PRELIMINARY:

UNDERSTANDING
CHRISTOLOGY
The Catechism for the Filipino Catholics
declares, “Jesus Christ is the center of
the Christian Faith. Thus, Christian life is
not only to know Jesus but also to have a
deeper union with Christ for He alone
can lead us to the love of the Father and
make us share in the life of the Holy
Trinity.”(CFC 464)
 To know and develop a meaningful relationship with
Jesus, we are to follow these
principles:
1. “Knowing Jesus is a
life-long task. It is a
continuing process
because only in Jesus
Christ do
we come to know our own
true selves, and the
deepest meaning and
destiny of our lives.” (CFC
470)
2. “Knowing Jesus is a living, changing, growing and a
deepening experience. It means that to know Jesus
means entering into a personal relationship with him.“ (CFC
471)

3. “The Jesus that we come to know is both the

historical earthly Jesus and the Risen Christ of faith.”
(CFC 472) St. Paul in his letter to the Romans said, “He
who was descended from David according to the flesh was
made Son of God in power according to the spirit of
holiness, by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ
our Lord.” (Rom 1:3-4)
 4. “To know Jesus means being committed to
become his true follower. There is no authentic
knowing Jesus Christ outside of personal
commitment to his teaching and way of life. Knowing
Jesus must make a difference in our lives. It must be
accompanied with a loving service of
others in living faith.” (CFC 473)
5. “We come to know who Jesus is from
what he did, his saving work. So, we turn
to the Gospels, which faithfully hand on
what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived
among us, really did and taught for our
eternal salvation.”(CFC 474)
Etymology and Definition
As a branch of Christian theology, Christology (from
Christ and Greek-λογία, -logia) looks into the
nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in
the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New
Testament. As such, Christology explores the
details of Jesus' life (what he did) and his
teachings (what he said) in order to arrive at a
clearer understanding of who He is in his person,
and his role in salvation. Above all, the study
considers the relationship of Jesus' nature and
person with that of God the Father.
In the Apostolic era, St. Paul presented an
significant component of the Christology. He
formulated the central theme of his Christology
by proclaiming the notion of Christ’s pre-
existence and the worship of Christ as Kyrios
(the Lord). Following the Apostolic Age, some
issues in Christology were debated, and due to
seemingly minor, but politically charged
differences, in the 4th-century schisms among
denominations developed.
In the 13th-century, Saint Thomas Aquinas
provided the first systematic Christology that
consistently resolved a number of the existing
issues. In his Christology from above, Aquinas also
championed a principle of perfection of Christ's
human attributes. The Middle Ages also witnessed
an emergence of the "tender image of Jesus" as a
friend and a living source of love and comfort, rather
than just the Kyrios(Lord)image.
 According to theologian Karl Rahner, the
purpose of modern Christology is to formulate
the Christian belief that "God became
man and that God-made-man is the
individual Jesus Christ" in a manner that
this statement can be understood consistently,
without the confusions of past debates and
mythologies
Prayer in the Christian Life
What is prayer?
Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to
God, or the petition of good things from him in
accord with his will. It is always the gift of God
who comes to encounter man. Christian prayer is
the personal and living relationship of the
children of God with their Father who is
infinitely good, with his Son Jesus Christ, and
with the Holy Spirit who dwells in their hearts.
The Revelation of Prayer
Why is there a universal call to prayer?
Because through creation God first calls every
being from nothingness. Even after the Fall man
continues to be capable of recognizing his Creator
and retains a desire for the One who has called him into
existence. All religions and the whole history of salvation
in particular, bear witness to this human desire for God. It
is God first of all, however, who ceaselessly draws
every person to the mysterious encounter known as
prayer.
How did Moses pray?
The prayer of Moses was typical of
contemplative prayer. God, who called to Moses
from the burning bush, lingered in conversation with
him often and at length, “face to face, like a man with
his friend” (Exodus 33:11). In this intimacy with God,
Moses attained the strength to intercede
tenaciously for his people: his prayer thus
prefigured the intercession of the one mediator,
Christ Jesus.
PRAYER IS
FULLY
REVEALED
AND
REALIZED IN
JESUS
From how to whom did Jesus learn
pray?
Jesus, with his human heart, learned how to
pray from his mother and from the Jewish
tradition. But his prayer sprang from a more
secret source because he is the eternal Son of
God who in his holy humanity offers
his
perfect filial prayer to his Father.
When did Jesus pray?
The Gospel often shows Jesus at
prayer. We see him draw apart to
pray in solitude, even at night. He
prays before the decisive
moments of his mission or that of
his apostles. In fact, all his life is a
prayer because he is in a constant
communion of love with the Father.
How did Jesus pray during his passion?
The prayer of Jesus during his agony in
the garden of Gethsemani and his last
words on the cross reveal the depth of his
filial prayer. Jesus brings to completion the
loving plan of the Father and takes upon
himself all the anguish of humanity and all
the petitions and intercessions of the
history of salvation. He presents them to the
Father who accepts them and answers them
beyond all hope by raising his Son from the
dead.
How does Jesus teach us to pray?
Jesus teaches us to pray not only with the Our Father but also
when he prays. In this way he teaches us, in addition to the
content, the dispositions necessary for every true prayer: purity
of heart that seeks the Kingdom and forgives one’s enemies, bold
and filial faith that goes beyond what we feel and understand,
and watchfulness that protects the disciple from temptation.
What is the prayer of the Hour of Jesus?
It is called the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper.
Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, addresses it to his
Father when the hour of his sacrifice, the hour of his “passing over”
to him is approaching.
 Our Father
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who
trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Pater Noster
Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificéturNomenTuum:
advéniat Regnum Tuum:
fiat volúntasTua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum
cotidiánum da nobishódie,
et dimíttenobisdébita nostra,
sicut et nos
dimíttimusdebitóribusnostris.
et ne nosindúcas in
tentatiónem;
sedlíberanos a Malo.
What is the origin of the Our Father?
Jesus taught us this Christian prayer for which
there is no substitute, the Our Father, on the day
on which one of his disciples saw him praying and
asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The
Church’s liturgical tradition has always used the text
of Saint Matthew (6:9-
13)
 “THE
SUMMARY OF
THE WHOLE
GOSPEL”
What is the place of the Our Father in the
Scriptures?
The Our Father is the “summary of the
whole Gospel” (Tertullian), “the perfect
prayer” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Found in
the middle of the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5-7), it presents in the form of prayer
the essential content of the Gospel.
Why is it called the “Lord’s Prayer”?
The Our Father is called the “Oratio Dominica”, that is, the
Lord’s Prayer because it was taught to us by the Lord Jesus himself.

What place does the Our Father have in the prayer of

the Church?
The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer of the Church par excellence. It
is “handed on” in Baptism to signify the new birth of the children of
God into the divine life. The full meaning of the Our Father is
revealed in the Eucharist since its petitions are based on the
mystery of salvation already accomplished, petitions that will be fully
heard at the coming of the Lord. The Our Father is an integral part
of the Liturgy of the Hours.
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!

GOD BLESS
EVERYONE!