The desire for God is written on every human heart (CCC 27)
God never ceases to draw us to himself
We encounter God through creation
Truth, Beauty, Goodness
The Call: Invitation to Faith
The Response: Obedience of Faith
One of your friends walks up to you and says that he doesn’t know if he believes in God. He asks you what you believe. You only have about 5 minutes before you need to have to go in order to get to work.
What would you say?
Take 5 minutes to write down your statement of faith that describes what you believe.
Video
The Early Church
Instruction on the Creed was given during Lent
“Traditio”-handing over
“Redditio”-giving back
Faithful had to memorize it and recite it to the bishop during Holy Week
St. Ambrose, 386 AD
“Credo” = I believe
Credo is Latin translated
“I believe”
It is a summary of the faith that Christians profess
This begins at Baptism
Baptism
The first profession of faith is given at Baptism
Presented in Question form
Our whole life is entrusted to the
‘standards of teaching’ letting us embrace the Creed of life-giving faith
To say the Creed is to enter into communion with God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit as well as the whole Church
Spiritual seal & treasure of our soul
CCC 197
Two Prominent Creeds
Apostles Creed
Faithful summary of the apostles faith
“The creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles”
Oldest Roman catechism
Nicene Creed
Stems from the First Ecumenical Councils
Nicaea 325 AD
Constantinople 381 AD- accepted as an absolute statement of faith
More explicit than the Apostles Creed putting to rest heresies of the time
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things
visible and invisible.
One God=
Nature, substance, &
essence
Deut 6:4-5
“The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might”
Implications
It means coming to know God’s greatness and majesty
It means living in thanksgiving
It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men
It means making good use of created things
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things
visible and invisible.
Father
The Father is revealed by the Son
The Father and the Son is revealed by the Spirit
Father expresses God’s love, compassion, tenderness, and desire to care for us.
Almighty-omnipotence
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things
visible and invisible.
Maker of heaven and earth
God is not just the God of Israel, but God is the only God there is!
God is the creator.
The world was created for the Glory of God
He created an ordered & good world
The problem of evil: There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil. CCC 309
Heaven & earth=saints and angels in Heaven; all of the earth-creatures &
beauty of the universe; humans are the summit of the Creator’s work--Gen 1:26
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the
Father; through him all things were made.
One Lord, Jesus Christ
Son of God
Existed eternally/wasn’t created
Trinity
The scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Trinity is taken from the story of the baptism of Jesus (Mt.
3:16-17; Mk. 1:9-11; Lk. 3:21-22),
the ritual prayers of the baptism rite in very early Christian sources, and early Church prayers in general (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6).
The early Church more fully defines the Trinitarian doctrine and the nature of God and in various councils in response to heresies about the nature of God.
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the
Father; through him all things were made.
“born of the Father before all ages”
was inserted into the creed as a response to the Arian heresy that insisted that Jesus was created by the Father as a lesser being than the Father, not as the Father’s equal.
“begotten, not made”-Jesus was always part of the Father.
The Father did not make Jesus. To be begotten, the Father simply had to speak the Word (that was already part of God) and Jesus who was already part of God’s essence flowed out from God, out to the universe.
Consubstantial- ‘with substance’
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the
Father; through him all things were made.
Through him all things were made
This has implications on souls—every spiritual soul is created immediately by God—
It is immortal!
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man
The unity of the Trinity has always been perfect.
However, each person of the Trinity, though one and in perfect unity, is nevertheless distinct from the other.
Each member of the Trinity has his own mission.
The Father is the origin of all life. He is the creator.
The Son alone took on human form.
The Son became incarnate.
The Spirit flows from, comes out of, the Father and the Son as the greatest gift ever given to human beings. The Spirit carries on the work Jesus began in his incarnation.
The Father, Son, and Spirit form a perfect community of love.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man
Incarnation: Jesus taking on human form.
Jesus made all creation holy just by taking on human form.
Jesus means “God Saves”
Our liturgy prays that a divine exchange took place. Jesus/God took human form and in so doing imbued us with his divinity, a spark of his divine life.
The Creed also professes that he was born of the Virgin Mary. The Creed upholds her very important place in God’s plan of salvation. This is why we honor Mary. She is the Theotokos, the Mother of God.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried
Paschal Mystery-the Passion, Death &
Resurrection of Jesus—We enter into this at each offering of the Eucharist
Jesus existed within History and participated in God’s redemptive plan for us!
The church celebrates His suffering and death on Good Friday
Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the Cross- CCC 616
Mt 16:24-”Take up your cross and follow me!”
A call to participate in the suffering of the cross
St. Rose of Lima-”Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven”
“Buried with Christ” at Baptism (CCC 628)
He descended into hell and on the third day he rose again
Holy Saturday-descending into hell
Easter Sunday-Rising again!
Before Jesus death, heaven was not an option for people
He went into hell to pull up all the righteous souls who had been waiting
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father
Luke 22:69;
Acts 7:55-56; Rm 8:34;
Eph 1:20; Col 3:1
It signifies the inauguration of the Messiah’s Kingdom—the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead & his kingdom
will have no end
Truly I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me--- Mt 25:40
Eschatology—the end times
We are reminded about the last things: about heaven, hell, final judgment, and eternal life.
The fulfillment of the new, everlasting covenant
Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial (Mt 24:12)
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father & Son, who with the Father & Son is adored & glorified, who
has spoken through the prophets
Pure Love
The love of the Father &
Jesus, the Son is so intense there is a ‘spiration’ into a person
Guide for us on earth
John 14:15-17;
1 John 4:2
Pentecost-Acts 2:1-31
The lives of the Saints
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father & Son, who with the Father & Son is adored & glorified, who
has spoken through the prophets
Titles of the Holy Spirit
Paraclete
The Spirit of Truth
The Spirit of promise
The Spirit of adoption
The Spirit of Christ
The Spirit of the Lord
The Spirit of God
The Spirit of Glory
Symbols of the Holy Spirit
Water
Anointing
Fire
Cloud & Light
The Seal
The hand
The finger
The Dove
I believe in one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church
4 Marks of the Church
ONE: there is only one Church of Christ, and it subsists in the Catholic Church. All other Christian Churches are understood to be in some way part of the Catholic Church, united in baptism, but not all are in full communion.
Unity-we must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ will for her (CCC 820)
I believe in one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church
HOLY: The Church is holy by the power of Jesus. The Church is set apart for a particular purpose (CCC, #824). Even though we are sinners, we work toward holiness. The Church itself is holy and graced by Jesus Christ.
It is made up of the people of God
The Communion of saints
Apostolic activity
Missionary zeal
I believe in one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church
CATHOLIC: universal
The Church is universal in message.
The same full gospel is preached everywhere. The Church is catholic because, as St. Ignatius of Antioch told us: Wherever Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church. The fullness of the body of Christ exists within the Catholic Church (CCC, #830).
It is sent on a mission by Jesus Christ to the whole world.
I believe in one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church
APOSTOLIC
Our faith is handed down to us from an unbroken line of succession, from Peter to the current pope.
We have been formed in the faith of the Apostles that means we are to do what the apostles did: go out and baptize all nations, go out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Great commissioning Mt 28:16-20
I believe in one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church
The Church
The people of God
The Bride of Christ
The Universal sacrament of salvation
The Body of Christ
The Temple of the Holy Spirit
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
The Creed reminds us that there is only one baptism.
That is why we do not re- baptize.
We accept and honor the valid baptism of other Christian Churches.
A valid baptism consists of baptism with water and in the name of the Trinity.
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
Death is the end of earthly life.
Death is a consequence of sin
Death is transformed by Christ
In the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body
Remember the promise of the new &
everlasting covenant
Jesus will come again
All those who believe will have eternal life
And the life of the world to come.
All those who believe will have eternal life
Particular Judgment
Heaven
Purification in Purgatory
Everlasting Damnation
The hope of the new Heaven & Earth
Amen!
Repeats & confirms it’s first words “I believe”
“May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if you believe everything, you say you believe. And rejoice in your faith each day” –St Augustine
Jesus Christ himself is the Amen (CCC1064-1065)
