Church originated from God, then
we can say that the purpose of the Church is part of God’s
eternal purpose.
 God has set apart a people of his own. A holy nation. That is
not a PERSONAL LORD and SAVIOR. God revealed himself
to the a people, a community. (Let us examine this in our next
meeting)
4) To belong to the Church is to enter into communion with God. And the
communion that one enters into is not an individual and personal
expression of one’s faith but a collective unity – a community of
believers – that mirrors the unity of God as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
 A growing number of Christians do not value their ‘belonging’
 to the Church. Some even argue that to belong to a Church is
not important. What matters, they say, is Faith. Spiritual but not
religious, is what others describe themselves. But the
awareness of oneself as a member of the Church is rooted
in one’s awareness that he/she no longer belongs to
himself/herself but to Christ. See Gal 2:20; Phil 1:21; Phil
4:13

ASSIGNMENT:
1. Have a copy of the Coat of Arms of your Parish.
2. Identify its symbols and the meaning of each symbol.