Why I love my Catholic Church! A personal and comprehensive view of Catholic Church By Fr.Bosco...

Why I love my Catholic Church!

A personal and comprehensive view of

Catholic ChurchBy

Fr.Bosco Gali

Why are you a catholic?

• Most of you have been catholic for years more than me.

• Suppose if I were to ask you ‘why are you a catholic?’

• What will your answer be?• How many of you can explain and say

this is why I am a catholic?• Apart from the reason ‘I was born a

catholic.’

• This is the challenge I was faced with?

• For years I was thinking I am catholic because my parents and grand parents were catholic; therefore I am catholic. And I loved it.

• But later on I felt that is not enough. I need something more.

• Then I began to reflect; Why am I a catholic?

• Specially in In India, where Hinduism is the majority and privileged religion, why am I a catholic?

• That made me to think. These are my personal answers. You may agree or disagree.

Aim

• But My aim for having this class and sharing these views is;

• That by the end of this class:• You yourselves will come up with

some of your own reasons for being catholic.

• You will find out what are the things that are keeping you catholic.

Know why?• If you don’t know why you are a catholic?• If you don’t love being catholic for specific

reasons• Then if someone comes and says

something,• Or you read a scandal in the catholic

church somewhere, and you are disturbed,• There is a great danger that your faith

may be shaken. So know why you are a catholic and what you love in this church.

I love my catholic church because of

• What it is!

• What it says! (Teaches)

• And what it does!

What is the Church?

Christ handing the keys to St Peter by Pietro Perugino

What is the Church? (1)

What is the Church?

The Church is the mystical body of

Christ, established by God on earth to gather humanity to

divine life in heaven.

KEY DEFINITION


What is the Church?

• God desires all the faithful to be a single family, united to him and to one another in one ‘mystical body’.

• This assembly is the Church, the body of Christ, which God has established as:

“the instrument for the salvation of all” (Lumen

Gentium 9§2, ccc. 776).


Compendium of CCC

• The word Church refers to the people whom God calls and gathers together from every part of the earth.

• They form the assembly of those who through faith and Baptism have become children of God, members of Christ, and temples of the Holy Spirit.

Mistakes about the Church

The Ordination of Saint Lawrence by Fra Angelico. The ordination of St Lawrence by Pope St Sixtus II reminds us that the Church is essentially hierarchical and united around

the successor of St Peter, the Pope.

Mistakes about the Church (1)

MISTAKES ABOUT THE CHURCH

An invisible church

The denial that Christ founded a visible institution; the claim that the present structures of Catholic leadership are a human invention.



MISTAKES ABOUT THE CHURCH

A church without a Pope

The denial of the true hierarchical structure of the Church with bishops united to, and under the authority of, the Pope, the successor of St Peter.



• Most non-Catholic Christians do not believe that Jesus Christ established a visible Church that is governed by a hierarchy of leaders who can teach with authority

• Instead, they believe that the Church is an invisible association of believers in Christ, loosely connected by a common belief in the Bible alone as the rule and guide of faith.

• They believe this despite the fact that this understanding of “church” was not espoused by any Christian figure until 1517, when Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church and developed the novel doctrine of :Sola Scriptura.

The foundation of the Church by Christ

Christ Teaches his Disciples by Duccio di Buoninsegna. This picture reminds us that Jesus founded his Church on his twelve

apostles, whose successors are the bishops.

The foundation of the Church by Christ (1)

• The Scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ left behind a visible and hierarchical Church with bishops, priests and deacons on whom He conferred His own divine teaching authority and instructed to perpetuate His mission by passing on their authority to successors

• The Scriptures teach us that Jesus specifically built His Church upon the Apostle Peter,* to whom He gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven,* Mt.16:19

The foundation of the Church by Christ

Jesus Christ established a group of followers under twelve leaders he called ‘Apostles’. He gave one of them, Simon Peter, overall authority.“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Mt 16:18-19


What is the Church?

This picture symbolises the founding event of the Church on earth.

Keys of the Kingdom

given by Christ to St Peter, symbol of the supreme

authority of Peter and of his

successors, the Popes.

The Twelve Apostles

were also given the power to bind and loose when united with Peter,

their head.

Jesus

Peter


• and the special mandate to rule over His flock.

• Read John 21: 15-17

• Do you love me?

• Feed my lambs…

The foundation of the Church by ChristHe gave his disciples his teaching to pass on to all peoples under the direction of the Holy Spirit who came at Pentecost. This teaching is found in Scripture and Tradition, and is interpreted by the Church with the authority of Christ.

He also established the sacraments to enable his saving power to be present through the ministry of the Church.

“Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).


Kingdom of God: Where?• Those who deny that Christ left a visible,

hierarchical and authoritative Church are forced to argue that the kingdom of heaven Jesus was talking about in Matthew 16:19 refers to the heavenly kingdom of eternal glory (as if Peter’s keys relate to a gate—keeping duty of letting people into heaven).

• Otherwise, the Catholic understanding of a visible, earthly kingdom-Church built upon Peter and invested with Christ’s divine authority is compelling.

But let us examine of parables of the kingdom to see what

type of Kingdom it is?• Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a field of good and bad seeds in reference to good and bad people? This kingdom must refer to the earthly Church and not eternal state of glory for there are no bad people in heaven.

Parable of the Mustard seed• Jesus also says the

kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that grows into a tree.

• This refers to the growth of the universal Church on earth — not heaven, which is eternal.

Parable of the leaven• Jesus says the

kingdom of heaven is like bread that is mixed with three measures of flour to become leavened.”

• This refers to the earthly kingdom of God, which grows in holiness.

• The metaphors “mustard seed” and “leaven” also demonstrate that the Church would change in appearance over time,

• but would be in essence the very same Church of Jesus Christ and His apostles.

Parable of net

• Jesus also says the kingdom of heaven is like a net which catches fish of every kind.‘

• This describes the universal (“Catholic”) Church, which unites people of every kind into the body of Christ.

Parable of the ten virgins

• Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to ten maidens, five of whom were foolish.

• Again, this kingdom refers to the Church on earth, because there are no fools in the glorious kingdom of heaven!

So,

• When Jesus declares that the kingdom of God “has come upon you”* or “is at hand,” He is referring to the earthly kingdom of God, and not the eternal state of glory

• Similarly when Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, He is referring to God’s kingdom on earth.

Ecclesia

• That is why he named his kingdom “Ecclesia.” Ecclesia is the Greek word for a formal, hierarchical assembly with visible leadership. Jesus only uses this word twice in the New Testament, each time in reference to His Church.

• He chose a special leader• He chose twelve apostles from many

disciples• And gave them the power to bind and to

loose.

• He also enabled them to choose successors• In the Acts of the Apostles (1:15-26), we

see that the first thing Peter did after Christ’s Ascension into heaven was to appoint a successor to Judas Iscariot.

• Even though Judas betrayed Christ, the authority of his office” (or bishopric) was respected and preserved (v.20).

• Thus, Matthias succeeded to Judas’ office with full apostolic authority (v. 15-26).

• in Acts 6, the twelve apostles expanded the apostolic college by an additional seven men: “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them” (Acts 6:5-6).

• A few chapters later, the Church ordained Barnabas and Saul at the direction of the Holy Spirit.

• While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts13:2-3).

• All these go to show that the church established by our Lord Jesus Christ

• Is the catholic Church• And the structure of the

church as we have it now is as biblical as it was in those days.

• Catholic church is the church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ on the foundation of his apostles and their successors.

The Church in the Creed

Pentecost by Duccio di BuoninsegnaThis descent of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of the Church’s

mission to the world.

The Church in the Creed (1)


THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH

“I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”

ONEShe is one because she has one founder, God. She is also one because her members are united in one faith, sharing the same sacraments under one head, Christ, and the Pope, his vicar on earth.


Compndium

• The Church is one because she has as her source and exemplar the unity of the Trinity of Persons in one God. As her Founder and Head, Jesus Christ re-established the unity of all people in one body. As her soul, the Holy Spirit unites all the faithful in communion with Christ. The Church has but one faith, one sacramental life, one apostolic succession, one common hope, and one and the same charity.




HOLYShe is holy because she is founded by God, and because her members are the baptised.Through her ministry sinners receive Christ’s forgiveness and become holy.


compendium

• The Church is holy insofar as the Most Holy God is her author. Christ has given himself for her to sanctify her and make her a source of sanctification. The Holy Spirit gives her life with charity. In the Church one finds the fullness of the means of salvation. Holiness is the vocation of each of her members and the purpose of all her activities.

• The Church counts among her members the Virgin Mary and numerous Saints who are her models and intercessors. The holiness of the Church is the fountain of sanctification for her children who here on earth recognize themselves as sinners ever in need of conversion and purification.




CATHOLICShe is Catholic, which means ‘universal’, because she is for all races and nations in all ages. All salvation comes through her.


• The Church is catholic, that is universal, insofar as Christ is present in her: “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch). The Church proclaims the fullness and the totality of the faith; she bears and administers the fullness of the means of salvation; she is sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race.




APOSTOLICShe is apostolic because her faith and practices have come to her from the apostles. Her leaders, the bishops, are successors of the apostles. She is also apostolic in that she is ‘sent out’ to preach the Gospel to all creation.


Compendium

• The Church is apostolic in her origin because she has been built on “the foundation of the Apostles” (Ephesians 2:20). She is apostolic in her teaching which is the same as that of the Apostles. She is apostolic by reason of her structure insofar as she is taught, sanctified, and guided until Christ returns by the Apostles through their successors who are the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter.

Where is the Church?

San Marco Altarpiece by Fra Angelico

Where is the Church? (1)

The Church on earth

The Seven Sacraments by Weyden. The primary mission of the Church on earth is to sanctify and save her members,

particularly through the sacraments.

The Church on earth (1)

The Church on earth

St Paul calls the Church the ‘body of Christ’ (Eph 1:22-23). As a body, she has an ordered structure and a visible unity. As Christ’s body, she is both a divine and human reality (ccc. 771).

The principal visible elements of this structure are the bishop of Rome (Pope), all the bishops of the world in communion with him, their priests and deacons, those in religious life and the lay faithful.


The Church on earth

The institution of the Church extends across all nations. The whole world is divided up into dioceses under the authority of bishops.

Dioceses are in turn divided into parishes under the direction of priests.


The Church on earth The Church also includes institutes of consecrated life following particular vocational paths. These include religious orders such as the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits.

There are also secular institutes, societies of apostolic life and many lay associations. The majority of the Church’s members are lay people whose special calling is to personal holiness and the evangelisation and sanctification of the societies in which they live.

Dominicans in the San Marco Altarpiece by Fra

Angelico


• "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

The Church on earth is called Militant Church

• The devil hates the good and persecutes those trying to set themselves free of his power. God permits devil to tempt people for their own benefit, as struggle with temptations helps man improve and strengthen spiritually. An ancient thinker was right, saying, "Without the devil and temptations, there would have been no saints."

The Church in purgatory

Detail from The Coronation of the Virgin by Quarton

The Church in purgatory (1)

The Church in purgatory also called suffering churchSince those who have died and are in purgatory are also part of the Church, the Church is also found in purgatory.

This is why we in the Church on earth offer prayers and sacrifices for the purification and reparation of the holy souls of the dead.Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

2 Macc 12:45



This picture depicts how prayers by the Church on earth can aid the passage of

souls from purgatory to heaven.

A Carthusian praying

Christ on the cross

whose merits make possible the

purification of the imperfect after

death.

Angel helping the soul (of a pope) from purgatory


The Church in heaven

The Coronation of the Virgin by Quarton. The Church in heaven, the coronation of Mary, Mother of the Church, and the glory of all the

angels and saints.

The Church in heaven (1)

The Church in heaven The goal of the Church is to be united with God in the glory of heaven. Just as Christians on earth comprise a community, those in heaven also form a community.

This is the Church in glory, which the Apostles’ Creed calls ‘the communion of saints’.


The Church in heavenThe word saint means ‘holy one’, a title of honour given to those who are now in the glory of heaven. Although most saints are unknown to us, the Church has recognised that certain men and women, from all ages and states of life, are definitely now in heaven.


The Church in heavenSome examples of saints are the apostles St Peter and St John; the martyrs St Agnes and St Thomas More; the virgins St Clare and St Edith Stein; and the pastors St John Vianney and St Philip Neri. The Church honours exemplary teachers, such as St Thomas Aquinas and St Teresa of Avila, with the title doctor of the Church.


The Church in heavenWe in the Church on earth are joined in prayer with the saints in heaven. We therefore honour them and pray for their intercession in our earthly pilgrimage.

In Scripture, the Church in glory is described as the ‘bride of Christ’ and the ‘new Jerusalem’.I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:1-2


Summary

Activities Menu

• The Church is on earth, in purgatory and in heaven.

• The principal visible elements of the Church on earth are the bishop of Rome (Pope), all the bishops of the world in communion with him, their priests and deacons, those in religious life and the lay faithful.

• The Church on earth also offers prayers and sacrifices for the purification and reparation of the holy souls in purgatory.

• The Church on earth is also joined in prayer with the saints in heaven. We honour them and pray for their intercession in our earthly pilgrimage.

Concluding Prayer

Summary II

II. I love the church for what it teaches!

Mission of the church?

• Mission of the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is

• To teach• To sanctify• and to Govern

• This mission it gets from our Lord himself

• Who is prophet• Priest and king• Hence threefold

functions• Of teaching• Sanctifying• And governing

And how it dispenses it duty!

• This is where I love my church!

For what it says!

• I love the church for what it teaches.• Stating what are the characteristics of

the people of God, that is the church, • Jesus Said:• You the salt of the earth• You are the light of the world• You are a city built of a hill-top

Compendium of CCC 154

• This people has for its origin God the Father;

• for its head Jesus Christ; • for its hallmark the dignity and freedom

of the sons of God; • for its law the new commandment of love; • for its mission to be the salt of the earth

and the light of the world; • and for its destiny the Kingdom of God,

already begun on earth.

Church as salt and light

• It is only Catholic church which is not easily moved and influenced by wimps and fancies of the people.

• It is the true prophet of our times and teaches what is right and what is wrong

• Its stand for the unity and sanctity of marriage. Hence it says not to divorce.

• Its stand for sanctity of life. Hence it says not to abortions

• Its stand for sacredness of sex. Hence it says no to artificial birth controls

• Its stand for the dignity of human body. Hence it says not to gay marriages or Sodomism.

Misunderstanding………..

• Often people accuse catholic church of not teaching enough of the Bible…………

• What they don’t understand it that Bible they have in their hand itself is our gift to them.

• It is we who received this word, preserved this word and given it to them.

• And if you attend your Sunday masses regularly and listened to the word of God attentively for three years,

• You have read the whole Bible once.• And if you attend daily masses regularly

and hear the word of God for two years, you have read the Bible again.

• So it is useless and baseless to accuse that Catholic church does not teach Bible.

• The other churches feel and teach as if Bible is their possession and we don’t have it;

• Don’t be misled by them. Bible is ours before it is everyone else’s.

• And the greatness of our church is that it does not bury its head in the bible alone obsession and does not know what is going on around.

• No it is awake to what is going on around.

• And responds to the situations around• Saying what does the word of God

mean to that situation.

• Jesus said “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”

• He preached and gave his word, yet, he says, “the Spirit” who he will send will lead us into the truth.

• It was the same Spirit that was breathed on to his apostles and that which descended on the apostles.

• All the ecumenical councils, dogmatic constitutions, encyclicals, apostolic letters are all responses to the present day situations, explaining what does the word of God mean for today.

• This is where our Catholic church is different from others

As a true mother

• It teaches us how to respond to new situations

• What is the truth behind so many new developments

• What to trust and what not to trust• It acts as a conscience to the world.• That is why I like the Church.

I love the Church for what it does.

• What I like in the catholic church is its sanctifying office.

• The Church carries out its office of sanctifying in a special way in the sacred liturgy, which is an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. (Can. 834 ß1 )

• In the liturgy, by the use of signs perceptible to the senses, our sanctification is symbolized and, in a manner appropriate to each sign, is brought about. Through the liturgy a complete public worship is offered to God by the head and members of the mystical body of Christ.

• This worship takes place when it is offered in the name of the Church,

• by persons lawfully deputed and through actions approved by ecclesiastical authority.

186. How do Bishops or priests exercise their ministry of

sanctification?• Compendium says

• Bishops sanctify the Church by dispensing the grace of Christ by their ministry of the word and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, and also by their prayers, their example and their work.

• In other churches, they will be concerned more about the sanctification by the word

• But they don’t have the sacraments• Even if they have, they have only one or

two• But we have seven• These seven sacraments are the seven

channels of grace available for us at each and every critical stage of our life.

I love the church for its sacraments

Church’s role in my life

• The church is present there from birth to death

• It brings the grace of God to me from birth to death.

Baptism

• When I am born it initiates me into the life of faith and grace through the sacrament of Baptism

Communion

• When I reach ten years of age, it starts feeding me with the body of Christ, because I am no longer a baby feeding my mother’s milk.

confession

• It also cleanses me from all my sins through the sacrament of confession. I am no longer a child, I have my own reason and will. And as a mother it knows I will fall and become dirty.

Confirmation• When I start

getting my moustache; it says, now you confirm your faith and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in faith, because now the devil will become more active and therefor you need more strength

Ordination or marriage

• After twenties, It gives me a choice of married life or consecrated life as my path to go to heaven. Depending on the choice I make, I am given the grace.

Anointing

•And when I reach the twilight of my life, it is there at my bed-side offering me comfort and healing.

The Beautiful hands of a priest…

• We need them in life's early morning,We need them again at its close;We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,We seek it while tasting life's woes.

• When we come to this world we are sinful,The greatest as well as the least.And the hands that make us pure as angelsAre the beautiful hands of a priest.

Beautiful hands of a priest…

• At the altar each day we behold them,And the hands of a king on his throneAre not equal to them in their greatnessTheir dignity stands alone.

• For there in the stillness of morningEre the sun has emerged from the east,There God rests between the pure fingersOf the beautiful hands of a priest.

The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

• When we are tempted and wanderTo pathways of shame and sin'Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.Not once but again and again.

• And when we are taking life's partnerOther hands may prepare us a feastBut the hands that will bless and unite us,Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

• God bless them and keep them all holy,For the Host which their fingers caress,What can a poor sinner do betterThan to ask Him who chose them to bless

• When the death dews on our lids are falling,May our courage and strength be increasedBy seeing raised o'er us in blessingThe beautiful hands of a priest.

Two more things

• Every priest prays divine office every day. And when we are ordained deacons we make a promise that we will pray this everyday.

• You know for whom this prayer is offered.• It is for the people. Whether you pray or

not, there are people praying for you.• You must have seen or heard monks in

monasteries singing this office. Its all for you and me

• And priests also celebrate daily Mass, even though it is not compulsory like the divine office

• And when he offers he does it as Hebrews says ‘Every high priest is chosen from among the people to represent then before God and offer sacrifices……………………….He is bound to offer sacrifices for his sins as well as those of the people. (Hebrews 5:1-3)

• So every mass offered by the priest on the alter is for us. Even though there is a particular intention.

• Every priest’s mass is for his parish and Every bishop’s mass is for his diocese.

• Whether I am there or not prayers are offered for me.

• Because I am part of this one body of Christ.

ConclusionWinesses: John Jimenez, USA,

joined at 24.

• I rededicated myself to the Catholic Church at the age of 24 for many reasons, first and foremost being God's grace. In my early adulthood, I began to recognize that I was a follower of Christ, but on my own terms. My prayer life was not what it should have been and I was attached to some of my sins.

• When I truly began, through prayer and study, to see the Presence of the Divine Lover in the Catholic Church, and fall in love with the Mass, Christ took greater hold of me. I learned to truly dedicate myself to Christ. Although I know that all Christians are brothers in Christ, I saw and still see in the Church the true Bride of Christ, established by Him through the Apostles, faithful to her Spouse. It's true that the devil has found his way into the lifestyles of many Christians, and Catholics, but I know our Lord is faithful to His Church and loves her, so in imitation of Him, I love her, and am eternally grateful for her bringing me into more intimate union with the One I truly love, Jesus.

Bobby Van, USA, joined at 25.

• I was raised in a Protestant church (fundamentalist), and was very involved in Sunday school and Bible Study. While prayerfully studying the Scriptures, I became aware that Christ had instituted seven sacraments, designed to deepen our faith and bring us closer to God. I mentioned this concept to my pastor, and I discovered that he didn't have a clue what a sacrament was.

• In fact, I began to realize that my denomination had made an idol of the Bible, and was actually worshipping the Word of God, instead of worshipping the living Lord. It was a very sobering experience. I realized that fundamentalism has drifted far, far away from the message of the Gospel, and really doesn't represent Christ's mission and message at all.

• I began to study the teachings of the liturgical churches -- Catholic, Greek, Episcopalian -- and ultimately discovered that the Catholic Church is the only Christian denomination that still teaches the Gospel of Christ. I made my first confession and first Holy Communion when I was 25.

What is your witness?

Final Prayer

From the hymn ‘Jerusalem the Golden’

Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest,

Beneath thy contemplation sink heart and voice oppressed.

I know not, O I know not, what joys await us there,

What radiance of glory, what bliss beyond compare.

O sweet and blessed country, the home of God’s elect!

O sweet and blessed country, that eager hearts expect!

Jesus, in mercy bring us to that dear land of rest,

Who art, with God the Father, and Spirit, ever blessed.

Amen.

Final Prayer

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