 LOVE DOES NOT BEGIN WITH

THE FEELINGS OF THE

HEART, LOVE BEGINS WITH
THE LISTENING OF THE
EARS. YOU CANNOT LOVE
WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW
AND YOU WILL NOT KNOW
WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE TO
HEAR. THE PERSON YOU
DON’T LIKE TO LISTEN, YOU
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO
LOVE.-FR. RAFAEL B. PECSON OAR.
Jesus and the Church
 LOVE DOES NOT BEGIN WITH
THE FEELINGS OF THE
HEART, LOVE BEGINS WITH
THE LISTENING OF THE
EARS. YOU CANNOT LOVE
WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW
AND YOU WILL NOT KNOW
WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE TO
HEAR. THE PERSON YOU
DON’T LIKE TO LISTEN, YOU
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO
LOVE.-FR. RAFAEL B. PECSON OAR.
God’s Revelation-
He made Himself
known to human
beings through
Jesus.

Incarnation-God became Man

 The intimate relationship of JESUS with
GOD is an important factor because it
influenced Jesus words and action

 HIS MISSION
Relationship of Jesus to the Church
 God’s self revelation continues in the community
of Disciples-Church
 Community of disciples is a response to the total
life of Jesus
Community of disciples is a response to the
total life of Jesus
 The Church, faithful to her relationship to
Jesus has the mission of bringing
the goodnews to the whole humanity.
 Church mission is connected with Jesus
because Jesus life and ministry became the
foundation of the Church.
 Jesus lived a Life of compassion because of His
intimate relationship with God- “Abba Father”
 From this Jesus show us a compassionate God- for
the poor and suffering in the society.
Jesus as the Sacrament of God.

 Sacrament-referring to
the seven sacrament.
This sacraments helps us
to be better disciples and
human beings.
 A sign that effects what
it signifies-points to a
God who cares for His
people
  Sacraments are
interpersonal
encounter between
God and human beings

 We encounter God
when we celebrate the
7 sacraments
 WE encounter God in the person and ministry of
Jesus.
 Jesus is the sacrament of God
 We encounter Jesus through the Church because
the Church is the sacrament of Jesus
 God’s revelation took place in the course of
History and gradually revealed Himself to
humankind
 Jesus is the culmination, the final , absolute and
definitive revelation of God
Jesus relationship with God
 Symbolic way:WHO JESUS
IS? . Identity
 Image: Jesus is the
expression “original
sacrament (uraksament) in
relation to God
 Pope Benedict: Jesus is
someone who fully
manifested the presence
and action of God for
humanity.
 According to Edward
Schillebeeckx, Jesus is
the sacrament of God a
symbol of God and
paradigm of our
humanity.

 In Jesus we see the face

of God, He reveal who
God is, present and
active in the World.
 Jesus is faithful to
God’s will-consented
top the will of the
Father.

 God’s plan for humanity

became a reality
The KINGDOM OF GOD- the central message
of Jesus
 The whole of Jesus event
(life, ministry, death and
resurrection) symbolize
the presence and action of
God to human being and
the whole of creation.
 According to Edward
Schillebeeckx, Jesus is
the sacrament of God a
symbol of God and
paradigm of our
humanity.

 In Jesus we see the face

of God, He reveal who
God is, present and
active in the World.
 For the Jews: God is powerful, loving, faithful
and just illustrated by the story

Hosea: Unfaithful wife to Come back

Idolatry: The story of unfaithfulness
Prodigal son: A story of homecoming
Isaiah: How can a mother forget her son…
Jesus makes present a life giving
attributes or characteristics of God.
3 examples in the Ministry of Jesus
1. The Healing Ministry

 The healing ministry of Jesus is God’s compassion

for His people. He embodied God as healer of His
people.
 For the Jews Healing was a important aspect of their
understanding of salvation. It is not only physical but the
well-being of the totality of the person and the
community.
 Restoration of relationship as healing relationships,
restoration of wholeness.
 Ex. The healing of a woman who was bleeding for many
years. She was considered unclean and outcast. When
Jesus healed her she was restored physically and as
members of the community.
Table fellowship
 Symbolized and made present God’s inclusiveness.

 Concern for the lost and the last

 Jews: Eating was not only biological or social
activity and it is also a religious reality (eat, not
to eat, how to, and with whom)
 Ex. Respectable person should not eat with
sinners, pagans or prostitutes. Wash hands before
eating ( part of purity laws)
 It brings division.
 Gospel: Jesus eating
with all types of people
(tax collectors, outcast
of society. He ate with
those excluded by the
Jewish society
 Table fellowship: made
present God’s
compassion
PARABLES

 Jesus use to teach

 Stories: about the Kingdom ( comparison)

 The Kingdom of God-experience of

salvation both in the here and now
Tools for transformation

1.It is a short imaginative

story that communicate
one central idea reversing
a prevailing notion.
It is an invitation to see
things differently and act
accordingly.
Transformed perception
of things and events in
our life and in the life of
the society.
To call people to a new
way of relating to God and
to one another
Challenge prevailing
oppressive situation
Invite people to an
alternative lifestyle,
humane society.
2 imageries that explain what is
involved in transformation
1. Imagery of heart

2. Imagery of death
  Jews: Heart
represented the true
self of the person,
heart open to change if
it is centered in the
compassionate God.
Otherwise closed,
unfeeling, selfish.
 Transformation: imagery
of death, to die
 Conventional wisdom: to
family, wealth, honor,
purity, religion and self as
the center of one’s
concern.
 Imagery of grain falling on
the ground: unless a grain
of wheat falls down to the
ground and die….
 Jesus wisdom: calls us from fulfilling requirements of
religion or culture to a life rooted in relationship with a
compassionate God

 Jesus teaching mirror the loving God

 Christian faith is centered on
Jesus who is the Way the truth
and the life. (Jn. 14:6)
 Relationship of Jesus and God:
Jesus becomes the agent,
content and goal of God’s
revelation
  Agent: Jesus is the mediator-make us one with God,
between God and human. God and humanity became one.

 Goal: Jesus is the key, center and purpose of Christian life

 St. Paul: challenge to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Content: Who God is and what human being should be

 Ministry of Jesus

1. Jesus was a healer and exorcist

2.Jesus is a teacher of
transformative wisdom

3. Jesus is an initiator or renewal

movement

4. Jesus is a prophet.
Jesus and the Kingdom
 Central to Jesus Ministry is the Kingdom of God.

 Kingdom: reign (active presence) of God in the lives of people

 The reign of justice, truth, freedom, love and peace in human society

 Experience of total well being or salvation

 Jesus is the agent of the Kingdom of God.

 Synoptic gospel-focus of preaching and concern of
Jesus is not on the Church or about the Church
but the Kingdom or reign of God
The Kingdom of God for Jesus

 The Kingdom of God as good news-well-being, salvation,

fullness of life. Kaginhawaan ng katawan at kalooban ng
buong katauhan.
 The good news of the Kingdom does not ask for
performance-goodworks are only possible
because God’s grace. Abilities and capacities are
God’s gift.
 The Kingdom of God is an end to power
relationships. It is if oppression and domination it
is not life giving.
 The Kingdom of God is offered to all
Welcome: sinners, tax collectors,
prostitutes fringes of society because
Jesus sees the possibility of change to
these people

Jesus movement: acceptance, openness

towards others
Jewish society: exclusive in many ways
 The Kingdom of God is both present and future
The kingdom of God is well being in this life

Isaiah’s reflection: Jesus envisioned-food for the

hungry (corporal works of mercy)
 The foregoing ideas are important because as
Church we are agents of the Kingdom

 The Kingdom of God is our mission-to serve its

cause
 Jesus is the basis of our faith in God, through Him we
receive salvation as recipients of well-being intended by
God for us and we are expected to respond positively as
Jesus did.
The Church as a sacrament of Jesus

 Church: witness who Jesus

is to the World.

 Ground sacrament-grund
sakrament) the Church is
the fundamental
sacrament. In the Church,
the whole community
participates in Christ’s
presence.
Jesus as the foundation of the Church

 Jesus preaching of the Kingdom of God- as God’s

act of salvation for Israel making people’s lives
whole and meaningful.
 Disciples of Jesus continued His mission inspite
difficulties and persecutions
 Jesus life and ministry, death and experience of the
resurrection- basis of followers to form community which
later came to be known as the Church
The Church as agent of Jesus vision of
the Kingdom
 The Kingdom of God for Jesus: an experience of
God’s graciousness
 Prophet of Israel: the one who save, He brought
Israel out of Egypt. God acted on behalf of His
suffering people. Liberation from all forms of
bondage
 The Kingdom is a message about God relating
graciously to His people (parables, table
fellowship, healing)
 Love and authority: firm and commanding, sovereignty-
irony-reach out to the lowly, power over life and earth.

 God is great He respond to the suffering of the poor and

the oppressed.
 Jesus witness the graciousness of God. The church
is called to do the same to witness to the
Kingdom is to be disciple of Jesus.
Chapter 2: nature and mission of the
Church
Church and its role in today’s world.

 Discipleship: What makes a group of people Church

 Believing in Jesus that the Kingdom of God has come,
total well-being.
 Witnessing: forgiveness, compassion, freedom
5 dimensions that characterize the
Church.
1. Strong sense of fellowship
2. Nourished by the word of God
3. Celebrating communion with one another and
with God in prayer and sacraments.
4. Developed plurality of ministries
5. Continued Jesus mission of proclaiming the
Kingdom of God.
Scriptural Images of the Church- St.
Paul

1. People of God
2. Temple of the Holy Spirit
3. Body of Christ
People of God

 For the Jews this is the basic way to express their identity
 In Exodus experience-God made them into a nation a
people in which God reigns
 Assembly of God-”Kahal Yahweh” in Hebrew Ekklesia in
Greek
 Early Christians: New People of God-salvation and
well being-from God
The Church as the People of God

 It has a distinguishing characteristics.

1. Its cause is God, It head is Christ, members' are those who believe in Christ,
2. its condition is that of the dignity and freedom of the son’s and daughters of
God
3. its law is Christ’s new commandment of love
4. its mission is to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
5. its salvation, Its destiny is the final Kingdom of God, brought to perfection in
the end time.
Temple of the Holy Spirit

 The Holy Spirit is the one animating the Church.

 God dwelt: no longer a temple made of stone but God has

made their community into a livnig temple where God
dwells (1 Cor. 3:16, 17) (Eph 2:17-22)
Temple of the Holy Spirit

 Implications
1. Every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit-Baptism
2. Equality in the Christian community-gift of the Spirit
3. Spirit manifest itself in the diverse talents and charisms
Body of Christ

 Body -Expresses group of person with common political

ideal or follow a particular political figure
 Unique relationship to Christ of the members to one
another.
 Diversity of responsibility and ministries-build up the Body
 Unity and diversity: Within Christ body, the Church there
is a variety of members and functions. Unity is not
uniformity
Some challenges posed by the
Scriptural image for Christians today
1. From exclusive to a more inclusive Church
 We are part of the Church because God called us. It is a
gift not our personal or community achievement. We
cannot make the Church private and exclusive.
2. From Clericalization to community participation.
 We are of the same dignity because we are temple of
the Holy Spirit, the people of God and the body of
Christ different only in function and role
 From sacralization to a more historical perspective
3.

 Church is the result of God’s call, God’s doing but also the
result of human decisions and events in history.
 To think that the Church is unaffected by what happens in
society is to sacralize the Church
 Church transforms society yet affected
 Church leaders: read the signs of time, make the right
decisions guided by the gospel message.
 Church-people is on the move, new learning, new
discovery and adjustments and of conversion
 Faithful to the Spirit and blows where it wills.
4. From idealized picture to a more realistic
assessment of the Church.
 The Church is both a community of Saints and a
Sinner.
2 Visions of the Church

 Apostolic Age: The Bible is normative

 Church led by the Apostles-model of being a Church
because the Apostles’ had a first hand experience with
Jesus.
Second Vatican Council

 Vision of the Church Existed in History

1. Salvation-historical perspective-result of God’s presence
and action in History-Jesus of Nazareth- Church is
considered a sacrament-make present in the world a well-
being from God brought by Jesus
2. Growth of the Church and the need fro structures and
authority
The Church According to the Vatican II:
The Church as People of God
1. The Church as a sacrament or a sign of intimate union
with God and of the unity of all mankind.
2. The Church is not an exclusive community
3. The Church is a pilgrim towards the Kingdom
4. The Church is a sign of the Kingdom
5. The Church is a participatory community
The Church as Hierarchical society

 Role function and power

of leaders of the Church
 Co-responsibility and
authority is service
 Unity, sharing and service
to one another
 Image: Washing of the
feet
The Church as Servant

 Called to serve the World-it exist to serve and not be

served
 Dialogue with the world and society
 GS-The Church seeks a solitary goal, to carry forward the
work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending
Spirit and Chits entered this world to give witness to the
truth, to rescue and not tos it in judgment, to serve and
not to be served”
 God’s saving action in the society is the in the
involvement of the Church in socio-political life is for the
welfare of human life and respect for human dignity.
The Church as envisioned by PCP II

 PCP II purpose: Assess the effectivity of evangelization

and find ways to be of better service to the society.
 Identity and mission in a changed situation
 Renewed mission in a new way
 Communion of communities of disciples
 Laity as the center of the life of the Church
 Characteristics
 Basic Equality
 Unity in diversity of charisms and ministiries
 A spirit of participation
 Directed towards the service of the poor and the needy
 The Philippine Church has to become a Church not only for
the poor but also of the poor
 BEC
 Focus: Catechesis and Worship
 Catechesis: Christ-centered, rooted in the word of God,
authentically Filipino, systematic
 Worship: problem-separated from the totality of life,
renewal of prayer life, popular piety and liturgy.
Transforms the life of Filipinos into ne act of worship
 Renewed evangelization- renewal of social apostolate
 Evangellii Nuntiandi: The renewal of society in all its
starta through the interplay of the Gosp[el truths and
human’s concrete total life”
 Transforming the socio-political and economic life of
society is part of evangelization
The Church in the Philippines According to
the PCPII: Discipleship in Community

a. The Church is a Communion-communion of life, love and

truth, a community of faith , hope and charity.
1. Unity in Diversity
2. Equality in Dignity
b. Participation
c. Community-in mission
1. Our missionary vocation
2. Intereligious dialogue
 d. Priestly, prophetic and Kingly people
PCP II’s model of the Church

1. The Church is a Church of

the Poor
 To embrace and practice
the evangelical spirit of
poverty which combines
detachment from
possessions with
profound trust in the
Lord as the sole source
of salvation
 To have special love for the poor by giving preferential
attention and time to the poor, and serving them and
the needy precisely because they are most in need of
help
 To be in solidarity with the poor, collaborate with
them to raise them from their poverty.
 To vindicate the rights of the poor especially by
opposing those who discriminate against them
 St John Paul; “ the Church cannot remain silent. : the
Church must defend the rights of the poor and the
oppressed, even when doing so will mean alienation or
persecution from the rich and powerful (PCP II 131)
 To
empower, not just to evangelize, the poor to
become evangelizers themselves (PCP II 132)
 By proposing that the Church become a Church of the
poor, PCP II is clearly proclaiming an alternative lifestyle,
a counter culture, to the secular, consumerist, and
materialistic society common today.
 To become a Church of the Poor is really at the heart of
following Jesus who proclaimed the Goodnews of justice
and liberation for everyone
 PCP II challenge: To become a Church of the poor not just
in words but in real life, and stressed the pastoral priority
of “active presence and participation of the poor in the
Church.”
2. The Church is a community of families (PCP II 422)
 Biblical image: household or family of God
 Family share in the mission of the Church precisely as
family, the domestic Church and to participate in the
development of civil society
3. The Church is a community-in-mission
The Church does not exist for itself for itself nor for the
good of its members alone. It exists for the World
 Essential Characteristics of the
Church’s life
 These characteristics are gifts, tasks, hopes or promises.
They are a gifts in the sense that God is ultimately their
source. They are task because Christians and Christians
communities have to work for them. They are hopes
because their full realization is in the future.
 The Church is ONE

 Gift: One people of God, One body of Christ . God’s Spirit:

the source of Unity.
 Task: Unity is solidarity with one another as Christians
( ex. Preferential option for the poor)
There is one body, One Spirit in Christ, called to one
hope, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us
all.
 Unity is not uniformity: Unity in diversity
 Hope: When God finally unite all in all in the final
Kingdom
The Church is one

1. In the face of numerous sects and Churches, we boldly

affirm in faith that the Church is ONE. First from His very
source, One living God in Three persons.
2. The Church is one in her founder, Jesus Christ who
redeem and unify the whole human race, prayed to the
Father; That they may all be one”, instituted the Eucharist
which both signifies and effects the unity of the Church,
united all by his commandment and mutual love, poured the
holy spirity through whom He calls the peopkle of the New
Covenant into a unity of faith, hope and charity.
3. The bonds of Church unity are clearly set forth in the
Scripture; Christians form one body and one Spirit. The
Church is one in the confession of one faith received from
the apostles, in common celebration of divine worship,
especially the sacraments and fraternal harmony of God’s
family.
4. A visible sign of unity through St. Peter and his successor:
There is only one pope in the universal Church from the time
of St. Peter. He is the Bishop of Rome, the visible head who
governs the Catholic Church, The Church of Christ (LG 8)
5. Church Unity as a Task- preserving the faith and teachings
through the magisterium- Same creed , same Mass, same
seven sacraments, same moral teachings

Ecumenism-restoration of unity of the Christian Churches

The Church is Holy

 Holy-Katad because it is “set apart to serve God

 Gift: God makes the Church Holy
 Task: The Church has to grow in holiness which
means both leaders and members are in need of
constant renewal. A call to Holiness is the
challenge to love and serve others
 The Church is both Saint and sinner
 Hope: The Church is a pilgrim church until the day when
God make all things Holy in the fulfilment of the Kingdom.
 The Church is Holy

1. In faith, in a way that can never fail because of Christ.

2. The Holy Spirit graces her with the fullness of the means
of salvation and holiness
3. Task: Holiness is a process of growing, A Paschal
pilgrimage “ that all in the Church are called to Holiness.
All members are called to Holiness
4. Charity/love is the center of Holiness: Commandments of
Love
The Church is Catholic

 Catholic means: universal, complete, all embracing

 Understood more now as the interior capacity or
exercising a universal ministry or reconciliation (CFC,
1403)
 Inclusive
 Gift: rooted in the all embracing love of God for human
beings not a question of numbers but by direction
 Task: The Church is sent to all people to be a sign of God’s
universal love for all human beings, respecting people,
and culture. It involves mission and inculturation
 Hope: fosters and takes to herself the abilities, resources,
and customs of each people, she purifies, strengthens,
and ennobles them.
The Church is Catholic

1. Is spread throughout the world.

2. Possesses all saving truths- it continues to teach
everything that Christ taught and give witness to all that
Christ is and did.
3. Is sent to all peoples
4. Can heal all kinds of sins.
5. Abounds in every kind of virtue and spiritual gift.
The Church is Apostolic

 Gift: The Church is Apostolic because the Church has been

founded through the apostles
 Task: responsibility to witness Jesus through variety of
means
 Hierarchy: ministry of leadership in the Church;
sanctifying, governing and shepherding
 Apostolic succession, fellowship of service, principle of
collegiality
 Hope: that all in all will live a life of obedience to the
will of God
The Church is apostolic in three basic
ways
1. The Church is grounded by Jesus Christ
permanently on the foundation of the apostles
2. She guards and transmits their teaching and
witness
`

3. She continued to be instructed, sanctified and

guided by the apostles through their successors.