Week 20: Passages 901 - 953

Passages 901-953
These readings cover the vocation of lay people, the consecrated life, and then begins to explain the communion of saints.
The participation of lay people in Christ’s priestly office

“’Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy
Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the
Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and
apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind
and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit- indeed even the hardships of
life if patiently born- all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ. In celebration of the Eucharist these may most
fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so,
worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world
itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.’”
(CCC 901)

Lay people can serve as lectors or acolytes, and if there is necessity can exercise the liturgy of the word, preside over liturgical prayers, confer Baptism, and distribute Holy Communion.
Participation in Christ’s prophetic office
Lay people fulfill their prophetic mission through evangelization, both through the witness of their lives and through direct teaching of the Gospel to others.
Participation in Christ’s kingly office
One way we can participate in Christ’s kingship is to have authority over our passions, and not let sin reign in our hearts.
Another is to cooperate with our pastors in service to the ecclesial community.

The Consecrated Life
The consecrated life is characterized by a vow of chastity, poverty, and obedience. It is a way to become more intimate with God, to dedicate oneself totally to Him.
One great tree, with many branches
There are many different religious families, all of which aid their members in progressing in holiness and benefit the Body of Christ.
The eremitic life
Hermits devote their lives to praise God through separation from the world, prayer, penance and solitude. They manifest the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, personal intimacy with Christ.
Consecrated virgins and widows
Virgins or widows can be consecrated by the diocesan Bishop and are then betrothed mystically to Christ. They become a sign of the Church’s love for Christ and are called to prayer, penance, service, and apostolic activity.
Religious life
Religious life is distinguished from the other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, the public profession of the evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty, and obedience), fraternal life, and the witness given to the union of Christ with the Church.
Religious life is a gift from the Lord, and signifies the charity of God. All religious help the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. Historically religious families have been instrumental in spreading the faith.
Secular institutes
A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the faithful living in the world share the task of evangelization and act as “leaven in the world.”
Societies in apostolic life
Alongside the different forms of consecrated life there are societies for members without religious vows to pursue the purpose of the society.
Consecration and mission: proclaiming the King who is coming

“In the Church, which is like the sacrament- the sign and instrument- of God’s
own life, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the mystery of
redemption. To follow and imitate Christ more nearly and to manifest more
clearly his self-emptying is to be more deeply present to one’s contemporaries,
in the heart of Christ. For those who are on this ‘narrower’ path
encourage their brethren by their example, and bear striking witness ‘that the
world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the
Beatitudes.’” (CCC 932)

Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints
The Church is the communion of Saints, all the faithful form one body and there is a communion of goods.
Communion in Spiritual Goods

• Communion in faith – faith is enriched by being shared
• Communion of the sacraments – the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful to one another, and binding them to Jesus Christ. The term communion can be applied to all of them in particular the Eucharist.
• Communion of the charisms – the Holy Spirit gives special graces to the faithful for the good of the church.
• “They had everything in common” – Everything a Christian has is a possessed by all, a Christian is a steward of the Lord’s gifts and should help the needy.
• Communion in charity – Every act of charity profits all, and every sin harms all.

Questions for Reflection:

• In these reading we read about the mission of the lay faithful. In what ways do you participate in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and kingly office (CCC 901-913)?
• CCC 953 discusses communion in charity. Do you think of your sin as affecting the entire body of Christ?

Week 19: Passages 863- 900

I’m back! I am going to tell you why I haven’t been blogging, but I have to whisper as there are certain relatives who haven’t been filled in yet. So gather in…
{My husband and I are blessed to be expecting a new little baby due in March! We are so excited, but I have been very sick and tired with morning sickness that lasts all day. It is getting better now though, so I hope to be able to keep up with blogging again.}
I also want to encourage anyone who has fallen away from doing the readings, to just jump back in where we are! Think about it, even if you don’t get through the whole Catechism, any reading is going to beneficial, and it makes it more fun if I have company!

This week we read passages 863-900.

The Church is Apostolic
The Church remains true to the faith of her origins, handed down from Peter and the Apostles and it is her mission to go out into the world. All Christians share in this mission. The fruitfulness of this apostolate depends on a deep union with Christ.
The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic because it is in her that the kingdom of heaven already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time.

“The kingdom has come in the person of Christ and grows mysteriously in the
hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological
manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made ‘holy and blameless
before him in love,’ will be gathered together as one People of God, the ‘Bride
of the Lamb,’ ‘the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God.’ For ‘the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and
o them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.’” (CCC 865)

Paragraph 4. Christ’s Faithful – Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life
The Christian faithful all participate in the building up of the body of Christ. There are differences between members, but they all share one unified mission. The apostles and their successors are entrusted with teaching, sanctifying and governing in Christ’s name. The laity have their own assignment, they are made to share in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ. In addition some from both groups are consecrated to God in their own special manner.
I. The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church
Why the ecclesial ministry?
No one can believe in the Gospel without first hearing it. No one can bestow grace unto himself. Thus Christ authorized his ministers to act in persona Christi Capitis. The ministry by which God’s grace is given is called a “sacrament”. The ecclesial ministry has several characteristics: a character of service, a collegial character, and a personal character.
The Episcopal college and its head, the Pope
When Christ instituted the Twelve, he set Peter apart and gave him the keys of his Church. The Pope and the Bishops are the successors of the apostles.

“The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible
source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company
of the faithful.’” (CCC 882)

The teaching office
The Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task to preach the Gospel to all men. In order to preserve the purity of the faith Christ granted the Magisterium the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals.
The sanctifying office
The Bishop is the steward of grace, particularly in the Eucharist which he offers personally or through his co-worker priests. The Eucharist is the center of life of the particular church. The bishop and priests sanctify the church through their prayer, work and example.
The governing office
The Bishops govern the particular Churches assigned to them by counsels, exhortations, and example, but above all the authority of sacred power. Bishops should follow the model of the Good Shepherd, and their authority must be in communion with the Pope.
II. The Lay Faithful
The vocation of lay people

“’By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the
kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to
God’s will…It pertains to them in a special way to illuminate and order all
temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be
effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and
Redeemer.’” (CCC 898)

Lay Christians are particularly responsible for permeating social, political, and economic spheres with the demands of Christian doctrine and life.
Lay Christians have the right and duty to spread the divine message of salvation. They are essential to the ecclesial community, without them the apostolate of the pastors would not be effective.

Question for reflection:
How can we live out this charge from CCC 898 to “illuminate and order all temporal things with which [we] are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer”?

Week 18: Passages 823 - 862

Anyone still out there? I'll be back soon! I hope :) And I'll fill in on what's been up around here, keeping me from the keyboard...

Week 17: Passages 787-822

Enjoy this week's readings, I hope to be back to blogging soon :)

Week 16: Passages 748-786

Great readings this week! I can't wait to get back into the blogging swing again! Thanks for the prayers, hopefully soon I'll be back with updates of whats been going on around here.

Week 15: Passages 702-747

Due to some family circumstances blogging will be postponed for a few weeks. I'll just post the weekly readings, no notes. Feel free to comment as always. Talk amongst yourselves! I hope to be back soon.

Week 14: Passages 668-702

Article 7 “From Thence He Will Come Again To Judge The Living and the Dead”
I. He Will Come Again in Glory
Christ is the head of the Church, his body. At the Ascension God’s plan came to fulfillment, we are living in the “last hour”, Christ has brought us redemption by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Church. Christ’s kingdom is present in the Church. The Church on earth is endowed with a sanctity that is real but imperfect.
Christ’s reign is yet to be fulfilled by his return to earth. Thus the Church carries the mark of the world and we pray for Christ’s return. This is a time of the Spirit and of witness, of distress and of waiting and watching.
The Messiah could come again at any moment, he will come when “all Israel” recognizes him. Before this coming the church will pass through a great trial which will test the faith of many. This religious deception will take the form of an Antichrist. We can see this deception already in the world every time someone attempts to create here in history what can only happen at the last judgement.

“The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only though this final Passover,
when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom
will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a
progressive ascendancy, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of
evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God’s triumph
over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final
cosmic upheaval of this passing world.” (CCC 677)

II. To Judge the Living and the Dead

“Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced
the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching. Then will the conduct of
each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. Then will the
culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God’s grace as nothing will be
condemned. Our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or
refusal of grace and divine love. On the last day Jesus will say: ‘Truly I
say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it
to me.’
Christ is the Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass
definitive judgment on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of
the world. He ‘acquired’ this right by his cross. The Father has given
‘all judgment to the Son.’ Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save
and to give the life he has in himself. By rejecting grace in this life,
one already judges oneself, receives according to one’s works, and can even
condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love.” (CCC
678-679)

Chapter Three: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith within us, but the last of the persons of the Holy Trinity to be revealed. God revealed himself to us gradually so we wouldn’t get all overwhelmed and confused!
The Holy Spirit was at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning but it is only now in these “end times” that the Spirit is recognized and welcomed.

“Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and head of the
new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the
Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of
the body, and the life everlasting.” (CCC 686)

Article 8: “I Believe in the Holy Spirit”
God’s Spirit reveals God and Christ, but we cannot hear his voice and he tells us nothing about himself. We can only see the movement through which he reveals the Word to us. When we believe in Christ he comes to dwell in us.
In the Church we can know the Holy Spirit:

• in the Scriptures he inspired;



• in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;



• in the Church’s Magisterium, which he assists;



• in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;



• in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;



• in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;



• in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;



• in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.
  

I. The Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit
When the Father sends his word he always sends his Breath. The Holy Spirit is invisible but nonetheless shares in the divinity and mission of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us.
II. The Name, Titles, and Symbols of the Holy Spirit
“Holy Spirit” is the proper name of the third person of the Trinity. The Church has received this name from the Lord, it comes from the Hebrew word “ruah” which means breath, wind, or air.
Titles of the Holy Spirit

• Paraclete (advocate, consoler)



• Spirit of truth



• Spirit of the promise



• Spirit of adoption



• Spirit of Christ



• Spirit of the Lord



• Spirit of God



• Spirit of Glory
  

Symbols of the Holy Spirit

• Water



• Anointing



• Fire



• Cloud and Light



• The seal



• The hand



• The finger



• The dove

Questions for Reflection:

• CCC 678-679 really gave me a kick in the pants! It reminded me that so often we can reject or accept grace. I'm going to read those passages over a few times this week.
• I didn't realize there were so many symbols of the Holy Spirit! I think I knew about fire and the dove. Read CCC 694-701 to learn about the rest.