The Paschal Mystery

1. The Paschal Mystery Section 4: The Paschal Mystery and your life

2. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • Through the Paschal Mystery, God calls us to be holy people in our love for Him and for one another. • We are called to participate in Christ’s threefold ministry, which is center around: • Priestly ministry • Prophetic ministry • Kingly ministry

3. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • Holiness is something hard to describe, and can conjure up different ideas of people who go to church, who pray, etc. • Thee dimensions of holiness are: • Something that reveals God and shares in His life, such as all creation and each one of us since we are made in His image. • Something that is consecrated to God, or specially designated for the service of God, such as those who are baptized. • Something that is clean, free from sin, such as those who try to follow the teachings of Jesus.

4. Part 1: Living as a Disciple We are all called to holiness from birth. When we are baptized original sin is washed away and our journey to holiness by avoiding sin begins until we are called home to God. To be holy sometimes means to say no to things that other people, such as our friends, might say yes to, or want to say yes to. It is a difficult journey to be holy, yet all people are called to it and can achieve it with Christ.

5. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • God provides us with different gifts to help us achieve holiness in our own life, such as: • Intellect and free will, which allows us to understand good or bad choices and we ourselves have the choice to pick the good or bad freely • Grace, or the supernatural gift that helps us respond to God’s love, to restore us to original holiness and justice • Self-reflection, or interiority, allows us to look inwardly at ourselves without the noise around us trying to influence us • The Church, God’s greatest gift to us to be holy, which allows us to encounter Christ in the sacraments, which bring us closer to God’s own holiness.

6. Part 1: Living as a Disciple All laity, or all those who are part of the Church but are not ordained, such as you and me, are called to partake in Christ’s missions of priest, prophet, and king. We are called to be priests not in the sense of an actual priest, but how Jesus was a priest. The Jewish high priests main job was to offer animal sacrifices to God for expiation of sins. Jesus sacrificed His own Body and Blood for all people, showing us that we too need to sacrifice for others.

7. Part 1: Living as a Disciple To partake of Jesus’ priestly mission, we must make sacrifices for the good of others, not of our own body and blood, but of other things that can hurt people. When we do good for others at cost to ourselves, we are partaking in Jesus’ priestly mission. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

8. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • Other ways to partake of Christ’s priestly ministry are: • Take time to pray daily (doesn’t have to be a 20 minute prayer) • Attend Mass every week (it’s a mortal sin if you don't) • Participate regularly in the Sacrament of Penance (cleans us of our sins, such as if we don’t attend Mass) • Sacrifice time and comfort to share God’s love (when we freely give of ourselves, such as to help the elderly or homeless, we are sacrificing of ourselves for another)

9. Part 1: Living as a Disciple We are called to Jesus’ prophetic ministry to speak out when we see something wrong in our world, such as abortion, since the prophet’s mission was to spread the Word and evangelize, which means to announce good news. Jesus’ prophetic mission was to ultimately lead people to the one, true God. Jesus’ words and actions were what fulfilled His prophetic ministry since He was the Word of God and He Himself attested to it.

10. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • We can participate in Jesus’ prophetic mission by: • Speaking out for the unborn and against abortion, as well as against poverty, which is what causes some women to have abortions (social justice) • Speak out against violence in our world, especially issues like bullying that cause teens to commit suicide • Organize to help people in need, such as by arranging a clothing drive • Share your love of God with others in your words and your deeds (walk the walk and talk the talk) • Catechesis is the process of people, any age, learning about the doctrines of the faith and the Church. Catechists are instructors.

11. Part 1: Living as a Disciple Jesus’ kingly mission is rooted in obedience and service to God, not in the ideas of kings we have today from medieval history. Jesus as king is based on His service to others, not ruling over them with power. Do you win more people over with power, or with service by helping and caring for them? The king that Jesus us overlooks the powerful and reaches down to the lowly and needy in society.

12. Part 1: Living as a Disciple • We can participate in Christ’s kingly mission by: • Be outstanding in your personal morality, such as by not wavering in your beliefs that you know are good (avoiding peer pressure) • Work in service of others, such as at the soup kitchen • Be humble and remember that as a leader you must show the way for others through service, not through being a power hungry person • Have a servant attitude and ask “how can I help?”

13. Part 1: Living as a Disciple We are all called to be holy leaders and the ministries of Jesus as priest, prophet, and king all overlap. If we try to help others, avoid sin, and do good for all of God’s creation, we are participating in God’s threefold ministry.

14. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery Suffering is an inevitable part of life and can many different forms, such as physical, emotional, and spiritual. Suffering is something difficult to understand, yet it is not the end thanks to Christ’s own suffering and death. Suffering is just one part of life, the divine plan, that we as humans cannot understand, but will prepare us for the Kingdom of Heaven.

15. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery One key to understanding suffering is that it is a result of original sin. This is why childbirth is painful now and it require long arduous work to grow food and crops. Sacrifice is suffering that is freely accepted and is another way to understand suffering. “No pain, no game…” Christ accepted His own suffering to achieve salvation, and to attain our own salvation, we too must accept the suffering in our life.

16. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery Uniting our suffering with Christ’s suffering is part of our call to be a part of His priestly mission. The Book of Job tells of a faithful man who suffered greatly and lost many things in his life. He could not understand why God would do this, but in the end Job’s suffering helped him further understand the greatest of God. People all over our world give of their time and talents and suffer for it in the end, yet achieve great things for our world.

17. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery God chose the poor and lowly to show that the rich and mighty will one day be reduce to nothing and those who are seen as nothing will be made something. Accepting suffering takes a great deal of courage and strength. It is only through courage and sacrifice that we can achieve something worthwhile.

18. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery We must sacrifice for the right thing, which is to build the Kingdom of God. When people sacrifice to gain wealth and power, they in the end still feel an emptiness and lose people along the way, such as family and friends. It is up to us to balance what we want to achieve in our own life for ourselves and what we want to achieve for others in appropriate proportions.

19. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery When one sacrifices of themselves for others, they are empowered by the love of God who desires to help us when we choose to do such things. God suffers with us when we suffer, as He did so through the excruciating Passion and death Jesus endured. We do not suffer alone as Christians and Catholics, we suffer with one another and with God.

20. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery We experience God’s caring presence primarily through His Church. The gift of fortitude, or courage in the face of suffering to still make moral judgments, helps us find hope in times of suffering. Fortitude is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit we receive at Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation. Fortitude is also a human virtue, or a habitual and firm disposition to do good.

21. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery • The four cardinal virtues are: • Prudence • Justice • Fortitude • Temperance • These help us to control our impulses and act morally.

22. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery • Suffering is not the end of the story. • In the end, after all the suffering and sacrifice, we must trust that God will make all things right. • Keys to hope and strength are: • Trust God is with you • Suffering is not the end of the story • Ask for fortitude

23. Part 2: Suffering and the Paschal Mystery