The Church

1
The Church

• The Church is the seed and the beginning of the
  kingdom.
• God helps us overcome sin by reconciling us to
  himself and bringing us closer to the day when
  God will fully realize his kingdom.
• God will show us new paths toward action in the
  cause of justice in the world we must listen to
  the word of God.

2
The Church

• What do Catholics mean by the word Church?
• The Church is the assembly of the faithful( YOU)
  Those whom Gods word gathers together to form
  the people of God and who themselves nourished
  with the body of Christ become the body of Christ.

3
The Church

• How does our understanding of Gods nature serve
  as a model for our relationships with one
  another?
• God is a communion of three persons, Father, Son
  and Holy Spirit- united in love.
• The Church looks to the nature of God for a
  model of just human relationships.

4
The Church

• What does it mean to say that the Church is more
  than a visible historical reality?
• The Church is also a spiritual reality of
  loving communion of people of God where justice
  and peace already reighn
• Church Triumphant and Church militant

5
The Church

• Early Church some qualities of the early Church
  that it was experienced in secret because of
  persecution.
• It was totally non-violent communities of
  compassion
• 9/11, a classmate is injured during a game
  someone new arrives at the school and now attends
  your class members of your class solicit
  classmates for donations of food, clothes for the

6
The Church

• Constantines era is the end of nonviolence and
  the beginning of the Churchs involvement in
  religious wars.
• The Edict of Milan provided for religious freedom
  for Christians in 313 CE
• Communities of compassionmembers care for each
  otherbody of Christ

7
The Church

• The word justice is derived from the latin word
  ius meaning law.
• In Roman society authority rights and duties were
  clearly defined based on where one fell in the
  social order.
• Male property owners were at the top followed by
  free men who dis not own land mostly artisans.
• Next were freed slaves, people who were not
  considered to be civilized followed by women and
  children

8
The Church

• Oneness - we have one Lord and one faith. She is
  one body given life by one Spirit and sharing one
  hope.
• The Church is holy through the sacrifice of
  Jesus. We see holiness in Mary and the saints.
• Catholic means universal. The Church has the
  fullness of the truth for all peoples of all
  times and places.
• Apostolic The Church is directly connected to
  Jesus through the succession of the Apostles to
  the Pope and Bishops.

9
The Church

• 17th and 19th centuries brought new problems to
  the Church.
• Colonialism and war brought extreme poverty,
  disease and suffering to people.
• In the 1600s in France, Vincent de Paul and
  Louise de Marillac orders for women and men to
  work in the inner cities where people were
  huddled in destitution.
• Examples on page 52
• The legacy of these efforts is seen today in
  Catholic hospitals and schools and various social
  service efforts.
• In the end, people are saints for the way they
  love .
• 
  Mary Reed Newland
• St Peter Claver missionary to the slaves p 53

10
The Church

• Laws clearly specified rights and duties that
  were essential for the common good.
• The Church would later on adopt the Roman models
  of government.
• The early Christian community did not have a
  caste system.
• THE BODY OF CHRIST everyone was equal at the
  Eucharist.

11
The Church

• Describe the difference between a pre-Christian
  Roman understanding of justice and that of the
  early Church?
• The Roman understanding equated justice with law
  and protection of rights. Principles of justice
  included doing no one harm, preserving the common
  good, and personal property Justice was
  considered good order within society.
• The early Christian community promoted the
  sharing of goods and property among the community
  members, based on each persons need. This
  understanding implied a move toward greater
  equality and special concern for people with
  greatest need

12
The Church

• St Francis of Assisi - nobleman who denied all
  his wealth and possessions to minister to the
  poor and sick.
• Francis has a dream of God telling hime to
  rebuild my church
• Francis was a man of simplicity embracing poverty
  with a intense connection with nature and all of
  Gods creatures.
• He was particularly concerned about our
  connection with possessions and warfare. Greed
  has a stranglehold on many lives

13
The Church

• In 1603 St Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit
• attempted to end slavery but was not
  successful.
• He applied the first principle of CSThuman
  dignity.
• He baptized over 300,000 slaves and he dedicated
  his life to them. He reminded them of their
  dignity and how precious they were in the eyes of
  God who made them out of love.

14
The Church-Modern Era

• Pope Leo XIII was pope from 1878 until his death
  in 1903.
• Leo XIII was interested in the masses of people
  flooding the urban areas because of the
  Industrial revolution resulting in dire poverty.
• The missionary effort of the Church increased
  greatly during his papacy.
• Leo XIII wrote a papal encyclical , On the
  Condition of Labor which supported workers
  rights to form unions and strike. It advanced
  fair wages and decent working conditions. It
  condemned Socialism since it gave workers rights
  which belonged to individuals and families to the
  government.

15
The Church

• Dorothy Day founded the Catholic worker movement.
• Dorothy was a socialist looking to change
  society. She was drawn to the masses of poor
  people living simple lives as best they could in
  run-down sections of the inner city.
• She noted that poor people were not attending
  socialist meeting but rather from churches.
• Dorothy converted to Catholicism and preached the
  gospel to the poor. She was also a pacifist.