CHURCH AND SACRAMENTS

 
  

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Lesson 2. THE BEGINNING AND INSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH

Learning Outcomes
 Know that the Church is the result of the communion of God with
man.
 See the connection and continuity of the Apostles of Jesus with the
Catholic Church today.
 Trace the unbroken line of succession of Popes from St. Peter to Pope
Francis.

LESSON & INTEGRATION

1. God created the whole universe in order to share his divine life. It is for
this reason that we say that God is good. The Good is something that
diffuses itself. To diffuse means to disperse, to spread, to be scattered or
to be distributed. Moreover the good is something that shares itself. By
means of creation, God has shared his divine life to those whom he
created. As such, we can say that “God is Good!”
2. Man’s sharing in God’s divine life is what we call communion. It is
man’s union with God. This union with God is brought about by the
‘convocation’ (calling forth) of all men in Christ. This convocation is the
Church. It is where men are united with God.
i. It also important to clarify our ‘common sense’ notions of
church. For some, ‘Church’ simply means building where
people go to pray. For many, ‘Church’ would only refer to the
Bishops, priests and religious. And for others, ‘Church’ refers
to the different Christian sects. The Church is not limited to
any of these references. Church may refer to a building, or a
particular Christian denomination or sect. The Church cannot
be restricted to any of these common sense notions about what
the church is.

3. ACTIVITY:
- Write your impressions about your Classmates.
- Give what you have written to each of those whom you have written
about.

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 - Reflect on the impressions you have received. Which are exact
descriptions of who you are and which are not?
- Who among your classmates were able to give you a more accurate
description of who you are? Why?

Read Peter’s Declaration of Faith.

Matthew 16:13- 20
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi * he asked his disciples, “Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, * others
Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you
say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and
blood* has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you Peter:
you are rock, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld
shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. * Whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the
Messiah.

Luke 9: 18-21
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked
them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others,
Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But
who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.” He rebuked them
and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

i. Let us examine the two questions that Jesus asked his disciples
and see what insights can we derive from this in relation to our
understanding about the Church.

a) “Who do people say that I am?”

 He was asking his disciples about what people say about Him.
Tinatanong ni Hesus ang kanyang mga disipulo tungkol sa
naririnig nila na sinasabi ng mga tao tungkol sa kanya. “ng mga
tao”: Ito ay tumutukoy sa mga taong sumususunod kay Hesus
ngunit hindi kabilang sa mga twelve disiciples niya. In other
words he was inquiring about the people’s opinion of Him. And

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 this opinion can be said to be an external knowledge. External
knowledge in the sense that it is not a first-hand encounter
from the fact that is being inquired about. This “people” whom
Jesus was referring to are those who followed him but did not
live with him.
 What the people knew about Jesus is inadequate,
limited and are mere approximations about him. It
is for this reason that the answers that He got were
varied and different: that he is John the Baptist,
Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

b) “Who do you say that I am?”

 Here, Jesus is asking his disciples their personal knowledge of
Him. Personal knowledge because it is a knowledge that is
borne out of their intimate encounter of him. “Intimate
encounter” because it up close, private and first-hand. The
disciples were with Jesus all the way.
 In the version of the Gospel of Luke of Jesus’ asking his
disciples these questions, the context of Jesus’ inquiry about
who he is “as he was praying alone, the disciples were with
him” (Lk 9:18a)
o Here we can see the distinguishing factor between the
people (crowds Lk 9:18b) and the disciples. The
disciples had an intimate encounter with Jesus because
they saw something that he did which the people or
crowds did not see. May nakita yung mga disipulo kay
Jesus na hindi nakita ng mga tao. The disciples saw
Jesus pray. “They are privileged to see him as the one
who…speaks face to face with the Father.” (Joseph
Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth I, p 291).
o In His act of Prayer, Jesus also draws his disciples into
communion with His communion with the Father. Ang
mga disipulo ay naisasama sa ugnayan ni Jesus at ng
kanyang Ama.
o At itong nakita ng mga Disipulo na pananalangin ni
Hesus, and because they are drawn into the communion
of Jesus and the Father, dito umusbong ang
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 pananampalatayang nag-udyok kay Simon Pedro upang
sabihin kay Hesus, “You are the Messiah the Son of the
Living God.” This declaration of Peter is what we call a
confession of Faith. Confession here does not refer to
the Sacrament of Reconciliation wherein a penitent
confesses his/her sins to a priest. In the case of Peter,
confession is an act of acknowledgement and praise.
Acknowledgement of who Jesus is and praise that is
accorded to Jesus’ identity as ‘Son of the Living God.’

ii. Now we turn to the response of Jesus to the Confession or Declaration of

Faith: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood * has
not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you,
Peter: you are rock, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the
keys to the kingdom of heaven.*  Whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.”
Mt. 16:17-19

Let us now have a closer look at the response of Jesus and draw insights
that would enable us to have a clearer understanding of the Church. We
divide the response in four parts. With this division, we hope to draw
their meaning.

a) “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood * has
not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
 Faith is primarily a gift. “Flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you” means that it is not given or learned from human
beings. Wala sinumang tao ang nagturo nito kay Simon Pedro.
Gayundin na hindi niya nabuo yung kanyang Confession dahil
sa kanyang sariling pananaliksik at sariling sikap. Ang
pananampalatayang nabigyang salita sa pamamagitan ng
Confession ni Simon Pedro ay isang handog (gift) na nagmula
sa Diyos.

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b) “And so I say to you, Peter: you are rock , and upon this rock I
will build my church.”
 The faith that Peter Confessed made him the Rock. A rock that
is strong because it is first and foremost a gift from God. The
content of that faith is none other than JESUS HIMSELF
whom Peter confessed.
 We also notice here the change in name of Peter: from Simon
to Peter. Simon Peter has always takes the preeminent role
among the Apostles. He is the leader of the 12 Apostles of
Jesus.
 Giving a new name meant that the status of the person was changed, as
when Abram’s name was changed to Abraham (Gen.17:5), Jacob’s to Israel
(Gen. 32:28), Eliakim’s to Joakim (2 Kgs. 23:34), or the names of the four
Hebrew youths—Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to Belteshazzar,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 1:6-7).
 But no Jew had ever been called “Rock.” The Jews would give other names
taken from nature, such as Deborah (“bee,” Gen. 35:8), and Rachel (“ewe,”
Gen. 29:16), but never “Rock.” In the New Testament James and John were
nicknamed Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder,” by Christ, but that was
never regularly used in place of their original names, and it certainly was
not given as a new name.
 But in the case of Simon-bar-Jonah, his new name Kephas (Greek: Petros)
definitely replaced the old.

 Here we see the appointment of Peter as the foundation from

which the Church will be built: “upon this Rock (referring to
Simon Peter) I will build my Church.”
 An important characteristic of the Church can here be drawn: “my
Church”. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who
builds the Church. And it is Jesus who appoints those to whom His
Church will be built.
o Masasabi natin na ang tanging makakapagsabi lamang
kung ano ang tunay na Simbahan ay si Hesus. At yan ang
simbahang itinatag niya sa mga Apostoles as pangunguna
ni Simon Pedro na tinawag niyang Bato.
o Ang simbahang itinatag ni Hesus mula sa pananampalataya
ni Simon Pedro ay patuloy na lumalaganap hanggang sa
panahon natin ngayon sa pamamagitan ng kanilang mga
successors. Sa bias ng kanilang Ordinasyon (we will study
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 in the succeeding chapters on the Sacraments), ang mga
Obispo natin ang mga successors ng mga Apostoles at ang
mga Santo Papa hanggang ka Pope Francis ang mga
successors ni Simon Pedro na leader ng mga Apostoles.
 Ito ang hindi natin makikita sa ibang Kristiyanong
denominasyo na nagsasabing sila ang tunay na
simbahan. Wala silang ‘Apostolic Succession’ at
ang kanilang mga ‘simbahan’ ay itinatag lamang ng
tao.
c) “and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it”
 This is a promise that is pronounced by Christ to Peter: God’s
protection. Christ’s ownership entails his protection. Because
the Church belongs to Christ, HE therefore also protects it.
o We see a lot of powerful men who wanted to destroy the
Church. But the Church has outlived empires and great
conquerors. In spite and despite the weaknesses of her
members and ministers; despite the threat of the “gates of
the nether world”, the Church continues to live more than
2000 years now, because it belongs to Christ. Because
Christ protects it.

d) I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.* Whatever you

bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
 The keys is a symbol of power. Peter is entrusted these keys
and he acts as steward of the Kingdom of God on earth.
o Simon Peter is the visible head of the Church. Christ is the
invisible head of the Church. Peter represents the position
of Christ in the external government of the Church here on
earth.
 Following the Jewish laws and teaching, the power of binding
and loosing refers to the power to impose the ban and loose
from the ban, to interpret the law and pronounce a thing to be
forbidden (bound) or permitted (loosed)
 “bound on earth shall be bound in heaven…loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.” This means that God in heaven will

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 confirm whatever obligations Peter will impose or dispense
from earth.
o It is here to be clarified that such power resides on God.
However, God bestows (gives as a gift) this power on
Peter. God uses Peter as His instrument in dispensing His
grace.

1) To belong to the Church is to belong to God’s family.

2) The True Church is the Church that Christ Himself established.
3) Christ left apostles and appointed St. Peter to be the visible head of the
Church.

ASSIGNMENT:
1. What is the name of Pope Francis before his election? Know his biography.
2. Who are the Bishops and Archbishops of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao?
Know their biography.