SAN BEDA COLLEGE

Mendiola, Manila

College of Law
Seminar 1
Chapter Summary
Cathechism for Filipino Catholics Chapters 6-12

Submitted by: Parungao, Edwardo D. 1-D Submitted to: Fr. Rembert Tumbali

Chapter 6

God, the Father Almighty

I am God the almighty. Walk in my presence (Gen 17:1) For us there us one God: the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we live; and one Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Cor 8:6) In general, most Christian Filipinos think of God as their all-powerful Father who is the Lord of all. This image conforms well with many traditional Filipino cultural values. When we proclaim in the Creed the truth that God is Father and Almighty, we commit ourselves to a certain vision and style of life. God is proclaimed as the ground for all our most precious values: how we want to think and act, be and pray. The Creed affirms God as Almighty Father, Creator of all things, with the devine Son-made-man Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, thus presenting the Holy Trinity. The Creed affirms God is Father because Jesus taught us to relate to God as Our Father (Mt 6:9). Jesus own experience of God as Abba (Father), was the basis for his teaching. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, ever at the Fathers side, who has revealed Him (Jn 1:18). By proclaiming belief in God, the Father Almighty, the Creed lifts us out of ourselves and centers us on the ONE GOD who is LOVE, and not on our meager selves. God enters our lives in our experiencing: our own inner search for meaning and happiness; the beauty and goodness of nature and our family, friends and neighbors around us; our Filipino history and culture; and especially, Gods public Revelation in salvation history as recorded in the Old and New Testaments, and climaxed in Jesus Christ.

God revealed Himself in salvation history. First, through the Covenant He made with the Israelites through Moses, Yahweh revealed Himself as the One God who is Truth and Love. Second, through his personal knowledge and intimacy, Jesus, the only begotten Son, taught us that God is our Father. Moreover, the Father and Christ are present to us by sending their Spirit into our hearts. The conviction that our Almighty Father provides the basis not only for all meaning in life, but also for our moral action and behavior, and our total prayer life. Moral Life The first Commandment gives us a perfect example of this connection between believing in God our Almighty Father, and acting accordingly. First, the truth: :Lord am your God, who brought you out of the land of egypt, that place of slavery (Ex 20:2; Dt 5:6). Then the action: You shall not have other gods besides me (Ex 20:3). Our utang na loob before God our Father means rejecting all other gods whether they wealth and possessions, reputation before men, or wordly power and success (cf. Mt. 4:1-11). Prayer Life The place of God as Father as father Almighty is centrall to all Christian prayer. In the eucharistic Celebration we begin with confessing our sins to almighty God. In the Gloria we worship, give thanks and praise the almighty God and Father. This is the worship is Spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24) that Christ proclaimed. This is the way our utang before God is expressed in prayer and worship.

Chapter 7

Creator of Heaven and Earth

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth . . . The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork. (Gn 1:1; Ps 19:2) He [Christ] is the firstborn of all creation. In him everything in heaven and on earth was created . . . all were created through him and for him, . . . In Him everything continues in being. (Col 1:15-17) We all ask, at one time or another, Where does everything come from? The Psalmist replies: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the breath of His mouth all their host. . . He spoke, and it was made; He commanded, and it stood forth (Ps 33:6,9). We ask: What is the purpose of it all? What is the meaning of our life and of death? (Cf. CCC 282.) Christian doctrine affirms that the most perfect answer to these questionings is to be found in God alone, who created us in His own image . . . and this answer is given in the revelation of Christ His Son who became one of us (GS 41). Moral Dimensions. PCP II gives being created in the image and likeness of God as sure Christian basis for our inalienable dignity and our social responsibilities (cf. PCP II 296; PP). We are called to imitate God our Creator both in working and also in resting, since God Himself wished to present His own creative activity under the form of work and rest (LE 25).

Thus the conviction that God is creating every human person continually in His own image and likeness is the immediate source for the second of the great commandments: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37-38). God is Creator of heaven and earth. To create means to put and keep something in existence. God is Creator because He puts and sustains everything in existence. He is the maker and final goal of everything that exists, all things visible and invisible. The truth of creation means that Gods loving creativity builds into each of us a meaning, purpose and destiny which nothing can take away from us. Creator means God is absolutely unique and different from everything else as the only Uncreated Reality, but also related intimately to everything that exists by His sustaining creative power. God the Creator. The Triune God: Father, Son and Spirit, is the Creator. The Father creates through his Word (Son) in their Holy Spirit. For Christians everything in heaven and on earth was created in Christ, . . . all were created through him, and for him. He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being (Col 1:16-17). God continues to create and to sustain in existence the whole world and everything in it. At every moment of their existence, God is the ultimate origin and source, unifying center, and final goal of all things. God freely creates out of sheer love, to share His own divine life and goodness. Creation is the first step in Gods plan of salvation for all through Jesus Christ. Being created means all things are equal in being totally dependent on God for their very existence, and therefore not to be feared or worshipped, but respected for their own God-given, built-in stability, truth and goodness, with their own laws and values. Worship Dimensions. Vatican II declares: The faithful must learn the deepest meaning and value of all creation, and its orientation to the praise of God (LG 36). This is expressed in the liturgy where the doctrine of God, Maker of heaven and earth, is repeated constantly. Two examples will suffice. In the Offertory of the Mass the celebrant prays: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, through your goodness we

have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. Again at the Sanctus, the whole congregation prays: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Clearly God as Creator is central to the liturgy. God continues to sustain and care for everything He created (general Providence), with special Providence in drawing sinful mankind back to Himself through the redemptive sacrifice of Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit. We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to His decree. . . For I am certain that neither life nor death . . . nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Rom 8:28, 38-39).

Chapter 8

The Fall from Glory

They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify Him as God or give Him thanks; . . . their senseless hearts were darkened . . . they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images representing mortal man, birds, beasts, and snakes. (Rom 1:21-23) The secret force of lawlessness is already at work. . . We are bound to thank God for you always, beloved brothers in the Lord, because you are the first fruits of those whom God has chosen for salvation, in holiness of spirit and fidelity to truth. He called you through our preaching of the good news so that you might achieve the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thes 2:7,13-14) Usually we Filipinos are ever ready to excuse our own and others faults: Sapagkat tayoy tao lamang. While this is admirable for patience and forbearance, it too easily avoids honestly facing evil and sin. It makes light of the real personal harm caused by sins to persons, families and whole communities. We often interpret our misfortunes as punishment from God for our sins (tadhana), or as a test from God (pagsubok). But this can lead us to concentrate on the punishment rather than the real evil of sin itself. The Catholic doctrine on original sin naturally goes with creation, since it modifies the believers view of all reality. As with creation, it is Christ our Lord who offers the real insight into this reality. For not only do we see Christ in sharper light as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29) - our Savior. We also see ourselves and our sinful world, with all its tragedies, trials and frustrations, as immediately touched by God our Father, through His only begotten Son-made-man, Risen from the dead, and in Their Holy Spirit. God our Savior is with us precisely in our experience of combatting this universal sinfulness. The Bible teaches that sin and evil come not from God who created everything good, but from the willful disobedience of man who abused

his God-given freedom at the dawn of history. Original sin can refer to two things: the first originating sin which brought evil and brokenness into the world; or originated sin, or the actual sinful state into which we are born, the essence of which is the privation of sanctifying grace, and some of whose consequences are evident in the outside sinful situation (sin of the world), and the inner effect of disordered desires (concupiscence) we all experience within us. This doctrine of original sin radically affects our moral perspective and vision. We begin to understand the depth of the power of evil ranged against our attempts to follow Christ faithfully through thought, word and deed. The personal and social demands of responsible Christian living would be overwhelming if it were not for Christs promise to be with us always in his Spirit. And this presence of Christ and his Spirit is felt only through an active prayer and sacramental life. In worship, a more accurate understanding of original sin would help the Filipino Catholic toward a far deeper appreciation of Baptism. Instead of a social ceremonial ritual which by some magic supposedly washes away sin from an apparently innocent child, Baptism would be seen as a real force throughout our Christian lives. Baptism calls for our persevering effort to follow Christ in everything we do. Our Baptismal vows, repeated every Easter, must be taken seriously as a realistic commitment to Christ. Only through the power and inspiration of the Spirit, sent by the Risen Christ and the Father, can we be faithful to them. We make them as members of the local Church, the Christian community whose strength and support are absolutely essential for our active Catholic life. A better grasp of the reality of original sin would also both inspire a more intense prayer life as well as help purify it from self-centeredness. A pure and open heart, child-like simplicity, and intense sorrow for sin and firm purpose of amendment, are not qualities that come naturally. When present, we recognize them as gifts of the Spirit. Thus, the worship dimension of our Catholic Faith is also intrinsically influenced by the condition described by the doctrine of original sin.

Chapter 9

God Promises a Savior

You will know that I, the Lord, am your God when I free you from the labor of the Egyptians and bring you to the land which I swore to give. (Ex 6:7-8) With the Lord is kindness and plenteous redemption. He will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. (Ps 130:7-8) Promise is one of the key words of love. The Old Testament story of Gods love for His people centers on His promise of salvation. I have witnessed the affliction of my people . . . I have heard their cry . . . so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I will come down to rescue them (Ex 3:7-8). That God knows the suffering of His people shows Him as one who loves and cares for the oppressed, the afflicted, the poor and the hungry. The Old Testament gives us the living Word of God that brings Gods promise of salvation to us. Salvation is not a material thing, but a spiritual reality only gradually understood through its promise. The OT provides the background for interpreting our own experience as well as the words, example, and presence of Christ our Savior. When the Holy Scriptures are read in the Church, it is Christ himself who speaks to us. Gods Promise of salvation is found in all three parts of the OT: the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings (the Wisdom books and Psalms). The OT Covenant Law was Gods great gift to His people, offering them a special vocation and way of life as a community heritage. The Law reveals a God for and with His people, whose commandments are meant to liberate His people, despite their infidelities toward Him. Moral Dimension. The moral code of the Ten Words at Sinai still grounds the New Covenants moral stance, as Jesus himself presented it.

Moreover, the mystery of moral evil, sin, is dramatically presented in Genesis and throughout the Old Testament. Perhaps even more important is how sins social nature, and the corresponding call to liberating action are most powerfully described by the prophets, as todays liberation theology clearly manifests. In addition, the book of Proverbs provides ample examples of common sense advice for training in wise conduct, in what is right, just and honest (Prv 1:3). Worship Dimension. The Churchs liturgical worship in the Eucharist celebration draws directly on the Jewish synagogue service of Gods Word in Sacred Scripture, and especially on Israels great feast of the Passover. This practice simply builds on Christs own example at the Last Supper. Moreover, especially in Israels songs, the Psalms, the Catholic Church finds the inspired expression of her deepest spiritual longings.

Chapter 10

Mission and Person

And you, he said to them, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God! (Mt 16:15-16) Thomas said, My Lord and my God! (Jn 20:28) The center of our Christian Faith is Jesus Christ. Hence he is the heart and center of catechesis. Every Sunday during the Eucharistic celebration, Filipino Catholics proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ, the only Son, our Lord. The doctrine of the mission and identity of Jesus Christ is the core of every Christian Creed. To affirm Jesus is Lord is the central conviction of the Christian community. On the truth of Christ as Son and Savior depend all the basic Catholic doctrines: of God as Triune Creator, of the Church as Christs Mystical Body, of redemption from sin by Christs Paschal Mystery, of our life of grace in the Holy Spirit, and of our final destiny with God in eternal life. The thirst for a personal relationship with Christ our Savior (e.g., in the Born Again), and for Christ the Liberator among the oppressed and exploited, indicates a strong yearning for Christ among many Filipinos today. Getting to know Christ is a gradual, life-long, ever-deepening personal relationship with the Jesus of the Gospels, present to us now in multiple ways as the Risen Christ. Moreover, knowing Christ means being committed to him, being his disciple. We come to know who Jesus IS, from what he DID and continues to DO. Therefore, it is important to know the historical life and work of Jesus through constant contact with the Gospels, in order to know in faith that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11).

God the Son became one of us: for our salvation, that is: to save us from the slavery of sin; to reveal to us Gods unending love for us; to be our model, as the Way, Truth and the Life; to actually share His divine son ship with us. Jesus, the Beloved Son of the Father and filled with the Holy Spirit, perfectly fulfilled the task of a prophet: to proclaim the Word of God; support it by signs and wonders, and seal it with his own blood. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, already present and at hand through him, but not yet realized fully, as it will be at the end of time. This Kingdom summarized all the blessings of Gods presence among His people, liberating them from sin, for loving service of one another. Jesus preached and taught with certainty, because he taught only what he heard from his Father; authority, because he spoke in his own name, of what he knew personally; power because he claimed a unique filial relationship with God, his Abba, Father. Jesus worked many miracles, wonders and signs, healing the sick, freeing the possessed, raising the dead to life. Through these signs he called all to faith in him and to discipleship which consists in following him in building the Kingdom through loving service of others. As announced even before his birth, the Child is to be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21). Lord by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free. You are the Savior of the world. Jesus saves by making it possible for us to work throughout our lives against SIN, the spiritual root of all the evils which we experience. He calls us to embrace and exercise his liberating grace in all our moral actions, especially by working for justice and peace. Jesus saved by dissipating the darkness of ignorance and prejudice through the light of his Truth, and by giving meaning and purpose to human life, even its sufferings. Chosen to be the Mother of Jesus our Savior, Mary was conceived in her mothers womb preserved free from all stain of original sin (Immaculate Conception). At her death, she was taken up body and soul into heaven (Assumption). Both graces are not exceptions separating Mary from us, but privileges of perfection and completion that enable Mary to fulfill her unique role in Gods plan to save all through Christ, the one Mediator.

Chapter 11

Christ Has Died

The Son of Man has come not to be served but to serve - to give his life in ransom for the many. (Mk 10:45) I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. (Jn 12:24) The Creedal doctrine on the Sufferings and Death of Christ proclaims central truths of our Christian Faith: God as redeeming Love, and Christ our Savior, responding to our sinful human condition. Christ, the Wordmade-flesh, whose glory is that of the Fathers only Son (Jn 1:14), never reveals the Father more intensely than when dying on the Cross, loving to the end, crying out Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Lk 23:46). The glory of God shines through the Crucified Christ as nowhere else! When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM. . . The One who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself (Jn 8:28; 12:32). Central to the Gospel is Christs Cross of salvation. The Cross is the symbol of Christs Paschal Mystery (dying to rise to new life) and Christian discipleship: Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross each day and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Lk 9:23-24). St. Paul summed up the Gospel he preached and had received by stating: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, . . . he was buried; . . . he rose on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:1-5). We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and an absurdity to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Gentiles alike, Christ the power of God and the

wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:23-24). Jesus freely and consciously went to his death to fulfill the mission he had from his Father. He saw himself fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies by giving his life in ransom for the many (Mk 10:45). Our Savior Christ Jesus. . . sacrificed himself for us, to redeem us from all unrighteousness and to cleanse for himself a people of his own, eager to do what is right (Ti 2:14). Christs redemptive Death is, of course, the ground for the center of Christian worship, the Eucharist. The Easter Prefaces proclaim that Christ, our Paschal sacrifice, is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed our death; by rising he restored our life. Christ redeems us in two basic acts: He removes our subjective guilt by bringing us Gods pardon and forgiveness and He restores the objective moral order broken by our sins through his loving act of reparation. Christ died because of our sins, and to overcome our sinfulness and its effects in the world. Thus he made possible our own repentance and sacrifices, to share in his redemptive work. Christs redemptive Death is different from all others in that its effect is: a) universal, touching all; b) eschatological, reaching to eternal life; and c) empowering us to share in his redemptive work. The last action of Christs Passion and Death proclaimed in the Creed is: He descended to the dead. This means that Christ really and fully entered into the human experience of death, that his salvific ministry is universal, extending to all who had died before him, and that he is truly the Savior of all, including even those who have never heard of his Good News. Christ truly and fully underwent the final test of all humans, deathBy his Passion and Death Christ reached down into the deepest roots of human alienation our separation from God, from ourselves, and from one another. The love of the crucified Christ becomes the norm, the source, the means, and the final goal of all Christian morality. Christ tells us: If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in my steps (Mk 8:34). For This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you (Jn 15:12).

Chapter 12

world. Simply put, without Christ risen from the dead, there would be no Christian Faith. Christs resurrection is not simply a fact of information, but rather, together with the Incarnation, the most significant event of the Christian Faith. It confirmed all Christ had done and taught during his public ministry; fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies; confirmed Jesus as the only Son of the Father; enabled Christ to share his new life with us as adopted sons and daughters of the Father; and will be the principle and source of our resurrection. The challenge today is not in accepting Christs Resurrection, but in living out the Gospel of the Risen Christ. Christs Resurrection is not only the proof of the Gospel message. It IS the central Gospel message itself. Jesus passed from death to a new, definitive glorified life, effected by the Blessed Trinity, and is now the source of that new life for all. Ascension means that the Risen Christ ascended to heaven to take his place at the right hand of the Father. The Ascension is a salvific event for us since Christs return to the Father was necessary for sending the Spirit among us and for Christs continued mediating on our behalf as well as for grounding our hope in our own future resurrection. In Johns Gospel Christ speaks of being lifted up in referring to his Crucifixion, his Resurrection, and his Ascension to heaven. The Risen Christ will come again at the Parousia to judge the living and the dead. Biblical accounts of Christs Second Coming are written in the apocalyptic genre and must be interpreted accordingly. Christ clearly affirmed that no one knows this, except the Father. It is useless, therefore, to speculate on this when.

Christ Is Risen and Will Come Again

This is the Jesus God has raised up, and we are his witnesses. Exalted at God's right hand, he first received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, then poured this Spirit out on us. This is what you now see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33) If Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. . . If our hopes in Christ are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable people. (1 Cor 15:17,19) The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the primordial Christian proclamation. The doctrine of Christs Resurrection and Second Coming constitutes a central part in our understanding who Jesus Christ IS. Without much speculative reasoning, the ordinary Catholic Filipino instinctively senses that Christ as Risen Savior and as Judge must be true God and true man in some way. He is both one of us, able to sympathize with our weakness (Heb 4:15), and yet capable of taking away the sin of the world, and given the power to pass judgment on it (Jn 1:29; 5:27). As risen from the dead, Christ is present and operative in our human history, the Head of the Christian communities, the Church. Christs Resurrection is far from being merely the personal miraculous return from the dead which one might expect of the crucified God-man. The actual event of Christ rising from the dead was the real starting point and foundation for the beginnings of the Christian Faith: for the Christian community, the Church; for adequate understanding of Christ, his Passion and Death; for how Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies; for the apostolic commission to preach Christ to the whole