UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

INSTITUTE OF RELIGION

THEOLOGY 4
Living the
CHRISTIAN VISION IN THE
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
UNIT 1 - HARMONY WITH GOD: CALLED TO COMMUNION
LESSON 3: SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION
 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

Are any of these your dream job?

What is your dream job? Why so?
 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

STUDY
Grounding the lesson in real life situations, acknowledging prior beliefs
and questions, addressing current issues and realities…

1. Imagine the kind of person that you want to be

like ten or twenty years from now.
2. List down the five most important smart
(specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and
time-bound) indicators that you have become
successful in life by that time.
3. Considering that you have attained these
criteria, what kind of person did you become?
 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

Are we an individualist generation?

 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

RESEARCH
Approaching the subject from different angles and opinions, appraising
the views of various disciplines and perspectives...

You will be divided into groups and will be asked to

find three online articles on self-improvement,
community-improvement or nation-improvement
projects/efforts/activities.

Present to the class a summary of the article and

tell us whether it is a utilitarian or individualistic
project/effort/activity or one that promotes the
common good.
 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

ANALYSIS
Articulating and reflecting about the question together with the help
of other disciplines AND IN THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIAN FAITH…

What is our Christian understanding of

Communion? How is a spirituality of communion
the path towards attaining the common good?
SPIRITUALITY
OF COMMUNION
GK: FELLOWSHIP, JOINT PARTICIPATION,
SHARING, CONTRIBUTION

• Lt. “Communio” –
sharing in common
• IDEAL state of
fellowship that
should exist in the
Christian
Church
ANTIDOTE TO INDIVIDUALISM
ASPECTS OF THIS
COMMUNION:

• COMMUNION with GOD

• COMMUNION among BELIEVERS
• COMMUNION in the BODY and BLOOD of CHRIST
• COMMUNION of SAINTS
• COMMUNION of
CHURCHES
GOD is a
COMMUNION
OF PERSONS

For GOD to be
GOOD,
GOD can be One.
For GOD to be
LOVE,
GOD has to be Two.
For GOD to be JOY,
GOD has to be
Three.
HUMAN BEINGS are the
IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD
From the onset, God willed human
beings to live in COMMUNION with
Him and with one another.
Man became the "image and
likeness" of God not only through
his own humanity, but also
through the communion of
persons which man and woman
form right from the beginning.
Man becomes the image of God
not so much in the moment of
solitude as in the moment of
communion.
Pope St. John Paul II
 Bakit?

Siya
kase
Siya !
kase
!

SELF DIVINE SOCIAL

ALIENATION ALIENATION ALIENATION

SIN destroyed COMMUNION

and led to ALIENATION.
 The CHURCH is
GOD’s
instrument for
gathering his
GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION:TO GATHER scattered
children, ergo for
HIS CHILDREN SCATTERED BY SIN restoring
COMMUNION.
First, by saving (“calling Finally, by calling all men and
out”) the ISRAELITES from women to COMMUNION in
Egypt and making them his the CHURCH of Jesus Christ.
chosen people.

Hb. Lt.

Gk.
LXX
COMMUNION in the life of CHRIST
Consequently, COMMUNION with one
another.
VERTICAL COMMUNION:
Communion with the
MOST HOLY TRINITY
 HORIZONTAL COMMUNION:
Communion with ALL THE BAPTIZED
THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH EQUALLY SHARE IN:

The Divine Nature The Passion of Christ

The Same Faith The Same Spirit

VIVIFIES the CHURCH – The Indwelling Presence of GOD
UNIFIES the CHURCH – Unity in Diversity, Many Parts Working as One
MOVES the MINISTRIES of the CHURCH – Variety of Gifts
 HOLY COMMUNION
The act of RECEPTION of the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
SACRAMENT – Visible Sign
Sacrament of our Union with Christ At all
Sacrament of our Unity with the times, in
whole Church all places,
there is
Holy Communion in the Catholic Church
only One
cannot be administered to those who are:
Bread,
- Not baptized
One Cup
- Not Catholics
- Not in state of grace (those in state of mortal
sin)
THE CHURCH IS THE COMMUNITY OF THE FAITHFUL:
•Professing the true Christian faith
•Participating in the same Sacraments
•Under the government of legitimate pastors
•Especially the one vicar of Christ on earth, the Roman Pontiff.
THE CHURCH IS A COMMUNION IN THESE HOLY THINGS:
 CHURCH TRIUMPHANT
1. Communion in HOLY THINGS
2. Communion of HOLY PERSONS
3. The CHURCH is the
COMMUNION of SAINTS

PRAYS FOR

CHURCH MILITANT PRAYS FOR CHURCH SUFFERING

PRAYS FOR
COMMUNION AMONG CHURCHES

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

 BUT, we believe that
The Church today this division is bound
is in a sad state of to be HEALED
DIVISION  because
CHRIST SAVED US!
COMMUNION will
eventually be
RESTORED!
 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH

THE SEPARATED THE ECCLESIAL

PARTICULAR CHURCHES COMMUNITIES
THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ,
c.33AD and began its operations in
Jerusalem after Pentecost

During the Apostolic era, it was

simply referred to as “the Church”

Later on described as
“Catholic” (universal) to mean “the
Church that is everywhere” in contrast
to splinter groups and sects.
(St. Ignatius c.107, St. Polycarp d.155)
 COMMUNION WITH THE
ROMAN PONTIFF
The CATHOLIC CHURCH is a COMMUNION of PARTICULAR CHURCHES
A PARTICULAR CHURCH is a
community of believers
Friends
presided over by a validly
3000+++
ordained bishop. (diocese,
vicariate apostolic, prefecture
apostolic)

“Where the bishop is

present, there is the
Catholic Church”
– St. Ignatius of Antioch c. 107

The Bishop’s presence is a

guarantee that sacraments
are validly administered the
apostolic faith is preserved
intact through generations.
 The BISHOP of ROME presides The Pope is the perpetual
in charity over the universal Church.
and visible source and
He is the CHIEF BRIDGE BUILDER!
foundation of the unity
both of the bishops and of
the whole company of the
faithful. He has full,
supreme, and universal
power over the whole
Church. Cf. CCC 882

During the time of the early Church,

the Bishop of Rome acted as arbiter
settling contentious issues in the Church.
• Every bishop in the Catholic Church must be
approved by the pope and receive a papal
mandate before being ordained to the
episcopacy, and it is the pope who confers
on that bishop the authority to govern the
diocese to which he has been appointed.
• Papal infallibility means that the
Pope cannot make errors when making
an ex cathedra statement on faith and
morals or when he proposes a teaching
united with all the bishops of the world.
• The college or body of bishops has no
authority unless united with the Roman
Pontiff, Peter’s successor, as its head. As
such, this college has supreme and full
authority over the universal Church; but this
power cannot be exercised without the
agreement of the Roman Pontiff. CCC 883
 SEPARATED PARTICULAR CHURCHES

• Churches presided over by a validly ordained bishop, but are not in

communion with the Bishop of Rome.
• Are TRUE CHURCHES "Because these Churches, although separated,
have true sacraments and above all — because of the apostolic
succession — the priesthood and the Eucharist, by means of which they
remain linked to us by very close bonds"
• "These Churches which, while not existing in
perfect communion with the Catholic Church,
remain united to her by means of the closest
bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a
valid Eucharist, and are true particular
Churches."
• "Therefore, these separated Churches and
communities as such...have by no means
been deprived of significance and importance
in the mystery of salvation. For the spirit of
Christ has not refrained from using them as
means of salvation which derive their efficacy
from the very fullness of grace and truth
entrusted to the Catholic Church."
IV Unicity and Unity of the Church, 17
Dominus Iesus, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 16,2000
 ECCLESIAL
COMMUNITIES
• Christian Communities that function “like
Churches” but lack valid orders.
• Most of these were born out of the sixteenth
century Reformation movement.
• According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities
do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament
of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a
constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial
Communities which, specifically because of the
absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not
preserved the genuine and integral substance of
the Eucharistic Mystery, cannot, according to
Catholic doctrine, be called "Churches" in the
proper sense (Dominus Iesus 17:2)
 The Church and Non-Catholic Christians

• Non-Catholic Christians are those who, though not

All those separated from
formally members of the Catholic Church, have received
the Catholic Church
valid baptism. remain part of her, in a
•The Church solemnly acknowledges that the Holy Spirit mysterious way. All
is truly active in the churches and communities those who receive
Christian baptism belong
separated from itself. To these other Christian Churches to the Catholic Church!
the Catholic Church is bound in many ways: through
reverence for God's word in the Scriptures; through the
fact of baptism; through other sacraments which they
recognize.
Our Trinitarian God made us in his image as community,
for community.
The Church is called to build community in the world.
 INDIVIDUALISM
• Individualism is the belief that the
individual is the primary unit of reality and
the ultimate standard of value.
• Not necessarily a bad thing for it affirms
the Christian doctrine that every human
being is unique, irreplaceable, and must
never be used as a means to an end.
• However, when taken to the extreme, it
becomes selfishness and leads to isolation
Both are undesirable extremes. What is the middle way?
 CRISIS OF INDIVIDUALISM TODAY:
• Being dependent upon others is often
considered shameful or embarrassing
• People tend to be self-reliant
• The rights of individuals tend to take a
higher precedence
• People often place a greater emphasis
on standing out and being unique than
on being part of a whole
• Leads to disregard of Common Good
• Prevents human beings from developing
a sense of mission and heroism
• All others are rivals
 THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
• Individuals have an inherent and
immeasurable worth and dignity
• All are fundamentally equal before God
– same origin, same destiny, redeemed
by Christ, called to respond to a vocation
• All are radically equal before God -
leads us to think no less of somebody
because they are from a different place
or culture, because they believe
something different to you, or because of
their work or employment situation.
 COMMON GOOD
• The common good is the complete development
of all the people of the world.
• ‘the sum total of conditions of social living,
whereby persons are enabled more fully and
readily to achieve their own perfection.’ (Pope
John XXIII)
• Not the “greatest good for the greatest number”
(Utilitarianism) but the care for greatest good of
ALL persons – no one excluded.
• The principle of common good balances
individual rights with one’s responsibilities for the
welfare of society – which in effect promotes
and protects the rights and dignity of others
 SOLIDARITY
• A sense of responsibility on the part of
everyone with regard to everyone.
• A particular way of looking at the
interconnectedness of people living in
different parts of the world that is a feature
of our contemporary human existence.
• Not a feeling of vague compassion or
shallow distress at the misfortunes of so
many people, both near and far. On the
contrary, it is a firm and persevering
determination to commit oneself to the
common good; that is to say, to the good of
all and of each individual, because we are
all really responsible for all
 Crisis of Individualism and
A SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION

ACTION
Applying new knowledge to praise (worship - to adore and praise God),
to bless (morals - to bless God by being a blessing to others), to preach
(doctrine - to share and proclaim faith)…

Think of a group project which will be done as a class.

What project could that be which will be done together
and at the same time will benefit the whole Thomasian
community?