Bukidnon Association of Catholic Schools (BUACS), Inc.

To be compiled
Diocese of Malaybalay

LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL

Don Carlos, Bukidnon

GRADE 12 – CHURCH
1ST Semester-1st Quarter
S.Y. 2022-2023

LESSON 1: ORIGIN AND BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

I.GOD’S MESSAGE
17
From that time Jesus began to preach his message: “Turn away from your
sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!” 23Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching
in the synagogues, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom, and healing
people who had all kinds of disease and sickness. 25Large crowds followed him from
Galilee and the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem, Judea, and the land on the other side
of the Jordan.
-Mt. 4: 17, 23, 25
II. EXPOSITION
A. Jesus’ mission was focused on the Reign of God. Right after being
baptized and after overcoming temptation in the desert (cf. Mt. 3:13-17; 4: 1-10),
he started to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand – the rule of a Father
who is rich in mercy and love. He also called on people to change their ways if
they wanted God to rule their lives. Since this theme was not easy to grasp, he
spoke in a language that his audience could understand. He used parables to tell
his audience that God’s rule would mean fullness of life (a plentiful harvest), that
https://bit.ly/2Mw7NEz it was an undeserved gift but which asked for receptivity and joyful commitment
(parables of the wheat, pearl of great price, the treasure in the field), that it
would surely grow beyond what we could imagine (wheat growing secretly, mustard seed), and that God’s transforming
power, though unseen, would surely make things happen in the midst of human life (leaven in a dough).
B. He spoke of the Kingdom as God’s desire to make us enjoy fully the love that is ours as children of God who is our
Father. Jesus told his hearers to ask for God’s forgiveness, to pray without ceasing, addressing God as “Abba, Father!”
with the trust that he would answer their prayers. He told them to share and serve. God’s rule was a rule of love where
no one was found wanting, because those who had enough unselfishly gave to those who had none.

C. Jesus’ deeds proved the truth of his preaching. The blind, the lame, and the lepers were made whole. His healing
miracles revealed a God of love and compassion. The good news of God’s reign came upon the poor and needy.
God was serious, indeed, in restoring life and wholeness to anyone who was broken and suffering.
D. To show that the rule of God was what mattered most, Jesus led a lifestyle that pointed to the passing value of
wealth, fame, and worldly power. As he was born poor, so did he live and die poor. His total devotion to God’s will
was shown in his prayer, a prayer full of confidence, which he taught as through his disciples to be our own prayer
(Mt. 6: 9-15). His was a life that sought first the Kingdom of God and all other things besides (cf. Mt 6:23).
E. All these attracted people to Jesus, people who were willing to follow him, his teaching, and lifestyle. The
Kingdom of God that Jesus preached started then to show itself in a gathered and renewed people. The spiritual
and invisible rule of God over the world and humanity became visible in a community that allowed God to rule their
lives.
F. From among these followers, Jesus chose Twelve who became eye-and-ear witnesses to his words and deeds.
Their number c0rresponded to the 12 tribes of Israel, a number that meant total or universal. Their number
suggested that the good news of salvation proclaimed by Jesus was for all and was meant to gather all people into
Christ’s embrace. It was Jesus who called them, and like in most cases where it was a disciple who chose his master.
One of them, Peter, was handpicked by Jesus to be his “brothers’ strength,” the “rock” upon which Christ was “to
build his Church” (cf. Mt. 16:18).
 G. These disciples were to be the nucleus, the seed from which
the Church would grow. They, who at this point had not shown
signs of readiness to take part in Jesus’ work of proclaiming
God’s Kingdom, were to be renewed by Christ’s resurrection and
empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread to all nations “what they
have heard and seen with their own eyes, what they have
watched and touched with their hands” (cf. 1 Jn. 1:1). Indeed, the
Church is a community called together by God – a community of
https://bit.ly/3cV9HsT love whose source is the Father who sent Christ to be our
Redeemer in the unity of the Holy Spirit. This is why the Church is
called Banal na Iglesya from the Spanish word Iglesia which comes from the Greek word ekklesia, meaning “a people
called together.”
In addition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church #751 states that 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. 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. The equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are
derived, means "what belongs to the Lord."

CHURCH TEACHING
That the Church has its roots in Christ and in his proclamation of the Kingdom is also expressed in the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, no. 5:
The mystery of the holy Church is manifest in her foundation, for the Lord Jesus inaugurated her by preaching
the good news, that is, the coming of God’s Kingdom which, for centuries, had been promised in the Scriptures. “The
time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15; cf. Mt 4:17). In Christ’s words, in his works, and in his
presence, this Kingdom reveals itself to men and women.
Thus, the Church is a community of disciples that came about as a natural result of Jesus’ mission to proclaim the
good news. She exists not for her own sake but to continue the mission of Christ which is her reason for being. On the
other hand, Jesus desires to continue drawing all people to the Father through this community of disciples and apostles –
people who are called and sent.

DO THE WRITTEN WORKS AND PERFORMANCE TASKS

Reference:
Manabat, J., Munsayac, J., Astorga, M.C., Balgan, J.M., & Coralejo, E. (2009). The Church on the Move (4 th Edition). Quezon City:
FNB Educational, Inc. ISBN 978-971-514-649-4