Chapter 6: The Church in the Life of the Faithful

1. Chapter 6: The Church in the Life of the Faithful THE CHURCH: Sacrament of Salvation

2. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Anticipatory Set Examine questions under “In this Chapter” (p. 179). Free write on the one you already know the most about. Share responses briefly.

3. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God BASIC QUESTIONS What is the proper response to the gift of faith? Who is the People of God? What is the difference between the common and the ministerial priesthood? What is the vocation of the laity? KEY IDEAS Our proper response to God’s gift of faith is trust in him and belief in the truths he has revealed because God can neither deceive nor be deceived. The Church is the People of God, the communion of all the faithful in Christ, composed of people of every race and nation on a pilgrimage of holiness and redemption. All members of the Church share in the common priesthood of the faithful and are called by virtue of their Baptism to offer their lives to God. Some members of the faithful are ordained to the ministerial priesthood for the service of the rest. The vocation of the laity is to seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.

4. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Focus Questions Are relationships among the members of the Church essentially equal or unequal? The Christian faithful are truly equal in regard to dignity and activity, according to each one’s condition and function. Why do Christians fall short of their calling? Concupiscence, our human inclination to sin that is a result of Original Sin, often clouds our discernment, distorts our intellect, and weakens our will. Thus, we can become inattentive or lukewarm about the Faith. How do we live our faith faithfully? By conscientiously devoting ourselves to personal holiness in service to God and neighbor.

5. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Part I: The Universal Call to Holiness: FAITH REQUIRES A RESPONSE What was the source of St. Peter’s faith in Jesus Christ? It was a gift from God, coming not from “flesh and blood” but from Christ’s “Father who is in heaven.” What response does the gift of faith require of us? God’s gift of faith requires from us the human act of trust in God and believing in the truths he reveals. On what authority should we believe what God has revealed? We believe not because “revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason.” Rather, we believe “because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.” Extension: This is not to say that revealed truths are in any kind of opposition to human reason. Even though St. Peter is the rock on whom Christ founded his Church, who builds it? Christ himself. It is his work.

6. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God THE CHURCH IS THE PEOPLE OF GOD What is the Magisterium? The Magisterium is the teaching authority given by Christ to his Apostles and now vested in their successors, the Pope and the bishops in union with him, who teach the truths of the Faith contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. What is the simplest meaning of the Church as the People of God? The Church as the People of God means the communion of all the faithful in Christ. What is the Old Testament counterpart to the Church as the People of God? In the Old Testament, the Israelites are God’s Chosen People.

7. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Where is the New Testament teaching of the Church as the People of God found? In the First Epistle of St. Peter. Ethnically, who makes up the New Covenant People of God? It is a race of Jews and Gentiles unified by the Holy Spirit. Extension: In other words, any human being can be a member. What did St. Peter mean when he wrote that the New People of God would be born “not from flesh, but from water and the Holy Spirit”? They would not be God’s people because they are natural descendants of Abraham but because they would receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Why do the People of God comprise a Pilgrim Church? The Church is a group of believers on a journey toward God, seeking holiness and redemption.

8. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Guided Exercise Think/Pair/Write/Share: What is the relationship between the Church as the People of God and the Church as a hierarchical body?

9. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God COMMON PRIESTHOOD OF THE FAITHFUL What were the two priesthoods found in the Old Testament? In the Old Testament, God said that all of Israel would be “a kingdom of priests.” He also established elders and an order of priests, the Levites, to offer sacrifices on behalf of this people. According to Hebrews, what is the role of a priest? Priests are called by God “to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” What are the two levels of the priesthood in the Church? There is a common priesthood shared by all the faithful, and there is a ministerial priesthood of ordained leaders at the service of the faithful.

10. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Guided Exercise Read the following quote of Christ (quoting Isaiah): The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Write about how this quote can apply to you, too.

11. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God The Laity What is the vocation of the laity? The laity are called to engage in everyday family and professional activities, evangelizing and sanctifying the world “from within” while living in the secular world.

12. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Guided Exercise Complete the following table to articulate clearly the three distinct vocations in the Church.

13. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God

14. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Closure Write a paragraph summarizing the connection between the common priesthood of the faithful and the vocation of the laity as members of the People of God.

15. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Homework Assignment Reading: The Universal Call to Holiness through The Liturgical Year. Questions: Study Questions 1–3. Workbook Questions 1–8.

16. 1. The Priesthood of the Lay People of God Alternative Assessment Free write for five minutes on an idea in this chapter that was difficult for you to comprehend.

17. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Anticipatory Set • Brainstorm all the kinds of activities in which you normally engage. • Eliminate all but the five on which you spend the most time each week. • Estimate approximately what percentage of each week you spend on each one. For example: • Sleeping: 30%. • School and homework: 25%. • Sports: 15%. • Socializing with friends: 15%. • Doing chores: 5% These are the very activities God is calling you the most to sanctify (without neglecting the rest).

18. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy BASIC QUESTIONS What is the universal call to holiness? What is the liturgy? What is the liturgical year? KEY IDEAS All Christians in every state in life are called to holiness, which is the fullness of the Christian life and the perfection of charity. The liturgy is the Church’s official public worship, the worship of God by the People of God. The liturgical year is the calendar of celebrations that commemorates the life and ministry of Christ, beginning in Advent and ending with the feast of Christ the King, and what he had done in his holy ones.

19. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS What is the universal call to holiness? It is God’s call to every member of the Church, regardless of the circumstances of his or her life, to become a saint. What did Christ mean when he said, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? He meant that we are to aspire to greater and greater holiness. All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. Does the universal call to holiness mean lay people should do more Church-related things? To seek holiness as a member of the laity includes both Church-related activities like attending Mass, prayer, and volunteer service but even more refers to all of our everyday, secular activities. When is it most appropriate for lay people to formally offer their lives and activities to God? At Mass along with the offering of the Body of the Lord.

20. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Sidebar: Saint Gianna Beretta Molla What was St. Gianna’s vocation? To be a wife, mother, and doctor, especially one serving mothers with young children. What dilemma did St. Gianna face in 1961? She was pregnant and discovered she had cancer. Her doctors recommended she have an abortion so she could have surgery to save her own life. What was St. Gianna’s response to this discovery? She opted to try to save the life of her unborn baby rather than her own if it was really going to be either one or the other. What was the result of St. Gianna’s decision? She died one day after giving birth to her healthy daughter. How did St. Gianna’s earthly life end in an act of martyrdom? She laid down her life for another, just as Christ did.

21. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Guided Exercise Why might people have said that St. Gianna should have had an abortion? How do you think St. Gianna would have answered each reason?

22. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy

23. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy THE LITURGY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH To what two types of prayer is each Christian called? (1) Personal, individual prayers and (2) communal worship. What is the etymology and original meaning of “liturgy”? It comes from the Greek ergos (“work”) and leiton (“of the people”), meaning essentially “public work,” or any task performed for the common good. How did the Septuagint (third-century BC Greek translation of the Scriptures, i.e., the Old Testament) use the word leitourgia? The worship led by the Levite priests of the Temple on behalf of the people. What does “liturgy” mean in the Church? Since the days of the early Church, liturgy has come to mean the Church’s public and official worship of God, including the Mass and all its rites and ceremonies—the worship of God by the People of God.

24. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Guided Exercise Think/Pair/Write/Share: According to Avery Cardinal Dulles (material before footnote 26), how does Christ exercise his threefold office as prophet, priest, and king in the liturgy of the Mass?

25. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Sidebar: JESUS CHRIST, THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN Why did Adam and Eve need a mediator after they had sinned? They were no longer in communion with God and needed someone to restore that relationship. What in the nature of Jesus Christ makes him a perfect mediator between God and man? Christ was both God and man. What aspect of Christ’s life was mediatory? His entire life—in particular, his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension—reflected one uninterrupted priestly action. How does Christ’s priestly work continue today? It continues in the liturgy of the Church, particularly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where he brings about the effects of salvation and accomplishes the perfect worship of God.

26. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy THE LITURGICAL YEAR What is the liturgical year? It is the calendar of observances which celebrates the entire life of Christ, from his Incarnation until the day of Pentecost and the expectation of his coming again, beginning in Advent and ending with the feast of Christ the King.

27. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Guided Exercise Complete the following table on the liturgical year.

28. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy

29. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Closure Write a paragraph explaining the universal call to holiness, using St. Gianna Beretta Molla as an example.

30. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Homework Assignment Reading: The Seven Sacraments through Baptism of Blood, Baptism of Desire, and Unbaptized Infants. Questions: Study Questions 4–6; 8–9. Practical Exercise 1. Workbook Questions 9–14.

31. 2. The Universal Call to Holiness and the Liturgy Alternative Assessment Free write in response to the following statement: Easter is the most important feast of the Church calendar, but most people prefer to celebrate Christmas.

32. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Anticipatory Set Think/Pair/Share: Based on Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 59 (the opening quote for “The Seven Sacraments”), why is it smart for a person who wants to be holy to partake of the Sacraments?

33. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular BASIC QUESTIONS What is a Sacrament? How do Sacraments correspond to human nature? What is Baptism? KEY IDEAS A Sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. One reason God uses Sacraments to confer grace to humanity is because their use of visible signs to confer invisible graces corresponds to human nature which is a composite of a visible, material body and invisible, immaterial soul. Baptism is the first Sacrament received by a Christian, involving immersion in or the pouring of water on the recipient’s head while pronouncing the invocation of the Blessed Trinity. It forgives sins, including Original Sin; begins a new life in Christ; and incorporates the new Christian into the life of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. It is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation.

34. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS What Is a Sacrament? What is a Sacrament? It is “an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit.” What did the early Church and what do Christians in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church still call a Sacrament? Mysterion, or mystery, “a sign of something sacred or hidden.” What is the origin of the word “Sacrament”? The Latin sacramentum, which means “oath.”

35. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Guided Exercise Perform a focused reading of the paragraph beginning “As Latin increasingly” (p. 191) using the following question: How does the Roman soldier’s sacramentum correspond to the idea of a Christian Sacrament?

36. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Ex Opere Operato What does ex opere operato mean? It means, “from the work performed,” or automatically. Under what circumstances does a Sacrament give grace ex opere operato? The minister has to intend to convey the Sacrament and the participant must intend to receive it. According to the Ecumenical Council of Trent, the Sacraments “confer Grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto.” What are dispensed in the Sacraments? The mysteries of Christ’s life. When did the Church begin celebrating the Sacraments? The Seven Sacraments were part of the practice of the Church from the very beginning and were understood to have originated with Christ.

37. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Guided Exercise Complete the follow graphic to clearly articulate the meaning of “Sacrament.”

38. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular

39. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Why the Sacraments? Guided Exercise Write a paragraph on how the Sacraments correspond to human nature.

40. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular BAPTISM How was the baptism of Christ a theophany? When he came up out of the water, having received St. John’s baptism, there was a divine manifestation of all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity: the voice of the Father spoke, the Son was visible in the Person of Christ, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ “like a dove.” How was St. John’s the Baptist baptism different from the one that Christ instituted? St. John the Baptist’s baptism signified repentance from sin but did not forgive sin, whereas Christ’s Baptism was sacramental and efficacious. During his public ministry, when did Christ speak of his Sacrament of Baptism? He told St. Nicodemus that one must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.

41. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular When did Christ institute his Sacrament of Baptism? At his Ascension he commissioned his Apostles, “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” What is one example of Baptism after Pentecost? St. Peter baptized the centurion St. Cornelius. What are the effects of Baptism? It removes all sin, Original and actual; unites the recipient to the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ; and incorporates the recipient into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. Why is Baptism administered only once? Baptism leaves an indelible, sacramental character, or seal, that configures the recipient to Christ and his Church and remains throughout life. Therefore, it is received only once. Extension: This “character,” or “seal,” can be likened to the brand the Roman soldier received on his ear with the sacramentum; the brand was permanent and never needed to be administered again.

42. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular The Catechumenate What is the catechumenate? It was the process in the early Church by which persons who wished to become members were instructed and formed in the Faith to prepare for the Sacraments of Initiation. What is the current form of the catechumenate? It is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). What does immersion into water make more explicit about the theology of Baptism? Because it is like drowning, it better symbolizes a sharing in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ as one is immersed and then rises to a new life.

43. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular How is the administration of the Sacraments of Initiation different for the Eastern Church than the Latin Church? In the Eastern Churches the three Sacraments of Initiation are given consecutively, even to an infant, whereas in the Latin Church they often are conferred simultaneously on an adult or older minor at the Easter Vigil but separated in the case of an infant, who generally receives Baptism early in life and the Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist after he or she will have reached the age of reason. Why does the Church teach that the Sacrament of Baptism is necessary for salvation even though we know people can be saved without being baptized by water? The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude.

44. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Baptism of Blood, Baptism of Desire, and Unbaptized Infants What is Baptism of Blood? Those who die for the sake of the Faith but have not yet received a sacramental, water Baptism “are baptized by their death for and with Christ” in a Baptism of Blood. What is Baptism of Desire? An uncatechized person of good will, under certain conditions, is said to have received the benefits and effects of Baptism because such a one would have desired Baptism explicitly if he had known its necessity. What is the fate of unbaptized infants who die? We hope that God has a way for unbaptized infants, who can neither willfully die for the Faith nor implicitly desire Baptism, be saved without Baptism. Extension: The same is true for unborn babies since they are human persons.

45. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Closure Write a paragraph summarizing the most important points about the Sacrament of Baptism.

46. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Homework Assignment Reading: Confirmation and Eucharist, including the sidebar, “The Eucharist: The Source and Summit of the Church’s Life.” Questions: Study Questions 10–18. Workbook Questions 15–26.

47. 3. The Sacraments in General and Baptism in Particular Alternative Assessment Free write for five minutes on something in this lesson—in order to understand it better—that you found hard to understand.

48. 4. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist Anticipatory Set Opening Prayer: Christ’s feeding of the five thousand (Jn 6:1–13). Free write for a minute on what surprised you most about this event. Share responses.

49. 4. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist BASIC QUESTIONS What is Confirmation? What is the Eucharist? KEY IDEAS Confirmation is the Sacrament that completes the grace of Baptism by a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that “confirms” the baptized in union with Christ and equips him or her for active participation in the worship and apostolic life of the Church; one of the three Sacraments of Initiation. The Eucharist is the Sacrament by which bread and wine are consecrated by a priest and become the true Body and Blood of Christ, which the faithful consume in Holy Communion; one of the three Sacraments of Initiation.

50. 4. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist CONFIRMATION When was the Sacrament of Confirmation instituted? When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost. How is the Sacrament of Confirmation usually described in the New Testament? It is called the “laying on of hands.” With what other Sacrament is Confirmation usually associated? Baptism. When the Apostles baptized a convert, they also laid their hands on the new believer.