Basis of the Catholic

Faith
Guide Questions:

➢ What do you think is/are the Basis of our Faith?

➢ Where it came from?
➢ What is the root or foundation of our faith?
 The Catholic Faith

We are followers of Jesus Christ, who lived 2000 years ago and taught His disciples to
live a life of outstanding care and concern for one another, to uphold the highest
standards of sexual morality, and to offer forgiveness and compassion to those who
acknowledge their inability to live out these ideals consistently.
We believe that Jesus was more than a great moral teacher –
that He was God walking among us as a human being. The
night before He died He shared a ritual meal of bread and
wine with His followers and said “This is My Body – This is My
Blood – Do this in memory of Me.” Ever since, Catholics have
celebrated the Mass, the re-presentation of the Last Supper
of Jesus. We believe that when we receive Holy Communion,
although what we eat and drink looks, feels, and tastes like
bread and wine, it is in God’s sight the actual Body and Blood
of Jesus.
We believe that within God, there are three distinct
identities which we call Persons – the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit – yet these are united so closely with one
another that we can still proclaim that we believe in One
God. We believe that many people who have lived good
lives on earth are now saints with God in heaven, and
pre-eminent among them is Mary the Mother of Jesus.
We believe that we can invite these saints, and also the
angels created by God, to pray for us in God’s
presence.
We are ordinary people who strive daily to live up to
the teachings of Jesus and to worship Him each
week. The best of us are reputed as great saints; the
worst of us are notorious sinners. What we have in
common is that we believe that God is real, that the
Catholic Church on earth enables us to worship and
receive God’s teaching in the way most pleasing to
God, and that, despite our weakness, we continue the
struggle to live as followers of Jesus in the face of the
difficulties and temptations which surround us!
1. CREED

● From the Latin “Credo” which means “I believe”

● Presents the essential truths of the Christian Faith
Two Principal Catholic Creeds:
1. Apostles’ Creed
2. Nicene Creed
Parameters of
Apostles Creed Nicene Creed
Comparison

The Nicene Creed is mainly

The Apostles Creed is used during the
Purpose associated with the death of Jesus
baptism.
Christ.

Wording It begins with “I believe.” It uses “We believe.”

Nicene Creed came into existence

History The Apostles Creed is the older of the two.
after the Apostles Creed.

It was drawn and adopted by the early

This was created in 325 by the
Origin church before the middle of the 2nd
Council of Nicaea.
century.

In the beginning, the manuscripts were

Language It was produced in Greek.
written in Latin.
1. What is a creed?
(a statement of beliefs)
(summary of our beliefs)
2. Why do you think the Apostles
wrote down a creed?
(to make a statement about
what they believed and to
encourage unity among
believers)
3. Why do you think the
first part of the Creed
deals with belief in God?
(we are to love God above
all things)
12 Articles of Faith
Article 1: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. This
affirms that God exists, that he’s a Triune God (one God in three persons, known as
the Holy Trinity), and that he created the known universe.

Article 2: And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. This attests that Jesus is the Son
of God and that he’s most certainly divine. The word Lord implies divinity, because
the Greek Kyrios and the Hebrew Adonai both mean “lord” and are ascribed only to
God. So the use of Lord with Jesus is meant to profess his divinity. The name Jesus
comes from the Hebrew Jeshua, meaning “God saves.” So Catholics believe that Jesus
is Savior.
Article 3: Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. This
affirms the human nature of Christ, meaning he had a real, true human mother, and also affirms his
divine nature, meaning he had no human father but by the power of the Holy Spirit was conceived in
the womb of the Virgin Mary. He’s therefore considered both God and man by Christians—fully divine
and fully human.

Article 4: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The
human nature of Christ could feel pain and actually die, and he did on Good Friday. The
mention of Pontius Pilate by name wasn’t meant so much to vilify him forever in history but to
place the Crucifixion within human history.

Article 5: He descended to the dead. The third day he arose again from the dead. The
hell Jesus descended into wasn’t the hell of the damned, where Jews and Christians believe
the devil and his demons reside. Hell was merely a word that Jews and early Christians used
to describe the place of the dead. This passage affirms that on the third day he rose, meaning
Jesus came back from the dead of his own divine power. He wasn’t just clinically dead for a
few minutes; he was dead dead — then he rose from the dead. More than a resuscitated
corpse, Jesus possessed a glorified and risen body.
Article 6: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. The
Ascension reminds the faithful that after the human and divine natures of Christ were united in the
Incarnation, they could never be separated. In other words, after the saving death and Resurrection, Jesus
didn’t dump his human body as if he didn’t need it anymore. Catholicism teaches that his human body will
exist forever. Where Jesus went, body and soul, into heaven, the faithful hope one day to follow.

Article 7: He will come again to judge the living and the dead. This article affirms the Second Coming of
Christ at the end of the world to be its judge. Judgment Day, Day of Reckoning, Doomsday—they’re all
metaphors for the end of time when what’s known as the General Judgment will occur. Catholics believe that
after the death of any human person, immediate private judgment occurs and the person goes directly to
heaven, hell, or purgatory (an intermediate place in preparation for heaven).

Article 8: I believe in the Holy Spirit, This part reminds the believer that God exists in three persons — the
Holy Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Article 9: the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, Catholics believe that the Church is more
than a mere institution and certainly not a necessary evil. It’s an essential dimension and aspect of spiritual
life. Christ explicitly uses the word church (ekklesia in Greek) in Matthew 16 when he says, “I will build My
Church.”
Article 10: the forgiveness of sins, Christ came to save the world from sin. Belief in the
forgiveness of sins is essential to Christianity. Catholicism believes sins are forgiven in Baptism
and in the Sacrament of Penance.

Article 11: the resurrection of the body, From the Catholic perspective, a human being is a
union of body and soul, so death is just the momentary separation of body and soul until the end
of the world, the Second Coming of Christ, the General Judgment, and the resurrection of the
dead. The just go, body and soul, into heaven, and the damned go, body and soul, into hell.

Article 12: And in life everlasting. As Christ Our Savior died, so, too, must mere mortals. As he
rose, so shall all human beings. Death is the only way to cross from this life into the next. At the
very moment of death, private judgment occurs; Christ judges the soul:

* If it’s particularly holy and virtuous, the soul goes directly to heaven.

* If it’s evil and wicked and dies in mortal sin, it’s damned for eternity in hell.
 2. SACRAMENTS
● Celebration of the Christian Mysteries
● Celebrating our faith through the Sacraments
 • Three part definition of a Sacrament:

a. Sensible Sign
b. Instituted by Christ
c. To give grace
 Classification of Sacraments:
1. Initiation
2. Healing
3. Service and
Commitment
TEN COMMANDMENTS QUESTION 1

1. On which mountain did God give the Ten

Commandments?
TEN COMMANDMENTS QUESTION 2

2. To whom did God give the Ten

Commandments?
TEN COMMANDMENTS QUESTION 3

3. On how many tablets of stone were the Ten

Commandments written?
TEN COMMANDMENTS QUESTION 4

4. In what book of the Bible will you find the

Ten Commandments?
The Commandments:

Our Blueprint for

Moral Life
A. Exodus 20 – narrates the 10 Commandments
B. Moses – the one used by God to freed the Israelites
from slavery of Egypt
C. Decalogue – other term for the 10 Commandments.
 Deeper meaning of Commandments

❖It is a covenant of love given by the Almighty

God for the people
❖Serve as a guide to lead us to a personal
relationship with God through Jesus Christ
 The whole law is divided into two:
1. Love the Lord
2. Love your neighbor
*Means that we are supposed to
make good relationship with God
and with one another.
 Relationship with Relationship with
God Others
4. Honor parents
5. Do not murder
1. No other gods 6. Do not commit adultery
2. Respect God’s name 7. Do not steal
3. Keep Sabbath holy 8. Do not give false
testimony
9. Do not covet (wife)
10. Do not covet (goods)
 The Church upholds the significance and
observance of the Ten Commandments in the
lives of the Faithful to affirm their moral
existence and attain salvation through
FAITH.
 THE LORD’S PRAYER
PRAYER
➔ a surge of the heart, a simple look turned
toward heaven, a cry of recognition and
love, embracing both trial and joy.
➔ It is the raising of one’s mind and heart to
God or the requesting of good things from
God
How do you
pray?
OUR FATHER
➢ The fundamental Christian prayer,
the most perfect of prayers. It is
called “the Lord’s Prayer” because it
comes to us from the Lord Jesus, the
master and model of our prayer
One of the most frequently prayed prayers among Catholics
and Christians of other denominations is the Our Father. For
most Christians, it is one of the first prayers that everyone
learns from a young age. One of the main reasons it holds
primacy in our faith and is prayed each week in the liturgy is
that Jesus himself taught us the prayer. When asked by His
disciples about how to pray, Jesus taught his disciples the
prayer traditionally known as the “Our Father” or “the Lord’s
Prayer.” This prayer appears in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke
11:2-4.
Is there a particular structure to the Our Father?
The prayer is composed of seven petitions. There
are three “thy-petitions” (thy name, thy kingdom,
thy will) followed by four “us-petitions” (give us,
forgive us, lead us not and deliver us). In order to
better understand the Lord’s Prayer, it is important
to briefly examine each petition.
“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He did not teach them
to pray “My Father,” but rather “Our Father.” This reminds us that
we are God’s sons and daughters together in Christ, not as
isolated individuals. It is only as the body of Christ that we can
pray to God as Father. When we call God “Father,” it is a
reminder for us to live as children in relation with God. In
teaching us to call God “Father,” Jesus also tells us that we
have the privilege to call God by the same name He used in His
intimate relationship with the Father.
“Hallowed be thy name…”

In the first petition, we are asking that God’s name would be “hallowed” or
sanctified. Objectively speaking, God’s name is already holy, but the prayer is
asking that God make His name holy to all people through His works and
deeds

“Thy kingdom come…”

The second petition has a twofold meaning. First, we are praying for the
coming of the kingdom of God here and now in our everyday lives. At the
same time, we are also praying for Christ’s glorious return at the end of time
and the final coming of the reign of God.
“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”

The third petition asks God that our will be conformed to his divine will. When Jesus was praying to the
Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, He also used the words “thy will be done.” When we pray “thy will
be done” we commit ourselves to following Jesus by taking up our cross.

“Give us this day, our daily bread…”

In the fourth petition, “give us” expresses our trust in our heavenly Father. “Our daily bread” refers to our
earthly nourishment that is necessary to physically sustain us throughout the day and the Bread of Life
(the Word of God and the Body of Christ) that spiritually nourishes us. As Catholics, we are privileged to
receive the “Bread of Life” daily in the Mass.

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

In the fifth petition, we beg for God’s mercy for the times that we have fallen short of loving God and
loving our neighbor. We acknowledge that the Father’s mercy and forgiveness are able to penetrate our
hearts to the extent that we are able to forgive our enemies.
“Lead us not into temptation…”

Some people wonder why we would ask God not to lead us into temptation. The letter of St. James
clearly says that God does not tempt us with evil (James 1:13). Therefore, in this petition, we are
asking that God does not allow us to take the path that leads to sin. We are praying to avoid the
near occasion of sin.

“But deliver us from evil…”

Closely tied to the previous prayer, in this final petition, we are asking God to protect us from evil.
The Catechism teaches that the “evil” in this petition is not an abstract evil, but actually “refers to a
person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God” (CCC, 2851). While we acknowledge the
reality of the devil, we place our trust in Christ and his definitive victory over evil on the cross.

“Amen!”

After praying all of these petitions, we end by affirming our belief in all that we have prayed by
saying “Amen” or “So be it!”