Lesson 2: The Church’s Origin and Foundation

Capsoul:
Between Jesus and his Church, there is a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity by
which Christ is present today in His people. He is always contemporary with the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI

Introduction:
Each of us, or any human organization has its origin and history of foundation, and through
this they can be somehow understood. The Church is no exception to this. The Church that we
are now had its own origin, its beginning. We can trace this beginning from the time of the Old
Testament down to the New testament. There are various events in the past that can give us a
good grasp of the origin of the Church. These are what we need to unfold in this lesson. So, let
us start with the activity that follows.
The Church’s Origin and Foundation

Yahweh entered into a covenant with his people, a basic relationship between him and the
People of Israel. It is sacred , irrevocable pact, initiated by Yahweh based on the following
conditions:
 That Yahweh shall give Abraham the land, descendants and protection.
 That Abraham and his descendants shall worship and keep Yahweh as their only God

Yahweh formed this covenant out of His love.. That’s GRACE – God’s self offering of Himself to
man, God’s gift of himself to man.

But the covenant were put to the test. The people were turned to slaves in Egypt. They cried to
the Lord. Yahweh heard them, remained true to His words and raised up a liberator – Moses.

Exodus 20 narrates the renewal of the covenant. This covenant is unique because God directly
entered into an agreement with Israel and make them the chosen people. It was sealed by the
giving of the 10 commandments.

The Decalogue would govern them and guide their way of life and conduct of their faith as
individuals and as a people.

Israel grew more defined in its identity and more organized and systematic in living out their
duties towards God. Therefore we can say that Israel as God’s chosen people evolved into an
organized worshipping assembly of Yahweh or Qahal – Yahweh – guided by fundamental laws,
beliefs and rituals.
But despite God’s goodness – Israel succumbed to their own failures and unfaithfulness.
 They resorted to pagan worship of the Canaanite gods
 The kings ordered the execution of the prophets who for openly condemning their
political alliances, personal abuses, and religious compromises with their pagan
neighbors.
Their violation and their disobedience were paid with terrible consequences:
 Separation of the Northern and the Southern Kingdom
 Series of invasion by their powerful pagan neighbors
 The gradual decadence of Israel as a nation
 Their exile to a foreign land

Amidst Israel’s unfaithfulness, Yahweh never gave up on them. In Hosea 11: 8-9a, He revealed
his great love and compassion for Israel.
“How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you
like Dmah or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give
vent to my blazing anger. I will not destroy Ephraim again, for I am God, not man.”

Israel reflecting on its own history of sin and sacrilege towards the sacred bond, started to pray
and to hope for divine intervention;
a. For the deliverer who would restore the unity and fidelity of Israel to their God
b. For the Savior who would redeem the fallen race from sin
c. For the Anointed/Chosen One who would restore the sacred covenant between Yahweh
and His people.

It is imperative to ground our discussion of the Church with the formation and experiences of
Israel as the covenant-partner of Yahweh based on the ff points:
1. That the nature of the covenant remains an essential concept in understanding the
relationship between God and His people.
2. That the idea of a religious assembly, Qahal Yahweh is based first and foremost on God’s
gratuitous initiative to reach out to His people.
3. That Israel like any community of faith has to freely respond on the basis of faith and
loyalty towards Yahweh aided by the commandments, precepts and traditions handed
unto them
4. That God renews His covenant unto us through the life and person of Jesus Christ – the
ultimate realization and fulfilment of the long awaited Messiah.

After his baptism, Jesus started to preach the Kingdom of God that led people to a fundamental
decision of belief or unbelief.
In his preaching of the Kingdom of God, He gathered a community of men to be His apostles.
(Mk.1:17, Mt.4:19) He deliberately chose and appointed the 12 apostles. He gave the
leadership of the twelve apostles to Peter as the head of the Church. “And so I say to you, You
are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it. I will give yo the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound on heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

There were those who believed and followed Him and there were oppositions against Jesus.
The authorities threatened Him and even conspired for His death on the cross.

After the resurrection, The 12 apostles were no longer hiding in fear, they speak with conviction
to tell their faith in the risen Christ. In Mk. 16:15-18, Mt. 28:16-20. the Apostles were
commissioned by Jesus saying: “Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to the whole
creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: they will cast out demons; they
will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will
not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.”

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He entrusted the apostles with the great mission of
bringing the world into a community of worship and faith – “ all power in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
(Mt. 28:19-20) Appearing to his disciples after the resurrection, he promised them to send the
Holy Spirit to help them as they continue their mission – “The helper will come – the Spirit, who
reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father. I will send Him to you from the
Father and He will speak about me.” (John 15:26-27)

After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples went and preached everywhere. The missionary spirit was
lit up and the heart of every apostle was consumed by His calling. They were led to proclaim the
Good News about Jesus and in bringing new converts to the faith.

This proclamation goes on while they are waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit as promised
by Jesus before his ascension. The fulfillment of this promise came on the day of Pentecost.
“When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place,
Suddenly, there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which
spread out and touched each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” (Acts 2:1-4)
Under the leadership of Peter and the other 11 apostles, they preached Jesus proclaiming their
conviction that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.

Between Jesus and his Church, there is a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity by
which Christ is present today in His people. He is always contemporary with the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI

Conclusion:
 The mystery of the Church can be meditated on her origin in the Holy Trinity’s plan and
her progressive realization in history
 The Church was a plan born in the Father’s heart foreshadowed from the world’s
beginning, prepared for in the Old Testament instituted by Jesus Christ revealed by the
Holy Spirit perfected in glory.
 In this continuity of the Church from the intention and action of Jesus, we are convinced
that the same Holy Spirit who leads us to such wisdom calls us to be united with our
brothers and sisters amidst our differences, through our attitude of respect and loving
patience, especially to those who oppose or challenge us in our belies and our faith.

References:
The Church. Roawie L. Quimba, Teresita M. Francisco, Amelai M. Sagaral, Blue Patriarch
Publishing House, Davao City ,2011
A History of the Catholic Church (A compilation). Quinlan, Julian FMS, Divine Word Institute,
Madang, Papua New Guinea, 1995
The New American Bible