JESUS CHRIST: HIS MISSION AND MINISTRY

1. JESUS CHRIST:HIS MISSION AND MINISTRY MICHAEL PENNOCK AVE MARIA PRESS, 2011

2. CHAPTER 1 –GOD’S REVELATION AND OUR RESPONSE • To be human is to question! • Our questions come from our searching minds, but also from our restless hearts • Sense a deep longing in our hearts for something more • Only found in God who is Truth and Love • The Confessions (St. Augustine): God as our true happiness

3. Transcendence and Immanence of God • Transcendence: God is beyond our comprehension • Immanence: God is intimately united with all of creation and sustains their being • Find God in creation and in human persons

4. What about nonbelievers? • Atheists: deny that God exists • Agnostics: refuse to take a stand on the question of God’s existence

5. God’s self communication (Divine Revelation) to humans has occurred gradually • Story of God’s saving activity for humanity known as salvation history • Series of covenants between and humans • With Noah: after the flood; rainbow as sign • With Abraham: “Father of Faith”; circumcision as sign

6. With Moses: Mount Sinai; YHWH (I am who am); Ten Commandments as sign • With David: line of David future Messiah • Jesus Christ, the New Covenant: Climax of Salvation History = Jesus Christ (God’s Son, the fullness of God’s Revelation) • Brought Sinai Covenant to fulfillment (depth of its meaning) • Jesus as God’s final, total, definitive Word

7. How do we who are living today learn about God’s revelation? • Transmission of Salvation History to us: Apostles Deposit of Faith Magisterium • Magisterium: guided by the Holy Spirit • Determines canon of inspired writing • 46 Old Testament bks., 27 New Testament bks. • Dogma: a central truth of Revelation that Catholics are obliged to believe

8. Four Gospels: the heart of the NT; principal source of information about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ • Life and Teaching of Jesus (4-6 BC and AD 30/33); historical documents • Oral Tradition: Apostles preached what they witnessed • Written Gospels: (AD 65- Mark’s gospel); four reliable accounts of Jesus’ life • Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit • Four orderly accounts that would appeal to their various communities of people

9. Faith: our positive response to Revelation • A virtue (habitual and a firm disposition to do the good) Cardinal Virtues Theological Virtues Prudence, justice Infused into our souls Fortitude, temperance Gifts from God (unearned)

10. Faith: in Baptism; believe in God; lifeline to God • First shared in the “domestic Church” (parents and children worship God, receive sacraments) Religion (a set of beliefs, values, practices that bind believers in a relationship with God and other believers • Religion flows from faith • Christian Faith unites us with a community of faith, the Catholic Church, which professes belief in Jesus Christ

11. Hope: helps us to desire God; rely on God not on our own strength and abilities; keeps us from getting discouraged • Charity (Love): greatest of the theological virtues; If we love everyone, it transforms us.

12. Church as the Body of Christ in the World • St. Paul: Jesus as head of the body; we are its members. • Dignity of each member • Marks of the Church • Unity (rooted in the mystery of the Trinity) • Holy • Catholic (universal) • Apostolic (missionary) • Explaining the Faith • Reason: Thomas Aquinas (Five Proofs) • Ordinary Experience • Witness of martyrs