Parroquia San Juan Bautista, Amatitlán JHS

CHRISTIAN INITIATION SYLLABUS

FOR ADULTS

“…What we have seen and heard,

We announce it to you so that
you too may be in Communion…”

1Jn. 1, 3

City of San Juan Amatitlán, February 2012.

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Introduction

In response to the needs of the Parish of San

Juan Amatitlán, we have the honor of presenting
this agenda, so that everyone can participate in
the Sacraments of Christian Initiation.

This syllabus provides information and elements

necessary for the formation of the Christian
Initiation of Adults, as well as for the life of each
member of the Community.

This syllabus is not only for catechists and those

being catechized, but also for those who want to
learn more about Christian life.

“…Go into all the world and proclaim the good

news to every creature…”

Sn. Mc. 16, 15

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Dedication

To God… for giving us life and allowing us to

serve him with love and courage.

To Jesus… our Savior, the model of our Christian

life and the foundation of our Faith.

To God the Holy Spirit… for the gifts and fruits

that He gives us, so that He may infuse in our
lives the desire to serve everyone with Love.

To Our Most Holy Mother… a believing woman,

who gave that Yes, with the same fidelity that
you acquired to be the mother of Our Savior,
intercede and guide us by the hand to see your
son Jesus Christ.

To our families… who with much patience and

love, have known how to recognize and accept
our vocation of service to the Catechists.

To the Catechists... who with a humble heart,

approach to prepare to receive the Sacraments
of Christian Initiation.

To the Priests… who have seen in us the desire

to serve, without condition, attached to the

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reality of our community of San Juan Amatitlán,

and for allowing us to continue with our mission.

Special Mention

To whom with much love, desire to serve, dedication and

initiator of this process of formation for Adults, who in the year
1994, seeing the need that existed "saw that many were
denied the Sacrament of Marriage", was interested in
advising, guiding and instructing those who so required, to
begin the preparation to receive the Sacraments of Christian
Initiation, later taking a step to cover the areas that currently
fall within the jurisdiction of Adult Catechesis, which is to
cover all need for Sacraments in those people of adult age.

A courageous woman, with excellent foundations, a believer

and docile, who knew how to instill in us the desire to serve
generously, to everyone without exception.

Thank you for your dedication and for all this time that you
were at the service of your community of San Juan Amatitlán.

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Ana Marina Archila Mollinedo

1934-2006
Purpose

Promote adequate planning (Communities-

Center) of Adult Catechesis, to achieve
adequate teaching and training, according
to the reality of the San Juan Bautista
Parish, Amatitlán and thus improve the
training and integration of the Catechists
into a Christian life.

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Unit 1
What does it mean to be Catholic?
kerygma

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CATHOLIC

Aim:

_ Have an idea about Catholicism.

_ Appreciate religious traditions and customs.

_ Belonging to a parish is a good thing.

Being Catholic means living a Christian life in its entirety and from a
Catholic perspective. For Catholics, all people are fundamentally good,
but sin is a spiritual disease that, from its beginnings, left humanity
seriously wounded and can kill it if left untreated. Divine Grace is the
only remedy for sin and the best source to obtain it are the sacraments,
which consist of various rites and which Catholics believe were created
by Jesus and entrusted to the care of his Church.

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What is the underlying criterion from a Catholic

perspective?
More than an intellectual adherence to an idea, being Catholic implies a
daily commitment to accepting the Plan or Will of God—wherever you
are and wherever it may lead you.

Being Catholic implies, on the part of the believer, cooperating with God.
God offers his divine grace and the Catholic must accept it and
cooperate with it.

Free will is sacred. God never forces you to act against your freedom.
Doing evil not only harms oneself, it also hurts others, because a
Catholic is never alone. Catholics are always part of a spiritual family
called the Church.

What Exactly Does Catholicism Mean?

The direct answer is that Catholicism is the practice of Roman Catholic
Christianity. Catholics are members of the Roman Catholic Church and
share several beliefs and ways of worship, as well as a particular way of
seeing life.

Their basic beliefs are that Catholics are first and foremost Christians.
Like Jews and Muslims, they are monotheists, meaning they believe in
one God. But Catholics, like all Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, a belief that distinguishes Christianity. We Catholics also
believe that:

_ The Bible has been inspired, revealed as the Word of God and as such
without errors.

_ Baptism, the rite that makes us Christians, is necessary for salvation.

_ God's Ten Commandments provide us with a moral guide, an ethical

way of living.

_ The Holy Trinity—one God in three persons—is also part of Catholic

belief. In other words, Catholics believe that God, the one Supreme
Being, is composed of three persons: God, Father; God, Son; and God,
Holy Spirit.

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We Catholics recognize the unity of body and soul of every human

person. The entirety of religion is centered on the truth that humanity is
situated between the material and spiritual worlds.

The physical world is considered part of God's creation and therefore

inherently good until misused by man. The seven sacraments—Baptism,
Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders,
and Anointing of the Sick—are external signs instituted by Christ to
communicate his grace.

Basic Points
The seven sacraments contain a physical, tangible sign, such as the
water used in Baptism, or the oil or chrism when anointing, to represent
an invisible spiritual reality, the supernatural grace that is
communicated through each sacrament.

Symbols—from burning incense and lighting candles, to stained glass

images of saints, to vessels of oil or water, to unleavened bread and
wine—are an important part of Catholic worship. The human body has
five senses that connect it to the physical world. Catholicism uses
tangible symbols, which the senses can recognize as a reminder of an
invisible reality—the communication of divine grace, the unconditional
gift of God's love.

Grace has been given to us by God freely, without any

merit on our part.
Grace is a participation in the divine; it is God's help—inspiration
necessary to be able to fulfill his will. It was grace that inspired the
martyrs, in the early days of Christianity, to die rather than deny Christ.
It was grace that drove Bernadette de Soubirous to face the rejection of
her villagers after revealing that she had had a vision of the Virgin Mary.
Grace cannot be seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted, because it is
invisible. However, the Catholic faith maintains that grace is the living
power of the soul. Grace is like a spiritual super vitamin that helps a
person to conform, selflessly, to the will of God, and like the mechanical
bunny that never stops beating the drum, grace keeps the soul going,
going, and going. Given freely by the Love of God, it is necessary for
salvation. Catholicism teaches that grace is an undeserved gift from God
given to a people unworthy of it. Since it is a gift, the person can accept
it or reject it. If you accept it, you must cooperate with it. Grace is given

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to be able to do the will of God. Grace must be put into action by the
person who receives it.

The main way of worship

Catholics belong to their own churches, called parishes, which are
places of worship. The daily and weekly Catholic service is the Holy
Mass, which updates the events of Holy Thursday, the day when Jesus
celebrated the Last Supper, and Good Friday, when Jesus died buying
eternal life in heaven for humanity.

Participation in the parish on Sunday is not only an expression of a

desire, but is a moral obligation.

Most Christians attend Mass on Sundays, but nowadays Catholics can

choose between going to Mass on Sunday or Saturday afternoon. The
practice of attending the so-called Vespers Mass, the Saturday evening
Mass, was not universally permitted until 1983. The reason for this
relatively new practice is that in Jewish tradition, after sunset is
considered the next day of the calendar. Thus the Mass celebrated on
Saturday after sunset is properly a Sunday Mass.

Originally the Saturday afternoon Mass was intended as a solution for

those Catholics who had to work on Sunday or at the same time as
Sunday Mass. Sunday is the preferred day to celebrate Christian
worship, a day to go to Church as a family and live as a family. However,
the option of attending Saturday afternoon Mass is no longer restricted
to those who work on Sunday. However, there remains an obligation to
avoid all unnecessary work on Sunday, since it is the Lord's Day for
Christians around the world. This evening worship or Vespers is
something unique to Catholicism.

Catholicism is not a one-day-of-the-week initiative. Nor does it separate

the religious and moral dimensions from other dimensions such as
political, economic, personal and family life. Catholicism seeks to
integrate faith into all of reality.

The general Catholic view is that because God created everything, then
nothing is outside his jurisdiction, and that includes your every thought,
word, and deed—morning, noon, and night, that is, 24 hours a day.

The minimum requirements to be Catholic are the so-called precepts of

the Church:

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 Attend Mass every Sunday and holy days of obligation.

 Confess at least once a year or more frequently if necessary.

 Receiving Holy Communion during Easter. It is encouraged

to be received daily or weekly.

 Obey the laws of fasting and abstinence: one full meal on

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, as well as not eating meat
on Fridays during Lent.

 Obey the marriage laws of the Church.

Catholics are generally expected to live a Christian life, to pray daily, to

participate in the sacraments, to obey the moral law, and to accept the
teachings of Christ and his Church.

Knowing the faith is the first step to being Catholic and that leads to
catechesis, which is the process of discovering the Catholic faith and
what it is necessary to believe and know about all its important
doctrines.

The second step is to accept faith, which leads to having confidence. The
Catholic believer must trust that what he is being taught is indeed the
truth. After learning what the Church believes, the Catholic is asked to
believe everything he has been taught. It is the act of answering “Yes”
to the question “Do you believe?”

Practicing faith is the third and most difficult step. Obeying the laws
cannot be just nodding without thinking things through. It involves being
able to appreciate the wisdom and value of Catholic norms and laws.

Are you a Catholic by birth or are you a convert?

Some Catholics remain close to their faith from the beginning of their
lives until the present, while other Catholics may change their focus for a
time but only then return wholeheartedly. There are also other Catholics
who may have come from a different religious background or who were
completely unaware of what religion was until their conversion to
Catholicism.

 Natal Catholics have been baptized and raised in the Catholic

faith.

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 Converts are those who belonged to another religion (or none) and
later became Catholic.

 Those recovered are Catholics by birth who left the Church,

possibly to join another religion.

Does this bless me?

Catholics love to have their priests and deacons bless them and certain
personal items—like their house, car, or dog. However, it is more
common to ask for the blessing of some personal and tangible item of
religious value—your rosary, some image, medal, your Bible, and things
of that nature. Any devotional item or object pertaining to human reality
or activity can be blessed, however this does not make the item a lucky
talisman. The priestly blessing is a way of showing our gratitude to God
for giving us his divine grace and, at the same time, placing these things
under his protective care.

For example, if you saw an image of the Virgin Mary in the front or back
yard of a Catholic home, it has most likely already been blessed. It's not
magic and it doesn't make the flowers in the garden grow better either.
It is a delicate way to remember Mary, the Mother of God, as well as the
affection that Catholics have for her.

The Church is One (unity)

This unity in its liturgy, its doctrine and its authority is something
distinctive of Catholicism.

Other religions also maintain unity in their beliefs and practices, but
Catholicism is unique in that it has its unity personified in one person,
the Pope, who ensures that the same seven sacraments are correctly
celebrated throughout the world, that the same set of doctrines is taught
everywhere, and that every member, whether religious, lay, or clergy,
accepts the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome.

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THE FATHER'S LOVE

GOD LOVES YOU PERSONALLY:
Out of love, God creates man in his image, infuses him with the spirit of
life and destines him for happiness.

He places him in paradise, a symbol of harmony and happiness; man can

enjoy all creation, dominate everything that exists on earth and is
invited to a personal relationship with the Creator; he communicates
with God with complete spontaneity and freedom.

Everything is harmony, balance and happiness, God wants the best for
man, and with his omnipotence he puts everything in his hands.

God calls each person by name and leads him to the full realization of
his plan of love, in order to satisfy man's deepest desires.

He loves you personally, as if there were no one else in the world, and
unconditionally.

“…Do not be afraid, I have called you by name, you are mine. You are
precious in my eyes…” Is. 43, 1-5

“…The Lord appears from afar. With an everlasting love I love you, that
is why I keep you in my favor…” Jr. 31, 3

These are words of tenderness from God, and they must penetrate our
hearts and thus transform our lives.

IN SPITE OF SIN:
Even though we have sinned, even though we have rejected God, He
never abandons us; man was expelled from paradise, but he leaves with
the promise of redemption.

“… Can a mother forget her nursing child, and not love the son of her
womb? For even if she forgets, I will not forget you…“ Is. 49, 15

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God is always faithful, He Himself is merciful love, happiness and love;

this would be His own definition.

“…because love is eternal; because his love has no limits…” these are
words that should always resonate in our hearts.

HE TAKES THE INITIATIVE:

God is faithful and takes the initiative, not only for creation from nothing,
but also for salvation after sin; Man broke the covenant with God, and
yet He intervenes again and restores creation and the disfigured image
in man.

“… God so loved the world that he gave his only Son for the salvation of
the world…” Jn. 3, 16-17

This love is shown to us not only in creation, but above all in

regeneration; not only to take us out of nothingness, but above all in
raising us from sin, making us new creatures, through the new birth of
Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit, the bond of love and unity in the Trinity, has been given
to us and has been poured into our hearts.

“…For God has poured out his love into our hearts by giving us the Holy
Spirit…” Rom. 5, 5

The love of God in us is had and experienced by the presence and action
of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer; the eternal plan of the
Father, where he expresses his love, is realized in Jesus by the power of
the Holy Spirit.

The Father is the source; Jesus, the center and axis; the Holy Spirit, the
key and the engine; and Mary, our Mother, the maternal face of God.

OPEN YOUR HEART TO HIS LOVE:

“God loves me personally and always wants the best for me”

If only we would let this truth penetrate our hearts, that alone would be
enough to transform our lives.

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He is speaking directly to each of us with these words; please let them

penetrate your heart.

TIME TO ASK OURSELVES:

1. How can we experience the love of God and the abundant life
that Jesus offers us?

2. Why can't I experience the love of God?

For three reasons:

1. Because of the distorted image of God in the religious

experience of each one of us.

2. Due to damage to the relationship with human parents.

3. Because of a situation of sin.

SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

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ALL HAVE SINNED:

“…all have sinned and therefore fall short of the glory of God…” Rom. 3,
23

We cannot experience the love of God and the abundant life that Jesus
promises us because through sin we have separated ourselves from
God, the only source of life.

From the beginning of creation, man broke the covenant made with God;
he wanted to build a kingdom of this world without God.

Placed by God, in a state of friendship with Him and with man, deceived
and seduced by the evil one, he abuses his freedom, turning against God
and wanting to reach his end, and achieve his own fulfillment apart from
God.

“…if you eat from that tree, you will find death…” his creator had told
him.

Man believed the enemy more, he rejected the Tree of Life and preferred
to feed on the fruit of the tree of knowledge; walking with his own lights
and his own strengths, having Satan as his only advisor, he feels
autonomous, he rejects all dependence on God, and man sees himself as
his own end, the only architect and creator of his own history.

SOMETHING YOU CARRY INSIDE:

The man ate of that fruit and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he
was naked, wantonly stripped and gravely wounded in his nature; then a
deep division occurs in man, his whole life is presented as a dramatic
struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness.

The human being, looking inside his heart and contemplating his life,
discovers himself inclined towards evil and immersed in its multiple
evils, he experiences that he is incapable by himself of effectively
overcoming the assaults of evil and feels burdened with chains.

“…The wages of sin is death…” Rom. 6, 23

The word of God reveals it to us, and our own experience confirms it.

“…I am flesh sold under the power of sin…” Rom. 7, 14-23

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The drama that the believer experiences every day is described, while
the Holy Spirit cannot really be the new force that dominates within us.

THE CONSEQUENCES ARE VISIBLE:

By ignoring God as his beginning, man loses his connection with his
ultimate end and breaks all harmony with himself, with others and with
all creation; the consequences can be seen in…

- Non-existent or false interpersonal relationships: seriously

damage our ability to love and be loved, broken homes, deceptive
relationships, loneliness, lack of understanding, etc.

- A person deeply damaged and wounded in their body and

mind: all kinds of illnesses and ailments, internal imbalances and
disorders, fears, anguish, anxiety, tension, depression, insecurity,
etc.

- Corrupted society: individualism, oppression, exploitation,

injustice, violence, wars, slavery, economic and social inequalities,
manipulation of information and education, power and domination,
etc.

- The cosmos turned into chaos: cataclysms, earthquakes,

floods, drought, disturbed climate, etc.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
God is not responsible for this evil, nor does he want it or command it...
the person responsible for this disorder is man himself, who, rejecting
God, preferred the tree of knowledge and slavery to Satan, causing
chaos, illness, imbalance, etc.

“…The whole world lies in the power of the evil one…” 1 Jn. 5, 19

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LOOKING FOR VAIN SOLUTIONS:

Man is damaged by sin and subjected to evil, and therefore strives to
engage in vain solutions:
- Some are legitimate: through science and technology, but they
are partial, superficial, provisional and often only apparent.

- False escapes: hedonism, eroticism, unbridled sex, alcoholism,

drugs, self-sufficiency.

- False messianisms: materialism without transcendence,

rationalism without faith, humanism without God, etc.

- Deceptive idols of wisdom and power: Satanism, esotericism

and occultism, mind control, etc.

“… I will give you power and glory…” St. Lc. 4, 6-7

TYPES OF SINS:
- Thought: when we think badly, of someone or some people, etc.

- Word: when we express with our lips and tongue what we have
thought, insults, defamation, lies, etc.

- Work: when we do wrong, we hit each other, steal, etc.

- Omission: When we have the ability to do something good, but

out of fear of rejection, we refrain from doing the good.

Every kind of sin distances us from the love of God

ONLY GOD HAS THE ANSWER:

Only God has the solution to man's problem. He has given it and offers it
to each one of us. There we find salvation. God's solution is the only one,
because only that is total, radical, definitive and authentic.

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SALVATION IN JESUS

“… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Eph. 1, 3-
10

Jesus is the fulfilled promise of redemption.

APOSTOLIC KERIGMA:
Through his incarnation, Jesus unites heaven and earth, the bridge is
already in place; through the proclamation of the good news, the
healings and the liberations from evil, he announces and establishes the
Kingdom of God.

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Through his Cross he has saved us and through his Resurrection he has
gained us new life.

“…We have died with Christ…” Rom. 6, 8-11.

This is the Apostolic Kerigma, the proclamation of the good news of

God's salvation for all men, and that everyone must hear and choose to
live it and make it their own; it is not only the recounting of historical
facts of the past, but the announcement of facts of salvation, in which
we are included, and with a current effectiveness for each one of us.

“He died on the cross for me; for me he shed his blood”
“He rose again so that I may become a new creature and have abundant
life”
“He sent his Spirit upon us to change our hearts, to enable us to be
faithful to the Covenant and to give us the power to be his witnesses.”

IT'S DONE, BELIEVE IT:

Salvation is a work already accomplished and consummated by Jesus, he
died for us, in our place and in our favor; he is risen and is the Lord. Let
us believe it in our hearts and confess it with our lips.

“…If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead…”
Rom. 10, 9

Salvation includes the total suppression of sin, its causes and its
consequences, and not only the moment of death but from now on.

EXPERIENCE THIS SALVATION FROM NOW:

It must be a personal and current experience, free from all sin,
oppression and bondage, and thus be free to walk faithfully to God, bear
witness and manifest his glory, and serve others.

“…You have been called to freedom…” Gal. 5, 13

God wants to create, in Jesus, a new man, a new world, a new creation.

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SALVATION AND INTEGRAL LIBERATION OF EVERY

MAN:
Salvation gives meaning to all human aspirations and achievements, and
liberation from everything that oppresses man, but above all, liberation
from sin and from the enemy, within the joy of knowing God and being
known by Him.

Evangelization must therefore fully address the anguish and hopes of

today's man, in order to offer him the possibility of full liberation.

In this way, Jesus is the savior not only of the individual person, of the
whole man, body, soul and spirit, but also of all the situations of man,
family, society, structures.

God has wanted to place Mary, as the most intimate associate of Jesus,
in his work of salvation, as a model and disciple of Jesus; She is the neck
of the Body of Christ

How can we make our own the salvation already accomplished? Let us
believe in the word of God, let us recognize the work already
accomplished by Jesus, let us give thanks and let us make it our own.

LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

“…did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?...” Acts 19, 1-6

There are five cases that the evangelist Saint Luke tells us about, where
the Holy Spirit was poured out, and they were filled with Him with
manifest, sensible signs of His presence: Mary and the apostles, the
incipient community of Jerusalem, the Samaritans, and finally the
Gentiles of the house of Cornelius and those of Ephesus.

IMMEDIATE SIGNS:

- Sensitive signs: of the reception of the Holy Spirit.

- Testimony: anointed, brave, and with power.

- Prophesy: giving messages from and in the name of God.

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- Tongues: as proclamation of the message in a foreign language,

or as praise, in intangible words.

- Euphoria: with the appearance of being drunk, and the trembling

and the hurricane wind and the fire.

“…I am going to send upon you the Promise of my Father…” Lk. 24, 49

“… You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit…” Heb 1, 4-8.

The promise becomes a Gift already fulfilled with what is consummated

and culminates the work of Jesus.

Christian Community

As an immediate fruit of Pentecost, a new and extraordinary reality

appears; the Holy Spirit, the link between the Father and the Son, brings
about as the first effect of his powerful presence the community with an
intimate relationship with the Lord, deeply united among its members,
and powerfully radiating through its living faith and its anointed and
courageous testimony.

PRAYING COMMUNITY:
They attended the temple daily to the actions with perseverance and
with the same spirit; they also attended the houses:

- To praise God.
- To the teaching of the apostles.
- To the breaking of bread.
- To build one another up.

“… They devoted themselves assiduously to the apostles' teaching…”

He 2, 42

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UNITED COMMUNITY:
“KOINOMIA” community, intimate and totally united with one heart and
one soul, they shared everything and there was no one in need; fruit of
the Spirit and God’s authentic and definitive solution to injustice and
economic, cultural and social inequalities.

“… They broke bread from house to house and ate their food with joy…”
Acts 2, 46-47

WITNESS COMMUNITY:
“… They did not stop teaching and announcing the Good News…” Acts 5,
42

CHARISMS FOR EDIFICATION:

The believing communities were usually manifested in the charisms and
charismatic ministries, as a direct intervention of the Holy Spirit to build
solid communities.

By charisms we mean any manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit

acting in and through a Spirit-filled believer to fill others.

“…To each one of us was given the Charism, according to the measure
of Christ…” Rom. 12, 4-6

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT:

“… If we have life through the Spirit, let us therefore walk in the Spirit…”
Gal 5, 25

Walking in the Spirit is the characteristic of the believer and of the

communities that have received the Gift of the Spirit in fullness; being
enlightened, taught and guided directly and sensitively by the Holy Spirit
in their Christian life and in their Testimony.

That is why the Acts of the Apostles are appropriately called the
“Gospel of the Holy Spirit” or the “Acts of the Holy Spirit”

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because of the active and relevant role it played in the first Christian
community.

In the New Testament we do not find any limitation of time or space for
this type of presence and action of the power of the Holy Spirit in the
Church of Christ, truly converted and with a living Faith in Jesus; and
what happened in the first Christian community is the model and
prototype of what should happen in the “Church of Christ in all
times.”

Let us ask ourselves:

- Why isn't it like that now?

- Is God's plan different?
- Is the promise of the Holy Spirit only for the early Christians?

Unit 2
History of the Church
Bible

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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

Introduction
The Catholic Church is known as the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church or
the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic is a term originating from the
Greek language that means universal. All baptized people belong to the
Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, who is
given the honorific title of "His Holiness." The first pope was Peter and it
is based on the biblical quote “… You are Peter, and on this Rock I will
build my Church…” St. Mt 16, 13-20 and the current one is Benedict XVI,
the name adopted by Cardinal-elect Joseph Ratzinger. The territory
governed directly by the Pope is Vatican City, which is the seat of the
institutions that assist him in governing the Church, with its
headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Origin
The word Church comes from the Greek ekklesia, from the Greek ek-
kalein – “to call out” meaning 'convocation'. He appoints assemblies of
the people (cf. Acts 19:39), of a religious nature. It is the term frequently
used in the Greek text of the Old Testament to designate the assembly
of the chosen people in the presence of God, especially when it refers to
the assembly at Sinai, where Israel received the Law and was

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constituted by God as his holy people (cf. Exodus 19; 5, 1. 3). Giving
itself the name "Church", the first community of those who believed in
Christ recognized itself as the heir of that assembly. In it, God
"summons" his People from all corners of the earth. The term "Catholic"
comes from the Greek katholikós, meaning "universal."

Characteristics
The Catholic Church sees itself and proclaims itself as the Church
entrusted by Jesus Christ to help people travel the spiritual path to God
by living in reciprocal love and by administering the sacraments,
through which God grants grace to the believer.

The Catholic Church sees itself as the only Church founded by Christ,
and therefore the only authentic one compared to the other churches
and Christian denominations that have historically emerged after it.

The Catholic Church considers that it has been entrusted with the
mission of developing, imparting and propagating Christian teaching, as
well as that of caring for the unity of the faithful. He must also provide
the grace of the sacraments to his faithful through the ministry of his
priests. Furthermore, the Catholic Church manifests itself as a
hierarchical and collegial structure, whose head is Christ, who makes use
of the college of apostles, and who in later history exercises authority
through his successors: the Pope and the bishops.

The teaching authority of the Magisterium of the Church bases its

teachings on Revelation, which is expressed both in the Sacred Scriptures
and in Sacred Tradition.

Attributes of the Catholic Church

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church is One,
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. These four attributes, inseparably linked to
each other, indicate essential features of the Church and her mission.

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Unity: The Church is "one" because of its origin, God himself. God is one
according to Catholic doctrine; He is one because of his Founder, Christ.

The apostle Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, refers to the
Church as the "Body of Christ": The parts of the body are many, but the
body is one; however many the parts, they all form one body.
In another letter, Paul also teaches about this attribute: Maintain bonds
of peace among yourselves and remain united in the same spirit. There
is one body and one spirit, for you have been called to the same calling
and the same hope. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all, who acts through all and is in all.

Christ himself teaches and prays for this unity of his Church: That they
all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you. May they also be
one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.

Holiness: The Catholic Church, despite the sins and faults of each of its
members who still wander the Earth, is in itself "holy" because "Holy" is
its founder and "saints" are its ends and objectives. Likewise, she is holy
through her faithful, since they carry out a sanctifying action, especially
those who have reached a high degree of virtue and have been
canonized by the Church itself.

The Catholic Church contains the fullness of the means of sanctification

and salvation. It is holy because its members are called to be saints.

Catholicity: with the meaning of "universal," the Church is "catholic" in

that it seeks to announce the Good News and welcome into its bosom all
human beings, of all times and in all places, who accept its doctrine and
receive Baptism; wherever one of its members is, there the Catholic
Church is present. It is also "catholic" because Christ is present in it,
which implies that it receives from Him the fullness of the means of
salvation.

Apostolicity: The Catholic Church was founded by Christ on the

foundation of Peter and the other apostles. The entire Apostolic College
enjoys authority and power as long as it is in communion with Peter and
his successors; Peter and the other Apostles have in the Pope and the
Bishops their successors, who exercise the same authority and power
that the first Apostles, who were elected and instituted by Christ,
exercised in their day. It is also "apostolic" because it guards and
transmits the teachings heard from the apostles.

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Essential doctrine

The notion of Revelation is central to Catholic doctrine, because this

term includes two inseparable sources: Sacred Scripture and Tradition.

Also notable is the position occupied by the Bishop of Rome. He receives

the title of Pope and is considered not only bishop of his diocese but
Bishop of the entire Catholic Church, that is, Pastor and Doctor of all
Christians because he is considered the successor of Saint Peter. His
election has varied throughout history; since the 11th century he has
been elected by the College of Cardinals in the conclave. The current
Pope is Benedict XVI (who would be the 265th Pope).

In the Catholic Church, the Pope enjoys a status of supreme hierarchy,

possessing primacy over all other bishops and the fullness of the power
of government, which he can exercise in a universal, immediate and
supreme manner over each and every one of the pastors and Catholic
faithful.

Other parts of Catholic doctrine, outstanding and distinctive in relation

to the rest of Christians, are the belief in the Dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, and in the Assumption of Mary, mother of Jesus, as well as
the faith in the effective spiritual authority of the Catholic Church to
forgive sins and remit the temporal punishments due for them, through
the Sacrament of Penance and indulgences.

Another outstanding dogma in the Catholic Church is the belief in the

real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in which through the
change called transubstantiation the bread and wine presented on the
Altar are transformed into the body and blood of Christ.

Organizational structure
The Catholic Church has members in every country on Earth, although
its proportion in the population varies from a majority in some to almost
zero in others. It is a hierarchical organization in which the ordained
clergy is divided into bishops, priests and deacons. The clergy is
organized hierarchically, but takes into account the communion of the
faithful. Each member of the clergy is dependent on a higher authority,

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but the higher authority must exercise its government with the
community in mind, through consultation, meetings, and the exchange
of ideas.

Territorially, the Catholic Church is organized into dioceses or particular

Churches, each under the authority of a bishop; some of these, of higher
rank, are called archdioceses and are under the authority of an
archbishop.

The government of the Catholic Church resides in the bishops, who are
assisted by priests:

Bishops: in charge of each diocese. They are assisted by presbyters

and deacons. No bishop, even if he has been named cardinal, has
authority over another, but each one depends directly on the Pope.

Cardinals: assist the Pope in the pastoral action of the universal

Catholic Church and in the administration of the Vatican and the Roman
Curia. When the Pope dies, they elect his successor in a conclave.
Collectively they form the College of Cardinals. Cardinals are personally
elected by the Pope.

Commitment
Since the times of the nascent Church, the Christian community has
sought to commit itself socially, giving preference to those most in need.

The Catholic Church currently has religious and lay missionaries of both
sexes who regularly carry out social work, both material and providing
moral and spiritual support.

In almost all the dioceses of the world, in countries where it is permitted,

the Catholic Church carries out some kind of social work; the number of
parish foundations or pastoral aid centres cover these fields: schools,
dispensaries, centres for children and the elderly, hospitals,
rehabilitation centres of all kinds, leper colonies, etc.

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT

WILL = ALLIANCE

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PENTATEUCH
 Genesis (Gn.) The Beginnings
 Exodus (Ex) Liberation from Egypt
 Leviticus (Lv) Rules for the Levites, the priests
 Numbers (Nm) The census and the period in the desert
 Deuteronomy (Dt) The repetition of the law

HISTORICAL BOOKS
 Joshua (Jos) The entrance to the promised land
 Judges (Jue) War with neighboring countries
 1 Samuel (1 Sm) The lives of Samuel, Saul, and David
 2 Samuel (2 Sm) The lives of Samuel, Saul, and David
 1 Kings and (1 King) Solomon and other kings until the captivity
 2 Kings (2 Re) Solomon and other kings until the captivity
 1 Chronicles and (1 Chr) Repeats the history of Israel from Saul to
the captivity
 2 Chronicles (2 Chr) Repeats the history of Israel from Saul to the
captivity
 Ezra (Ezra) Return of the remnant to Jerusalem
 Nehemiah (Neh) Return of the Remnant
 1 Maccabees (1Mac)
 2 Maccabees (2Mac)

STORIES
 Ruth (Ruth) Story of the Moabite woman who became an Israelite
 Tobias (Tob) God punishes, but has compassion.
 Judith (Jdt) heroic resistance
 Esther (Est) Jewish woman who became queen of Persia during the
captivity

PROPHETIC BOOKS
MAJOR PROPHETS

 Isaiah (Is) A call to repentance; Promises of the Messiah

 Jeremiah (Jr) A call to repentance

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 Lamentations (Lam) Laments the destruction of Jerusalem

 Ezekiel (Ez) Visions of God's judgment and future restoration
 Daniel (Dn) This prophet confronts King Nebuchadnezzar; Visions
of judgment and return

MINOR PROPHETS
 Hosea (Os) God's love for his unfaithful people
 Joel (Jl) The Day of the Lord, devastating judgment
 Amos (Am) Denounces Israel for injustice towards the poor
 Obadiah (Abd) Edom will be punished for invading Judah
 Jonah (Jon) The prophet flees and is swallowed by a fish
 Micah (Miq) Exploitation of the poor and the perversion of the
priesthood
 Nahum (Nah) Prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh
 Habakkuk (Hab) The prophet doubts God's justice
 Zephaniah (Zeph) Judgment on Judah and other nations
 Ageo (Ag) Encourages rebuilding the temple
 Zechariah (Zach) Visions of restoration and the Messiah
 Malachi (Mal) Accusations against the priests
 Letter to Jeremiah

POETIC BOOKS
 Psalms (Ps) Songbook of Israel
 Cantares (Cant) Love song
 Lamentations (Lam)

SAPIENSAL BOOKS
 Proverbs (Prov) Gems of Wisdom
 Job (Job) Righteous man who suffered, and asks why?
 Ecclesiastes (Eccl) Spiritual pilgrimage, searching for the meaning
of life
 Ecclesiasticus or Sirach (Eclo)

NEW TESTAMENT

GOSPELS
1. Matthew (Mt) For the Jews, to show that Jesus is the Messiah
2. Mark (Mc) For the Gentiles, simple and full of action
3. Luke (Lk) To Theophilus, detailed
4. John (Jn) For the Gentiles, theological

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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

5. Acts (Acts) History of the expansion of the Church

PAULINE LETTERS
6. Romans (Rom) Salvation is by faith
7. 1 Corinthians (1 Cor) Against divisions
8. 2 Corinthians (2 Chr) Paul defends his ministry
9. Galatians (Gal) Against legalism
10. Ephesians (Eph) Unity in Christ
11. Philippians (Phil) Joy in the midst of suffering
12. Colossians (Col) New life in Christ
13. 1 Thessalonians and (1 Thes) The Second Coming of Christ
14. 2 Thessalonians (2 Thes) The Second Coming of Christ
15. 1 Timothy and (1 Tim) Advice for a young pastor
16. 2 Timothy (2 Tim) Advice for a young pastor
17. Titus (Tit) Instructions for the leaders in Crete
18. Philemon (Philemon) Paul asks Philemon to receive Onesimus as
a brother.

OTHERS
19. Hebrews (Heb) The superiority of Christ
20. Santiago (Saint) Against debauchery
21. 1 Peter (1 Pe) Hope
22. 2 Peter (2 Pe) Hope
23. 1 John (1 Jn) God is light and love
24. 2 John (2 Jn) God is light and love
25. 3 John (3 Jn) God is light and love
26. Judas (Jds) Against false teachers

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PROPHETIC
[Link] (Rev) Victory in Christ

NUMBER OF BOOKS:
46 Old Testament
27 New Testament
73 TOTAL

THE CATHOLIC BIBLE

Catholics use basically the same Bible as Protestants, except for the
fact that the Catholic Bible includes what they call the
"deuterocanonical" books, which means "second canon," or "second
list."

Originally, there were fifteen documents. Eight of them are still in the
Catholic Bible as books:

1. Tobias, (Tob)
2. Judith, (Jdt)
3. Wisdom, (Sab)
4. Ecclesiastes, (Ecclus)
5. Baruch, (Bar)
6. The Letter of Jeremiah (Jr) (often included as an appendix to
Baruch),
7. First Maccabees, and (1 Mac)
8. Second Maccabees. (2 Mac)

There are four more documents that are still included in the Catholic
Bible, but as parts of other Old Testament books:

1. Additions to the Book of Esther

2. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
3. Susanna
4. Bel and the Dragon

These last three are included in the book of Daniel.

There are three documents that, although they were included from the
Vulgate (Latin version of the Holy Scripture, which dates back to Saint

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Jerome and was declared authentic by the Catholic Church), were later
excluded by the Council of Trent, 1545.

1. 1 Esdras
2. 2 Esdras
3. The Prayer of Manasseh

Protestants do not consider any of these fifteen documents to be

inspired or authoritative. The rest of the books in the Catholic Bible
are the same as in the Protestant Bible.

The following table includes the complete list of biblical books (for
Protestants):

The Minor Gospels: 52 1 Thessalonians

Pentateuch: Poets: Prophets: 40 Matthew 53 2 Thessalonians
1 Genesis 18 Job 28 Hosea 41 Marks 54 1 Timothy
2 Exodus 19 Psalms 29 Joel 42 Luke 55 2 Timothy
3 Leviticus 20 Proverbs 30 Amos 43 John 56 Titus
4 Numbers 21 31 Obadiah 57 Philemon
5Deuteronomy Ecclesiastes 32 Jonah History of
Historical Books: 22 Songs 33 Micah the Church: Other Letters:
6 Joshua 34 Nahum 44 Facts 58 Hebrews
7 Judges Major 35 Habakkuk 59 Santiago
8 Ruth Prophets: 36 Zephaniah Pauline 60 1 Peter
9 1 Samuel 23 Isaiah 37 Haggai Letters: 61 2 Peter
10 2 Samuel 24 Jeremiah 38 Zechariah 45 Romans 62 1 John
11 1 Kings 25Lamentatio 39 Malachi 46 1 63 2 John
12 2 Kings ns Corinthians 64 3 John

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13 1 Chronicles 26 Ezekiel 47 2 65 Judas

14 2 Chronicles 27 Daniel Corinthians
15 Ezra 48 Galatians Prophecy
16 Nehemiah 49 Ephesians 66 Apocalypse
17 Esther 50 Philippians
51 Colossians

SEARCH FOR BIBLICAL QUOTES

Abbreviations are often used to designate biblical books; there are some
books that use their name in Greek and/or Hebrew:

- Eclo.= Ecclesiastes, sometimes cited: Si.= Siracida

- Ecl.= Ecclesiastes, sometimes cited: Qo.= Cohelet
- Cro.= Chronicles, is equal to: Par. = Paralipomena

NOTE: To explain the following steps, it is essential to have the Bible in

hand, both the catechist and the catechumens.

Therefore each of the parts of the biblical books has a large number in
“bold” Example: Lk. 2

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Thus, within the chapters, each phrase or group of phrases is divided

into verses, in such a way that the verses are also numbered, Example:
Lk. 2, 11

That is why within the Bible it is normal or common to see the chapters
in large numbers and the verses in small numbers.

It was the Chancellor of the University of Paris, later Cardinal and

Archbishop of Canterbury, the Englishman Stephen Langton, who in
1226 divided the Bible into chapters, creating the Paris Bible version; the
Italian Dominican, and at the same time a converted Jew, Santos Pagnini
(1470 – 1536) subdivided it into verses in 1528, who created a Latin
version of the original texts.

Thus, we owe the final division to Robert Estienne, known as Stephanus,

who introduced it in the Bible he published in 1555.

The names of each book refer to the first word with which they begin
(Hebrew and/or Greek) and/or to the content of the book; this division
does not contain any scientific value, but it is very practical, it allows us
to easily find a text, just by citing the title of the book (Lk), the chapter
number (2), and the verse number (11).

The above is called reference, and for the reference of texts, several
systems are used:

1. The hyphen – means until, Ex: Lc. 1, 1-5

2. The comma divides a chapter from a verse, Ex: Jn. 3, 15-16
3. He ; indicates division of one citation with another, Ex: Mc. 5, 1-3 ;
10-16
4. He. divides a verse from another verse(s) Ex: Mt. 8, 20-24.28
5. The S stands for next
6. The Ss. means following

Only the numbering of the Psalms is different in the Hebrew and Greek
Bible (Mesomeric Text) and (LXX) respectively.

The Latin version and the Catholic Liturgical books follow the Greek text;
the problem begins in Psalm 9 and 10, which is alphabetical (acrostic
style), the Greek judges it as one, while the Mesomeric text tends to
divide it.

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The same happens in Psalm 114 and 115; on the other hand, 116 and
147 (Mesomeric text) are divided into 2 in Greek, so that the psalms are
as follows:

MESOMERIC TEXT

1-8
9-10
11-113
114-115
116
117-146
147
148-150

GREEK

LXX
1-8
9
10-112
113
114-115
116-145
146-147
148-150

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Unit 3
Sacraments

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Sacraments
They are effective signs of grace, instituted by Jesus Christ and
entrusted to the Church; the sacramental character is a spiritual seal
that configures the person who receives it to Christ. Therefore, it is an
indelible seal, that is, permanent, and therefore, the Christian receives it
only once in his life; the sacraments that imprint character are: Baptism,
Confirmation and Priestly Orders.

They are not simple ceremonies; ordered to the sanctification of men, to

the edification of the body of Christ and to the worship of God, the
sacraments not only presuppose faith, but also strengthen it, nourish it

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and express it with words and actions; that is why they are called
sacraments of faith. The sacraments give us or increase Divine Grace.

That is why we say that they are saving acts, because they are actions
that save man from specific situations, filling him with the power of love,
the fruit of the death and resurrection of Christ. They cover the entire
life of man at its most significant points.

How many and what are the sacraments?

There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist,
Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Marriage, and
these are in turn divided into:

SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION:
1. BAPTISM.
2. CONFIRMATION
3. EUCHARIST.

SACRAMENTS OF HEALING:
1. RECONCILIATION.
2. ANOINTING OF THE SICK

SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE:

1. PRIESTLY ORDER.
2. MARRIAGE

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Christening

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
The term Baptism comes from the Greek verb baptizein, which means
to immerse, to wash. The symbolism of the effects of water as a sign
of purification is very common in the history of religions. We know that
John the Baptist gave baptism to all those who accepted his preaching
as a change of life.

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Jesus Christ taught the apostles a baptism different from that known to
the Jews. It was not just a symbol, but a true purification and filling of
the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist had announced: "I baptize with water,
but soon he who is more powerful than I is coming, whose
shoelaces I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and with fire" (Lk 3:16).

The most important fact for interpreting Christian Baptism is the Baptism
of Jesus, in which the prefigurations of the Old Testament about this
sacrament culminate.

The four Gospels recount the Baptism that Jesus received (Mk 1:9-11; Mt
3:13-17; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 1:32-34) and all four give exceptional importance
to this event because it represents the starting point and the beginning
of Jesus' public ministry (Acts 1:22; 10:37; 1 Jn 5:6). All the evangelists
agree in narrating two things:

1. The descent of the Spirit.

2. The divine proclamation associated with the coming of the

Holy Spirit.

According to ancient Judaism, the communication of the Spirit means

prophetic inspiration. The person who receives the Spirit is called by God
to be his messenger (Sir 48:24; Dan 13:45). Therefore, at the moment of
baptism, Jesus received from the Father the vocation and destiny that
marked and guided his life.

The divine proclamation "You are my beloved Son, in you I am well

pleased" (Mk 1:11; Mt 3:17; Lk 3:22), accompanied the coming of the
Spirit. These words evoke the text of Isaiah that begins the songs of the
Servant of Yahweh (Is 42:1); this Servant is the man in solidarity with the
sinful people, whom he frees and saves through his suffering and death.
(Is 53, 1-12).

On the occasion of his Baptism, Jesus experienced his vocation,

accepting the mission and destiny that would lead to his violent death.
This explains why the only two times Jesus uses the verb baptize (Mk
10:38; Lk 12:50) he refers to his own death.
Baptism by Jesus has a concrete meaning: it is the act and the moment
in which man consciously assumes a vocation and a destiny in life, the
vocation and destiny of unconditional solidarity with men, especially the
poorest, until reaching death itself.

John baptized in view of God's final judgment; Christian Baptism is

participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that is, the

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baptized person has died to one form of existence, to be born to a new

one that will never end.

The Church baptizes because it fulfills the mandate of the risen Jesus
and because it is filled with the Holy Spirit to communicate salvation
through this sacrament.

Baptism is the sacrament of faith (Mk 16:16). But faith needs the
community of believers. Only in the faith of the Church can every
Christian believe. The faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and
mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop. In all baptized
people, whether children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. When
it comes to the Baptism of children, the help of parents and godparents
is necessary for their growth in faith (CIC 1253-1255)

The meaning of Baptism:

Baptism, being a sacrament of initiation, has very special effects of
regeneration and incorporation: "The baptized person's sins are forgiven
and he receives a new life, he is united to the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ, he participates in his priestly, prophetic and royal mission
and is incorporated into the Church."

Forgive sins and give new life. For the Israelites, the crossing of the
Red Sea was the passage from slavery to freedom. For this reason
Baptism, which linked those men to the destiny of Moses (1 Cor 10:2),
was the baptism of liberation.

Likewise, Christian Baptism involves an experience of liberation: just

as the crossing of the Red Sea was for the Israelites the fundamental
experience of their liberation, so the passage through baptismal water
involves for Christians the experience of their own freedom.

Through baptism, the Christian separates himself from the collective

destiny of a humanity fatally subjected to the slavery of sin, freeing
himself from the original sin that corrupts and tears apart man and the
world. The person who has lived the experience of Baptism has lived the
experience of liberation from sin. Sin no longer has dominion over
Christians (1 Jn 3, 5-6)

For the baptized there is no law other than that of love, this is what Paul
refers to in Rom 13, 8-10 and in Gal 5, 14. The fundamental experience
of the believer in Baptism is the experience of love, not only the love of
God, but also the love of one's neighbor.

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It unites the baptized person to the Death and

Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Just as Jesus went through death to reach a life without limits, so the
Christian has to go through death (Baptism) to begin a new life, the life
of faith, the life of the Christian. This is what St. Paul says in his letter to
the Romans:

"Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were
baptized into Christ's death? For we have been buried with Christ
through baptism and are thus buried in his death. We have been buried
with him through baptism in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead through the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have
been grafted into Christ by a death like his, we will also share in his
resurrection" (Rom 6, 3-5)

"To die with Christ" means to die to the world, to the established order,
as the foundation of man's life (Gal 6:14) or to the powers of the world
that enslave (Col 2:20), to the slavery of the law (Rom 7:6), to life in sin
(Rom 6:6) or to life for oneself (2 Cor 5: 14-15).

It makes the baptized person participate in the

priestly, prophetic and royal mission of Jesus Christ.
Whoever receives Baptism is clothed with Jesus the Messiah, which
means that the same life of Christ is present and acts in the one who has
received Baptism.

The baptized person, united to Christ in the Church, is like Christ Priest,
Prophet and King, and is called to bear witness to the Lord in this world.
The Second Vatican Council taught that "the baptized are consecrated
as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood through regeneration and the
anointing of the Holy Spirit" (LG 10; cf. 1 Pe 2, 9-10).

Baptism imprints on the Christian an indelible spiritual seal of his

belonging to Christ. This seal is not erased by any sin, even if sin
prevents Baptism from bearing fruits of salvation. Given once for all,
Baptism cannot be repeated.

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Incorporates the baptized into the Church

The Church is the community of the baptized, since the fundamental
effect of Baptism is to incorporate man into the community of the
Church. The Church is the community of those who have freely and
consciously accepted as their destiny in life to suffer and die for others.
That is to say, the Church is the community of those who live for others;
it is also the community of those who have clothed themselves with
Christ, reproducing in their lives what was the life of Jesus the Messiah.

The custom of baptizing children from an early age dates back to the
first centuries of the Church, since it is not possible to deprive them of
the effects that the sacrament produces. Man is born with a fallen
human nature stained by original sin, so he needs the new birth in
Baptism to receive Divine Grace.

The celebration of Baptism

Who can receive Baptism and who can administer it?
Every human being, not yet baptized, and only he, is capable of
receiving Baptism.

The ordinary minister of Baptism is the bishop and the priest and, in the
Latin Church, also the deacon.

In case of need, any person, even a non-baptized person, if he or she

intends to do what the Church does when baptizing and uses the
Trinitarian baptismal formula.

Celebration:
Christian Baptism is celebrated by bathing the recipient in water
(baptism by immersion) or pouring water over the head (baptism by
infusion), while the minister invokes the Holy Trinity.

The complete rite consists of three moments:

Preparation:
It consists of the blessing of the water, the renunciation of sin by the
parents and godparents, the profession of faith and a question to the

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parents and godparents about whether they wish the child to be

baptized.

Ablution or baptism:
As the minister bathes the person being baptized with water, he says, "I
baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit."

Complementary rites:
They are the chrismation, the white garment and the delivery of the
light.

Chrismation, by which the minister anoints the head of each baptized

person with holy chrism, as a sign of incorporation into the believing
people;
The white garment, a sign of the new life and dignity of the Christian.

The delivery of the light of Christ expressed by a small candle whose

flame has been taken from the Paschal candle.

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Confirmation

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord
would rest upon the expected Messiah to carry out his saving mission
(Cf. Is 11,2; 61,1). The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at his

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Baptism by John was the sign that He was the one who was to come, the
Messiah, the Son of God.

Having been conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, his entire life and
mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom
the Father gives him without measure (CIC, 1286). This fullness of the
Spirit was not to remain solely in the Messiah, but was to be
communicated to all the people of God.

Jesus promised many times to send the Spirit, a promise he made first
on Easter Day and then more clearly on Pentecost. Filled with the Holy
Spirit, the Apostles began to proclaim "the wonders of God" (Acts 2:11).
Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized in turn
received the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38).

The Fact of Confirmation

The name of this sacrament comes from the Latin confirmative =
strengthening. However, throughout history it has been called by various
names: chrismation (anointing with perfumed and consecrated oil),
laying on of hands, chrism.

The New Testament does not speak of the sacrament of confirmation as

such. It is clear that Jesus Christ instituted it but did not administer it
himself, since it was something thought for when He left. Christ
announced the coming of the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - once He had
left this world.

What is clearly evident is the administration of the Apostles - with the

laying on of hands. This can be read in the Acts of the Apostles when
Peter and John go to lay hands on the newly baptized in Samaria so that
they may receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17) and when Paul baptizes
and lays hands on a few people in Ephesus, with whom they receive the
Holy Spirit. (Acts 19, 5-7).

Since the early times of the Church, when Baptism was administered, it
was customary for the bishop to use a gesture or ritual of blessing, "the
laying on of hands" on the head of the baptized person, thus
remembering what the apostles did. There was also the custom of
anointing the newly baptized with oil on the head or chest; this oil had
previously been blessed by the bishop.

This custom continued until the 5th century, there was no religious rite
separate from Baptism, everything was carried out in the same
celebration. When mass baptisms of newborn children were imposed,

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the need arose for priests and deacons to administer Baptism, while the
laying on of hands and anointing was delayed until the bishop could.

Meaning of Confirmation
The Second Vatican Council says: "By the sacrament of Confirmation
they (Christians) are bound more closely to the Church, they are
enriched with a special power of the Holy Spirit and are thus more
strictly bound to spread and defend the faith as true witnesses of Christ,
by word together with deed" (Lumen Gentium, 11).

The first thing that should be reaffirmed is that the sacrament by which
we receive the Holy Spirit, the Sacrament of the Spirit, is Baptism.

With him we are born spiritually and we become participants in the life
of the Holy Trinity and we begin to live a supernatural life. Confirmation
is the strengthening of Baptismal Grace. It is a spiritual growth, in this
sacrament the promises of Baptism that others made for us are renewed
if it was received shortly after birth. Its purpose is to perfect what
Baptism began in us. We could say in a certain way that we are baptized
to be confirmed.

What characterizes the symbol of Confirmation is the laying on of hands

and the anointing with chrism. This anointing illustrates the name
Christian, which means "anointed" and has its origin in the name of
Christ, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Laying on of hands:
In this sense, it can be said that in Confirmation the bishop, in the name
of the Church, blesses the baptized so that the Holy Spirit may
strengthen them and bring to completion the grace of Baptism, making
them witnesses of Christ in the world by spreading and defending the
faith with their words and works.

With the laying on of hands, the full insertion of baptized persons into
the apostolic community takes place. This insertion is a true
participation in the prophecy of Christ, which Christians will have to
carry out by assuming, announcing and confessing faith in Christ,
testifying with words and works, the evangelical truth, throughout space
and time and being a leaven of holiness in the world.

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Anointing with Chrism:

In the Old Testament, the gesture of anointing kings has an important
significance (1 Sam 10:1; 16:13; 1 Kings 1:39). Through anointing, the
king was given the power to exercise his function, which was closely
related to the defense of justice. Which consisted especially in the
defense of the poor and helpless, orphans and widows, that is, those
who could not defend themselves.

For the New Testament. Jesus is the Anointed One par excellence. This is
what the Gospel of Luke says when it narrates the event that took place
in the synagogue of Nazareth, where the text of the prophet Isaiah is
read referring to Jesus.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to free the oppressed, and to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Lk 4:18-19)

The Christian, upon receiving Confirmation, is anointed and sent on the

mission of announcing the faith, bearing witness to the truth, committing
himself to the implementation of justice, freedom and peace in the
world, to be a leaven of holiness and to build up the Church through his
charisms and charitable services.

Confirmation, like Baptism, is given only once in a lifetime, because it

leaves an indelible mark on the soul, the character that is the sign that
Jesus Christ has marked the Christian with the seal of his Spirit, investing
him with the power from on high so that he may be his witness. Christ
himself declares himself marked with the seal of his Father (Jn 6:27). The
Christian is also marked with a seal, this seal marks total belonging to
Christ, placing oneself at his service forever.

Effects of Confirmation
The greatest effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full
outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his seven gifts: Wisdom,
Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, Fortitude and Fear
of God, as granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

If Baptism makes the Christian a Child of God, Confirmation enriches him

with a new and singular power of the Holy Spirit, which makes him

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capable of bearing witness to his existence and of radiating the faith

that the presence and action of God has created and maintains in him.

If Baptism unites the Christian with Jesus Christ, Confirmation makes him
a witness of the Lord in his fullness, continually activating and
deepening the new life that resides in him.

If Baptism fills the Christian with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and has
incorporated him into the Church, Confirmation stimulates him to make
those gifts received bear fruit in service and to be fully united to the
whole Church in its consecration and mission.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

In order for the Christian to be able to fight, the Holy Spirit gives him his
seven gifts, which are permanent dispositions that make man docile to
follow the impulses of the Spirit. These gifts are:

Wisdom: It gives us the special ability to judge human things according

to God's measure. Enlightened by this gift, the Christian knows how to
see the realities of this world from within; no one better than he is able
to appreciate the authentic values of creation, looking at them with the
same eyes as God.

Science: Man enlightened by the gift of science knows the true value of
creatures in their relationship with the Creator. And he does not value
creatures more than their worth and does not put in them, but in God,
the end of his own life.

Advice: This gift acts as a fresh breath on the conscience, suggesting

what is lawful, what is appropriate, what is best for the soul. The
Christian, helped by this gift, penetrates the true meaning of evangelical
values, especially those expressed in the Sermon on the Mount.

Piety: Through this gift, the Spirit heals our heart of every kind of
hardness and opens it to tenderness toward God and toward our
brothers. The gift of piety guides and nourishes the need to turn to God
for grace, help and forgiveness. It also extinguishes in the heart those
sources of tension and division such as bitterness, anger, impatience,
and nourishes it with feelings of understanding, tolerance, and
forgiveness.

Fear of God: With this gift, the Holy Spirit infuses in the soul above all
filial fear, which is the love of God. The soul then takes care not to

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displease God, loved as Father, not to offend him in anything, to remain

and grow in charity.

Understanding: Through this gift the Holy Spirit, who "searches the
depths of God" (1 Cor 2:10), communicates to the believer a spark of
that penetrating capacity that opens the heart to the joyful perception of
God's loving plan, at the same time making the gaze on human things
clearer and more penetrating. Thanks to it, the numerous signs of God
that are inscribed in creation are better seen.

Fortitude: The gift of fortitude is a supernatural impulse that gives

strength to the soul in the usual conditions of difficulty: in the struggle to
remain consistent with one's principles, in enduring offenses and unjust
attacks; in courageous perseverance, even in the midst of
misunderstandings and hostilities, on the path of truth and honesty. That
is to say, we have to invoke from the Holy Spirit the gift of strength to
remain firm and determined on the path of good. Then we will be able to
repeat with St. Paul: "I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in anguish, for Christ's sake. For when I am
weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10).

Who can receive this sacrament?

Every baptized person can receive the sacrament of Confirmation.
Although it is recommended that it be received when one has full use of
reason, since this sacrament is considered "the sacrament of Christian
maturity." Prior preparation is necessary so that the confirmed person
can better assume the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life.

As explained above, the special grace of this sacrament is the

strengthening of faith and the increase of sanctifying grace. God cannot
increase what is not present, therefore the one who receives it must do
so in a state of Grace, that is, repent and confess sins before being
confirmed. Receiving it in mortal sin would be an abuse of the
sacrament, a grave sin of sacrilege.

The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, although he may, in

case of need, grant priests the power to administer the sacrament. It is
appropriate that he confer it, without forgetting that for this reason the
celebration of Confirmation was temporarily separated from Baptism.
Bishops are the successors of the apostles and have received the
fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. For this reason, the
administration of this sacrament by themselves highlights that

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Confirmation has the effect of uniting those who receive it more closely
to the Church, to its apostolic origins and to its mission of bearing
witness to Christ. (CIC, 1290)

Celebration of Confirmation
In the liturgical celebration of this sacrament three elements come
together that must be pointed out:

The renewal of the promises of Baptism, by which the person being

confirmed makes an explicit expression and commitment to live in the
manner of Christ.

The imposition of hands by the bishop on the confirmandsThe

culminating moment of Confirmation is when the Bishop places his hand
on the head of the confirmand and anoints his forehead with the holy
chrism while pronouncing these words: "Receive by this sign the gift of
the Holy Spirit." The greeting of peace concludes the rite, and signifies
and manifests ecclesial communion with the bishop and with all the
faithful.

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Eucharist

SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different

names given to it:

Eucharist

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Of Greek origin "Eukharistia", meaning "thanksgiving". This word recalls

the Jewish blessings that proclaim the works of God: creation,
redemption, sanctification. (cfr. Lc. 22,19; 1 Cor 11:24; Mt 26,26; Mark
14,22).

Banquet of the Lord

Because it is the Supper that the Lord celebrated with his disciples on
the eve of his passion (1 Cor 11:20). Breaking of the Bread: because this
rite was used by Jesus when he blessed and distributed the bread as
head of the family. With this expression the first Christians designated
their Eucharistic assemblies. By this he means that all who eat this one
broken bread, which is Christ, enter into communion with Him and form
one body in Him (cf. Mt 14,19; 15.36; Mc 8, 6-19; Acts 2,42.46; 20, 7.11;
1 Cor 10, 16-17).

Eucharistic Assembly
Because the Eucharist is celebrated in the assembly of the faithful, the
visible expression of the Church. (Cf 1 Cor 11, 17-3)

Holy Sacrifice
Because it actualizes the unique sacrifice of Christ the Savior and
includes the offering of the Church (Cf. Acts 13:15; Ps 116, 13.17; 1 Pe
2,5)

Communion

Because through this sacrament we are united to Christ who makes us

partakers of his Body and Blood to form one body (Cf. 1 Cor 16-17).

Holy Mass:

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Because when the Eucharist was celebrated in Latin, people were said
goodbye by saying "Ite Missa est", which speaks of being sent to fulfill
God's will in their lives.

The Holy Eucharist culminates Christian initiation. Those who have been
raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured
more deeply to Christ in Confirmation, participate through the Eucharist
with the entire community in the very sacrifice of the Lord. At the Last
Supper, Christ instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood
to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross for centuries and to entrust the
memorial of his death and resurrection to the Church. It is a sign of
unity, a bond of love, a Passover banquet in which Christ is received.

The Meaning of the Eucharist

The New Passover

In the Gospels a close connection is established between the Eucharistic
meal and the Passover feast (Mt 26, 2.17. 18-19; Jn 6,4; 11.56; 1 Cor
5,7). This tells us that for the gospels the Eucharist is the new Passover
of Christians.

We know that, in the Old Testament tradition, the event of Passover is

closely related to the exodus from Egypt (Ex 12:21-23). The celebration
of Passover was dedicated to commemorating what God did with his
people by freeing them from slavery. (Dt 16,1; Ex 12, 11-14).

The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord said the
blessing, broke and distributed the loaves through his disciples to feed
the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this one bread of his
Eucharist. The sign of the water turned into wine at Cana announces the
hour of Jesus' glorification and manifests the fulfillment of the wedding
banquet in the Kingdom of the Father, where the faithful will drink the
new wine, turned into the Blood of Christ.

In Jesus' Passover, the slavery of death and sin is defeated, opening the
way to salvation. If the Eucharist comes to replace for Christians what
the ancient Passover was for the Jews, the meaning of the Eucharist is
also to celebrate the integral liberation that Jesus achieves for us.

Update on Jesus' sacrifice

The Passover meal also consisted of the sacrifice of a lamb (Ex 12, 1-14.

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43-45). The parallelism that exists between Jesus and the paschal lamb
(Mk 12, 22-24; Lk 22,19s; Jn 19,36; 1 Cor 5,7) makes us see that the
Eucharist is the actualization of the authentic sacrifice, in which Jesus
gives himself for others.

The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is clearly indicated in the words

that Jesus pronounced over the chalice, according to the Gospel of
Matthew: "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is poured
out for all for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26:28).
This phrase evokes the story in which Moses sprinkles the blood of the
sacrifice of Sinai on the people, while saying: "This is the blood of the
Covenant that the Lord has made with you" (Ex 24,8).

The Institution of the Eucharist

The Lord, having loved his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the
hour had come for him to leave this world and return to his Father,
during a supper he washed their feet and gave them the commandment
of love, to leave them a pledge of this love, so as to never distance
himself from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he
instituted the Eucharist as a memorial of his death and resurrection and
ordered his apostles to celebrate it until his return, "constituting them
then priests of the New Testament."
"I am the bread of life. Their fathers ate manna in the wilderness, but
they died; here is bread which comes down from heaven, that they may
eat it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven;
he who eats this bread will live forever. But furthermore, the bread that I
will give is my flesh, so that the world may live... He who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood lives eternally, and I will raise him up on the last
day." (Jn 6, 48-60).

Those who heard this speech of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum

could not understand how it was possible to eat his flesh and drink his
blood. It even shocked them: "This language is harsh, who can listen to
it?" The Eucharist and the cross are stones of scandal. It is the same
mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion for division.

"Do you also want to leave?" (Jn 6:67). This question of the Lord
resounds through the ages, as an invitation of his love to discover that
only He has "words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68) and that to welcome in faith
the gift of his Eucharist is to welcome Him himself.
The apostles had to wait until the Last Supper, and even until the
coming of the Holy Spirit, to understand how to prepare this heavenly
meal.

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We find the institution of the Eucharist narrated four times, three in the
Gospels: Mt 26, 26-29; Mk 14, 22-23; Lk 22, 19-20 and once in the first
letter to the Corinthians 11, 23-25. The four narratives agree on the
essentials:

Christ offering bread and wine to his apostles, tells them to eat his body
and drink his blood. The apostles and the first Christian communities
accepted this fact. Christ says "do this in memory of me."

Jesus speaks of the New Covenant

Jesus chose the time of Passover to carry out what he had announced in
Capernaum: to give his disciples his Body and Blood:

"The day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb was to
be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the
Passover for us to eat.'... They went and prepared the Passover. When
the hour came, he reclined at the table with the apostles and said to
them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer, for I tell you that I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in
the kingdom of God.... And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and
gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper he took the cup, saying,
"This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is to be poured
out for you" (Lk 22, 7-20)
The real presence of Christ
When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he took a loaf of bread, blessed it,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: "Take and eat; this is my
body" (Mt 26:26). In this sentence, the realism with which the subject
"this" (the bread) is identified with the predicate "my body" (the person
of Jesus) is surprising. Jesus' words leave no room for doubt. It is not a
comparison: this is like my body, but a real statement: this is my body.

In the Eucharist, bread and wine lose their natural meaning as bodily
nourishment and receive a new being and a new meaning. They are real
symbolic signs of the real presence and personal surrender of Jesus
Christ. In the sensible signs of bread and wine, Jesus Christ, who gives
himself for us, is truly made present (CIC 1373-1381)

"Do this in memory of me"

Jesus' command to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does

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not only require remembering Jesus and what he did. It requires the
liturgical celebration by the apostles and their successors of the
memorial of Christ, of his life, his death, his resurrection and his
intercession with the Father.

"Christ was sacrificed once for all to take away the sins of all men" (Heb
9:28). The Masses that are continually celebrated throughout the world
are not repetitions of Christ's sacrifice, but celebrations in which he is
made present once again. To participate in the Eucharist is to join in the
greatest worship that man can perform, because it is not the offering of
prayers and good works that is done, but the very offering of Christ, to
which man unites himself through the acceptance of the Word of God,
the oblation of himself, and the reception of the Body and Blood of the
Lord.

From the beginning the Church was faithful to the Lord's order. Of the
Church of Jesus Christ it is said: "They devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching, faithful to fraternal communion, to the breaking of
bread and to prayers... They went to the temple every day with
perseverance, and with one spirit they broke bread from house to house
and ate their food with joy and sincerity of heart" (Acts 2:42). 46)). It
was above all "the first day of the week", that is, Sunday, the day of
Jesus' resurrection, when Christians gathered to break bread. From then
until today, the celebration of the Eucharist has been perpetuated.

The Communion
The Lord directs an urgent invitation to receive him in the sacrament of
the Eucharist: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you" (Jn 6:53).

To respond to this invitation, we must prepare ourselves for this great

and holy moment. St. Paul exhorts us to examine our conscience:
"Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a man examine himself, and then eat of the bread and drink of the
cup. For he who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and
drinks his own punishment" (1 Cor 11, 27-29). Anyone who is aware of
having committed a grave sin must receive the sacrament of
Reconciliation before approaching Communion.

Before the greatness of this sacrament, the faithful can only humbly and
with ardent faith repeat the words of the Centurion: "Lord, I am not

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worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and
my soul will be healed."

The Church obliges the faithful to participate in the divine liturgy on

Sundays and feast days and to receive the Eucharist at least once a
year, if possible during Easter time. But the Church strongly
recommends that the faithful receive the Holy Eucharist on Sundays and
feast days, or even more frequently, even every day.

Fruits of Communion
† Increases union with Christ: "He who eats my Flesh and drinks my
Blood abides in me and I in him" (Jn 6:56)

† Strengthens the Spirit: What material food produces in the bodily

life, communion accomplishes in an admirable way in the spiritual life.
Communion preserves, increases and renews the life of grace received
in Baptism.

† It separates us from sin: just as food serves to restore lost strength,

the Eucharist strengthens charity, which in daily life tends to weaken,
and this vivified charity erases venial sins. The more one participates in
the life of Christ and the more one progresses in his friendship, the more
difficult it will be to break with him through mortal sin.

† It involves a commitment to others: to receive in truth the Body

and Blood of Christ given for us, we must recognize Christ in our
neighbors, especially in the poorest and most needy.

† Strengthens the unity of the Mystical Body. The Eucharist makes

the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to
Christ, and for this very reason Christ unites all the faithful in a single
body which is the Church. Communion renews, strengthens and deepens
the incorporation into the Church already accomplished through
Baptism.

The Eucharistic Celebration

The Eucharist or Mass consists of two large parts:
Liturgy of the Word divided into:

Entrance rite: Christians gather in the same place for the Eucharistic
assembly, praising and giving thanks to God. At its head is Christ

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himself, who is the High Priest; his representative is the priest, who
presides over the celebration and acts in his name. It begins with the
greeting invoking the Holy Trinity

Penitential act: is to recognize ourselves as sinners and ask God for

forgiveness in order to prepare to listen to His Word and worthily
celebrate the Eucharist as a community. It includes the Lord have mercy
and the Gloria, in addition to the Collect Prayer that generally expresses
the nature of the celebration with a supplication to God the Father,
through Christ in the Holy Spirit.

Liturgy of the Word: consists of readings from the Holy Scripture,

followed by the homily, which is a reflection and explanation of the Word
of God. The Creed or Profession of Faith is recited and the Prayer of the
Faithful is said.

Liturgy of the Eucharist, divided into:

Offertory: or presentation of the offerings that are placed on the altar,

these are the bread and wine that, together with the life of man, are
offered to God.

Eucharistic Prayer: thanks are given to God for the work of salvation and
for his gifts, bread and wine. The presence of the Holy Spirit is requested
to convert them into the Body and Blood of Christ, repeating the same
words that Jesus pronounced at the Last Supper.

Breaking of the Bread and the Rite of Communion: which

manifests the unity of the faithful. The Our Father is recited and the
faithful receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, just as the Apostles
received them from the hands of Jesus.

Farewell rite: greeting and priestly blessing, ending with the farewell
where the people are invited to return to their duties and bring the
Gospel to life.

Therefore, we must consider the Eucharist as:

1. Thanksgiving and praise to the Father.

2. Memorial of the Sacrifice of Christ and his Body.
3. Presence of Christ by the power of his Father and his Spirit.

"Jesus hides himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, so that we
may dare to treat Him, to be our sustenance, so that we may become
one with Him. By saying, "without me you can do nothing," he did not

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condemn the Christian to ineffectiveness, nor did he force him into an

arduous and difficult search for his Person. He has remained with us with
total availability."

When we gather before the altar while the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is
being celebrated, when we contemplate the Sacred Host exposed in the
monstrance or adore it hidden in the Tabernacle, we must rekindle our
faith, think of this new existence that comes to us, and be moved by the
love and tenderness of God" (J. Escrivá de Balaguer, Christ is passing by
No. 153).

The Church knows that, already now, the Lord comes in his Eucharist
and that he is there among us. However, this presence is veiled. That is
why we celebrate the Eucharist "as we await the glorious coming of Our
Lord Jesus Christ"

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Anointing of the Sick

SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

"Christ, with his suffering on the Cross, has touched the very roots of
evil: those of sin and death. He has defeated the architect of evil, who is
Satan, although his rebellion against the Creator remains. Before the
suffering brother or sister, Christ gradually opens and unfolds the
horizons of the Kingdom of God, of a world converted to the Creator, of a
world freed from sin, which is being built on the saving power of love.
And, in a slow but effective way, Christ introduces into the world, into

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this Kingdom of the Father, the man who suffers, in a certain way
through the intimacy of his suffering" (John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on
the Christian meaning of suffering)

The Fact of the Sacrament of Anointing

Illness is something that affects every man and affects him in the
deepest part of his being. In it, man experiences his limitations and
discovers loneliness, despondency, worry, anguish and even despair. On
the other hand, illness brings to light everything that is transitory,
apparent, circumstantial and shows what is true and enduring.

Scripture sees illness as an effect of sin, an indication of evil and pain

that make real the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans
(Rom 8:22-24), when he points out that all Creation groans for the full
manifestation of the children of God, even we ourselves, who have the
Spirit as a foretaste, participate in the universal pain of childbirth
awaiting the fullness of the New Creation.

John Paul II said in one of his speeches: Suffering is also a mysterious

and disconcerting reality. But we - Christians - looking at Jesus crucified
find the strength to accept this mystery. The Christian knows that, after
original sin, human history is always a risk; but he also knows that God
himself wanted to enter into our pain, experience our joy, go through the
agony of the spirit and the tearing of the body. Faith in Christ does not
suppress suffering, but it illuminates it, elevates it, purifies it, sublimates
it, and makes it valid for attaining eternity."

Jesus appears in the Gospels as the great adversary and the conqueror
of illness. Because of this action of Jesus, the Church has always felt
called to a special concern for the sick, providing them with relief and
strength. Through this sacrament we are shown that God does not forget
the seriously ill, the elderly, or those who are going through a difficult
time. On the contrary, as a Father full of goodness, He has prepared a
support for those children of His.

This sacramental gesture carried out by the Christian community is

based on the conduct of Jesus, hinted at in the account of the mission of
the apostles:

"They went about preaching repentance, driving out many demons,

anointing with oil many sick people and curing them" (Mk 6:12-13)

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Meaning of the Anointing of the Sick

The sacrament of Anointing is the sacrament of theological hope, of the
hope of entering into Glory; of the peaceful surrender of the spirit into
the loving arms of the Father-God; into the arms into which Christ
surrendered his spirit from the Cross. Not a hope that sets its goal on the
physical good of bodily health, but a theological hope that has its sights
set on the resurrection of that painful body that is now anointed with oil,
and on its final destiny which is Glory.

It is not a therapeutic remedy for bodily illness, but by infusing faith and
hope into the sick, it may well alleviate the illness by easing it, making it
much more bearable... and even healing it, if this is to benefit the soul.
(This doctrine is contained in the Council of Trent, in accordance with the
Tradition of the Church)

In the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, two gestures or signs are
performed that have profound meaning: the laying on of hands and the
anointing with oil.

Jesus himself practiced the gesture of laying on hands on the sick (Mk
6:5; Mt 8:3; Lk 4:40) and entrusted it to his disciples (Mk 6:18), who
practiced it regularly (Acts 9:12,17; 28:8). It is a sign of the blessing that
this sacrament confers.

Regarding the anointing, the followers of Jesus, even when they were
with him, anointed the sick (Mk 6:13) and Jesus himself will use other
symbols such as saliva (Mk 7:32-33; 8:23; Jn 9:6) to restore health. This
anointing with oil symbolizes the anointing of the Spirit that comforts
and helps in illness, identifying the Christian with the risen Jesus Christ.

The fundamental meaning of this sacrament can be summed up in these

statements:

Through the sacrament of Anointing, the Church turns to the Lord to ask
for salvation and relief for her sick members, as well as strength for
those facing the weakness of old age.
Through the Anointing, the sick and the elderly are strengthened in their
faith because the profound relationship that their situation has with the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is made evident.

This sacrament forgives the sins of the one who receives it, making
present the mercy of God.

The Church's solidarity and service to the sick and elderly are
concentrated liturgically in the gestures carried out in this sacrament.

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The recipients of the sacrament are:

The faithful who, due to serious illness or advanced age, are in danger of
death. The sacrament may be repeated if the sick person regains his or
her strength after receiving the Anointing of the Sick or if a new relapse
occurs during the same illness.

Those who are going to undergo surgery as a result of a dangerous

disease.

Effects of this Sacrament

A particular gift of the Holy Spirit. The first grace is consolation, peace
and encouragement to overcome the difficulties of illness or the fragility
of old age. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit that renews trust and faith in God
and strengthens against the temptations of evil, such as discouragement
and despair.

The forgiveness of sins. In addition, repentance and confession are

required from the person receiving the sacrament.
The union with the Passion of Christ. One receives the strength and the
gift to unite with Christ in his Passion and attain the redemptive fruits of
the Savior.

An ecclesial grace. The sick who receive this sacrament, freely uniting
themselves to the Passion and Death of Jesus, contribute to the good of
the People of God and their sanctification.

A preparation for the passage to eternal life. This sacrament ends up

conforming us to the death and resurrection of Christ as baptism had
begun to do. The Anointing of Baptism seals new life in us, that of
Confirmation strengthens us for the struggle of life. This last anointing
offers a shield to defend oneself from the final battles and enter the
Father's House. It is offered to those who are close to death, together
with the Eucharist as a "viaticum" for man's final journey.

Celebration of the Anointing of the Sick

The sacrament as such is administered within a liturgical celebration and
only priests, bishops and presbyters, can administer it.

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The sacramental liturgy, in its renewed form, agrees with what the
Letter of James says. It begins with the silent laying on of hands of the
priest and a praise of the consecrated oil, which in its basic form dates
back to the 4th century.

The sacramental sign was established in the Apostolic Constitution of

Paul VI in the following way: "The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
is administered to those whose state of health implies a danger of death,
anointing them on the forehead and on the hands with consecrated olive
oil in the regulatory form... and pronouncing the following words:
Through this holy anointing and through his kind mercy, may the Lord
help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Usually, the oil used in this sacrament has been blessed by the Bishop at
the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, during which the sacred oils that will
be used throughout the year for Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders
are also blessed.

Whenever possible, anointing should be offered to the sick person early

and should be administered at a celebration attended by the local
community, at least through relatives, friends and some of the people
who assist the patient.

The liturgical celebration consists of the following parts:

 Greeting and preparation

 Liturgy of the Word
 Sacramental Liturgy

Which in turn is composed of:

Laying on of hands by the priest, praise of the consecrated oil,

sacramental sign by which the forehead and hands of the sick person
are anointed while saying "By this holy anointing and by his kind mercy
may the Lord help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen"

Furthermore, the sick may participate in the communion of the Body of

Christ which, in danger of death, is called viaticum, that is, food for the
final journey.

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Reconciliation

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

The name of this Sacrament

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Sacrament of conversion: Because it sacramentally carries out Jesus'

call to conversion, and to return to the Father from whom man had
distanced himself through sin.

Sacrament of penance: because it consecrates a personal and

ecclesial process of conversion, repentance and reparation on the part of
the sinful Christian.

Sacrament of confession: because the declaration or manifestation,

the confession of sins before the priest, is an essential element of this
sacrament.

Sacrament of forgiveness: because it grants the sinner the love of

God that reconciles "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20). He who lives by
the merciful love of God is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go first
and be reconciled to your brother" (Mt 5:24).

The sacrament of Penance has a relevant place in the life of the Church.
She is aware that Jesus Christ has entrusted to her, in the Apostles and
in their successors, the power to forgive sins. Consequently, he has
always seen in this sacrament the sign of God's forgiveness entrusted to
the Church itself.

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19)

Baptism, the Body and Blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit,
have made us "holy and blameless before Him" (Eph 1:4), but they do
not eliminate the fragility and weakness of human nature - the
inclination to sin. The daily struggle of the Christian against sin and
temptation is conversion with a view to the holiness to which God calls
us.

The Sin
The reality of evil is evident to anyone who does not want to be blind to
what happens every day. This evil is seen by the believer as an
expression of what happens every day. This evil is seen by the believer
as the expression of the rupture that exists between God and the human
being, that crack that is born from the heart of each person and that

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separates men, oppresses the weak, forgets the small and ineffective.
That rupture is what we call sin.

Sin involves three dimensions that are in continuous relationship, but

which can be differentiated at the same time:

Sin as self-rejection. As a fracture between what I really am and what I

am called to be, between what I do and what, by virtue of my capacity, I
could do.

Sin as rejection of others. Notably linked to the previous one, since my

options to hoard, conserve or use my qualities and gifts for my own
benefit and enjoyment, deprive others of possibilities and hopes.

Sin as rejection of God. Behind the two previous dimensions, deeper

than themselves, is the rejection of a Maker, of a Lord, from whom I
receive the gift and the quality. In affirming myself, I deny the other as
human, but I deny the Other as God.

Gradualness of sin
Sin has a gradualness. Not everything is the same and not every option
compromises the person in the same way. Therefore, we can establish
three different situations:
Mortal sin. It is a free, premeditated, conscious choice that implies a
radical break with God and with others.

We can also find situations in which, although the action is serious in

itself, the circumstances surrounding it are geared towards drawing a
reality in which there is neither full consent nor total freedom. All of this
is manifested in the person's immediate reaction to repair it, to avoid
the circumstances that facilitated it, etc.

Venial sin. Which refers to everyday faults, they are signs of our
weakness and limitation, of our lack of love for others and for God.

The Conversion
Jesus calls to conversion; this call is an essential part of the proclamation
of the Kingdom. "He said thus: 'The time has passed, and the kingdom of
God has come near. Take another way and believe in the Good News"
(Mk 1, 15)

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In the preaching of the Church, this call is addressed first of all to those
who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Thus Baptism is the principal
place of the first and fundamental conversion.

Now, Christ's call to conversion continues to resonate in the lives of

Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the entire
Church, which "receives sinners into her own bosom."

This is evidenced by the conversion of Saint Peter after the triple denial
of his Master. The gaze of infinite mercy of Jesus provokes tears of
repentance and, after the resurrection of the Lord, the triple affirmation
of his love for him. The second conversion also has a community
dimension. This appears in the Lord's call to the whole Church: "Repent!"
(Rev 2,5.16).

Saint Ambrose says about the two conversions that, "in the Church,
there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of
Penance."

Meaning of this Sacrament

The sacrament of penance is a joyful encounter of reconciliation. There
are always three subjects involved in it that make it a sacrament: God,
who seeks, saves and renews the person; the Church, which makes the
encounter of reconciliation visible in its midst; and the person, who
welcomes the gift of reconciliation into his or her own life.

The tender mercy of God

Reconciliation is fundamentally a work of God. A work in which he
intervenes as he is: A Father who searches for his lost children, who
constantly goes out to meet them. This is the profound meaning of the
entire History of Salvation. A Father who seeks out his children in diverse
ways to give them their own home, their own joy, their own life.

Son who, in his Death and Resurrection, manifests what reconciliation is:
a process of fighting evil, a dedication to the service of others, a path of
pain (via crucis) towards a new situation of love.

Spirit, which is the very life of God poured out upon believers, which
moves us to conversion, transforms us and renews us in faith.

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The Church makes visible the sacrament of Penance; the Church, the
family of those who follow Jesus, participate in his Spirit and recognize
themselves as children of the same Father, is interested in the situation
of each of its members. It cannot remain indifferent to the sin of one of
its members, which necessarily affects the entire community. All this is
manifested through:

The presence of the Church, through the Word of God that invites
everyone to conversion, the liturgical signs that express forgiveness for
all, and the ministerial service of the priest that symbolizes the presence
of Christ, the apostolicity and the sending of Jesus.

The absolution of the ordained minister who makes Christ and the
Church present is not only an expression of the good news of the
forgiveness of sins or a mere declaration that God has forgiven them;
thanks to it, we are readmitted to full ecclesial communion. The
sacrament of penance is a tribunal of grace, in which God, the merciful
Father, makes the sinner righteous through the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

The help and support of the private community. The intervention of the
Church in the penitential process is expressed in mutual forgiveness and
fraternal correction, words of encouragement and the celebration of the
sacrament itself. Man meets merciful God.

However, all that has been said so far cannot be realized if man does not
accept the gift that the Father offers him: God cannot reconcile those
who do not want to be reconciled.

That is why the acts of the penitent are of the utmost importance and
can be reduced to three:

Conversion: also called contrition. It can be perfect when it springs

from the love of God loved above all things and obtains the forgiveness
of venial sins as well as mortal sins, provided that there is a firm
resolution to confess as soon as possible. It is imperfect when, moved by
the grace of God and under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, it springs from
the consideration of the ugliness of sin or from the fear of eternal
damnation and the other punishments with which the sinner is
threatened.

Confession of sins: The Church recognizes that there are different

ways of expressing this confession externally. All of them are valid and
sufficient as long as they are not sins that entail a break with God and

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the Church. When it comes to a mortal sin, where this relationship is

compromised, the Church values oral confession of that sin.

The confession of sins made to the priest constitutes an essential part of

the sacrament of Penance. "In confession, penitents must enumerate all
the mortal sins of which they are conscious after having seriously
examined themselves, even if these sins are very secret and have been
committed only against the last two commandments of the Decalogue,
because sometimes these sins wound the soul more seriously and are
more dangerous than those which have been committed in full view of
everyone."

"When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins they remember,
there can be no doubt that they are presenting to divine mercy for
forgiveness all the sins they have committed. Those who act otherwise
and consciously remain silent about some sins are not presenting before
divine goodness anything that can be forgiven through the mediation of
the priest. For if the sick person is ashamed to reveal his wound to the
doctor, medicine does not cure what it ignores" (Council of Trent
"doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance)

Satisfaction: Many sins cause harm to others. It is necessary to do

everything possible to repair it (for example, return stolen things,
restore the reputation of the one who has been slandered, compensate
for injuries). Simple justice demands this. But sin also hurts and weakens
the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and with his
neighbor. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the
disorders that sin caused.

The penance that the confessor imposes must take into account the
personal situation of the penitent and seek his spiritual good. It can take
the form of prayer, offerings, works of mercy, service to others,
voluntary deprivation, sacrifices and, above all, the patient acceptance
of the cross we must bear.

"In the sacrament of Penance, God, the merciful Father, who reconciled
the world to himself through the death and resurrection of his Son, and
poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins through the
ministry of the Church, forgives Christians the sins committed after
Baptism."

Effects of this Sacrament

It restores to us the Grace of God to be able to face temptation and sin.

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It reconciles us with God, uniting us again in deep friendship with Him

and resulting in peace and tranquility of conscience.

It reconciles us with the Church, since sin undermines or breaks fraternal

communion. Since the Church is one Body, the Body of Christ, the sin
committed by one of its members harms the entire body. Reconciliation
has a life-giving effect, strengthening the Body of Christ through the
exchange of spiritual goods among its members.

In a certain way, it anticipates the judgment to which we will be

subjected at the end of our earthly life, since only through the path of
conversion can we enter the Kingdom of God.

Celebration
Like all sacraments, reconciliation is a liturgical action. Basically this
sacrament consists of three acts performed by the penitent and the
absolution of the priest.

Repentance or contrition, pain of the soul and a rejection of the sin

committed with the resolution not to sin again.

1. Confession of sins.
2. Satisfaction or penance.
3. The Absolution that the priest gives in the name of God.

Indulgences
Sin has a double consequence. Mortal sin deprives us of communion with
God and makes us incapable of eternal life, making us deserving of
eternal punishment. The sacrament of Reconciliation forgives us mortal
sin, but it does not free us from the need for purification, which we must
accomplish during earthly life or after death, in what is called purgatory.
We also need to purify ourselves from venial sins, even when we are
repentant. This purification frees from what is called the temporal
punishment of sin.

These two punishments should not be conceived as a punishment from

God, but as a consequence of sin.

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Before the presence of God the Father, man must arrive without any
stain. The sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins and frees us from
eternal punishment, but not from temporal punishment. That is, it does
not purify us completely; the traces of the sins we have committed and
of our disordered attachments to earthly things remain in our soul. The
conversion that manifests itself in a true love for one's neighbor can
achieve total purification in man. The Christian's effort to patiently
endure the sufferings and trials of life also helps in this purification.

An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment

of sins already forgiven and, by fulfilling certain conditions, achieves,
through the Church, the partial or full purification of souls; that is why
they are called partial or plenary indulgences.

The Church grants these indulgences by virtue of the power to bind and
loose that was granted to her by Christ Jesus.

Indulgences may be gained by the faithful for themselves, or they may

be applied for the deceased. They cannot, however, be applied to
another living person. To gain indulgences it is necessary to be in a state
of grace, have the intention of gaining it, perform the action stipulated
by the Church and have a repentant heart.

Partial indulgences are earned through simple, everyday actions such as

joyful duty, prayers, and works of mercy.

Plenary indulgences are gained through pious exercises such as visiting

and adoring the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Rosary, the Stations of
the Cross, attending spiritual exercises during Lent, etc. The Church
continually informs of the propitious occasions for gaining indulgences.

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Priestly Order

SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS

Introduction

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In these sacraments, those who have already been consecrated by

Baptism and Confirmation for the common priesthood of all the faithful
may receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament
of Holy Orders are consecrated to "be the shepherds of the Church in the
name of Christ with the word and grace of God. Christian spouses, for
their part, are strengthened and consecrated for their duties and dignity
by this special sacrament."

The fact of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

The word "Ordinatio" = ordination, was used in the Roman Empire to
designate entry into the ranks of imperial officials. From this moment on
the official belonged to a different order from the rest of the people.

From the third century onwards, this expression began to be used in

some places to designate a dignity or state in the Church. This
denomination would extend to the entire Church over time, giving name
to the sacrament by which certain Christians were constituted: Bishops,
Priests and Deacons.

A valid reference that explains the existence of specific ordained

ministries within the Christian community can be found in Mark 3:13-19.
In this text Jesus solemnly chooses, "appoints" Twelve from among his
disciples to "be his companions and to send them out to preach with
power to cast out demons." This is how the group of the Twelve, decisive
in Christianity, was created and constituted.

This is so obvious that, in order to supplant Judas and restore the

number, Matthias is incorporated as a substitute. (Acts 1:15-26)

The denominations vary widely according to the different communities,

so we can find: Apostles, Prophets, Doctors (1 Cor 12,28; Eph 2,20; 3,5;
4,11), Presbyters (Acts 11,30; 14,22); Deacons (1 Tim 3,8-13; Phil 1,1),
Pastors (Eph 4,11; 1 Pet 5, 2-4) etc.

All these terms do not designate the same function, but we could affirm
that, in different ways, they all have an orientation towards the
preaching of the Gospel and the edification and sanctification of the
Church.

The Christian community, in its liturgy, sees the priesthood and the
priests of the Old Testament as prefigurations that find their fulfillment
in Christ Jesus, the High and Eternal Priest, who incorporates into his
One priesthood the Apostles and their priestly successors.

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During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, there was a consolidation of the name
and content of the apostolic ministry under the names of Deacon, Priest
and Bishop, becoming a ministry of sanctification, government and
teaching in the Christian community.

This situation will be disturbed in the coming centuries due to the

change of situation that takes place in the Empire: The Church goes
from being persecuted, to being the official religion and its ministers
become important figures whose responsibility and authority begins to
overflow the ecclesiastical limits.

The Protestant Reformation will attack this situation, stating that there is
no priest but Christ, and that every Christian is constituted a priest by
faith and baptism. Luther declared that for this reason the Order could
not be considered a sacrament and only recognized the ministry of
preaching.

The Council of Trent of 1545, on the contrary, reaffirms and declares

that "The Sacrament of Holy Orders is a sacrament instituted by Christ,
which communicates power and grace and cannot be understood only in
relation to the ministry of preaching the Gospel."

Meaning of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

The Second Vatican Council affirms the common dignity and
fundamental equality of all members of the People of God, together with
the existence of different services and ministries for the common good
of all the baptized. (Cf. LG 9, 10, 18).

Among these services and ministries there is one called the Ordained
Ministry, which is not situated apart from or above the People of God,
but within and at the head of it. Those who receive it in the Sacrament of
Holy Orders participate in the authority and mission of Christ the Priest,
Head and Shepherd of the Church, so that they can serve all the People
of God. (LG 18)

Notes that characterize the ordained ministry:

 The Sacrament of Holy Orders is an incorporation into the apostolic
ministry, so its mission is related to the mission of Christ and the
Apostles both in the types of activity it carries out and in the
apostolicity of the geographical framework to which it is directed.

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 Christians who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are forever

configured to Christ, Head, Shepherd and Servant of his Church, in
order to teach, sanctify, guide and serve, in his name, the People
of God, each according to the degree of order received.

 The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of ordination, being the

source from which the ministerial charism of teaching,
sanctification and direction springs forth. The gesture of the laying
on of hands signifies that the ministers exercise their mission in
the Spirit of Jesus.

 God raises up ministries in the community and for the community

(1 Cor 12,7: 14, 3-12; Eph 4,12): For this reason, since the New
Testament, ministries are not conceived without the community.

 Ministry throughout the New Testament is conceived as a service.

Taking as a starting point (Mt 20, 20-28), the apostolic Church and
the Fathers of the Church speak of those responsible and their
functions using the term "diakonia". This word means to serve at
the table, an action that was usually carried out by slaves. The
diaconal action of the ministers is realized in the service of the
word, in the service of unity and in the service of tables or charity.

 The ordained ministry is collegial, that is, through the sacrament

of Holy Orders, the person who receives it becomes part of a
college that is made up of those who received it previously.

 The sign of the transmission of ordained ministries is, since the

apostolic era, the imposition of hands together with prayer (Acts
6:6; 13:3; 1 Tim 4:14).

 As in Baptism and Confirmation, participation in the ministry of

Jesus Christ is granted once and for all. For this reason, the
sacrament of Holy Orders leaves an indelible mark and cannot be
repeated. (LG 21)

Christ, who was sent by the Father for the redemption of the world (Mt
20:26) and for this purpose was endowed with all power in heaven and
on earth (Mt 28:18), calls the apostles and shares with them his mission:
"As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21). It is their duty to
be "servants of Christ and entrusted to him in the administration of the
mysterious works of God" (1 Cor 4:1). Its mission is:

1. Preach the Gospel (Acts 6:2-4; Rom 15:16)

2. Leading the worship of the Christian community (Acts 6.4; 13, 1-3)
3. Offer the sacrifice (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:25)

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4. Forgive sins (Mt 18:18; Jn 20:22ff)

5. Communicating the Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:15-18;
19:6)
6. Anointing the sick and praying for them (James 5,14)

Degrees of the priesthood

From the beginning, the Ordained Ministry was conferred and exercised
in three degrees, irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church,
without which one cannot speak of a Church:

The Bishops. They are the transmitters of the apostolic seed. They
have the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and are incorporated
into the Episcopal College. As successors of the apostles and members
of the College of Bishops, they share in the apostolic responsibility and
mission of the entire Church, teaching and governing under the
authority of the Pope, successor of Saint Peter and visible head of the
Church.

The Presbyters. They are united to the bishops in priestly dignity and
at the same time depend on them in the exercise of their pastoral
functions. They are called to be diligent collaborators of the bishops,
forming around their bishop the Presbytery that assumes with him the
responsibility of the particular Church. They receive from the bishop the
care of a parish community or a specific ecclesiastical function.

The Deacons. They are ministers ordained for tasks of service to the
Church. They do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination
confers upon them important functions in the Ministry of the Word, of
divine worship, of Pastoral Government and of the service of charity,
tasks that they must fulfill under the pastoral authority of their bishop.

The celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

Only validly ordained Bishops can administer the Sacrament of Holy
Orders and only a baptized male can validly receive it.

In the celebration of this sacrament we can find three parts:

The preparation. It consists of the call to the candidates, presentation

to the Bishop, election and address of the Bishop, a short dialogue and
the litanies of the Saints.

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The laying on of hands and consecratory prayer. Which is the

central moment of the sacrament.

The gesture of the laying on of hands carries throughout the biblical

tradition (Num. 27, 15-23; Dt 34,9; 1 Tim 4,14; 2 Tim 2,6) the idea of the
transmission of an office.

At the episcopal consecration, all the bishops present (at least three) will
lay hands on the candidate; then the open book of the Gospels will be
placed on his head.

In the Priestly ordination, the Priests present lay hands on the newly
ordained as a gesture of welcome, but it is the laying on of hands by the
Bishop that makes the ordination effective.

To conclude the rite, different explanatory actions of the ministry to be

exercised have been introduced throughout history:

The Bishop is given the crosier and an episcopal ring, he also receives
the book of the gospels and sits on the chair, his head being anointed.

The Priests receive the paten and the chalice, their hands are anointed
and the stole and chasuble are placed on them.

The Deacons are given the book of the Gospels, and are given the stole
crossed over the chest and the dalmatic.

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Marriage

SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

The fact and meaning of marriage

In the life of a man or a woman there is a moment when, normally, love
springs forth. Driven by this love, they decide to enter into a stable

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communion of life and form a family. This decision and commitment is

called marriage.

Marriage and family are among humanity's most valuable assets. They
are the fundamental cell of the human community: "The well-being of
the person and of human and Christian society is closely linked to the
prosperity of the conjugal and family community."

This public commitment called marriage has a series of characteristics

that distinguish it from other forms of interpersonal relationships:

Marriage is an interpersonal relationship that lies at a depth different

from any other relationship. This means that all previous interpersonal
communication is filled with marital love and all subsequent
communication is necessarily coloured by it.

Marital love encompasses the whole person, not being just a feeling,
law, or obligation, fidelity being rooted in that ground. A creative, open,
enriching fidelity, which is an exercise of freedom and personal
responsibility.

It is a union that provokes life, that is creative. If it is true that

sexuality and procreation cannot be identified without further ado, it
would be absolutely naive to deny that the two are closely linked. On the
other hand, marital fertility, which is normally manifested through
children, can develop in other areas such as hosting, promoting people,
art.

Marriage is called to be public, that is, to publicly express the love

relationship between the two people to whom it concerns, which implies
a certain institutionalization.

The Christian conception of marriage

The Christian conception of marriage has been revealed to us
throughout the Old and New Testaments, and is outlined in more detail
in the letters of Saint Paul (Cf. Gen 1-2; Os 1-3; Jn 2-3: Mc 10,2-9; Mt 19,
3-9; Eph 5, 31-33; 1 Cor 7,39).

The Church of our time has frequently spoken out on marriage and the
family: the encyclical Casti Connubi (1930) of Pius XI: the constitution
Gaudium et Spes of the Second Vatican Council (Cf. GS 47-52); the
encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) of Paul VI and the apostolic exhortation
Familiaris Consortio of John Paul II (1981)

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One of the most beautiful pages of Genesis is the one in which man finds
himself alone in the midst of creation. Despite naming all the animals
and things, he feels mute, unable to utter a word because no one gives
him an answer. In those moments of existential loneliness and vital
poverty, God introduces him to the woman. From that moment on, the
dialogue and encounter of love in history begins and marriage gradually
takes shape, until it is fully clarified in the person of Christ.

Throughout the Old Testament the Covenant of love between God and
his people has been symbolized on different occasions by marital love
(Hos 1-3; Jer 3; Ez 16 and 23; Is 54). The wisdom books, in turn, tried to
explain on different occasions the ultimate meaning of marriage in the
Covenant (Prov 15, Song of Solomon, Eccl 25, 13-26, 18).

However, if we Christians consider Christ as the full revelation of the

Mystery of God, it is necessary that He be the one who reveals to us the
profound meaning of marriage in the Plan of Salvation.

Jesus was present at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, recognizing with his

presence the human value of marriage. Furthermore, taking up the
matrimonial image of the alliance suggested by the prophets, he
compares the Kingdom of God with a wedding banquet in which one
identifies with the husband. During this banquet the groom's friends do
not fast (Mt 9:14-15), those on the roads are invited while some reject
the call (Mt 22:1-14; Lk 14:16-24), and it is necessary to be alert to
participate in the party (Mt 25:1-13).

In Mt 19, 3-9 Jesus reaffirms the original ideal of creation (Gen 2,24) by
defending the indissolubility of the marriage covenant. At this moment,
Jesus surpasses the Law, manifesting the profound relationship that
exists between the created order and the Covenant. Here is the origin of
the sacrament of marriage: Jesus recognizes it as instituted from
creation, taking on a special dimension for him. This particular meaning
will be clearly expressed by St. Paul in the letter to the Ephesians:

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a wonderful
symbol; I am applying it to Christ and the Church, but each of you in
particular must love his wife as himself, and the wife must respect her
husband" (Eph 5:31-33)

For Christians, the mutual gift of a baptized man and woman is a

sacrament, that is, a sign that expresses and realizes the covenant of
love and fidelity of Christ with his people, the Church.

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Christian marriage is an alliance by which a baptized man and woman

commit to unite their lives forever, in an indissoluble communion of
fruitful love.

Marriage is a sign of Christ

As we have just seen, God's Covenant with men is going to be signified
through marriage in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the fullness of
that Covenant; in him God pronounces an unrepeatable yes to the
human being, making that Covenant of God with man flesh.

The marital love of those who unite in the Lord is a symbol that
actualizes the love of God that appeared in Jesus Christ, marriage being
a reality in which, in a peculiar way, death and resurrection, Easter, are
lived.

Thus, giving, forgiveness, conflicts, shortcomings, guilt, everything that

a life in common is and means, is integrated into the paschal triumph of
God's love because "conjugal love is assumed in divine love and is
governed and enriched by the redemptive virtue of Christ and the saving
action of the Church" (GS 48).

Marriage is a sacrament of the Church

The Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution on the Church "Lumen
Gentium", says that marriage and the family are like a small Church, a
domestic Church (LG 11).

Within the Christian community, spouses possess a charisma of their

own, a vocation and a singular mission: to be witnesses in the world of
God's love and to transmit and educate their children in the faith.
"By virtue of the sacrament of marriage they help each other to sanctify
one another in married life and in the procreation and education of
offspring and for this reason it has its own gift, within the people of God,
in its state and in its way of life (LG11)

Goods and requirements of conjugal love:

"Conjugal love involves a totality in which all the elements of the person

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enter - the appeal of the body and instinct, the strength of feeling and
affectivity, the aspiration of the spirit and the will -; it looks to a
profoundly personal unity which, beyond the union of one flesh, leads to
having only one heart and one soul; it demands the indissolubility and
fidelity of definitive reciprocal giving; and it opens itself to fecundity. In a
word, these are normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but
with a new meaning that not only purifies and consolidates them, but
elevates them to the point of making them the expression of properly
Christian values. (Familiaris Consortio, 19 John Paul II)

Unit:
The love of spouses demands, by its very nature, the unity and
indissolubility of the community of persons that encompasses the entire
life of the spouses "So that they are no longer two, but one flesh" (Mt
19:6). "They are called to continually grow in their communion through
total reciprocal giving"

The unity of marriage, confirmed by the Lord, is clearly evident in the

equal personal dignity that must be recognized for women and men in
their mutual and full love.

Indissolubility and fidelity:

Marital love requires from spouses, by its very nature, an inviolable
fidelity. This is a consequence of the gift of themselves that spouses
make to each other. True love has to be something definitive, not
something temporary. This intimate union, as a mutual gift of two
persons, as well as the good of the children, requires the full fidelity of
the spouses and urges their indissoluble unity.

It may seem difficult, even impossible, to join a human being for life. It is
therefore all the more important to proclaim the good news that God
loves us with a definitive and irrevocable love, that spouses share in this
love, which comforts and sustains them, and that through their fidelity
they become witnesses of God's faithful love. Spouses who, with the
grace of God, give this witness, often in very difficult conditions, deserve
the gratitude and support of the ecclesial community.

Fertility:
"By their very nature, the institution of marriage and conjugal love are

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ordered to the procreation and education of offspring and are crowned

with them as their culmination."

The fertility of conjugal love extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual
and supernatural life that parents transmit to their children through
education. Parents are the primary and first educators of their children.
In this sense, the fundamental task of marriage and family is to be at the
service of life.

The family, domestic church

Christ wanted to be born and grow up in the bosom of the Holy Family of
Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than the "family of God."
From its origins, the core of the Church was often made up of those who,
with their entire household, had become believers. When they were
converted, they also desired that their entire household be saved. These
converted families were islands of Christian life in a non-believing world.

The Second Vatican Council calls the family, with an ancient expression,
Ecclesia domestica. Within the family, parents must be the first to
announce the faith to their children with their words and their example,
and they must foster the personal vocation of each one, and with special
care, the vocation to consecrated life.

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Unit 4
Common Prayers

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The 10 Commandments
Commandments of the Church
Theological and Human Virtues

CREED

Apostles' Creed

It is one of the oldest professions of faith and reflects the essence and
foundation on which the first communities were founded.

I believe in God the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, was buried
dead, descended into hell, on the third day
rose again from the dead, went to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the

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Father, from where he will come to judge

the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, in the Holy

Catholic Church, in the communion of
saints, in the forgiveness of sins, in the
resurrection of the dead, and in life
everlasting. Amen.

Nicenicostantinopolitan Creed

It is called Nicene-stantinopolitan, because it was founded at the

Councils of Nicea and Constantinople, in the first centuries of the
Church. It contains all the truths of faith that we profess as Catholic
Christians.
I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth, of all things
visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only
Son of God, begotten of the Father before
all ages, God from God, Light from Light,

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true God from true God, begotten, not

made, of one Being with the Father,
through whom all things were made; Who
for us men and for our salvation came
down from heaven, was incarnate of the
Virgin Mary, and was made man by the
Holy Spirit; And for our sake was crucified
under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was
buried, and was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures; And ascended
into heaven, and sits at the right hand of
the Father; And will come again in glory
To judge the living and the dead, and of his
kingdom there will be no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and
giver of life, who proceeds from the Father
and the Son, who with the Father and the
Son receives the same adoration and glory,
and who speaks through the prophets.
I believe in the one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic church, and I confess that there is
only one baptism for the forgiveness of
sins. I look forward to the resurrection of
the dead and the life of the world to come.
AMEN.
The Nicene-stantinopolitan Creed will be presented below, broken down
with biblical quotes so that it can be better explained.

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CREED

 I believe in God, the almighty Father, creator of heaven and earth.

(Gen. 1,1)

 I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God (St. Lk 9:35)

 Who was conceived by the work and grace of the Holy Spirit, and
born of the Virgin Mary (St. Lc. 1, 30-35)

 He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was

buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose from the
dead. (St. Lc. 23, 33-53)

 He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God

the Father (Sn. Lc. 24, 51)

 From there he will come to judge the living and the dead (James.
Mt. 25, 31-32) (Acts. 1, 9-11)

 I believe in the Holy Spirit (St. Jn. 16, 13)

 I believe in the holy Catholic Church (St. Mt. 16, 18)

 I believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins (St. Jn. 3, 1-5
and 20, 19-23)

 I believe in the resurrection of the body (Is. 26, 19)

 I believe in eternal life (Acts. 13, 48)

OUR FATHER

What is the origin of the Lord's Prayer?

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Jesus taught us this irreplaceable Christian prayer, the Our Father, one
day when a disciple, seeing him pray, begged him: “Master, teach us to
pray” (Lk 11:1). The liturgical tradition of the Church has always used
the text of Saint Matthew (6, 9-13).

SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE GOSPEL

What place does the Lord's Prayer occupy in the

Scriptures?
The Lord's Prayer is “the summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian); “it
is the most perfect of all prayers” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Located at
the center of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7), it gathers in the form of
a prayer the essential content of the Gospel.

Why is it called “the Lord’s prayer”?

The Lord's Prayer is called the "Lord's Prayer," that is, "the Lord's
Prayer," because it was taught to us by Jesus himself, our Lord.

What place does the Lord's Prayer occupy in the

prayer of the Church?
The quintessential prayer of the Church, the Our Father is “given” in
Baptism, to manifest the new birth to divine life of the children of God.
The Eucharist reveals the full meaning of the Lord's Prayer, since its
requests, based on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, will
be fully answered with the Second Coming of the Lord. The Lord's Prayer
is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Hours.

“OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN”

Why can we approach the Father with complete

confidence?

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We can approach the Father with complete confidence, because Jesus,

our Redeemer, introduces us into the presence of the Father, and his
Spirit makes us children of God. Therefore, we can pray the Our Father
with simple and filial confidence, joyful security and humble boldness,
with the certainty of being loved and heard.

How is it possible to invoke God as “Father”?

We can call God “Father” because the Son of God made man has
revealed him to us, and his Spirit makes him known to us. The invocation
of the Father makes us enter into his mystery with ever new wonder,
and awakens in us the desire for filial behavior. Therefore, with the
Lord's prayer, we are aware of being children of the Father in the Son.

Why do we say “our” Father?

“Our” expresses a totally new relationship with God. When we pray to
the Father, we worship and glorify Him with the Son and the Spirit. In
Christ, we are His people, and He is our God, now and forever. We say,
in fact, “our” Father, because the Church of Christ is the communion of a
multitude of brothers, who have “one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32).

With what spirit of communion and mission do we

address God as “our” Father?
Since the Our Father is a common good of the baptized, they feel the
urgent call to participate in Jesus' prayer for the unity of his disciples. To
pray the Our Father is to pray with all men and for all humanity, so that
all may know the one true God and be united in unity.

What does the expression “who art in heaven” mean?

The biblical expression “heaven” does not indicate a place but a way of
being: God is beyond and above everything; the expression designates
the majesty, the holiness of God, and also his presence in the hearts of
the righteous. Heaven, or the Father's House, constitutes the true
homeland toward which we tend in hope, while we are still on earth. We
already live in this homeland, where our “life is hidden with Christ in
God” (Col 3:3).

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THE SEVEN REQUESTS

How is the Lord's Prayer composed?

The Lord's Prayer contains seven requests to God the Father. The first
three, more theological, draw us to Him, for His glory, since what is
proper to love is to think first of Him whom we love. These three
supplications suggest what, in particular, we must ask of him: the
sanctification of his Name, the coming of his Kingdom and the realization
of his will. The last four petitions present to the Father of mercy our
miseries and our hopes: they ask him to feed us, to forgive us, to defend
us from temptation and to free us from the Evil One.

What does “Hallowed be thy name” mean?

Sanctifying the Name of God is, above all, a praise that recognizes God
as Holy. Indeed, God revealed His holy Name to Moses, and He wanted
His people to be consecrated to Him as a holy nation in which He dwells.

How is the Name of God sanctified in us and in the

world?
To sanctify the Name of God, who “calls us to holiness” (1 Thess 4:7), is
to desire that baptismal consecration give life to our entire life. Likewise,
it is asking that, with our life and our prayer, the Name of God be known
and blessed by all men.

What does the Church ask for when she prays “Thy
Kingdom come”?
The Church invokes the final coming of the Kingdom of God, through the
return of Christ in glory. But the Church also prays that the Kingdom of
God may grow here and now, thanks to the sanctification of men in the
Spirit and their commitment to the service of justice and peace,
according to the Beatitudes. This petition is the cry of the Spirit and of
the Bride: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20).

Why do we pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in

heaven”?

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The Father's will is that “all men be saved” (1 Tim 2:4). This is why Jesus
came: to perfectly fulfill the Father's saving Will. We ask God the Father
to unite our will with that of his Son, following the example of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. We ask that your benevolent plan be
fully realized on earth, as it has been realized in heaven. Through prayer
we can “distinguish what God’s will is” (Rom 12:2) and obtain
“perseverance in doing it” (Heb 10:36).

What is the meaning of the petition “Give us this day

our daily bread”?
By asking God, with the trusting abandonment of children, for the daily
food necessary for each one of us to survive, we recognize to what
extent God the Father is good, beyond all goodness. We also ask for the
grace to know how to act in such a way that justice and solidarity allow
the abundance of some to cover the needs of others.

What is the specifically Christian meaning of this

request?
Since “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4), the request for daily bread refers
equally to the hunger for the Word of God and for the Body of Christ,
received in the Eucharist, as well as to the hunger for the Holy Spirit. We
ask this, with absolute confidence, for today, the today of God: and this
is granted to us, above all, in the Eucharist, which anticipates the
banquet of the coming Kingdom.

Why do we say “Forgive us our trespasses as we

forgive those who trespass against us”?
In asking God the Father to forgive us, we acknowledge ourselves as
sinners before Him, but at the same time we confess His mercy, because
in His Son and through the sacraments, “we obtain redemption, the
forgiveness of our sins” (Col 1:14). Now, our request will be granted on
condition that we, for our part, have first forgiven.

How is forgiveness possible?

Mercy penetrates our hearts only if we also know how to forgive, even
our enemies. Although it may seem impossible for man to fulfill this
demand, the heart that surrenders itself to the Holy Spirit can, following
the example of Christ, love to the extreme of charity, change the wound

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into compassion, transform the offense into intercession. Forgiveness

participates in divine mercy, and is a summit of Christian prayer.

What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean?

We ask God the Father not to leave us alone and at the mercy of
temptation. We ask the Spirit to discern, on the one hand, between trial,
which makes us grow in goodness, and temptation, which leads to sin
and death; and, on the other hand, between being tempted and
consenting to temptation. This petition unites us to Jesus, who overcame
temptation with his prayer. We ask for the grace of vigilance and final
perseverance.

Why do we conclude by pleading “And deliver us from

evil”?
Evil designates the person of Satan, who opposes God and who is “the
deceiver of the whole world” (Rev 12:9). Victory over the devil has
already been achieved by Christ; but we pray that the human family
may be freed from Satan and his works. We also ask for the precious gift
of peace and the grace of persevering expectation for the return of
Christ, who will definitively free us from the Evil One.

What does the final “Amen” mean?

“Then, having finished the prayer, you say: Amen, confirming by means
of this Amen, which means “So be it,” what is contained in the prayer
that God taught us” (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem).

OUR FATHER

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread,

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Forgive our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass
against us,
lead us not into temptation,
deliver us from evil.
Amen.

HAIL MARY

Hail Mary (Rejoice, Mary)

The greeting of the Angel Gabriel opens the prayer of the Hail Mary. It is
God himself who, through his angel, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to
take up the greeting to Mary with the gaze that God has placed upon his
humble servant (cf. Lk 1:48) and rejoice with the joy that He finds in it
(cf. So 3, 17b)

Full of grace, the Lord is with you

The two words of the angel's greeting clarify each other. Mary is full of
grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is
the presence of Him who is the source of all grace. "Rejoice... Daughter
of Jerusalem... the Lord is in your midst" (Ze 3, 14, 17a). Mary, in whom
the Lord will dwell, is in person the daughter of Zion, the ark of the
Covenant, the place where the Glory of the Lord resides: she is "the

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dwelling place of God among men" (Rev 21:3). "Full of grace," she has
given herself entirely to the one who comes to dwell in her and to the
one who will give herself to the world.

Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit

of your womb, Jesus.
After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's our own. "Filled with the
Holy Spirit" (Lk 1:41), Elizabeth is the first in the long series of
generations who call Mary blessed (cf. Lk 1, 48): "Blessed is she who
believed... (Lk 1, 45) Mary is "blessed among all women" because she
believed in the fulfillment of the word of the Lord. Abraham, through his
faith, became a blessing to all the "nations of the earth" (Gen. 12, 3).
Through her faith, Mary became the mother of believers, thanks to
whom all the nations of the earth receive the One who is the very
blessing of God: Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us...:

With Elizabeth, we marvel and say: "How is it that the mother of my Lord
comes to me?" (Lk 1:43). Because she gives us Jesus her Son, Mary is
the mother of God and our mother; we can entrust to her all our cares
and our requests: she prays for us as she prayed for herself: "Let it be
done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). Entrusting ourselves to
her prayer, we abandon ourselves with her to the will of God: "Thy will
be done."

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death:

By asking Mary to pray for us, we recognize ourselves as sinners and
turn to the "Mother of Mercy," the Blessed Virgin. We put ourselves in
His hands "now", in the today of our lives. And our confidence expands
to entrust to him from now on, "the hour of our death." May she be
present at that hour, as she was at the death on the Cross of her Son,
and may she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing (cf. Jn
19, 27) to lead us to his Son Jesus, to Paradise.

HAIL MARY

Hail Mary,
you are full of grace,
The Lord is with you,

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Blessed are you among all women

and blessed is the fruit of your
womb, Jesus.
SANTA MARIA

Holy Mary, mother of God,

Pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death,
Amen.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

In the Old Testament God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses at

Sinai to help his chosen people fulfill divine law.

Jesus Christ, in the evangelical law, confirmed the Ten Commandments

and perfected them with his word and his example.

Our love for God is manifested in the fulfillment of the Ten

Commandments and the precepts of the Church.

In short, all the Commandments are summed up in two: to love God

above all things and to love one's neighbor as oneself, and even more,
as Christ loved us.

Is it enough to believe to be saved?

It is not enough to believe in order to be saved, because Jesus Christ
says: If you want to be saved, keep the commandments.

Who gave the Ten Commandments?

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God himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, and Jesus Christ
confirmed and perfected them with his word and example.

What are the Ten Commandments of the Law of God?

The Ten Commandments of the Law of God are:

1st You will love God above all things.

2nd You shall not take the Name of God in vain.
3rd You shall keep holy the holidays.
4th You will honor your father and your mother.
5th You shall not kill.
6th You shall not commit impure acts.
7th You shall not steal.
8th You shall not bear false witness nor lie.
9th You will not consent to impure thoughts or desires.
10th You shall not covet another's property.

(SN. MT 22, 37-40) "These ten commandments are contained in

two: you shall love God above all things and your neighbor as
yourself."
FRUITS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. Wisdom.
2. Understanding.
3. Advice.
4. Strength.
5. Science.
6. Piety.
7. Fear of God.

Gift of Science, is the gift of the Holy Spirit that allows us to access
knowledge. It is the light invoked by the Christian to sustain the faith of
baptism.

Gift of Counsel, knowing how to make correct decisions, advising

others easily and at the necessary time according to the will of God.

Gift of Fortitude, is the gift that the Holy Spirit grants to the faithful, it
helps in perseverance, it is a supernatural force.

Gift of Intelligence, is that of the Holy Spirit that leads us to the path
of contemplation, the path to get closer to God.

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Gift of Piety, the heart of the Christian must be neither cold nor
indifferent. The warmth of faith and the fulfillment of good is the gift of
piety, which the Holy Spirit pours into souls.

Gift of Wisdom, granted by the Holy Spirit, allows us to appreciate

what we see, what we sense of the divine work.

Gift of Fear, is the gift that saves us from pride, knowing that we owe
everything to divine mercy.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms
in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists
twelve:

FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. Love.
2. Happiness.
3. Peace
4. Patience.
5. Longanimity.
6. Goodness.
7. Benignity.
8. Meekness.
9. Faith.
10. Modesty.
11. Continence.
12. Chastity.

Offenses against the Holy Spirit:

1. Despair of God's mercy.
2. Presumption of being saved without any merit.
3. The challenge of known truth.
4. Envy of one's neighbor's spiritual goods.

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5. Obstinacy in sin.
6. The final impenitence.

COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH

1. Participate in the Eucharist, every Sunday and holy days.

2. Confess mortal sins at least once a year, and when in

danger of death, and if you are to receive communion.

3. Take communion at least on Easter Sunday.

4. Fasting and abstaining from eating meat when the Holy

Church commands it.

5. Help the Church in its needs.

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THEOLOGICAL AND HUMAN VIRTUES

What is virtue? Virtue is that inner power that allows man to make and
carry out the right decisions in the most adverse situations.

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
1. Faith.
2. Hope.
3. Charity.

Theological virtues found, animate and characterize the moral actions of

Christians. They inform and vivify all moral virtues. They are infused by
God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as His
children and deserving eternal life. They are the guarantee of the
presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human
being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity (cf. 1
Cor 13, 13).

HUMAN VIRTUES
Human virtues: They are those that help us to be better people, to grow
as human beings.

1. Prudence.
2. Justice.
3. Strength.
4. Temperance.

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Unit 5
Marian Themes
Biography of Saint John the Baptist
Deadly Sins
Works of Mercy
Layman in the Church
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MARY THE BELIEVING WOMAN

Faith today
Even before Jesus announced the beatitudes to the world, Mary was
solemnly proclaimed blessed by Elizabeth on the occasion of her visit to
her distant relative: "Blessed is she who has believed that there will be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45).

Faith is therefore the most characteristic note of Mary's spiritual

attitude, which opened her to the action of God and allowed God's plan
to be realized in her and, through her, in all of us. Christ is essentially
the fruit of that paradoxical and heroic faith, which is a gift and a
conquest at the same time.

DIFFICULTY TO BELIEVE
DIFFICULT Believing has never been easy, since it always implies giving
up one's own standards in order to accept God's standards, which are
infinitely superior to our own: believing means facing a reality that
transcends us; moreover, that also invites us to transcend ourselves.

All this could have been easy in part when the sense of the divine
permeated men, when society was traditionally imbued with religious
values; but now that the man of the technological age and of space
conquests has discovered the intoxication of mastery over things and
over the very mechanisms of life, he has the clear sensation of having
become himself the measure of all things. Faith, rather than being an
absurd thing, is presented today as something useless.

Perhaps this is precisely the difference between today's widespread

secularization and the disbelief of other times.

NEED TO BELIEVE

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BELIEVE AND NEED: On the other hand, modern man, more than in the
past, feels tormented by the need to believe, since all the achievements
of progress are increasingly revealing his poverty and precariousness,
leaving the fundamental problems of existence unsolved. Indeed,
precisely because of progress, humanity now has at its disposal for the
first time the instruments of total self-destruction; the well-being so
widespread and so desired by all creates a chain of artificial needs that
the economic resources of the various countries are incapable of
resolving.

Hence the feeling of frustration among many of our contemporaries,

especially young people, who had believed in the myth of endless well-
being and easy satisfaction of all desires, even the most superficial and
vulgar. Indeed, at this point the very meaning of life is lost, which,
reduced to the sole dimension of the material, finds no justification other
than suicide or escape from the artificial paradises of drugs, or
aggression and violence to overthrow the social structures considered
responsible for this situation of failure. Unless the spiritual dimension of
existence is rediscovered, which gives new significance to things.

Thus, precisely what seemed to be the enemy of faith, namely, the self-
sufficiency of modern man having reached adulthood, once again
becomes a favorable factor. Precisely because of the beautiful prison he
has built with his own hands, man feels the urgent need to free himself
from himself and to transcend himself in order to entrust his destiny to
safer hands and to understand the very meaning of the achievements of
his intelligence. Hence the remarkable religious awakening highlighted
by statistics, both in the West and in Eastern countries.

EXEMPLARITY OF MARY'S FAITH

FAITH: For a recovery of the sense of faith and for its concrete insertion
into everyday life, allowing oneself to be guided exclusively by God's
initiative, the spiritual experience of Mary is exemplary. More than any
of us, she found herself confronted with the almost absurd nature of
faith. If the man of today has his own difficulties in believing for the
reasons we have just pointed out, Mary encountered greater difficulties
for totally different reasons.

His example is significant for all of us. On the other hand, what Mary was
even simply as a woman is exclusively the fruit of her faith; that is why it
is evident in her what faith can produce even in terms of human growth.
Faith does not mortify, but rather makes even greater what is merely

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human. For this very reason, all people should at least want to believe:
precisely to be more human.

Mary, "the believer" in the NT

ANNUNCIATION: A simple, albeit quick, reading of the NT highlights
Mary's faith. The Gospels of Luke and John in particular are significant in
this regard. In particular, in the case of Luke, we take it for granted that
his so-called Infancy Gospel corresponds more to theological intentions
than to strictly historical pretensions; but this is precisely what makes
his writing even more precious, since he thus transmits to us his faith
and that of his community regarding the mystery of Mary.

MARY'S FAITH IN THE ANNUNCIATION

According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary moves exclusively in the realm of
faith. The angel's first words, which are not so much a greeting as a
description of her being before God, immerse her in faith: "Hail, full of
grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28).

His confusion at this greeting (Lk 1:29) is the confusion of someone who
sees himself invited to interpret and read himself in a different way from
how he has always been interpreted. The expression full of grace,
according to the tenor of the original text, must be understood as: You,
who until now have always been the object of benevolence, of love on
the part of God. And this loving choice is not from now, but from always;
in fact, the Greek perfect participle used here: (kejaritoméne) serves to
signify a gesture of love that does not begin now, but has its origins in
the eternity of God. Where this divine choice leads is something that will
be said in the following verses, in which her divine motherhood is
foretold.

But in the meantime, Maria is invited to understand herself in this new

ontological dimension, which surprises her to the point of disturbing her.
Only faith allows her to accept herself for what the angel says she is in
God's plan: the mystery, we could say, before God, part of herself,
insofar as she is situated in a new way, not even suspected before,
before him. But it is above all the continuation of the dialogue with the
angel that immerses her in the densest mystery.
It is her messianic-divine motherhood, which the angel announces to
her, which takes her beyond the normal possibilities of human beings:
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will
conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be
great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the

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throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
his kingdom will have no end" (Lk 1:26-38).

Despite all the theological reworking of the evangelist, I believe that it

cannot be denied that here Mary is presented with the motherhood of
the Messiah, as had been predicted by the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7:1;
Is 9:6), with accentuated divine characteristics ("he will be called Son of
the Most High"): something that Mary, given her humble consideration of
herself, could hardly even consider as a hypothesis. Furthermore, it is
more difficult to think of something of the sort if one considers her
current position as a woman who, although married to Joseph (1:27), in
fact, for one reason or another, did not intend to take advantage of
marriage. "How will this be, since I do not know man?" (Luke 1:34).

If God does not guide her towards other options, which in any case
would be necessary for him to clarify, her motherhood becomes humanly
impossible; but it is precisely the path of this impossibility that God
chooses, to demonstrate that in reality everything is possible for her, as
the angel will say at the end of his message (Lk 1:37). In this way, faith
becomes the only spiritual attitude that allows Mary to live with her own
mystery: a free choice of virginity that, by the will and power of the
Almighty, will become a source of life.

This is a much greater miracle than that which occurred in Elizabeth,

who, despite being sterile, would bear John the Baptist through the
normal means of a marital relationship.

Furthermore, in the case of Mary the provocation of faith does not stop
here: her motherhood is divine not only because she is virginal, that is,
without the participation of a man, but above all because the son who
will be born of her is the very Son of God. The mystery here is much
bigger. However, this is precisely the meaning of the angel's words, at
least in the Evangelist's reinterpretation: "The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the
child to be born will be holy and called the Son of God" (Lk 1:35).

The last expressions want to underline the divine nature of Jesus,

motivating it by the fact that even biologically his being derives from the
power of the Spirit who is presented here, together with Mary, as the
generating principle of Christ. How could a man who had an earthly
father have been the Son of God? At this point it is clear that faith
becomes for Mary the only measure through which she can grasp not
only her own mystery, but also that of her Son: a pure gift that God has
given her not for her joy or her exaltation, but for the good of all. For this
reason the angel had said to him: "You shall call his name Jesus" (Lk
1:31), with reference to his mission of salvation implied in the name; in

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fact, Jesus means God is salvation. While this Son is offered to him, at
the same time he is expropriated, as will become clear from the
continuation of the gospel.

The words with which Mary gives her assent to the angel's
announcement express the conscious acceptance of her role as a
believing woman, faced with the challenge of a reality and a set of
events that are beyond the measure that intelligence, balance and
common sense can in any way penetrate and even control: "Behold, I
am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your
word" (Lk 1:38). Certainly, we are here faced with a confession of
humility, but above all with a total trust in the word of God which,
precisely because it will not encounter the slightest obstacle or a shadow
of hesitation in Mary's heart, will become an absolutely creative word.

MARIA FIAT-CREATOR
Indeed, there are many scholars who see in Mary's Fiat an analogy to
the Fiat of creation. The new creation begins with a gesture and an
attitude of paradoxical faith; here God fully involves Mary in the new
work that is about to begin, while "in the beginning" (Gen. 1, 1) only his
almighty word acted.

AT THE BIRTH OF JESUS

BIRTH: All the other events in Mary's life can only be understood in the
light of faith, which makes her feel the meaning of things and the sign of
God's presence even where, humanly, it might seem that there was no
meaning or that God had hidden himself in some way. Let us think about
the birth of Jesus in the precarious conditions described by Luke: he was
born outside his home, on the occasion of a census that forced Mary and
Joseph to travel with difficulty from Nazareth to Bethlehem of Judea, the
place of origin of the Davidic lineage. From which Joseph was
descended: "While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them
in the inn" (Lk 2:6-7).

Was not this extreme poverty also a test of the faith of Mary, to whom
the angel had announced the birth of the Messiah, a Messiah so poor
that he did not even have a house of his own and who received only the
homage of a few humble shepherds? What then is this kingdom that the
angel mentioned? (Lk 1,32-33). Had she not been mistaken in
interpreting those words?

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The indication that Luke adds at this point in his story is significant of
Mary's attitude, who considers the events with eyes of faith, but also
critically: she wants to understand what is hidden in them. Appearances
seem to contradict her faith, but the deeper density of things moves her
to believe even more strongly: "Mary treasured all these things,
pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19).

This meditation of Mary was by no means intimate and reassuring, but

rather a stormy search for the meaning of events, which she insists on
exploring because she is certain that God cannot have deceived her nor
can He disappoint her.

ON THE LOSS OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

LOST JESUS-TEMPLE: The same must be said about the episode of Jesus
who, at the age of twelve, that is, at the beginning of his religious
maturity, goes to the temple for the Passover and then does not return
home with his parents, but stays in Jerusalem without their knowledge;
when his mother expresses her feelings to him, he responds almost
reproaching her for his eager search; is this not a challenge to Mary's
faith? "Why were you looking for me?" Did you not know that I must be
about my Father's business? (Lk 2:49) Luke here expressly adds that
"they did not understand what he was saying to them" (v. 50). Mary is
realizing that her Son no longer fits into her plans.

But she is accustomed to being guided by faith, which, precisely

because it always pushes her further, forces her to never stop, to never
be considered as an object that can be possessed or dominated in some
way. That is why he surrenders to God's provocation, but at the same
time he questions the meaning of things, trying to penetrate them. Their
faith is a dramatic faith.

This is why Luke notes here for the second time, after telling us that
Jesus returned to Nazareth and that "he was subject to them," that "his
mother kept all these things in her heart" (Lk 2:51). Everything
disconcerts her: how to reconcile this tender and affectionate submission
of Jesus with the autonomy that he had claimed for himself shortly
before in order to attend to "the things of his Father"? Mary moves in the
darkness of mystery.

IN OTHER EPISODES

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Above all in his public life Jesus will repeatedly emphasize this autonomy
with respect to his mother. And this for two reasons. The first is to claim
the absolute primacy of his heavenly Father, reducing the role of the
mother; let us not forget what Luke reminded us earlier, that is, that
Jesus is truly the fruit of the Spirit before being the fruit of Mary's womb
(Lk 1:42).

The second reason, we could say, is of a pedagogical nature, precisely

with respect to his mother: to educate her in an ever deeper dimension
of faith, precisely because the paths along which the Father is going to
lead him are paths never taken and unpredictable, which a mother, even
if of the spiritual greatness of Mary, would not want her son to ever take.
Luke has two very significant episodes in this regard. The first is
common to all three synoptics (Mt 12:48-50; Mk 3:31-35); it is the
episode of Jesus' relatives who want to rescue him from the commotion
of the crowds: "His mother and brothers came to Jesus and could not get
near him because of the crowd. They told him, 'Your mother and your
brothers are standing outside and want to see you. '" But he answered,
"My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and
put it into practice." (Luke 8:19-21)

The second episode is exclusive to Luke and describes the feeling of

admiration of a woman of the village upon hearing Jesus speak: "Blessed
is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you." But he said
to him, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey
it" (Lk 11:27-28). In both episodes Jesus insists on his distancing from
the ties of kinship that attempt to enclose him in the exclusive or at
least preeminent logic of flesh and blood, while he exalts a new form of
kinship where the element of aggregation is docile attention to the word
of God. This is certainly not a denial of Mary's role in his life, but rather
an exaltation of his faith and an invitation to delve ever deeper into it.
There is no limit to anyone's faith, not even that of Jesus' mother: faith
would require much more from her too!

Those paradoxes that Mary had sung in the Magnificat and that put the
most robust faith to the test were valid not only for the moment when
she burst into the joy of her song, but would remain valid for her entire
life and the life of her Son: "He has brought down the powerful from their
thrones and lifted up the humble" (Lk 1:52). Christ conquered his
kingship only when he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross. But it is
not easy to accept these paradoxes, especially when they affect us first
hand. Mary also had to suffer to live the tormented theology of faith,
expressed by her so admirably in the hymn of the Magnificat.

IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

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John fully confirms Luke's message about Mary's faith. Whatever

interpretation may be given to the episode of the wedding at Cana, the
truth is that the whole episode is based on Mary's faith. His concerned
allusion to the plight of those spouses would make no sense, outside of a
request for faith, even if one does not want to understand it as a plea:
"They have no wine" (Jn 2:4).

In one way or another, it is an attempt to implicate the Son in that

problem. Especially the words he addresses to the servants: "Do
whatever he tells you" (v. 5) They move in a perspective of faith; she is
sure that Jesus will make some gesture or say some word that will
change the situation. There is also the episode of Mary at the foot of the
cross, with the density of theological meaning that John tries to give it,
once again highlighting Mary's faith.

In John this faith stands out in two ways: first, because he alone speaks
to us of Mary's presence at the foot of the cross, where the faith of the
disciples, and certainly also that of Mary, is subjected to the hardest
test; and secondly, because if those words of the dying Jesus: "Woman,
behold your son" (Jn 19:27) signify and express the universal "spiritual
motherhood" of Mary, as many exegetes hold, Mary is here invited to
broaden the horizons of her faith far beyond the person of the dying Son,
who only in appearance appears to be the vanquished, while in reality
he is the true victor. His heart, in this world, is invited to open itself to
the whole world, with full faith in the testamentary words of the Son.

Mary, a pilgrim in faith according to the Second

Vatican Council
The theological reflection of Lumen Gentium in c. VIII, dedicated entirely
to the figure of Mary, seen "in the mystery of Christ and of the Church,"
moves along the lines of these stimulating suggestions of Scripture. As
had not occurred in any other previous conciliar document, an attempt
has been made to capture the mystery of Mary in the livingness of her
history, reread in the context of the faith of the Church.

ITINERARY OF FAITH
Following Mary through the various stages of her earthly journey, her
constant and radical trust in God is made manifest, so that it seems that,
despite being entirely the fruit of grace, it is at the same time: the work
of Mary's own collaboration in God's plan. The Council writes,
commenting on the words of the Annunciation: "In this way Mary,

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daughter of Adam, consenting to the divine word, became the mother of

Jesus and, embracing with all her soul and without any burden of sin the
saving will of God, she consecrated herself entirely as the handmaid of
the Lord to the person and work of her Son, diligently serving the
mystery of redemption with him and under him, with the grace of
almighty God. The Holy Fathers rightly think that Mary was not a merely
passive instrument in the hands of God, but that she cooperated in the
salvation of man with free faith and obedience. Indeed, as St. Irenaeus
says, "by obeying she became the cause of salvation for herself and for
the entire human race." For this reason, not a few of the ancient Fathers
gladly affirm with him in their preaching that "the knot of Eve's
disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience, that what was tied by the
virgin Eve with her unbelief was untied by the virgin Mary through her
faith" (LG 56).

The whole weight of this text seems to me to consist in the affirmation of

Mary's free and conscious cooperation in the work of the incarnation and
redemption; even though she was forewarned by God, she was by no
means a merely passive instrument in his hands. The analogy with the
figure of Eve shows her fullness of responsibility; just as there was no
fatalism in the fall, there could not have been any fatalism in the
redemption, which passes through the free consent of Mary.
M/CO-REDEMPTOR: Later, describing the difficult relationship between
Mary and her Son during his public life, when he seems to renounce the
close human ties that bind him to his mother, or at least to transcend
them (Mk 3:35; Lk 11:27-28), the conciliar text comments: "Thus the
most holy Virgin also advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully
maintained her union with her Son even to the cross, at whose side, not
without a divine plan, she stood (Jn 19:25), suffering deeply with her
only begotten Son and associating herself with a maternal womb in his
sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim she herself
had engendered" (LG 58). Here too it is easy to see how the Council
highlights Mary's painful collaboration in the field of redemption; she
finds herself faced with totally unforeseen situations, the rationality of
which she is unable to understand humanly outside the profound
conviction that God is carrying forward, through these unforeseen paths,
his plan of salvation.

MARY, MODEL OF FAITH OF THE CHURCH

The theme of Mary's faith is taken up again in Lumen Gentium when she
is presented to us as inserted in the mystery of the Church, of which she
is the most excellent member, but at the same time the type and model
according to the happy expression of Saint Ambrose. But she is a model
above all for the attitudes of faith, hope and charity with which she

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animated her entire existence; these attitudes are the only ones that
allow in her the verification of a unique situation, that is, that of a fruitful
virginity.

All this is reproduced in a certain mysterious way also in the Church,

above all by virtue of faith, which demands fertility and integrity at the
same time. Indeed, "the Church, contemplating the mysterious holiness
of Mary, imitating her charity and faithfully fulfilling the will of the
Father, through the word of God, faithfully accepted, also becomes a
mother, since through preaching and baptism she gives birth to a new
and immortal life to children, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit
and born of God. She too is a virgin, who keeps intact and pure the faith
promised to the Spouse and, imitating the mother of her Lord, with the
power of the Holy Spirit, virginally preserves her faith intact, her hope
solid, her charity sincere" (LG 64).

This analogy between Mary and the Church is important because of the
fundamental role that faith plays in it: Mary could never have become a
type and model of the Church, were it not for the paradoxical faith that
guided her at every moment of her life. Only faith made possible her
virginal motherhood, which gave us Christ, true God and true man at the
same time.

Updates
The final considerations open the way for some quick reflections on the
current relevance of this message.

Mary's faith was a difficult faith, as we have already said. If it is true

that God did "great things" in her (Lk 1:49), we must not forget that she
too was fully equal to the task that had been entrusted to her. And the
difficulty of her faith refers both to her divine and virginal motherhood at
the same time and to the capacity to permanently live with the mystery.
MYSTERY/ACCEPTANCE: I would see an analogy between our faith and
that of Mary precisely in the difficulty of living with the mystery, but for
reasons completely different from those of Mary.

Our difficulty in believing today, as we indicated at the beginning of this

presentation, is put to the test by the fact that mystery no longer seems
to have any place in our technological culture; everything is reduced to
the measure of the programmable and the verifiable. Precisely for this
reason it is necessary to make a continuous effort to penetrate beyond
things, even those that are programmed, to read their deeper meanings.
The meaning of mystery lies precisely in the capacity that things have to

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refer to something that transcends them for those who are available in
faith.

Mary's faith is always being challenged, it is continually beginning anew,

it is never definitive; the Council rightly said that Mary "advanced in her
pilgrimage of faith" (LG 58). It's true. For example, the episode of Jesus
in the temple at the age of twelve put the relationship between the
mother and her Son in crisis: Mary has to learn to see him in another
light. That Son belongs to him, but above all he belongs to God.

FAITH, SECURITY AND ENEMY: We too need to continually engage in

discussion; for every problem there is always a diverse response, which
can only be given if we listen attentively to the word of God and the
requests that come to us from the events of history. An unshakable
faith, like Mary's, is not at all identical with a secure faith. Furthermore,
excessive security is normally the enemy of faith, because it is more a
matter of trusting in one's own way of evaluating things than
abandoning it to the ever-new unpredictability of God.

Characteristic of Mary's faith; faith grasps "her whole being" in such a

way that her existence, even simply human, and her actions would not
be comprehensible outside of faith. Let us think of her motherhood
outside this perspective of faith or of her difficult coexistence with her
Son, of her relationship with Joseph, of her being (Jn 19:25) at the foot of
the cross.

In Mary there is not the woman and the believer, but only the believing
woman; they are not two separable realities in her. Everything that
exists, even in the purely human aspect, is born from his faith. If she is
"blessed among women," as Elizabeth greets her (Lk 1:42-45), it is not
because she is biologically "the mother of God," but above all because
she had the courage to believe the incredible (Lk 1:45). His full human
realization takes place through the strength of his faith.

This aspect of Mary's faith is extremely relevant today, especially when

Christians are tempted to divide themselves in two, relegating faith to
the privacy of their conscience. At this point faith becomes nothing more
than something else, ultimately something superfluous: it fails to
animate the entire existence and action of the Christian, it does not
make him more human, it does not allow him to grasp the invisible in
the visible. Mary teaches us to embody faith in life, to make every very
normal event in our existence and that of others supernatural.

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MARIAN ADVOCATIONS
Advocations are known as the different ways of naming or referring to
the Blessed Virgin. It is common for many Christians, due to lack of
information or rather "training", to confuse these different names with
different saints or "little virgins", as they are often called.

The Mother of Jesus is the Virgin Mary; we Catholics tend to "nickname"

her in different ways, depending on the place where the devotion is
established, or depending on the circumstance, whether she is an
apparition or she is named Patron, etc.

In this way, we will find that we call Mary as "Our Lady of the Rosary",
Virgin of Lourdes, Virgin of Fatima, Our Lady of Peace, Mother of the
Eucharist, Our Lady of Carmen, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and
hundreds of other ways.

But we always refer to our Holy Mother in Heaven. What child hasn't
called his mother in hundreds of affectionate ways? That is why we
should not confuse them, as if they were different people or different
saints.

APPARITIONS OF THE VIRGIN MARY

Mary's apparitions began in the 40s AD, probably before her death, to
the Apostle James in Zaragoza, Spain.

She has appeared to others at irregular intervals throughout the two

thousand years since Jesus' birth. The characteristics of his appearances
have remained consistent.

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She is usually in a globe of pure white light, dressed in a long robe and
her head covered in a variety of colors depending on the type of
message she is going to give.

Her feet are usually surrounded by a cloud or mist and occasionally she
is seen carrying her child in her arms; a number of her apparitions are
preceded by unusual phenomena such as the sighting of lightning and
thunder in a clear sky, the appearance of angelic beings or clouds of
religious significance such as a cross or an open door, as well as other
inexplicable events.

One of our characteristics is that we love those who said yes to the Lord
so that Christ could be born, I am referring to the Virgin Mary; our
separated brothers do not like this and so that we stop doing it, they
defame her.

The greatest defamation is against her virginity; They say that when the
Bible speaks of the “Brothers of Jesus” they are children of Mary.

Several of the biblical texts that they use to have these ideas are: Mt
12, 46; Mk 3, 31 where it says "Your brothers" or where even the
names of Jesus' brothers appear: "Joseph, James, Judas and Simon" Mt
13,55; Mk 6, 3

Given this, 2 proofs (of many) by which Mary is a virgin:

1.- In the Bible the word brother has different meanings: uncle, nephew,
countryman, husband, etc. For example in Gen 13, 8 we see that
Abraham tells Lot that they are "brothers" but in Gen 11, 27 it is clearly
seen that Abraham is Lot's uncle. Therefore we cannot take the word
brother in the Bible at face value. Another example: see how Rebecca's
mother calls her sister (Gen. 24, 55-60).

2.- Of the famous brothers of Jesus mentioned in Mark 6,3 who are
Joseph, James, Judas and Simon; let's see if his Father is Joseph or Mary
is his mother. For example, in Mt 10, 3 we see that Santiago's father is
Alpheus = Cleophas. Then he is not Joseph's son.

About the Mother of James and Joseph we see in the Bible that it is a
woman called Mary (Mt 27, 56; Mc 15, 40) but, that she is different
from the mother of Jesus "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and
his mother's sister, Mary wife of Clopas and the mother of the sons of
Zebedee" (Jn 19, 25) therefore it is most likely that the Mother of the
"brothers of Jesus" is a relative (cousin) of the Virgin Mary and, the
"brothers of Jesus" are relatives (cousins) of Jesus.

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INCULTURATED SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD OF MARY

Marian devotion focuses on the uniqueness of the virginal motherhood of
Christ and the Church and of her maternal intercession after her
assumption into heaven: “The Church does not hesitate to attribute to
Mary such a subordinate office; she experiences it continually and
recommends it to the hearts of the faithful so that, supported by this
maternal protection, they may unite themselves more intimately with
the Mediator and Savior.”

From the Council of Ephesus onwards, the cult of veneration, which was
already the object of the BV Mary, as Mother of God, was strengthened
and spread, fulfilling the prophetic words: “All generations will call me
blessed, because he who is mighty has done great things for
me.” (Luke 1:48)

Where then can we find the origin of the cult of Mary as the
mother of God and our mother? The biblical foundations of Mary's
spiritual motherhood are fundamentally laid in John [Link] Mother,
behold your son... Behold your mother,… and from that moment he
welcomed her into his home… (Jn 19,25ff).

In addition to the Wedding at Cana, they also indicate, when Mary

intervenes and at the end, after having seen the first miraculous sign of
Jesus: The disciples began to believe (Jn 2:11).

The fact that it is John the Evangelist who describes these scenes with
such significant and symbolic elements suggests a personal experience
of the beloved disciple with his mother; it was he who received Mary into
his home once she was left alone, without her husband Joseph and
without her only Son Jesus.

Mary's presence at Pentecost also suggests that she lived in the first
Christian community, in the original Church, with the other disciples and
apostles (Acts 1:14).

Also the exclamation of Elizabeth when receiving Mary in the Gospel of

Luke: and how is it that the Mother of my Lord comes to me? (Lk 1:43)
reaffirms the great esteem that Mary received in the early Church, so
much so that she received an elaborated theological title, which is not
given to just anyone:

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“the mother of the Lord.” The incarnation of the Word of God (Jn 1:14)
in a human person implied that this Word made man had a mother and
an adoptive father.

The relationship between mother and child is the strongest we can find
in human reality, from the moment of conception until the separation
due to the death of one of them; even after that separation, a special
emotional and spiritual bond is maintained, a living memory of that
relationship.

If we look at mothers from any culture we will find this deep and
essential reality, the mother-child relationship that is the result of the
spontaneous relationship between the father and the mother.

In conclusion, true devotion to Mary, in her various forms, is centered on

Christ and in communion with the Church. It is not something superficial
and banal, nor can it be manipulated for other purposes; it is something
profound, free and liberating, with absolutely transcendental
implications for peoples and individuals, due to the integrative Christian
dynamic that it possesses.

At the same time, as it is an undeniable part of history, culture and the

event of salvation for each and every one of us, it is worth continually
renewing it.

“MOTHER OF ALL MEN, TEACH US TO SAY AMEN”

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BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

This is the only saint whose feast day is celebrated on the day of his
birth.

Saint John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus Christ (six
months from today - December 24 - we will be celebrating the birth of
our Redeemer, Jesus).

The first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke tells us the following about
the birth of John:

Zechariah was a Jewish priest who was married to Saint Elizabeth, and
they had no children because she was barren; When they were already
old, one day when he was in the Temple, an angel appeared to him
standing to the right of the altar.

When he saw him, he was terrified. But the angel said to him, "Do not be
afraid, Zechariah. I have come to tell you that you will see the Messiah,
and that your wife will have a son, who will be his forerunner; you are to
name him John. He will not drink wine or anything that can intoxicate,
and even from his mother's womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
and will convert many to God."

But Zechariah answered the angel, "How can I be sure that this is true,
since my wife is old and so am I?"

The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel, who sits at the throne of God, and
from whom I have been sent to bring you this news. But because you
have not believed my words, you will be mute and will not speak again
until all these things have happened."

Six months later, the same angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin, telling
her that she was going to be the Mother of the Son of God, and also
gave her the news of the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth.

Filled with joy, she ran to put herself at the disposal of her cousin to help
her in those moments; and having entered her house, she greeted her.

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At that moment, the child John leaped for joy in his mother's womb,
because he had just received the grace of the Holy Spirit at the contact
of the Son of God who was in the womb of the Virgin.

Saint Elizabeth also felt filled with the Holy Spirit and, with a prophetic
spirit, exclaimed:

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Where does this joy come from for me that the Mother of my Lord comes
to see me? For at that moment when the voice of your greeting reached
my ears, the creature in my womb began to leap for joy. Oh, blessed are
you who have believed! For everything that has been told you from the
Lord will surely be fulfilled."

And the Virgin remained at her cousin's house for approximately three
months until Saint John was born.

We know nothing about Saint John's childhood. Perhaps, while still a boy
and orphaned, he fled to the desert filled with the Spirit of God because
contact with nature brought him closer to God. He lived his entire youth
dedicated nothing but to penance and prayer.

For clothing he wore only a camel skin, and for food, whatever
Providence put within his reach: wild fruits, roots, and mainly locusts and
wild honey. He was only concerned about the Kingdom of God.

When John was about thirty years old, he went to the banks of the
Jordan, led by the Holy Spirit, to preach a baptism of repentance.

John did not know Jesus, but the Holy Spirit told him that he would see
him at the Jordan, and gave him this sign so that he could recognize
him: "The one on whom you see me resting in the form of a dove, that is
he."

When he came to the Jordan, he began to preach to the people, saying

to them: Bear fruits worthy of repentance and do not be confident,
saying: We have Abraham as our father; for truly I tell you that God is
able to make children of Abraham be born from these stones. Behold,
the axe is already laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does
not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the people asked him, "What shall we do?" And he answered: "He
who has two tunics should share with him who has none; and he who
has food should do the same."

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"I indeed baptize you with water to move you to repentance; but he who
is to come after me is mightier than I, and I am not worthy even to untie
the strap of his sandals. He is the one who will baptize you in the Holy
Spirit…"

The Jews began to suspect whether he was the Christ who was to come
and sent some priests to ask him, "Who are you?" He clearly confessed:
"I am not the Christ." They insisted: "So how do you baptize?" John
answered and said, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among
you whom you do not know. He is the one who is to come after me…"

At this time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan looking for John to be
baptized. John resisted this, saying, "I must be baptized by You and You
come to me! To which Jesus answered and said, "Let me do this now; for
this is how it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John
condescended to Him.

After Jesus was baptized, as he came up out of the water and was
praying, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God was seen descending
in the form of a dove and remaining upon him. And at that moment a
voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. When he saw him, he
said to those who were with him, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said to you, 'After me
comes a man who has excelled before me because he existed before
me.'"

Then John testified, saying, "I saw the Spirit in the form of a dove
descend from heaven and remain on Him. I did not know him, but the
one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom
you see the Holy Spirit come down and remain, this is the one who will
baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen him, and therefore I bear
witness that he is the Son of God."

Herodias was the wife of Philip, Herod's brother. Herodias divorced her
husband and married Herod. Then John went to him and rebuked him,
saying, "It is not lawful for you to have a wife who is your brother's." And
he reproached him for the evil things he had done.

Then Herod, instigated by the adulteress, sent men to the Jordan to

bring him prisoner, intending to kill him, but he did not dare, knowing
that he was a just and holy man, and that he protected him, for he was
greatly perplexed and troubled by what she said to him.

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Herodias hated him to death and only wanted to find an opportunity to

get rid of him, because perhaps she feared that Herod would feel guilty
and dismiss her following John's advice.

Without realizing it, she was going to be the occasion of the first martyr
who died in defense of the indissolubility of marriage and against
divorce.

When John was in prison and saw that some of his disciples had doubts
about Jesus, he sent them to Him so that He himself could strengthen
them in their faith.

When they came to him, they asked him, "John the Baptist sent us to
you to ask whether you are the one who was to come, or whether we
should expect someone else."

At that time Jesus healed many sick people. And he answered and said
to them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the poor have good news preached to them…"

So when John's disciples came to him, Jesus began to say, "What did you
go out into the wilderness to see? Any reeds shaken by the wind? Or
what did you go out to see? Any prophets? Yes, indeed, I assure you; and
more than a prophet. For it is of Him that it is written:

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare your way.

Therefore I say to you, among those born of women no one is greater
than John the Baptist…"

Herod's birthday arrived and he held a great banquet, inviting many

important people. And at the end of the banquet the daughter of
Herodias came in and danced in the presence of all, so that she pleased
the guests very much, especially Herod himself.

Then the king swore to the girl: "Ask me for whatever you want and I will
give it to you, even if it is half my kingdom."

She went outside and asked her mother, "What shall I ask for?" The
adulteress, seeing an opportunity to get from the king what she so
longed for, replied: "Ask him for the head of John the Baptist." The girl
came back in and immediately said to the king: "I want you to give me
right now on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

Then the king realized his mistake and was very sad because he was
afraid of killing the Baptist; but because of the oath, he did not want to

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disgrace her, and, calling his personal guard, he ordered them to go to

the prison, behead him and give the girl John's head in the way she had
requested.

John the Baptist: ask Jesus to send us many prophets and saints
like you.

DEADLY SINS

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The capital sins or vices are those to which fallen human nature is
primarily inclined. It is therefore very important for anyone who wishes
to advance in holiness to learn to detect these tendencies in his own
heart and to examine himself regarding these sins.

Vices can be classified according to the virtues to which they are

opposed, or they can also be referred to the capital sins that Christian
experience has distinguished following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory
the Great (mor. 31, 45). They are called capital because they generate
other sins, other vices. They are pride, greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony,
laziness.

The term "capital" does not refer to the magnitude of the sin but to the
fact that it gives rise to many other sins. According to Saint Thomas (II-II:
153:4) “a capital vice is one which has an excessively desirable end such
that in its desire, a man commits many sins all of which are said to
originate in that vice as their principal source.”

What is desired or rejected in the capital sins can be material or

spiritual, real or imaginary.

We all have a tendency toward the deadly sins.

THE PRIDE
Pride is loving yourself too much, and it makes you despise God and
others.

You are arrogant when you think that you can do everything, that you
don't need God or others, when you think too much of yourself (that you
are the smartest, the most perfect and the others are fools), when you
are presumptuous or you like to call attention, when you want
everything to be done the way you want, when you think that you
deserve everything, when you only talk about yourself.

HUMILITY: Being humble is thinking that God created you and that you
are nothing compared to Him, that you cannot even take a step without
Him allowing it.
Thinking that the good things you have, you have not achieved them but
that He gave them to you for free and that you also have a lot of bad
things to correct.

Being humble means not seeking applause from others, seeking to go

unnoticed, seeking to occupy the last place.

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Christ said: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart."

LUST
Lust is the disordered search for sexual pleasure.

You are lustful when you seek sexual pleasure for its own sake, because
it feels great, no matter if it is before or outside of marriage, no matter if
you offend your partner, no matter if only you feel beautiful and your
partner does not, no matter what you drink to avoid getting a belly.

You are lustful not only when you are unfaithful, but also when you
watch pornographic magazines or shows, when you eat alive the woman
who passes by.

Remember that God created sex as something beautiful and that it has
two purposes:

a) to unite the couple

b) be the means to procreate

CHASTITY: Chastity is using that beautiful gift that God gave to man and
that is called sex, according to God's rules: only within marriage and
only with your husband/wife, that it be an act of loving surrender
(making the other happy) and not an act of selfishness (only what I feel
matters), that if I want to plan my family, I do it with natural methods.

Chastity is also taking care of my eyes, my ears and my mind from all
that filth that the media sells as something normal and that I know is
something that is wrong, that offends God and that hurts me. When you
are tempted to watch these types of programs, magazines, books, think:
What does God think of me right now?

You must be chaste in thoughts, desires, words and actions.

Christ said: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”

One last and important piece of advice regarding maintaining chastity

and not falling into lust: if you don't want to fall into the precipice, don't
stand next to it.

Avoid being close to temptations.

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GLUTTONY
Gluttony is eating or drinking without measure.

You sin by gluttony when you drink excessively and get drunk, you lose
your mind and do and say really stupid things that you wouldn't do when
sober. When you get drunk you become brutal.

Do you think God likes to see you in that state?

Do you think your family likes seeing you like this or is it embarrassing
for them?

Also when you eat without measure, when you eat and eat for the pure
pleasure even though you can't fit in it anymore, when all you think
about is eating all day long.

TEMPERANCE: drink and eat in moderation.

GREED
It is having a great ambition to possess material things.

You are stingy when you care a lot about having things, having money,
clothes, decorations for your house, appliances, no matter what you
have to do to get them.

Wanting to improve oneself financially through honest work is good,

what is wrong is only thinking about "having more" and not "being a
better person", a better father, mother, son or brother... a better friend,
a better worker, a better boss.

SIMPLICITY, which is being happy with little and GENEROSITY, which is

thinking about sharing and giving what is yours. There will always be
others who are in greater need than you.

Christ said: "You cannot serve two masters: God and money." Christ was
born and lived in simplicity and poverty.

ENVY

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Envy is feeling sadness because something is going well for someone

else or feeling joy when something is going badly for someone else.

You are envious when you compare yourself to others and you are only
seeing what the person next to you does or has and you don't. When you
get upset because your neighbor is luckier than you and has done
better, when you get angry because your friend so-and-so doesn't even
follow a diet and is a wreck, when you are happy that something bad has
happened to your neighbor who has behaved badly towards you, etc.

CHARITY, which is truly loving all your brothers, those you like and those
you don't.

It is always wishing the best for others.

Christ said: ¨Love one another as I have loved you¨.

THE ANGER
Anger is being angry beyond measure and having a desire for revenge.

You show anger when you are a madman (a furious, rowdy person), you
get angry and shout at home (because there's no other way, that's your
character), when every time one of your children comes near you, you
are the father or mother who is in a bad mood, when you create a drama
over something unimportant, you turn red with rage and you fight with
everyone.

PATIENCE, gradually mastering your character, as they say on TV: count

to ten before exploding, do not allow yourself to shout, get angry and
have rages.

Ask God a lot to help you be more patient and you will see that you will
achieve it. If you can't, He can.

LAZINESS
Laziness is the slackness that leads you to neglect your obligations.
- You are lazy when you stop doing what you know you have to do

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because you feel lazy, because you are resting so nicely, because you
better do it later... You shouldn't be lazy!

INDUSTRIALITY, which means being a hard worker.

God says: man is born to work; even the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was
a hard worker in her home: she washed, swept, scrubbed, sewed, and
made food. Work is something that sanctifies us. Do it with joy and love.

WORKS OF MERCY

The works of mercy are divided into two groups:

1. CORPORAL
2. SPIRITUAL

CORPORAL

1. Visit and care for the sick.

2. Feed the hungry.

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3. Give drink to the thirsty.

4. To provide shelter for the pilgrim.
5. To clothe the naked.
6. Redeem the captive.
7. Bury the dead.

SPIRITUAL
1. Teach those who do not know.
2. Give good advice to those who need it.
3. Correct the one who errs.
4. Forgive the injuries.
5. Consoling the sad.
6. To suffer with patience the defects of others.
7. Pray for the living and the dead.

LAY PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH

The term “secular”

The word (secular) is a derivative of the Latin term “laos” which means
“people”; it was coined very early by Christianity and never, in any
culture, least of all in Christianity, meant that someone did not have any
religion as it has been attempted to interpret this in our country, due to
the liberal influence and the French Enlightenment with its anti-Christian
connotation. This interpretation is certainly wrong and is against the
three great monotheistic religions of the world; therefore, giving the
interpretation of secularism as an irreligious reality basically expresses
ignorance.

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The laity and the clergy

When the Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman
Empire in 313, the term secular was specified a little more. At this
historical juncture, the difference was very clear between the members
of the Church, whose first level was the "laos", the people, who were
mostly people who had not had access to education and who did not
master Latin, but who participated actively in the life of the Church
without being priests, bishops or monks. This should not be understood
as a derogatory term.

Another group or second level was formed by the clergy. “Cleros” is a

Latin word that translates as separated, referring to those who
separated themselves from the people and acquired a commitment as
deacons, priests, monks or nuns. Thus two lifestyles were formed: the
clergy (the separated clergy) who distinguished themselves by wearing
a “habit”, and the lay people (who belonged to the people).

Among the clergy there has been an important specification. There is a

secular clergy and a regular clergy. The secular clergy, to demolish the
idea that the Church despises the world, is the one that is immersed in
earthly realities; the word secular comes from the Latin “saeculum”
which translates as “century”, so the secular clergy is the one that goes
with the century, that is not under a regulation, but under the disposition
of the Bishop and that lives in the world; has its home and its life next to
the people and is also called diocesan clergy, because it belongs to a
diocese.

The regular clergy, on the other hand, are those who live wholly or
partially in a convent. The word 'regular' has its root in the Latin “regula”
translated as rule. Its members live under a style, a very specific rule of
life.

All of this must be specified so that the term lay person is clearly
understood. I really like the term that was coined as a result of the
Synod dedicated to the laity in Rome and which is the title of a post-
conciliar reflection: "Christifideles laici", which translates as "faithful lay
Christians." It is also appropriate to call the lay person "secular", who are
those who do not wear a habit, are not in a convent.

The resurgence of the laity in the life of the

ChurchOne

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of the negative aspects of the two thousand year journey in the life of
the Church has been, at certain times and in certain places, believing
and assuming that the immense pastoral task depends solely on the
clergy. This is a serious mistake that is repeated frequently. At the
beginning of the life of the Church the role of the laity was very
important, both men and women. The first evangelizing impulse of the
Church was carried out through lay people.

Later, little by little, due to the idea that Christian perfection requires
one to withdraw from the century and concentrate more on one's inner
life and change one's way of dressing and acting, the idea arose that
what was important was the clerical state, and therefore it was required
to wear a habit and belong to an order, which contradicted the
beginnings of the Christian tradition where the order of widows, of
virgins, among others, were lay orders.

In 1962, during the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, one of the
obligatory and central themes was to restore to the lay person, to the
secular, their indispensable place in the activity of the Catholic Church,
so that the lay people would not only be the object of evangelization but
also protagonists and responsible for this task; from this emerged the
Document of the Council called "Apostolicam actuositatem" which is
dedicated to the lay person.

The vocation of the layman in the Church

Since the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, the vocation of the
lay person as a member of the Church has been taking shape. We
presented this vocation last year in the motto of the Diocesan Congress
of Lay People: “Men and women of the Church in the heart of the world”;
this is the first vocation of the lay person: men and women in
communion with the Church, followers of Jesus Christ, but who do not
live in a convent, who do not wear a habit, but rather live in the heart of
the world, and the heart of the world is families, factories, offices,
politics, economics, sports, communications; here the vocation of the lay
person is to sanctify the environment.

A good example I found in a news item I recently read: in Africa, where

the conversion of an Islamic to Christianity merits death, many Muslims
are becoming Catholics, contrary to the belief that it was impossible for
an Islamic to convert to Christianity. The curious thing is that since they
are threatened with death, they flee for a time from their place of origin

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to a place where being Catholic is not penalized, but after a time of

immersing themselves in God, in the Catholic faith, they return to their
land to be missionaries without fear of giving their lives for their faith.
Here is the essential vocation of the layman, not to separate himself
from the world but to live inserted in it, and from it, to evangelize.

Protagonists of evangelization
The laity, therefore, must be the main protagonists of evangelization;
they must reach where the priest or the religious cannot; they must be
the vanguard evangelizers. This is the time of the layman, of conscious
lay people who must not separate themselves from the world to carry
out their work. For this reason, it is not correct that when a lay person in
a parish is called to be a minister of Communion, they want to impose a
habit or badge on him; the most correct thing is that he maintains his
secular attire.

That the laity do not become clericalized and that the clergy do
not become secularized.

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Unit 6
Follow-up Topics

LIVE TO BE OR LIVE TO HAVE?

OBJECTIVE: Being and Having as two ways of understanding and living

life, to achieve Jesus' way of life.

APPROACH TO REALITY:
Being and Having are in every person.

Being: refers to the inner quality of a person, knowing how to reason,

knowing oneself, strength, communication, loving relationship, etc.

Have: refers to having or possessing things, power, prestige, dominion,

fame, fame, money, etc.

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There are two ways of looking at life. There are people who are rich
because they have money, popularity, name, etc., but they are poor in
hospitality, solidarity, affection, love, etc. On the other hand, there are
simple people, poor in goods, but extremely rich in solidarity, love,
dedication, etc.

However, both are necessary, because being and having are in the same
person. We are not purely being, but we are not purely having either, at
least it should not be that way; we were created to live in harmony, not
only with people, but also with what surrounds us, because they also
belong to our world (environment).

One cannot just refer to being as good and having as bad; the fruit of a
society based on having is wealth, jobs, technological, medical,
agricultural advances, etc. Being creates a certain type of person,
culture, way of thinking and living, etc. The problem is knowing which of
the two modes dominates my way of living.

WHEN YOU LIVE ONLY IN HAVING

Having is obvious to us, it does not need further explanation, it explains
itself.

Desire to survive: We all need means to feed ourselves, clothe

ourselves, have health, education, a home, etc.

We are convinced that having offers us security and independence

and therefore happiness.

WHEN ONE LIVES ONLY IN BEING

Whether to a greater or lesser degree, we all attend to the Self, we all
care for our values, and we are careful of ourselves.

Because we need to communicate, overcome loneliness,

individualism, that is why it is necessary to enrich the being

Because we believe that what truly enriches is being, the

personality based on having is so variable, the personality that is built
from within is much firmer.

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Let us ask ourselves, do we give more importance to being or to having?

It is difficult to answer, so below are a series of ideas, describing the
fundamental characteristics of life in being and having.

FOR THOSE WHO FOCUS ONLY ON HAVING:

Happiness is focused solely on accumulating things, even if it
means taking advantage of others or just remaining in appearance.

He does not seek inner knowledge of himself, and even tries to

hide himself.

He seeks security outside himself, usually in what he owns.

Always look outwards.

FOR THOSE WHO FOCUS ONLY ON BEING:

Happiness truly depends on oneself, developing knowledge of who
and how one is and one's capabilities as a person.

Trust is not so much in things, but in oneself, in one's own abilities,

ability to give, to know how to accept one's own limitations.

Live looking inward.

IN RELATION TO OTHERS:
HAVE:

1. Seek to be more than others.

2. He takes great care of his appearance.
3. Everything is combined with having.

BE:

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1. He knows that he can do it on his own (self-sufficiency).

2. He doesn't get carried away by others.
3. Has his own opinions and decisions, accepting criticism and input
from others.

IN RELATION TO LIFE:
HAVE:

1. Deeply selfish.
2. It is lined with elements external to itself.
3. He likes pleasure, enjoying himself even for a moment.
4. Losing what he owns distresses him.

BE:

1. He does not feel like a slave to anything or anyone.

2. Seek joy in inner fulfillment.
3. His sense of not possessing makes him face death with greater
inner peace.
IN RELATION TO FAITH:
HAVE:

1. He has faith like having something inherited. Like one possession

among many.
2. Seeks security through submission.
3. He sees sin as simple disobedience.
4. Try to possess the religious.

BE:

1. Live faith as a relationship of love between God and us.

2. Sin is like a personal failure for him.
3. Faith is not possessed, like someone who has something.

LET'S REFLECT:

1. Which of the two styles do I prefer to live?

2. Which of the two do I identify with most?

GOOD NEWS:

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Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola, to name a few,

imitated their teacher, Jesus; they chose to give up practically
everything they owned, except for what was essential for living.

In Jesus, this position is extremely clear, He says: “…what good is it to

gain the whole world, if in the end you lose your life?…”

In one of his parables, he called foolish anyone who spent his entire life
accumulating goods. St. Luke. 12, 20

Jesus does not live a lifestyle just for himself, He is the model of man,
saved and savior. God threw us into life to “be” and Jesus wanted to
carry out God’s project in us.

DECISIVE AND BRAVE, WHO OR WHAT WILL

HELP US DO IT?
OBJECTIVE: To discover that our faith is an extraordinary support to
overcome our insecurities and fears.

APPROACH TO REALITY

INSECURITY AND FEAR, AS A COMMON EXPERIENCE

FOR ALL
These are sensations that haunt us all throughout our lives, when the
child cries or is hungry, or because something hurts, insecurity when
walking in different places, bus, motorcycle, vehicle or simply walking,
etc.

TODAY LIKE YESTERDAY

Modern man would gain in security and self-confidence through his
growing knowledge and mastery of the forces of nature and the great
advances of science. However, those who know tell us that thanks to all

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these things, today's man has gained more independence and ability to
reason, and for this reason he sometimes feels more alone, anxious,
helpless, insecure, etc., to the point that we do not know where we are
going.

Modern man continues to experience what people of all times and places
have experienced.

1. The fear of illness

2. The fear of dying
3. Fear of the future, or the uncertain future
4. The fear of emotional deprivation
5. The fear of loneliness

To the usual fears, modern man has added new ones:

1. Economic problems, crisis, loss of capital, loss of employment.

2. AIDS
3. Citizen insecurity, theft, assaults, extortion, etc.

TOWARDS OVERCOMING FEAR

It is not valid to want to hide or falsify harsh or unpleasant realities, they
are always there, and it is necessary to face them. To do otherwise
would be to deceive ourselves.

Being afraid of the consequences of the harsh realities of our lives is

understandable. A certain insecurity in our lives is inevitable; we are
weak, physically and mentally, and this has necessary consequences,
there is no reason to be afraid.

It is this human situation that increases our ability to defend ourselves

and to always be searching. We have heard it said, “we must have a
minimum vital security, at least to be able to learn to walk in insecurity”
we must avoid two types of attitudes:

FIRST TYPE

1. Trying to hide reality, ignoring it, not accepting it as it is.

2. Stop fighting to transform it.

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SECOND TYPE

1. They become depressed, withdraw into themselves, and avoid all

communication with others.
2. They lose interest in going out, partying, or being with friends or
family.
3. Many parents “throw in the towel” in their task of raising their
children.

DESPITE EVERYTHING, CONFIDENT AND HOPEFUL

Fortunately, in our lives there is not only insecurity and fear, what
happens is that sometimes we tend to make problems bigger, we give
them more importance than they have, and we remain static or simply
conform with what happens in our lives.

That is why there are many hopeful realities, which reflect the
confidence and security that, despite everything, we men and women of
today have:

1. An act of faith and hope in the future.

2. Solidarity grows.
3. Despite all the difficulties, there is a greater closeness between
parents and children.
4. We respect each other more.
5. Many people who have gone through very serious personal and
social situations have come out ahead.

RELIGIOUS FAITH, DOES IT REDUCE OR INCREASE OUR

FEAR?
It does not refer to faith itself, but to our way of living it. It is clear that
religious faith, in each one of us, can be an extraordinary support for the
realization of our person.

1. Men of old feared God because they had in their minds that He
punished.
2. Religious faith has also served as a refuge for many, so as not to
face the reality and difficulties of life.

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WE REFLECT
1. Which fears and insecurities do you most identify with?
2. What are your main experiences of security and courage in life?

THE GOOD NEWS

1. Today's believers describe their religious experience as an inner
experience of freedom, joy, and love that makes us grow more
humanly; from faith, many of us make these words our own: Ps 26
"...The Lord is my strength, my rock, and my Salvation..."

2. Jesus lived the experience of the closeness of God the Father in his
life, and as a consequence his filial trust.

3. He too was afraid Mt. 26, 39; but after this he never doubted the
company of his Father.

4. Jesus asks his followers to trust in the Father and in Him; for this
reason he rebukes the disciples, “…because they seek security in
material goods. “Do not worry about what you will eat or drink for
your sustenance, or what you will put on your body…” Mt. 6, 25

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WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS?

OBJECTIVE: to discover that true happiness can only be found in

authentically following Jesus Christ.

APPROACH TO REALITY
a) happiness and personal fulfillment:

They are two beautiful words, but they run the risk of being “overused”
due to overuse and, sometimes, misuse. But, despite everything, it is
true that the desire to be happy is what moves us. At every moment we
seek happiness.

What is happiness?
Generally speaking, happiness is the feeling of well-being (being at ease,
or in harmony) with oneself, of living life with pleasure, of being gratified
by it. We can say that a person is happy when he or she finds fulfillment
in what he or she discovers as valid and worth living. Happiness
ultimately consists of personal fulfillment.

What is realization?
Despite many appearances (of unconscious lives, without questions,
without going into depth, a bit like “whatever comes up”), most people
set goals and even a certain life plan, often without formulating it or
writing it down.

By personal fulfillment we can understand the following: living life

according to the project and goals that we have set for ourselves and
with values that we have assumed as worthy values for living our
existence.

But do I determine these projects and their values, or are they imposed
on me from outside: advertising, the media, the environment? Aren't
others telling me what my happiness consists of? Today more than ever,
it is necessary to make an effort to personally discover what is worth
putting effort into that will bring me happiness.

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b) various “measures” of happiness:

Not all of us seek happiness in the same things. Some seek it in inner
peace and calm, others in activity and hustle and bustle, some pursue it
in success, applause and so on, an infinite number of goals. Let's think
about some;

1. + health gives us happiness. And more and more people are

concerned about staying fit and taking care of their bodies.

2. + those who put their happiness in money. And they cannot

imagine being happy if they have little to spend or consume.

3. + those who think that there is no happiness if there is no

immediate pleasure. And they try to enjoy themselves to the
fullest, have fun, good food, better drinks. And “to live life.”

Many people think that the important thing is to enjoy life, to enjoy
everything possible, to give free rein to desires. Fortunately, not
everyone thinks that way. There are also people who seek happiness in
deeper values: relationships with others, family, friendship, personal
contribution to society, public responsibilities, doing good to others... or
in contemplation of the countryside and the beauty of nature..., in art...

We certainly know people who are happy to give themselves and serve
others, even if it requires them to give up many other things and lead a
poor and sacrificed life.

Achieving complete happiness is difficult. That is why we experience a

certain level of personal and social dissatisfaction. A goal achieved calls
for a greater one; achievements sometimes do not give us the level of
happiness we expected. We usually only get “parcels of happiness”.
The situation around us is so difficult that it has negative consequences
on personal happiness.

c) Religion, a threat to happiness?

Every religion offers a promise of happiness. The question is knowing

what, how and when to offer it.

Many people have the impression that the happiness promised by

religion is only a happiness for the afterlife, after death, without
worrying about happiness in the here and now. For the here and now I

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would have only these expressions: "the more we suffer here, the more
we will enjoy there", "a valley of tears", insisting on resignation or
conformism in the face of life's setbacks and discomfort; in the next life,
everything will be different. That is why many people think that they do
not need God to organize this life.

Others put religious happiness in opposition to human happiness, as if

the former were the enemy of the latter. We all know the popular
phrase: “everything that gives pleasure is either fattening or a sin.” It
seems as if the religious man were the man of renunciation, of no, the
one who is against the desires for freedom, development and future that
nest in the heart of every man and woman. Many people turned away
from the faith and suffered this opposition within themselves.

WE REFLECT AND SHARE

1. Looking around you, point out three or four values that people see
as most important to be happy in life.
2. Let's comment on the phrases about happiness that we find below:

 You will be happy tomorrow if you are able to be happy now

with what you have.
 We increasingly make our happiness dependent on more
things; he who does not know how to live a little will always
be a slave.
 Our happiness does not consist so much in possessing
things, but in being people.
 Our happiness consists in taking advantage of the positive
things we have, rather than focusing on what we lack.
 Happiness is not found outside of oneself, but within the
person himself.
 Simplicity of life has a lot to do with happiness.
 To be happy it is necessary to give up many things.
 There is no better path to personal happiness than to fight
for the happiness of others.
 The secret of happiness is to meet God, who is the source of
all happiness.

3. The last statement makes us ask: How can religious experience help
human happiness?

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GOOD NEWS
GOD'S PROJECT FOR HUMANITY

From the first pages of the Bible, we see that God has a plan of
happiness for man. The first chapters of Genesis show us man, created
to live in a paradise.

We already know that this image of paradise should not be understood

literally, but the message it conveys to us is clear: God creates man and
woman and places them at the center of creation, so that they may live
in harmony with him, with themselves, with other men and women and
with all of creation. It is a great ideal of happiness “God saw everything
he had made, and it was good” (Gen. 1,31).

In the face of man's failure regarding this ideal of happiness. God

intervenes by restoring and saving, according to the promise made in
Genesis itself. And always with images of joy and words of happiness.
This is how the prophets describe the return from the desert, after the
exile of the people in Babylon (Is 35). God does not want the death of
the man who has strayed from his path, but that he should reconsider
and convert, so that he may live (Ez 18:23).

The teachings and actions of Jesus

Jesus frequently speaks of the Kingdom of God with images of
happiness: the banquet, the party. Reconciliation is the joy of
celebration (parables of the lost sheep, of the prodigal son). Jesus'
actions are healing, they cure, they forgive, they restore hope, joy and
the desire to live.

The center of the Sermon on the Mount is the Beatitudes, which are cries
of happiness for those who choose the path of Jesus. Only for Jesus the
criteria of happiness are very different from those offered in the
“happiness market.” Jesus calls the poor, who do not count for others,
happy; those who choose to be poor, those who are generous and in
solidarity with the poor; the merciful, who approach the pain and joy of
others and share them; the builders of peace, those who love and
practice justice. New criteria, but criteria of happiness. The message is
huge and positive.

Following Jesus, a proclamation of happiness

To experience joy along the path of happiness that Jesus proposes, we
need a profound conversion. A change in values that shows us the

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example of so many men and women who are happy in following Jesus
and in serving their brothers. We all know people of this nature. And
they tell us that this happiness is real.

In many people we know, of flesh and blood like us, who live the Gospel
with simplicity and depth, the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John are
fulfilled: “I have told you all these things so that you may share my joy
and be happy” (John 15:11). The purpose of the joy and happiness of
the Gospel of Jesus is to bring joy and happiness to the concrete
existence of many people, despite the difficulties.

In some way, the representation of the future life is anticipated, the life
in fullness, which the Apocalypse describes as a life without death or
crying or mourning or pain (2:14). Being happy here means moving
forward as far as possible to the joy that awaits us, because we live in
the style of Jesus.

Called to conversion
1. Does the style of happiness proposed by the Beatitudes seem like
an exaggeration to us? Do we know people who are happy like
that? Have we personally experienced moments of happiness and
living in that style?
2. Do we sincerely try to discover the message of happiness that
Jesus' words carry, when it is necessary to apply them to life?
3. What values do we have to change in our lives to be truly happy?
Or do we prefer to remain with a diminished sense of happiness?

CALLED TO BE SOLIDARY AND FAIR

OBJECTIVE: to discover that solidarity and justice are evangelical values

that Jesus teaches us.

APPROACH TO REALITY
On many occasions, we experience a lack of solidarity
and justice:

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When we open a newspaper or turn on the television, the radio or listen

to the news, it seems that everything in life is negative: accidents,
murders, rapes, abuse, corrupt politicians, famous marriages that break
up, although the news seeks to eliminate what is outside the norm. It
seems that we have a very negative vision of the world and the reality in
which we live. A reality with many shadows.

As hard as it is for us to admit, life is like that. Many families among us

have a hard time and, in the end, they have no choice but to put up with
it. There is unemployment, which affects entire families and deprives
them not only of the necessary economy, but also of the dignity of work.
There are elderly people among us who are struggling to make ends
meet with the low pensions they receive. Because, in addition to
economic deficiencies, they suffer emotional deficiencies from their own
children or relatives. Because among us we do not welcome immigrants
with greatness of spirit either. Because we marginalize some people (we
always find reasons to justify ourselves).

The same thing happens in our personal lives: sometimes we volunteer

for social and charitable actions and, at the same time, we are unfair to
those to whom we have obligations. We are always looking for
justifications for our lack of solidarity... and when we run out of
justifications, we usually say: "charity properly understood begins with
oneself."

However, there are also positive things:

If we look around us, we are also able to discover facts, situations and
people that encourage and lift our spirits: there are many people who
are supportive, who try to live justice above their own personal or group
interests. There are those who have asked themselves whether it is fair
to have good salaries at home, when there are so many families that do
not have one, and have mutually agreed to stop working for both of
them, or who have given up overtime so that another job can be
created, or who spend hours with a sick person, or lend from their
savings so that a family can get through a time of economic crisis, or
who actively collaborate in social action programs without any profit or
personal gain. There are many such cases and we know them. We can
even be the protagonists of some of them. A way of being that makes
you want to live and fight, there are good people in the world.

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What does our body ask of us: solidarity or justice?

A first look at ourselves and what surrounds us could indicate that what
our body is asking for is unbridled selfishness. We sometimes realize
that there are so many situations of lack of solidarity and injustice,
starting with ourselves, that we feel helpless. From there we say things
like: “this world is disgusting” “there is no remedy for this” “man will
always be selfish and therefore unjust.”

That we are in this situation is not surprising when we realize that, as

human beings, we are radically open and dependent on each other; so
much so that if it were not for this openness and complementarity we
would not even exist. What makes us people are the relationships that
give rise to us and that we ourselves develop throughout our lives. A
person's growth is measured by his or her ability to communicate with
others and discover in them the necessary complement to his or her own
shortcomings or needs.

But in reality the body asks us for solidarity; that is how we are made
and our vocation is: communion with one another. The thing is that we
go through life with very limited communication; with our family, with
our group of friends, with our acquaintances, that of the common good;
the good of all, wherever they are, whether we know it or not, is very far
away from us.
Some do understand it: when love is free
The nobility of the human heart often comes to the surface. It would be
impossible to understand in any other way those who dedicate their
entire lives to others, and not precisely to their family - which they even
renounce - without expecting anything in return. We all know specific
people who have made this life choice. Most of them are deeply
religious men and women who have dedicated their lives to radically
following Jesus.

But, in everyday life, there are also many people who direct their entire
existence towards solidarity; there are those who lend money without
interest, who adopt a child abandoned by its parents; who accompany a
drug addict in his recovery period, there are those who spend all their
free time with a sick person, an elderly person or a lonely person; there
are those who make the cause of the most disadvantaged their own;
there are those who direct the exercise of their profession, taking into
account the weakest and most needy as their main recipients; who
choose to live among the poorest people.

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All these manifestations of the nobility of the human heart produce in

the person an enormous joy and a profound manifestation. It is the
payment for free love.

WE REFLECT AND SHARE

1. Do you know any supportive behavior in the environment where
you live?
2. However, you still discover things that do not work well due to
human selfishness or the injustice with which we organize our
own lives. Could you express the ones that seem most notable
to you?
3. What kind of values should we transmit and live in the family, in
education, in social organizations, to make room for solidarity
and justice?

GOOD NEWS
The Christian faith has promoted and continues to promote not only
specific gestures of solidarity and justice, but also a lifestyle based on
the value of gratuitous love. In the group you can briefly review some of
the most significant actions of solidarity carried out by the Church.
Jesus develops all the possibilities of the human heart
First of all, with his own way of being a man: he was totally a man for
others. The awareness of his mission radically launches him to others,
especially the poorest and most needy, making his own a text from
Isaiah, the one that says: "Today it is fulfilled in me," the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery
of sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favor” (Luke 4, 18-19)

On one occasion Jesus has to answer John the Baptist whether he is the
one who was to come, or whether they still had to wait for another. And
these are the signs he gives him: Go and tell John what you have seen
and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good
news preached to them. And blessed is he who is offended at me (Luke
7:20-23).

And Jesus chooses poverty as a way of life to fulfill his mission. It is

enough to remember all the temptations that Jesus faced; all the poor

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and marginalized people with whom he lives feel deeply the possibility of
their reintegration and recovery. This is what is meant by the fact that
Jesus often ate with social and religious outcasts. The table community
means the reintegration of the excluded. The same could be said of
miracles, which are, for the most part, signs of a saving offer to those
most in need. Jesus justifies his supportive behavior because that is how
his father is.

“you do the same”

Jesus uses these words at two important moments during the Last
Supper: after instituting the Eucharist and after washing the disciples'
feet. He who had thus summed up his life: I have come to serve and not
to be served.

Because this is how Jesus wants his followers to be: Luke 10, 25-37
offers us a parable of brotherhood: the good Samaritan. It is about
solidarity with all people in need. In his teaching, Jesus also repeats, do
the same. As if identifying with the good Samaritan.

Presence of Jesus in the poor

So strong is the demand for love for those in need that Jesus himself
identifies with them. In chapter 25 of Sn. Matthew is where this
identification is expressed most clearly: When did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did you
come as a stranger and we welcomed you, or naked and clothed you?
When were you sick or in prison and we came to you?... Truly I tell you,
as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to
me.

For a reason, Sn. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles (20:25), literally
recalls some words of Jesus: there is more joy in giving than in receiving.
Saint John also says: If someone possesses goods in this world, and sees
his brother in need, and closes his heart to him, how will he be in the
love of God? Children, let us not love with words or lips, but with actions
and in truth” (1 John 3, 17-18).

CALLED TO CONVERSION
1. Do you have any experience of how God has made you
supportive?

2. Can the example of Jesus - "a man for others" - serve as a stimulus
for you to improve yourself? Have you ever experienced within

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yourself where following him can lead you in the field of solidarity
and justice?

SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD

OBJECTIVE: To discover the attitudes that can lead us to an authentic

encounter with God.

APPROACH TO REALITY:
It can be said that there is no reality that has given rise to so many
questions and so much searching as the reality of God. So much so, that
apart from being said to be social or hard-working by nature, human
beings are also said to be religious. But we are not going to approach
reality in this global way by analyzing what has been called the religious
phenomenon, but rather we are going to get down to the concrete, to
the human being that we are, you and I, and to the relationship that we
are living with that other being, whom we call God.

APPARENT SEARCH FOR GOD

From primitive man to the present day, the search for God has not
ended. Many Psalms embrace this search, giving it a poetic form of
extraordinary beauty. Psalm 63

“Oh God, you are my God, from the dawn I desire you;

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I am thirsty for you, I long for you

In a thirsty, dry, waterless land.
I would like to contemplate you in my temple, to see your power and
your glory.”

There are also modern thinkers who refer to the search for God.
Someone recently said:

“I have always lived between the absence of God and the hope of his
presence”-

AND I, DO I LOOK FOR GOD?

The paths of search are very different, we can multiply the stories of
others' experiences, testimonies, writings, etc., they can help us a lot,
but what really matters is the personal search itself.

Let us ask ourselves if we have truly sincerely sought God? How

seriously have we done it? At what moments in our lives?

FROM THE FEAR OF GOD TO THE SERENE SEARCH FOR

GOD:
In ancient times, many people, especially those who were unaware of
the reality of the world, were confused and at the same time frightened
by natural phenomena. They believed that it was just a "whim of God"
and therefore tried to gain his protection. They often confused it with the
"mysteriousness of nature" and generally had a life very rooted in
natural cycles.

Today's man has greater knowledge and mastery of nature and

everything around him. Therefore, the search for God is not determined
mostly by external factors, but by the call that one feels within.

SOME WAYS OF PLACING GOD:

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In ancient times, it was believed or attempted to place God in places

"outside" generally in rivers, hills, mountains, clouds, giving way later to
the construction of more specific places such as temples "as the
dwelling place of God"

Today's Christians cannot avoid the desire to "lock up" God, but the
desire to find Him present within us is growing considerably. Some think
of it as a mysterious energy, for many these experiences are attributed
to the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps some people came to worship God, carrying with them strange
elements (superstitions) that created a magical dimension; nowadays,
without losing the dimension of mystery, God is placed in a more
familiar, closer way, and a simpler and more cordial worship is rendered
to him.

Despite the development, questions typical of primitive men still persist:

What are you like? Where are you? do you exist? do you have any plans
for me or for us? Will we ever be able to enter into communion with you?

GOD IS THE ONE WHO SEEKS MAN:

In the depths of religious experience, we come to understand that it is
God who seeks the human being, and that we are found by Him, so it is
necessary for us to know the personal attitudes that can hinder and
those that can favor this encounter, which is called the search for God.

In this process, it is common for human beings to be confused and feel

tempted to be like God. To cite a few examples, in the Garden of Eden,
the evil one told Eve "you will be like gods," something that is repeated
in the Tower of Babel; in our time, some believe that they see God as a
competitor of their freedom and autonomy in the world.

Not all of us are able to express it as some modern thinkers do, but even
in our simplicity, this attitude can get into us, it gets into us as long as
we do not believe we need God, this is not a good attitude to seek Him.

ATTITUDES THAT CAN HELP US IN THE SEARCH FOR

GOD:
1. Seek it not for selfish or materialistic purposes.
2. Being aware that God is always beyond, and always continuing to
search for Him, searching for Him.

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3. Seeking God not only outside, but also within oneself.

4. Be very clear that more than us seeking God, we are sought by
Him.

GOOD NEWS:
“The true search for God is like the attitude of a man who sits and
listens. And it is logical that it should be so, because, ultimately, God is
not something that must be built or made, but rather someone who
must be received. And when you receive someone, you have to start by
sitting down and listening.”
.
We would like to hear God, Who can make us know the true God? Who
can bring us closer to Him? It would be great to find such a mediator.

The mediator is Jesus, He said of himself:

“I am the way. He who sees me has seen the Father. No one knows the
Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.”

We have had the gift of knowing God through Jesus. With a simple
reading of the gospel we realize that Jesus wants to tell us what God is
like, in two ways:

1. With his way of acting, his deeds, his actions, seeing how
Jesus acts (forgiving, welcoming, praying, giving himself,
etc., even dying on the Cross)
2. With his words, in which he wanted and wants to transmit to
us the true face of God

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WORK: PUNISHMENT OR FULFILLMENT?

OBJECTIVE: to discover the true value of work from a Christian-human
point of view.

APPROACH TO REALITY:
We all know or at least have a notion of the importance of work in our
personal, family, social and cultural life. We usually notice when we lack
work or unemployment threatens us.

Every human being has his or her own work record throughout his or her
life (history). Work tells us about difficulties, sometimes it becomes
boring, whether in the field, office, factories, studies, etc.; but it also tells
us about the joys of a job well done, enjoying a “decent” salary, knowing
that we can be useful for whatever comes our way, and even more so
when we are given incentives or motivations.

That is why work contributes to the fulfillment of each person; it is a

source, creator and well-being for being able to live with dignity; in
addition to being a source of relationships between people and a means
of putting nature at our service, within the respect that nature deserves.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF SEEING WORK:

There are those who think (according to their way of seeing work) that
“work is for fools”, “working is a punishment”, “if I win the lottery,
goodbye to work” etc.; there are also these expressions that give reason
to the negative elements, “there are jobs that make you stupid”, “they
exploit you at work” “they never give me vacations, I work like a robot”
etc.

For those who think positively, we will hear expressions such as “I enjoy
my work,” “I dedicate myself and strive to give my best,” “being able to
work is a privilege, a blessing from God,” and perhaps some like these:
“what I do is useful to others,” “I like to feel useful,” etc.

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Note: The following questions are for us to reflect on personally.

1. Is work really a value for human beings?

2. When I'm not working, has my character with others changed?
3. What happens to work that destroys nature?

WORK AS A MEANS OF PERSONAL FULFILLMENT:

We meet our needs through work. But in reality we have a series of
aptitudes and qualities, and when we manage to put them into play, we
become fulfilled as people, we are intelligent, free, creative, and when
the work corresponds to our abilities we feel supportive, satisfied and
fulfilled.

Although we do not always reach our goals, sometimes because we seek

excessive money or illicit gains as the main objective of our work, or
because we are forced to work in something for which we have no
vocation, etc.

We are individuals, but we live in society, we are made to live with

others (co-exist), in other words without the (co-laboration) of others it
would not be possible to live.

That is why work is one of the fundamental means for relating to others,
and for all of us together to contribute to ensuring that we all have what
is necessary to live; when selfish interests appear in work, competition,
exploitation and marginalization occur, so when work is carried out in
this way it ceases to be a contribution to the common good, and it
hinders personal fulfillment.

In this situation, we must fight responsibly for work that gives dignity to
all, working in conditions in which men and women do not only suffer
attacks on their dignity, but can also fulfil themselves as people.

WORK AS A MEANS TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD

Through our work, home, studies, factories, fields, etc., we bring to light
something that would not otherwise exist, we increase well-being and
prevent dangers; we make the world a little better.

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THE GOOD NEWS

God created the world and filled it with his goodness “…and God saw
that it was good…” Gen. 1 SS. But his work does not end there, but
continues to create without ceasing, and he also creates it with our
collaboration.

Work unites men and women, fostering unity and solidarity among
people, creating a network of relationships and mutual aid among all,
which makes human life possible.

That is why work is not a punishment. It is the emptiness of a land that

becomes hard and ungrateful for the man who works it. The fruit of sin
is suffering.

“Work is a divine mandate to make human life possible”

LIVING TOGETHER: A NECESSITY AND A

PROBLEM
OBJECTIVE: to discover the value of coexistence as a basic and common
experience of every human being and as a requirement of the Gospel.

APPROACH TO REALITY

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We all have the need to live with others. Coexist = living-with, is the
experience that every human being has with others, that is why we live
with family, friends, neighbors, work, church, etc.

Although the levels of coexistence are different, living with family is not
the same as living with friends.

FROM COEXISTENCE, FRIENDSHIP ARISES

Without a relationship of friendship, we condemn ourselves to live in a
childish selfishness, we incapacitate ourselves for a psychologically
balanced life, since our existence is made to live together, not “against
one another” but “one-with-one another” Pope Paul VI

We need others for almost everything, to be born, to learn, to enjoy, to

pray, etc.

TWO EXPERIENCES OF LIVING TOGETHER

COEXISTENCE IS RICH AND WONDERFUL

In fact, living together has a huge influence on each one of us, with
everything it brings us and everything we are involved in to a greater or
lesser degree.

That is why, for better or worse, family, friends, teachers, classmates,

work, church, etc., in short, every environment in which we live, have an
influence. They all give us very different values and riches, affection,
intimacy, acceptance, forgiveness, etc.
Friendship with one another is very important, because we all need
intimacy with our “friends,” whom most of us trust, which is why most
people tend to say “there is no one to trust.”

Friendship is the most valued gift, and throughout history, writers,

religious people, and testimonies of personalities have spoken wonders
of friendship.

1. St. Augustine used to say, “…nothing is pleasing to man if he does

not have a friend…”

A. Camus “it is impossible to be happy when you are alone”

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2. Francis Bacon, “Friendship doubles the joys and divides the

sorrows in half”

3. Proverbs, in this book we find that “a friend is a treasure”

COEXISTENCE, COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT

B. Without a doubt, coexistence is necessary, but it is not easy, nor
simple…

C. Sometimes we get tired of those around us and those we live with,

and so we try to escape and rest alone.

D. We cannot completely free ourselves from a certain selfishness

that makes us the center of everything and everyone.

E. Work, everyday life, politics, different statuses, etc. often create

conflicts, cause difficulties in living together, and isolate us.

Racism, or discrimination, expressed in the indifference with which we

treat and leave immigrants and people from other cultures alone; the
difficulties of coexistence of different generations, without reaching a
declared generational conflict, the tremendous loneliness that many
parents feel with their children, etc.

GOOD NEWS
A. On one occasion, a young man was called to join the ranks of the
army for the war, but he refused to go expressly: "I cannot kill my
neighbor, with whom I have shared food and drink, nor the friends
of the musical group, wherever they were from.

B. Someone who visits the group and has dinner with them tells us
that while they are having dinner, a dog that causes fear appears,
but there is no need to worry, they are also part of the family.
Curiously, a cat approaches, but since it is also part of the family,
it does not cause any feelings of hatred in the dog.

C. God educates his people in fundamental attitudes; the Sinai

Covenant is one of those moments; we must turn to it to know
what kind of relationship God wants from men and women with
Him and men and women with each other.

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D. Jesus himself, through his passion for fidelity and love for his
Father, loves all men and women, especially the poorest and most
marginalized, to whom he opens himself as a brother. With some
of them he forms a group of close friends, so that they can be with
Mc. 3, 13-14

E. The resurrected Jesus meets his disciples to dispel doubts and

instill confidence in them (Jn. 21, 1-25) (Lk. 24, 13-35) are
encounters with the living friend, faithful brother, who seeks to
instill the closeness and confidence of recognition.

CALLED TO BE FREE
Freedom: Natural faculty that man has to act in one way or another, and
not to act, for which reason he is responsible for his actions.

Free for what?

Free with limitations: we must all be convinced that we are free, but at
the same time with limitations, an experience that sometimes gives us a
certain stability: Example.

1. Physical strength.
2. Feats.

Sn. Lc. 1, 26-38 (Like Mary, we also have the option to choose, what we
consider good or bad, without pressure)

Sometimes, in the name of our freedom, we may think or say. “it is

forbidden to forbid”, “I have the right to be wrong”. Etc.

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But there we are, together with the others, forced to accept rules of
coexistence, even if we do so reluctantly, the rights of others, in the
outside world, the circumstances we live in limit us: Example.

1. Marriage and courtship.

2. Friends.
3. Material things (cell phones, TV, vehicles, etc.)

All of the above can cause us to feel bound, and that is why we do not
become truly free.

It must be taken into account that my freedom also passes through the
freedom of others, because my rights end where the rights of
others begin. Example.

1. “If you leave, I'll die.”

2. “If you don’t buy it for me, I’ll cry.”

Vices (alcohol, gambling, individualism), when we give more importance

to these situations, we put our freedom at risk, and that is where we fall
into new forms of slavery.
FAITH AND FREEDOM: they should go hand in hand, because if I have
faith (firmly believe) of my own, I express my freedom.
But if I let myself be carried away by comments, they automatically give
me an idea that I may end up living without being convinced.

LET US REMEMBER: that our God is a God who liberates or likes freedom:

1. Paradise, Adam and Eve.

2. Tower of Babel.
3. Liberation of the people of Egypt.
4. Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.

Our God has always wanted us to live free, but we usually abuse the
trust He gives us (we grab His foot), and that is where we fall into
debauchery.

Libertinism: unrestraint in works or words.

But God is always understanding with us, he loves us so much that he

even went so far as to give his only son for us (Jesus) who died on the
cross.

The secret to true freedom is… truth.

Sn. Jn. 8, 31-32

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THE FAMILY: JOY OR ENDURANCE?

OBJECTIVE: to make the family known as a fulfillment of God's Project.

APPROACH TO REALITY:
The family as the first human experience, where all types of
relationships develop (marital and family) - is how one is born and grows
in the home, in "affection, harmony and coexistence."

It is interesting to note that in surveys, regarding the values most

appreciated by young people, the family occupies one of the first places,
despite all the difficulties that may exist within it.

The family is still today a space of affection, care and love; it is true that
many families have a true joy of living together and know how to make
their own a real home.

However, the problems that many families face today should not be an
incentive to forget the joy of living together, with great simplicity of
heart, but at the same time it must be with great depth, that is why it is
right to say that the family is a joyful experience.

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A JOY THAT IS MATURING:

Many family problems have to be growing up problems. Human
maturity, and especially emotional maturity; but it is a process that is
achieved, which is why joy should continue to mature.

It should be understood that the joy of a newlywed is not the same as

that of a couple who has already lived many years, even into old age.

The family is par excellence the ideal place to cultivate values,

development, peace, love, strength, etc., in this sense.

Family life transmits values in social life, dealings with neighbors, work,
education, leisure time, meetings with other people, friends, etc., a
mature joy is a shared joy. It is not good for the family to be
isolated in the early years, selfish and calculating in later years,
and distressed and almost desperate in old age.

When one matures, joy has a powerful influence on overcoming

selfishness. We see families in which everyone thinks only of
themselves, which would be a total disaster; or people think only of
money, and we see how many are divided by it and by material objects.
There are even those who confuse their home with a boarding house,
because in it they only take care of things, not people.

The family is divided to the extent that it does not become a defense of
the combined selfishness of parents, children and both; however, there
are families that have understood things with enthusiasm and realism
and are a true example of the joy of sharing, giving and opening up even
in the midst of the difficulties they may face.

NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD:

The family crisis is coming, whether due to personal, social, etc. causes,
the family is weakening and in most cases dangerously so. The most
extreme cases of separations and divorces are in the era of "express"
marriages, therefore more children are being created in "dis-
love" and "dis-encounter" without mentioning more, it is for this
reason that the nucleus where mutual endurance predominates
over the joyful experience.

“When the family just hangs on, it has begun to die”

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We must face our situations, our attitude must be the same inside and
outside the home, open, friendly, great friends.

When we want to solve problems, sometimes it turns out that it is too

late. Situations of family tension do not come suddenly, we prepare for
them little by little, sometimes without realizing it, when the direction is
reversed, from meeting to disagreement; from dialogue to monologue;
from generosity to selfishness; from a common project to every man for
himself; only God can save a family.

LET'S REFLECT:
1. How am I living my family life?
2. What experience of joy can I say about my family?
3. Why do I think there are so many family failures?
4. What can I do to improve my family life?

GOOD NEWS:
Faithfulness and stability in love is the root of all family reality. Jesus
resorts to these attitudes, taking up God's original plan for the couple:
"...he made them male and female...", for this reason the man will
abandon his father and mother, join his wife and the two will be one
flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh "...what God has
joined together, let no man separate..." St. Mc. 10, 6-9

“The family is the domestic Church”

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HOPE IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING

OBJECTIVE: to discover that Jesus shows us what is the path of man in

suffering and how we must assume it from our faith.

APPROACH TO REALITY
The phrase “despite everything” refers specifically to suffering and evil.
All men and women, of any type and condition, at some point in our
lives, face the problem of failure and evil. Our projects fail in the face of
the reality of evil: illness, aging, misfortune, depression, pain, death, etc.
So, we understand evil as everything that causes us pain and makes us
suffer.

EVIL IS THERE, AND WE SEE IT MANY TIMES:

a) As inevitable: there are the dead on the road, in wars, natural
disasters, in famine, etc. People who suffer alongside us. That
whose suffering enters through our eyes, through all the media.
b) Feeling powerless against it: What can we do against evil? Even
when something is done and something is achieved, there are
levels of suffering that we can never overcome, the ultimate
level of evil is death.
c) Like something that sooner or later comes upon us: when it
hasn't arrived yet, we say that "we're lucky", but it's such an
uncertain situation that we're always fearing its arrival.

ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVIL?

Not all evils are equal, from the point of view of our responsibility.

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a) There are evils that have their origin in the limitations and fragility
of our human being. (illness-death)
b) Others are caused by natural disasters.
c) And others whose origin we do have responsibility for. (war,
hatred, revenge, etc.)
THE QUESTIONS ARISE:
When it comes to suffering for which we cannot do anything, questions
and more questions come to mind… this is because misfortune, suffering
and pain touch the deepest part of our being, and that is why they are
very serious questions:

a) Why some and not others?

b) Why some more than others?
c) Is it worth coming to this world?
d) does pain have any meaning?
e) Is there anyone who can free us from evil?

The suffering of the innocent has tortured and continues to torture the
consciences of many.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO DEAL WITH EVIL:

a) Some choose to evade. They often take refuge in alcohol, drugs,
vices, etc.
b) Others rebel. “this is unfair” “it is not right”
c) Others just conform. “There is no choice but to accept it”
d) There are those who look for culprits. “maybe the others” “the
same”
e) Others take it with dignity.

BLAME GOD?

a) We come to think this way: “If God really exists, then he cannot
allow evil…”
b) We try to explain the two realities: the existence of God and the
existence of evil, so we resort to… “it will be God’s punishment” or
it will be that “it happens by force of destiny”

REFLECTING AND SHARING

1. How do you react to moments of difficulty and personal suffering?
2. What is my reaction when others are experiencing that suffering?

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THE GOOD NEWS

We often hear people close to us say… “I am broken, but not sunk; I am
sad but full of peace and hope”

They are people who not only blame God when faced with illness, pain,
etc. But they find in Him the strongest support to confront evil.

JESUS AND SUFFERING:

God knows human suffering, not only as a spectator, but through his
knowledge of life and human history, because he has been incarnated in
the man-Jesus, he has suffered persecution, betrayal, etc.

It is all the harshness of this paradox that emerges in the cry of pain,
apparently desperate, that Jesus gives on the cross: “My God, my God…”
Cf. Mk 15, 34.

In the incarnation, God assumes all of our human reality… “to give man
back the face of the Father, Jesus had to assume not only the face of
man, but also the face of sin” (SS John Paul II)

When reading the Gospel, we discover that Jesus fought against evil,
with his own strength, this is a sign that he did not want suffering for
himself, much less for others; there are miracles, healings, etc.

Jesus did not come to explain evil but to fill it with his presence; by
suffering and dying, he teaches us what is the path of man in suffering
and how we must assume suffering and death.

This mystery of death and suffering would be incomplete if the

resurrection were not included.

LET'S ANALYSE
What draws your attention most about Jesus in the face of suffering?
IN MY WEAKNESS, WHO WILL
UNDERSTAND ME?

Welcome and understanding (forgiveness)

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“Do not be afraid, your sins are forgiven.” “I have come to save, not to
condemn.” “Today salvation has come to this house.” “Come to me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

The invitation to change (conversion)

“sin not, but repent.” To convert means to change direction, to turn
around, the same thing that is done when one has taken the wrong path
to get to the place where he was going. It portrays a change in the way
of thinking and acting; a life that goes from one's own values to the
values and criteria of Jesus. “get up and walk”.

Jesus shows immense tenderness towards sinners: the adulteress,

Zacchaeus, the sinful woman, and towards the sick, who are much more
in need than others of feeling the closeness and love of others. Jesus
finds them, encourages them, heals them, the presence of Jesus is
healing inside and out for man. Jesus trusts that man can change,
despite everything.

When Jesus has to justify his way of acting before the Pharisees, when
he has to defend himself from those who accuse him of his deep mercy
towards those they considered socially and religiously excluded, Jesus
presents them with the great justification: he cannot act otherwise,
because God, his Father “is like that” (mercy and forgiveness). Sn will
say it later. John: God is love. Let us just look at Cap. 15, 1-2 James.
Luke, “the accusation.” The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and
the prodigal son, the justification of that way of being, of welcoming
sinners and eating with them, and there is no other justification for Jesus
than this; that is God's style; that is how God acts.

From the parable of the prodigal son, we delve deeper into two other
important aspects of God's welcome to the failed, sinful and dissatisfied
man.

1. God is searching. He doesn't wait passively. He is constantly

coming out to meet others.
2. It awakens within man the desire to return and the hope of
finding his father's home again. The security of being
welcomed so that one can start again, writing one's own story
in a new light. Feeling welcomed, forgiven and loved as
children is an inner experience capable of unleashing all
possibilities internally.

A constant of living faith is, therefore, the personal encounter with God.
It is not a meeting like the one we have with other people. It is a

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meeting held on another level. At the most intimate and personal level,
an enormously real level, which supposes the possibility of an internal
dialogue, to deposit in it all our concerns: feelings and experiences,
experiences and trials, the pains and joys of life. God the Father, friend
and companion of my concrete existence, is the best news to be able to
experience liberation and salvation.

A great German theologian opened his heart to God in this way: How
could I bear with myself if I did not know that you bear with me, if I did
not have the experience that you are a good friend?

CALLED TO CONVERSION

1. Behind your human experience of being welcomed and forgiven

by others, have you ever realized the need for acceptance and
forgiveness from God himself? Have you ever felt within
yourself the presence of someone who knows you, who is
looking for you and who is waiting for you?
2. Do you think that you yourself would be more welcoming,
understanding and forgiving with yourself and with others, if
you always had the vivid experience of God's welcome and
forgiveness?
3. How do you feel at this moment when Jesus invited you: Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest?

THE HUMAN BEING, A GREAT MYSTERY

OBJECTIVE: to discover that in Jesus the mystery of man is revealed to

help us live as authentic human beings.

CLOSE TO REALITY

contradictions and confusions:

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The advances in modern technology (technology, media, research, etc.)

have been formidable. Little by little, human beings are getting to know
better when and how they appeared on Earth, how the body works, and
how the things around them work. However, important questions
remain to be answered: what is a human being, why are we in the world,
who has decided our existence... these are all questions of meaning.
The human person remains a mystery to himself.

A manifestation of this mystery are the contradictions and confusions

that surround today's man and the society in which he lives.

Personal contradictions and confusions

Happiness and suffering. On the one hand, the human person feels like
a dreamer, thirsty for happiness, seeking freedom, hungry for
celebration, for joy, for coexistence...; but, on the other hand, he feels
himself as dissatisfied, in conflict with everyone, or with many of those
around him (perhaps with those closest to him), prey to new slaveries,
often wrapped up in inner and outer suffering (moods, illnesses, family
problems,...)

Inner life and emptiness. We realize that the secret of our personal
fulfillment lies within ourselves, in the reality of our inner life... but in
fact, to fulfill ourselves as people, instead of going within ourselves, we
sometimes search outside ourselves, longing for more things that can fill
our emptiness.

Progress and insecurity: today, as never before, man has mastered with
new techniques aspects of life that were once unfavourable to him
(health, work, transport, etc.) but he cannot, however, avoid a certain
insecurity due to destructive weapons, the lack of work caused by new
technologies, the unpredictable educational horizon for his children.
Aware of our achievements, but threatened.

Communication and loneliness. We have more possibilities than ever to

avoid loneliness and isolation, thanks to the means of communication
(telephone, TV, radio, etc.), the lack of opportunities, the multiplication
of meetings, sometimes we are even in the middle of crowds, but we
probably feel lonelier than in previous times. Closer together, but more
alone.

Efficient, but less human, we feel that we are more enterprising, more
dynamic, that we value efficiency more, but perhaps we are less human,

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less respectful and we value less those who are no longer efficient (the
elderly, the disabled, the sick; it is a regrettable fruit of that mentality.

God and our human desires. Deep down we feel the mysterious
attraction of God, we desire to look a little beyond our own limits, we
feel the need for God, especially at certain moments in our lives; but we
do not decide to make a serious and sincere search for him, we remain
only in a desire (there must be something), but we do not decide to find
him.

Happy and frustrated. We want and try to be happy, with a happiness

that goes hand in hand with our enormous desire to live, but we realize
that we cannot find the means to achieve it, because we cannot be
happy in any way, especially when our desire to live has to count, even if
it weighs on us with the fact of our own death.

Social contradictions and ambiguities.

We demand rights for ourselves and marginalize others. On the one
hand, we demand the rights of all people, especially the weakest, but on
the other hand, we ourselves, sometimes without realizing it, are
creating new marginalized people, immigrants, indigenous people,
women, etc. We get rid of our elders by easily resorting to nursing
homes, we oppose and are upset when a center for drug addicts or AIDS
sufferers is opened in our town.

We reject dictatorships, but we are dictators. We are against all

dictatorships and totalitism, but sometimes we ourselves are dictators in
the areas in which we move (family, friends, etc.), or we do not realize
that we are also often collaborating in the creation of the problems of
poverty, injustice, and marginalization that we complain about in our
country.

We live in famine and poverty. In a society of abundance, we have not

been able to overcome the number one problem of our world: the
hunger of millions of people. The gap between countries that have
jumped on the development train and those that have not yet been able
to get on is growing ever wider, and if things continue like this, they will
never be able to get on.

Coexistence and tolerance. Our coexistence has improved through

respect for different ways of thinking and acting, but this mutual respect
and tolerance is giving rise to a great moral crisis. It seems to us that
now anything goes, everything can be done and no one can say
anything because of the respect that must be had for the opinion of

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others. On the other hand, many times, we do not allow anyone to tell
us how things should be, especially if we are involved.

Much depends on our own personal path, the environment in which we

move, our age, the situation we are experiencing at the moment. But it
is true that, many times, there is no one who understands us.

Is there an answer to this mystery that we are?

Here are some:

THOSE WHO BET ON NOTHING

Some people think that human beings are a disaster, that their lives
have no meaning, because their destiny is nothingness. With this
mentality, they wonder if it is really worth living. There was a time when
all these thinkers suffered because man was this way. It hurt them that
man was such a disaster. Today, those who follow the current of
thought do not even suffer for that, they accept that things are the way
they are, that they cannot be any other way, and they decide to get the
most out of life, whatever little or much it gives at any given moment.
As the only meaning of life would be that life has no meaning.

Those who ignore the problem

They abound today. They push aside all these questions, which seem to
them to be completely useless. What matters to him - they say - is
enjoying life as much as possible, looking for small meanings in the
immediate without getting too excited.

Others, because they do not have time, are excessively immersed in the
problems of each DAY, family finances..., they lack motivation, climate
and sufficient time to also ask themselves the most serious questions.

II WE REFLECT AND SHARE

2 What are the main contradictions and confusions that I discover

in my personal life? Those things that I see perfectly, but then I
don't do them?
3 To what extent do I identify with this experience that Saint Paul
relates: I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do
not want?

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4 What social contradictions and confusions are most common in

the environment where I live?

GOOD NEWS

JESUS OF NAZARETH REVEALS THE MYSTERY OF THE

NAME
Jesus also suffered in his own flesh with the contradictions and functions
of the human being, applauded and rejected by the same people, in the
midst of a people who sought to free themselves from the Romans, and
at the same time in a way committed to Jesus himself.

JESUS THE NEW MAN

And it gives us the opportunity to also be new people in it. Jesus not
only illuminates the mystery of the person through what he or she says,
but also manifests in his or her life the model of a fulfilled person.

KNOW HOW TO LIVE AS CHILDREN OF GOD

We wouldn't have even dreamed of it. But, in Jesus we discover that our
calling is to be and live as children of God. He said it with admiration,
Sn. John “See what love the Father has shown us, that we should be
called children of God; and so we are.” We thus understand that our
vocation as children of God, instead of diminishing our freedom, realizes
it in the fullness of love.

BEING AND LIVING AS BROTHERS OF ALL

By giving us the opportunity to be children of the Father, Jesus also gave
us the opportunity to live among ourselves as brothers. A brotherhood
with the Father and therefore a brotherhood that enters into the
realization of the human person himself, lived among us the same
relationship that Jesus had with the Father, in the Spirit. Our call,

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therefore, is to make our society a communion of brothers, from justice

and fraternity.

THE BET ON LIFE

I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John
10:10), this is how Jesus described the content of his mission. Having
the experience of life is the greatest fulfillment of the human being. The
Christian experience leads Paul to confront death itself. Where is death,
your victory? Because the center of Jesus' message is resurrection and
life in fullness.

With Jesus now as new people. In it we are called to carry out the
Father's project. He calls us so that we can repeat the experience of the
first disciples: “There is no other name on earth given to us by which we
can be saved” (Acts 4:12). Because it is about saving one's own life, but
only those who have learned to lose it can save it.

CALL TO CONVERSION

1 What more disturbing questions about the mystery of the

human being can Jesus and his message answer for us? Are
these questions that concern us and that concern people?
2 If these questions do not concern us, where should we start?
What could be failing us? What could be wrong if people
consider all this as important and vital to their lives?

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INDEX
Topic Page

Introduction 02
Dedication 03
Purpose 05

UNIT 1
What does it mean to be Catholic?
07
The Father's Love 13
Sin and its consequences 16
Salvation in Jesus 20
Life in the Holy Spirit 22

UNIT 2
History of the Church 26
Old Testament 31
New Testament 33
Search for Bible quotes 36

UNIT 3
Sacraments 41
Sacrament of Baptism 43
Sacrament of Confirmation 49
Sacrament of the Eucharist 56
Sacrament of Anointing 65
Sacrament of Reconciliation 71

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Sacrament of Holy Orders 80

Sacrament of Marriage 86

UNIT 4
Creed 93
Our Father 96
Hail Mary 102
The 10 Commandments 104
Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit 105
Commandments of the Church 107
Theological and Human Virtues 108
UNIT 5
Mary the believing woman 110
Marian Advocations 122
Biography of Saint John the Baptist 126
Deadly Sins 131
Works of Mercy 136
Layman in the Church 137

UNIT 6
Live to be or live to have? 141
Determined and brave, who or what will help us to be so? 145
Where to find happiness? 148
Called to be supportive and fair 154
Seeking the Face of God 159
Work: Punishment or fulfillment? 163
Living together: A necessity and a problem 166
Called to be free 169
The family: joy or endurance? 171
Hope despite everything 174
In my weakness, who will understand me? 177
The human being a great mystery 179

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LITERATURE
EVANGELISM
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
Alfonso Navarro Castellanos
MISSIONARY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

VATICAN COUNCIL II AND

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, COMPENDIUM

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO HOLY SCRIPTURE

FRIAR MILTON JORDÁN CHIGUA OFM CAP. 1st. EDITION

CONCLUDING DOCUMENT, V GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE LATIN

AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN EPISCOPATE
APARECIDA-BRAZIL, MAY 2007

WE WANT TO SEE JESUS!

CATECHUMENATE, THE WAY OF THE MISSION
P. JOHN MARY PIU (COMBONI MISSIONARY)

VERBUN DOMINI
THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH
BENEDICT XVI

NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE

BIBLE OF AMERICA

LATIN AMERICAN BIBLE

BIBLE OF OUR PEOPLE

Luis Alonso Schokel
PILGRIM'S BIBLE, LATIN AMERICA

JESUS OF NAZARETH,
THE COMPANION OF YOUR LIFE

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CATECHESIS FOR ADULTS, DIOCESAN CATECHESIS PROGRAM

DIOCESE OF HUEHUETENANGO

[Link]

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