CHAPTER 3: THE CREED

“I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST”

 Who is Jesus,
and how do I know him today?
Opening Prayer
The “Jesus Prayer” and the Rosary…

- Practice in silence,
or amid your daily work…

 “Breathe in,” silently praying: Lord

Jesus Christ…

- “Breathe out,” silently praying:

…have mercy on me.
 The First Joyful Mystery:
The Annunciation of our Lord

Our Father
Hail Mary (10x)
Glory be

To Jesus,
through Mary…

Meditating on the Life of Jesus,

through the eyes of his Mother…
 Overview of the Catechism

Introduction:
Human desire for God;
God’s Self Revelation;
Our Faith Response

I. Profession of Faith
A. Father II. Celebration of the
III. Moral Life in Christ
B. Son Christian Mystery
C. Holy Spirit

IV. Christian Prayer

Apostles’ Creed Nicene Creed
... and in Jesus Christ, ... I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

his only Son, our Lord, 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.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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.

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, For our sake he was crucified under
died and was buried; he descended into hell; Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was
buried,
 Paired Activity:
Apostles’ Creed Nicene Creed
on the third day he rose again from and rose again on the third day in
the dead; accordance with the Scriptures.

he ascended into heaven, and is He ascended into heaven and is

seated at the right hand of God the seated at the right hand of the
Father almighty; Father.

He will come again in glory to judge

from there he will come to judge the living and the dead
the living and the dead... and his kingdom will have no end...

*Compare and contrast

*Discuss which word or phrase speaks to you about who Jesus is at this point of your
faith journey
#1: Mystery of the Incarnation
and Jesus’ Identity

 Jesus = “God saves”

 Christ / Messiah = “anointed one”

 Lord = “the One to whom

we must completely
submit our personal
freedom” (Comp. 84)
“Who do you say that I am?”
 Incarnation:
Both Fully Human and Fully Divine

“We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew

of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King
Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a
carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under
the procurator Pontius Pilate…is the eternal Son of God.”
(CCC, n. 423)
 Four Reasons for the Incarnation

1. The Word became flesh for us in order to

save us by reconciling us with God (CCC, n. 457).

2. The Word became flesh so that

we might know God’s love (CCC, n. 458).

3. The Word became flesh to be our

model of holiness (CCC, n. 459).

4. The Word became flesh to make

us “partakers of the divine nature”
(CCC, n. 460).
 The Incarnation:
Christianity’s great “Both/And”

 Eternal God enters history

 Word made flesh
 Jesus became truly man

while remaining truly God

 Two natures—
human and divine—
united in one divine Person
Heresy Orthodoxy (“right belief”)

Denying Christ’s humanity: True Incarnation in the flesh:

Gnostic Docetism John 1:14
Different substance than the Father: Consubstantial with the Father:
Arianism Nicea 325

Mary is mother of Jesus: Mary Mother of God Theotokos:

Nestorianism
Human nature ceased to exist when the
divine Person of God’s Son assumed it:
Monophysites
Ephesus 431
“We confess that one and the same
Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is
to be acknowledged in two natures
without confusion, division, or
separation. The distinction between the
natures was never abolished by their
union, but rather the character proper
to each of the two natures was
preserved as they came together in
one person (prosopon) and one
hypostasis (person).”
Chalcedon 451
 Mary: Mother of God

 Catholic faith beliefs about Mary are

based on beliefs about Christ.

 What the Church teaches about Mary

illumines in turn its faith in Christ…

 Immaculate Conception: “thanks to

the grace of God and in anticipation
of the merits of Jesus Christ.”
(Comp., 96)
Mary: Ever-Virgin and New Eve
 Mary conceives “by the Holy Spirit.”

 Jesus has only God as Father.

(CCC, n. 503)
 “Brothers and sisters” of Jesus are his close relations.

 “Standing at the side of the New Adam, Jesus Christ,

the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of all the
living…in the order of grace.”
(Comp., 100)
Jesus’ “Hidden” and “Public” Life
 Fellowship in a daily life marked by prayer,
simplicity, work and family love

 Prefiguring the gift of Baptism

 Recapitulating the temptations of Adam in

Paradise and the Israelites in the desert (Comp.
106)

 Announcing and bringing

about the Kingdom of God

 Working signs and miracles;

calling and teaching disciples
 Standing Activity:
Luminous Mysteries
1) Review and discuss key details in the Scripture verses below:
* How would you explain its importance to
someone who doesn’t know the story?
* Bonus: How is it related to the Incarnation?
2) Role play a conversation in which an inquiring person(s) asks about one of these events and
a believer(s) explains its significance in relation to Jesus’ identity
and mission.

Scripture Verses:
1. Baptism in the Jordan (Mt 3:13)
2. The Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:7,9)
3. Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Mk 1:15)
4. The Transfiguration (Mt 17:2)
5. Institution of the Eucharist (Lk 22:19-22)
 #2:
Jesus’ Paschal Mystery and Mission

How can we believe in a

God who is good and
loving when we see so
much suffering in our
world--especially the
suffering of the
innocent?
 The Problem of Evil

How can a world marked by so much injustice,

innocent suffering and cynicism of power
be the work of a good God….
 The Passion in the Creed

“For our sake he was crucified

under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died
and was buried. On the third day he
rose again in fulfillment of the
Scripture. He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the
Father. He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead, and
his kingdom will have no end.”
 The Passion

“Man is worth so much

to God that he himself
became man in order
to suffer with man in
an utterly real way—in
flesh and blood—as is
revealed to us in the
account of Jesus’
Passion.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Christ: Redeemer of the World
* Christ came to set us free from being slaves of sin

-- He redeemed us

* Christ’s death is:

-- An offering from the Father to us
to reconcile us with him
-- An offering of Christ’s obedience to
the Father to make up for our disobed

* The Cross is what the love of the

Father, Son and Spirit looks like
when it is lived out in this world.  
The Resurrection

 Jesus’ Passion, Death,

Resurrection & Ascension
 The Paschal Mystery (Jesus’
“Passover”) as
one inseparable event
 Resurrection shows us that Jesus
is who he said he was – the Son of
God

 The Resurrection changes

everything:
 From divine tragedy
to triumphant drama
Four Last Things

 Death

 Judgment

 Heaven

 Hell
Christ and our Lives

Because we know who Christ is

and what he did, we are:
 incorporated into his life through Baptism,
the Eucharist, and the other Sacraments

 able to live in the New Law of the Beatitudes

 able to pray, that is, be in communion with

Christ--within the communion of the Church
Jesus is always present
 Who is Jesus Christ,
and how do I know him today?
 Act of Hope

O my God,
relying on Your almighty power
and infinite mercy and promises,
I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace
and life everlasting,
through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and
Redeemer. Amen.