UNIT 1: THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH - Ignatius · UNIT 1: THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH 1 LESSON 1: THE GOSPELS Friends. ... now began to speak to the crowd that had gathered

UNIT 1: THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH

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LESSON 1: THE GOSPELS

Friends. Everyone wants to have them, and everyone needs them. Friends are people we like and who like us. Friends are loyal. They stick by us even in the toughest of times, and we stick by them. Friends are people we enjoy being with. We share our time and secrets with them, and they share with us. Often friends share the same val ues. Friends are people who care about us and love us, and we feel the same way toward them. We forgive our friends when they hurt us, and we help them whenever we can. Think about one of your friends. On the lines below list one way that your friend has

1. shown you kindness

2. been loyal to you

3. shared something with you

4. forgiven you

5. helped you

God’s Friends

Saint Luke, one of the four Gospel writers, wanted to do more than write a narrative of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. He wanted to fi nish the story by telling what happened on earth when Jesus returned to His Father in Heaven. Luke’s continued story is known as the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts, Luke talks about the beginning of Jesus’ Church. Luke addresses his writing to a person he calls “Theophilus”. The Greek word theophilus means “friend of God”. In writing to The ophilus, Luke writes to all people who want to be God’s friends. Jesus returned to Heaven when His public life on earth was ended. However, He chose to be with us forever in a new and exciting way. Jesus is always with us through the Church. As a friend stays loyal to us, helps us, and forgives us, so Jesus through the Church shows us these same signs of friendship.


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On the lines below, write examples of ways in which the Church shows us loyalty, shares with us, and forgives us.

1. Loyalty

2. Sharing

3. Forgiveness

A true friendship has to be a two-way street. What we receive from a friend we should give back in return. This mutual loyalty, sharing, and forgiveness keeps the relationship alive and healthy.

Learn more about how the Sacraments help us maintain our friendship with Christ by reading Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC ) 1468 and YOUCAT 219.

List some ways you can be loyal to the Church, share with the Church, and show forgiveness to other members of the Church.

1. Loyalty

2. Sharing

3. Forgiveness

LESSON 2: YOU ARE TO BE MY WITNESSES

Jesus’ public life ended at His crucifi xion and death. On Easter Sun day He rose from His tomb, conquering sin and death forever. For forty days afterward, He appeared at different times to His Apostles and other followers. Eventually, however, the time came for Jesus to return to His home in Heaven.


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Read Acts 1:1–10 and then answer the following questions.

1. Whom did Jesus promise to send to His Apostles?

2. What instructions did Jesus give the Apostles?

After these fi nal instructions, Jesus ascended to Heaven and the Apos tles were left alone. They began the walk back to Jerusalem, where they would wait for Jesus to fulfi ll His promises to them. In Jerusalem, the Apostles were staying in an “upper room”. Per haps this was the same place the Apostles had rented for the Passover meal, or it may have been a room in the house of the Gospel writer Mark. The Apostles; Jesus’ Mother, Mary; and other followers of Christ were gathered in prayer there for nine days. During this time Peter made his fi rst decision as new leader of the Apostles: to replace Judas and bring the number of Apostles back to twelve.

List from memory as many of the twelve Apostles as you can:


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Read Acts 1:21–26. Answer the following questions.

1. Who was chosen as the new Apostle?

2. What requirements did this new Apostle have to fulfi ll?

Luke tells us that the new replacement for Judas was chosen after all the Apostles in the upper room had spent time in prayer. Write a paragraph about a time when you prayed before making an important decision.

Learn more about the authority of the Church by reading CCC 553 and YOUCAT 13.

LESSON 3: PENTECOST—THE CHURCH IS BORN

The birthday of the Church took place on a day that marked the great Jewish feast of Pentecost. On this day the people of Israel gave thanks to God for the wheat harvest and for the Law that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Many people came from surrounding areas to cele brate together in Jerusalem. The time was just right for an event of great importance. As the disciples gathered together, the Holy Spirit was sent to them. Jesus had kept His promise! Read Acts 2:1–4 to fi nd out what took place. The Holy Spirit made himself known by two signs: a strong, violent wind and tongues of fi re. Wind and fi re have been recognized as signs of God’s presence since ancient times.

Read the following Scripture passages and summarize them in a sentence or phrase:

Exodus 3:2–4


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Exodus 13:21–22

Exodus 19:18

Jerusalem was crowded with visitors at the time of Pentecost. It is no wonder that many people heard the noise in and around the house where the Apostles were. The visitors gathered to fi nd out what had caused the noise. As they came closer and began to mingle with the Apostles, the visitors were both amazed and puzzled. Read Acts 2:5–11, and fi nd out why.

Write a paragraph describing what happened.

The Holy Spirit had given to those in the upper room the mar velous gift of tongues. This is just the fi rst sign we have of the change God had brought about in His followers to help them in their work of spreading the gospel. Biblical scholars think this gift probably worked in one of two ways: the Apostles were able to speak in foreign lan guages whenever they needed to, or they spoke in their own language, and everyone listening heard them in his native tongue.

How would this gift of tongues help the Apostles to spread the Word of God?

Peter, in his role as leader of the infant Church, now began to speak to the crowd that had gathered. He boldly told the people that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had been waiting. With newfound cou rage, he claimed to be a witness, along with the other Apostles, to Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. When the crowd understood that they had cooperated in Jesus’ death, they asked Peter what they should do.


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Review Questions

1. What does the word Theophilus mean?

2. List the twelve Apostles.

3. How did the Holy Spirit affect and change the Apostles?

Read Acts 2:14–47 to fi nd Peter’s answer to them.

About three thousand people were baptized that day. The Church was starting to grow by leaps and bounds. Jesus’ Church had been born on the feast of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had come to the fi rst Christians in a very special way and would continue to be with them through good and bad times. Every day new people would come to join the Apostles in proclaiming their faith in the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

UNIT 2: THE INFANT CHURCH

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LESSON 4: GIVING IN CHRIST

By His example, Jesus taught us to give to others. We can give of our selves by giving of our time, talents, and treasure for the good of others. Giving benefi ts both the one who gives and the one who receives.

Explain how, in the following situations, giving might benefi t both the giver and the receiver.

Giving up some of your free time to help your younger brother or sister with homework.

This helps your brother or sister by

This helps you by

Giving up some of your time to help an older person with yard work, errands, or housework.

This helps the older person by

This helps you by

Giving money to a favorite charity.

This helps the charity by

This helps you by

Who do you think benefi ts the most in any act of giving, the giver or the receiver? Why do you think so?


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The Church was born on Pentecost. The mission of the Church is to reveal Christ to the world. One day, shortly after the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, Peter and John were going to the temple to pray. They crossed the court of the Gentiles. This was one of the outer parts of the temple, where the money changers had their tables and the merchants sold the animals used for sacrifi ces. As the two disciples came to the “Beautiful Gate” (the entrance to the part of the temple reserved for Jewish believers), they saw a crippled man begging for money. Peter and John immediately felt compassion for the lame man and wanted to help him. Being poor, however, they had no money to give him.

Read Acts 3:4–10 to see what happened, and summarize the passage on the lines below.

Peter and John, representing the Church, chose to think and act as Christ did when He walked on earth. Read the following pas sages in Scripture: Mark 2:1–12, Mark 3:1–6, and John 5:1–9. Write a paragraph describing how Jesus healed the suffering peo ple during His public life.

Jesus is alive and active on the earth today through His Church. Who makes up the Church today? You might answer this by thinking fi rst of the Pope, the bishops, priests, sisters, and other religious. One important person you may not have thought of is you! You are a very important part of Jesus’ Church.


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When you choose to give of yourself in love to others, you are choosing to act as Jesus would act. Jesus comes to others through you. In a special way, you are Christ to other people. In Acts 3:4–10, we read that Peter and John did not have any money to give to a crippled man who was begging. They could have just shrugged their shoulders and walked away. However, the love they had for Christ and the love they had for the beggar spurred them to think of another way to help him. In giving the man the ability to walk, they showed him Christ’s merciful love. Sometimes we too cannot help people in the way they want to be helped. Perhaps we already have made a commitment to help someone else, or we may not have enough money to donate or to lend to some one in need. However, if we try to think of alternative ways to help those in need, we are choosing to act as Christ acted.

See how many different ways you can solve the following problems. List your solutions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. There is a special collection in church for a cancer hospice in your town, but you have no money with you.

2. Mr. Dvorak, a 65-year-old man who lives next door, asks you to mow his lawn today. But your team is scheduled to play an important game, and you are a starter on the team.

3. On a Saturday afternoon, your sister asks you to help her address and mail her wedding invitations. But you have just been hired to work at the local fast-food restaurant, and Saturday is your fi rst day on the job.

Learn more about the importance of Works of Mercy by reading CCC 2447 and YOUCAT 449.

LESSON 5: HOW MUCH SHOULD I GIVE?

The period of Church history starting shortly after the death of Jesus (c. A.D. 30) and ending approximately A.D. 60 has been called by many historians “The Golden Age of Christianity”. It was a time in the Church’s life when people tried to live Christ’s example of giving and sharing to the highest degree. Not since then has Christianity seen such an all-out commitment by almost all its members to a life of total sharing of property, money, and time. The early Christians lived in communities. These communities were groups of people that had common ownership of certain pieces of property. In other words, anyone in the community could use these goods when they needed them, as long as they respected the rights of others and caused no damage. An example of this idea today might be a town- or city-owned park, or swimming pool, or


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library. Anyone liv ing in that town or city would be entitled to use its facilities. The people of the early Church acted in much the same manner, with one difference: they shared everything they owned. Clothes, money, houses—everything they owned was either shared with or given out right to others.

Read Acts 2:44–45 and Acts 4:32–37 to see how Saint Luke describes the sharing actions of the early Church members. In Acts 4:36–37 we read about a farmer named Barnabas who sold his fi eld and gave the money to the Apostles so that they could dis tribute the money to the poor.

Read Luke 10:29–37, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and write a paragraph describing how we can be “good Samaritans” today.

Learn more about communion in charity by reading CCC 953 and YOUCAT 146.

LESSON 6: LACK OF GIVING—LACK OF LOVE

The early days of Christianity were not all trouble free. As the Church carried out her mission of spreading Christ’s message throughout the world, people from different backgrounds joined the new Faith. One of the fi rst Christian groups was composed of Jewish converts who spoke Hebrew. A second group was composed of Jewish converts who spoke Greek. To us living in the world today, this seems to be no big problem. Between these two groups living more than two thousand years ago, however, their different languages and backgrounds soon became a source of prejudice and discrimination.

Defi ne “prejudice” and “discrimination” in your own words.

Because we are all created in God’s image, we each refl ect God in our own way. When we show prejudice or discrimination toward someone, we choose not to see the person as an image of God. Prejudice is a judgment about another person that is usually made before all the facts are known. Often this type of judgment leads one person to distrust or dislike another or to act unjustly toward another (discrimination). Prejudice and discrimination are a refusal to love in a Christlike way. This always hurts both people, because it is a failure to act as an image of God should.


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Read Acts 6:1–2. Answer the following questions.

How did the prejudice and discrimination shown toward the Greek-speaking Christians hurt them?

How did this prejudice and discrimination cause problems for the Apostles?

How did this prejudice and discrimination hurt the Christian community as a whole?

To remedy the evil of prejudice and discrimination among the early believers, the Apos tles asked that seven holy men be selected to become deacons. These men would deal with the problems between the Greek- and Hebrew-speaking Christians and allow the Apostles to continue their main task of spreading the gospel. The diaconate was one more way God could minister to His people. Once again God was showing His goodness and love to the Church.

Read Acts 6:5 and list below the names of the seven deacons cho sen by the early Christian community:


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Review Questions

1. What did Peter and John give the crippled man begging at the “Beautiful Gate”?

2. Who makes up the Church today?

3. What period of time was the “Golden Age of Christianity”?

4. What was an example of prejudice among the early Christians?

The names of the seven men show that they all came from a Greek-speaking background. The Church was making sure that the early Christians would form a community where all would feel welcome. The Word of God and the love shown by His Church are for all people for all time.

Learn more about the dignity of the human person by reading CCC 1930 and YOUCAT 280.

UNIT 3: TWO GREAT SERVANTS OF CHRIST—SAINT STEPHEN AND SAINT PAUL

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LESSON 7: STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR

“Greater Love Has No Man than This, That a Man Lay Down His Life for His Friends” (John 15:13)

To learn more about martyrdom read CCC 2473 and YOUCAT 454.

The fi rst person to give his life for Christ was Stephen, one of the seven deacons the Apostles had appointed to help them. Stephen was a very courageous and religious man. He wanted to do more than assist the Christian community—he wanted to share with everyone his faith and his love for Christ. Soon, however, his words angered certain Jew ish people. They were afraid that, by proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, Stephen was showing disrespect for the great temple in Jeru salem, the Old Jewish Law, and Moses. Eventually, these people bribed others to say that Stephen had talked disrespectfully about the temple and the law of Moses. The stage was now set to have Stephen arrested and put on trial. Stephen was brought before a Jewish court called the Sanhedrin, where he gave a long speech in his defense. Because of his great love for Jesus, Stephen was more concerned with teaching the people about Christ than with saving himself. He tried to show the people that, just as their ancestors ages ago had rejected God’s will by rejecting the words of Moses and the prophets, now they were rejecting God’s will as revealed through Jesus the Messiah. Stephen, in this speech, mentioned three famous Old Testament fi gures: Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.

Write any facts you may remember about these men:

Abraham

Vocabulary

Sanhedrin: the Jewish court of law in Jerusalem. At the time of Jesus, it was the highest religious and legal authority among the Jewish people.

Saul: Saint Paul’s Jewish name


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Joseph

Moses

Stephen ended his speech by saying that, even though some of these leaders had been rejected, God had brought good out of their situations. God had brought a great victory out of Jesus’ death, too. When Stephen mentioned Jesus in this way, the Sanhedrin knew that Stephen believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. This was more than they could stand!

Read Acts 7:54–60 and summarize the passage on the lines below.

Thus Stephen became the fi rst of a long line of those who willingly showed the highest form of friendship for Jesus, giving their lives for Him.

LESSON 8: PAUL—FROM PERSECUTOR OF CHRISTIANS TO GREAT CHRISTIAN SAINT

As we read in Acts 7, a man named Saul offered to watch the cloaks of those people who were stoning Stephen. This meant that Saul approved of the killing. What do we know about this man? First, we know Saul was a Pharisee. Pharisees believed that all Jews should obey the law of Moses very carefully. Saul believed that Christians were threatening to throw away this law completely. Because of this belief, it was quite easy for him to think that killing Stephen and the other Christians was the correct thing to do. Second, we know that Saul’s hometown, Tarsus, was an important trade center. As a boy Saul must have seen and met people from many lands and cultures. An understanding of these cultures was useful to Saul when he became a missionary for Christ.


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Third, we know that Saul was a Roman citizen, a great privilege in the days of the Roman Empire. Having this privilege helped him during his mis sionary travels for Christ. About the year 36, a local persecution against the Christians broke out in Jerusalem. Saul was one of the main persecutors and took very seriously his task of rounding up the followers of Christ. Saul and the other persecutors thought Jesus’ message was a threat to Jewish beliefs that had to be crushed with force. He knew that certain followers of Jesus were living in Damascus, and so he obtained offi cial per mission from the high priest in Jerusalem to arrest these people.

Find Damascus on the map below. How far is it from Jerusalem?

It was Jesus Himself who met Saul on the road to Damascus. Read Acts 9:3–9 and fi nd out what hap-pened. Write Jesus’ words to Saul on the lines below and explain in your own words what they mean:

If you had to be led by the hand as Saul was, how would you feel?

What thoughts do you think were going through Saul’s mind?

Why do you think God allowed Saul to be blind for three days?


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To learn more about the importance of sharing the faith read CCC 850 or YOUCAT 11–12.

While Saul sat in darkness waiting for direction from the Lord, a Christian named Ananias, who lived in Damascus, had a vision. He was told by Christ to go to Saul and to cure him. (Read Acts 9:10–12.) But Ananias already knew who Saul was, and he also knew that Saul had come to Damascus to arrest all the Christians there.

If you had been the one whom the Lord had told to go and fi nd Saul, what would your reaction have been?

Read Acts 9:13–14. What was Ananias’ reaction to God’s call?

Was it like yours?

Read Acts 9:17–25 and answer the following questions.

1. What did Ananias do for Saul?

2. Why were people surprised to hear Saul preaching about Christ?

3. Why did some people become angry with Saul (Acts 9:22–23)?

4. How did Saul escape from Damascus?

5. Who helped Saul meet Christians in Jerusalem?


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These events we have just examined in Saul’s life probably took place around the year 36. By about 45 or 46, after spending much time in prayer, in doing good works, and in the study of Christ under the guid ance of his good friend Barnabas, Saul was ready to start spreading the good news of Christ to distant lands. He made three different mis sionary trips. It was during his fi rst trip that he changed his name to Paul. Finally, Paul traveled to Rome. There he suffered a martyr’s death for the sake of Jesus Christ, whom he had persecuted so many years before.


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Review Questions

1. Who was the fi rst person to sacrifi ce his life for Jesus? What was the offi ce for which he was ordained by the Apostles?

2. On the road to Damascus, what question did Jesus ask Saul?

3. What did Ananias do for Saul?

UNIT 4: THE CHURCH—MYSTICAL PERSON OF CHRIST

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LESSON 9: JESUS, WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU THE MOST?

Many people over the centuries have wished that they could walk with Christ as His Apostles did. They have wanted to talk with Him and ask Him many things: What actions are right or wrong in certain situa-tions? What does a person have to do to be saved today? Is there any purpose for living in this world, with all its problems and sadness? What is life’s purpose? People are searching for the truth when they ask questions like these. The answers to these questions can be found by looking to Christ. Jesus is Truth. There are many good examples in Scripture that show us how Jesus handled various situations. These situations may be similar to ones we experience ourselves. In anyone’s life, however, there are times when knowing how to act is not easy. There are times when we have to make decisions about right and wrong and the examples in Scripture just don’t match our personal experiences closely enough. There are problems today that Jesus never spoke about at all, such as HIV/AIDS, abortion, and nuclear warfare. Jesus no longer walks this earth as a man. It isn’t possible to tap Him on the shoulder and invite Him to your house for dinner to dis cuss these problems. Where can a person go? Who can tell us the truth today? Jesus did not leave us orphans, abandoned, to fi nd our own answers to life or our own way back to Him in Heaven. He left us His Church. We will discover that the Church is really Christ.

“Everybody loves a mystery!” So the old saying goes, and how true it is. Mysteries interest us and stir our curiosity.

Vocabulary

infi nite: without any limit; endless fi nite: having defi nite limitsmystery: something not understood or something beyond understanding


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Think of a mystery book, movie, or television show that kept you inter ested. What was the “unknown” that you wanted to investigate?

The will of God is indeed a mystery, because God Himself is a mystery. One of the reasons God is a mystery is that He is infi nite. Because we are fi nite creatures, we can never completely understand a God who is infi nite. Jesus, however, through the Church, helps us to understand His Father’s will. If the Church is necessary in order for us to follow God, then it is very important to understand the Church. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the Church herself comes from God and is therefore also a mystery.

To learn more about the mystery of the Church read CCC 772 and YOUCAT 124.

LESSON 10: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!

In the previous lesson, we considered that God is a mystery. We also saw that, because the Church herself comes from God, she too is a mys tery. It was probably Saint Paul who was given the fi rst clue to the mys tery of the Church. As you will recall, Paul met Christ in a blinding fl ash of light on the road to Damascus. Can you recall the question that Jesus put to Paul on that occasion? Jesus was telling Paul that His Church’s sufferings were His own sufferings. For Paul, Christ’s mean ing was very clear. The Church was not only begun by Jesus. She actually is Jesus. Those words of Jesus spoken on the Damascus road were so important to Paul and moved him so deeply that he never forgot them. On the basis of those words, Paul developed a very beautiful and clear way for us to understand Jesus’ work in and among His people, the Church. He called the Church the Body of Christ. The writings of Saint Paul on the Body of Christ have interested peo ple through the centuries. In our own time they have been closely read and studied by Saint John Paul II. This Pope took Saint Paul’s original ideas and wrote about their relationship to the Church. We could sum up Saint John Paul’s idea of the Church in two sentences:

When the Church speaks, it is Christ who speaks.When the Church acts, it is Christ who acts.

As someone reads these statements, the fi rst thoughts that come to mind may be, “What’s so new about that? That’s not so diffi cult. What’s the big deal?” To understand what the “big deal” is, read the following passages and write in the missing word or words.


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1. “When the Church speaks, it is Christ who speaks.” To speak and to use language on a higher level requires thinking on a higher level.To think in this way requires a mind.To have a mind means that there must be an .

2. “When the Church acts, it is Christ who acts.”To act one must fi rst decide (choose) to act.Choices are made by using one’s .

3. A living being that has both of the powers you fi lled in for state ments 1 and 2 can be called a .

To learn more about the Church read CCC 805 and YOUCAT 121.

What we are saying here is that the Church is actually a person. Remember, too, that Christ is a Person. Because what the Church does and what Christ does are identical, we can say that the Church is the Person of Christ. If this idea seems diffi cult to understand at fi rst, do not be discouraged. The way in which Jesus and His Church are one is a mystery to us. It is not possible for us to understand a mystery fully. The Church is the Person of Christ in the world today. However, there are some important differences between Jesus, who lived on earth two thousand years ago and now sits at God’s right hand, and the Person of Christ as found in the Church. In Jesus, we fi nd one person in whom two natures—divine and human—are united. (The divine nature means Jesus is fully God, while the human nature means that He is truly a fl esh-and-blood man.) How we get the human and divine natures of Jesus together so per fectly in one Person is a mystery, because it is a work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the Church we have the union of many persons—human (us) and divine (Jesus). This union is fi rst brought about at our Baptism and is the work of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and us. Although the ways of God are often a mystery to us, we can at least try to understand how Christ and the people of His Church become one with each other. We become members of the Church through the Sacrament of Baptism, when we put on Christ and receive God’s life. To become an active member of any group or organization, one must want to join. When people are baptized as adults, they show their willingness to join the Church by answering “yes” to the ques tions asked by the priest or deacon during the administration of the Sacrament.

If an infant is being baptized, who says “yes” to Christ for the baby?

Once “yes” is said to Jesus, a person becomes a member of His Church. Saint Paul said that, at this point, a person “puts on Christ”. To many, the idea of “putting on Christ” will make no sense at all. A per son can “put on” clothes, shoes, or a hat, but how can one person “put on” another person—especially when that person is Jesus? Naturally, Saint Paul was not speaking of putting on Christ as you would an article of clothing. He meant something much deeper.


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Perhaps the following comparisons will help you to understand how people become one with Christ in Baptism.

1. In Baptism a person says “yes” to Christ and becomes one with Him. When people decide to join an athletic team, they must say “yes” to the idea of teamwork. They must become one with the team, and the team must become one with them. By becoming more and more united with the team in general, a person fi nds a special closeness, a “oneness,” with each individual team member. A symbolic way of stating that we have become one with the team is to say that we have “put on” the team. In Baptism we “put on” Christ. This union with Jesus is so strong that we become “other Christs”, able to do His will in the world.

2. If every member of an athletic team works for the team, every other person on the team will benefi t. In other words, what each team member does to support the team’s effort will help in some way every other member. In the case of the Church, whenever we, as “other Christs”, give of ourselves to Jesus Christ through love and good works, we are also giving of ourselves to all the other baptized members of the Church because they are also “other Christs”.

When we “put on Christ” in Baptism, we also become members of God’s family, the Church. A family is a communion of persons who work together, love each other, and help each other to love as God loves. Just as we have work to do in our families—setting the table, cleaning our rooms, helping with washing the dishes—there is work to do in God’s family. The work of God’s family is to spread the message of Jesus. As members of the Church, we share in this work. There are many ways that we can accept this responsibility. As students, your work is to learn as much as you can about your Faith so that you can spread and defend it. We show our love for the other members of God’s family by our actions. We can pray for them and treat them as images of God. We should treat all persons with dignity and respect. Our actions can show our love when we help other people—the young, the elderly, the dying, the poor, the homeless—in many ways, through community and parish programs. As members of God’s family we have a respon sibility to help and care for the other members. We help the other members of God’s family to love as God loves by our example. When we live as images of God by following the teachings of the Church, the Ten Commandments, and the beatitudes, we give good example to others. When we see others making wrong choices—taunting, bullying, gossiping, showing prejudice—we can step forward and, by our example, show the right choice. We can stop the taunting and bullying, silence the gossip, and eliminate the prejudice by our example.


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Just as we are related to the other members of our families, we are spiritually related to the Christians who lived centuries ago, who are living now, and who will come after us until the end of time. All the members of God’s family, the Church, share in the duties and respon sibilities set forth when we “put on Christ” in Baptism. How do we know what those duties and responsibilities are? The fi rst Christians looked to the Apostles and the Church for answers to that question. Who is the source of answers and guidance for us today? If the Church is the Person of Christ, then the Church and the Apostles’ successors are just as reliable a source for answers and guid-ance as Jesus was when He walked the earth so many years ago. Jesus, who loves us enough to die for us, did not leave us to fend for our selves and blindly struggle toward Heaven. He left us Himself in the form of the Church, to help us in our search for God, to answer our questions about right and wrong, and to comfort us in our sufferings until we come into our home in Heaven. To follow the Church is to fol low Christ. To ignore the Church and her teachings is to ignore the One who came to save us, Jesus Himself, who alone can show us the way to Salvation.

Listed below are two laws and a statement of advice given by the Church. After each, write how you think these guidelines can lead us to become more Christlike and eventually to make our way to Heaven.

1. We are to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.

2. We are to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year (if we have committed serious sin).

3. Workers are to be paid a fair wage (Pope Leo XIII).


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Review Questions

1. Whom did Jesus leave with us to help us fi nd the answers to life and to understand His Father’s will?

2. What is one of the differences between Jesus (incarnate) and the Person of Christ as found in the Church?

3. When do we “put on Christ” and become members of the Church?

UNIT 5: THE CHURCH PERSECUTED—THE CHURCH VICTORIOUS

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LESSON 11: THE ROMAN PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH

In His life on earth, Jesus always did the will of His Father in Heaven. He stood for the truth, defended the helpless, and loved sinners. Many people who knew Him loved Him. However, there were also those who did not want to accept Christ’s truth or love. To these people Jesus was a threat, because accepting His message would mean that they would have to change their way of living. To love one’s enemies, to forgive sinners, to give generously to the poor were not things they wanted to do. If Jesus were to convince most of the people that this new way of life was what the Father wanted, someone who did not follow Jesus would feel like an outcast. There was only one solution: to harass Jesus and, in the process, to make Him look bad to the pub lic, so that no one would follow Him. In other words, the solution was fi rst to persecute Jesus and then later His followers, His church.

In your Bibles look up the following Scripture passages and write how Jesus’ enemies were trying to make Him look bad.

Matthew 22:15–22

Mark 11:27–33

Through the ages, the Church has continued to be a vessel of truth, love, and mercy. Just as Jesus was persecuted in His day, the Church has been persecuted throughout history, because there have been peo ple who have not accepted or have misunderstood the Church’s message.

Vocabulary

persecution: the act of treating or being treated in a cruel and unjust way because of a particular belief

Caesar: an emperor of the Roman Empireheresy: a teaching that contradicts the truths of the Faith revealed by Godecumenical council: a meeting of all or a large number of bishops together with the Pope

as head of the Church


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As we have seen, the fi rst persecution of the Church broke out against the Christian community living in Jerusalem. It began with the death of Saint Stephen and resulted in the imprisonment and execution of many followers of Christ. This persecution, however, was small in comparison to the one carried out by the Roman Empire about thirty years later. Before reading about this important event in the young Church’s life, you should be familiar with a few vocabulary terms and historical facts.

Answer the following questions as well as you can.

1. In what country is the city of Rome located?

2. What is the meaning of the term “Caesar”?

3. What do you know about the Roman persecution of the Christians?

4. Locate the city of Rome on the map.

The Roman Empire, in the days of Jesus and in the four and a half centuries that followed, was the most powerful ruling force known in the world. It extended over most of what we know today as Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. When the Roman emperor or govern ment made laws, everyone in the Empire was expected to obey.

In A.D. 64, on the night of July 18, a terrible fi re broke out in Rome. It lasted six days and destroyed nearly two-thirds of the city. The Roman emperor at that time was a man named Nero. He was alreadyunpopular with many of the people, and the fi re only seemed to make matters worse for him. (There were rumors circulating that he had started the fi re himself, or that it was a result of the disfavor of the gods for Nero’s cruel acts as ruler.) The people had become restless because some of the things Nero had done had made him very unpop ular, and this fi re made the people even more discontented.


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Nero had to fi nd someone to blame to takethe pressure off himself. He blamed the Christians for the fi re. This provided Nerowith a scapegoat. It also was a chance forhim to weaken the Christian community,

because he saw Christianity as a threat to the Roman government. He quickly had many of the Christ-ians rounded up and put to death. He had some of the Christians dressed in the skins of wild beasts, and then he had his own dogs set upon them. Others were covered with tar, tied to poles, and set ablaze as torches. Thereafter, laws were passed in the Roman Empire legalizing the imprisonment and execution of anyone pro fessing to be a Christian. As a rule, the Romans accepted and even welcomed the new reli gions they encountered in their conquering of the vast territories they held. But, even after the death of Nero, the Romans continued to single out and persecute Christians. Some historians think that the Christians were distrusted because they held secret meetings and would not take part in certain forms of entertainment popular at the time. Historians also think that some Romans were spreading rumors that the Chris tians were cannibals and had child sacrifi ces.

There are many times in our lives when we too “persecute” others because they are different from us or because we have heard unkind things said about them by friends or people with whom we associate. For each of the situations listed below, write one or two ways in which the person might be persecuted:

1. A new student arrives in school; she is overweight and wears out dated clothes because she cannot afford new ones.

2. A certain boy is not physically coordinated. He attends a school where many students consider athletics to be extremely important. It is the unwritten rule that being a “jock” should be every man’s dream.

3. Friends of a junior-high girl are starting to date. Because her par ents feel a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old is too young to see boys on a dating basis, she is not allowed to do so.


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Now write how you could be “another Christ” and help the per sons caught in these three situations to feel included and wanted.

1.

2.

3.

In our lives we will encounter many people who will feel persecuted because they are trying to do the right thing. It is our duty when we see these people suffering to do our best to help them and to allow them to experience the merciful love and presence of Christ. The Roman persecution of the followers of Christ continued for almost 250 years. The severity of the persecution fl uctuated, however. Some emperors strictly enforced the anti-Christian laws, and others did not. Therefore, the Christians never knew what would happen to them when a new emperor took the throne. Throughout this period, nevertheless, the faith of the Chris tians continued to be strong, and their number continued to grow. The gospel of Jesus teaches that all people are equal in the sight of God and deserve to experience His love. The early Christians tried to see all people as children of God, deserving of fair treatment, forgiveness, and Jesus’ merciful love. As nonbelievers came to know the Chris tians and to see their love and holiness in action, many of them were so impressed that they also became believers. For the Christians the time of persecution meant that, if they were arrested and condemned to death, they could show the greatest form of love one person could show for another—the giving up of one’s life for the gospel. Many Christians were happy to be able to show their love for Christ and their faith in Him this way. Some of the Romans who attended the executions noticed how peacefully and prayerfully many Christians accepted death. They were so impressed that they too became believers.

Write down ways that your own good example might infl uence the actions of others.

To learn about the holiness of the Church read CCC 2016 and YOUCAT 132.


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LESSON 12: THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS

In the year 312, the Christian persecutions ended. At that time, two men were trying to gain control of the Roman government in the western part of the Empire. Their names were Constantine and Maxentius. Constantine had the better claim to be emperor, and eventually the two men and their armies went to war with each other. Constantine won the fi rst battle against Maxentius at Turin, and another at Verona, Italy. However, the war was not yet over. As Constantine marched toward Rome to do battle with Maxentius again, he had a dream or vision in which he saw a cross in the sky, along with the words, “By this sign you shall conquer.” Constantine was a pagan, but he had sympathy for the Christians because his mother was a Christian. He therefore assumed that the God of the Christians wanted to help him win the upcoming battle. Constantine immediately had his men paint the cross on their shields. The two rival emperors met in battle at the Milvian Bridge. Constantine won the fi ght and was then recognized as the emperor of the Western Empire. In the year 313, Constantine helped to draw up a document that made Christianity legal. It was called the Edict of Milan. According to the decree, the Christians could now practice their Faith in public, without fear of imprisonment or death. Within a few decades, Chris tianity became the offi cial religion of the Western Roman Empire. Even though the persecutions had ended, Christianity was still not free from problems. A new threat to the Christian Faith came with Arius, a priest who taught that Jesus was not equal to God the Father. The Church had to act to put an end to this false teaching.

On the lines below, answer the following questions as if you were one of the early Church leaders faced with the problem that Arius’ teach ing was causing.

If Jesus had not been God, would He have been able to return God the Father’s love? Explain your answer.

If Jesus had not been God, He could not have risen from the dead. How would this supposition affect us after death?


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The Church could not allow both concepts—that Christ is God and that Christ is not God—to be taught. It is impossible for Jesus to be God and not be God at the same time! Since Jesus, who is God, is all Truth, and always teaches the truth, the Church, who is the Mystical Person of Christ, must also always teach the truth. Therefore, some thing had to be done to show people the true teaching about the Son of God. A meeting of all the bishops in the world was called in the city of Nicaea. A meeting of this type is called an ecumenical council. At the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea the traditional teaching that Jesus is equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit was reaffi rmed. Thus the Church corrected the false teachings set forth by Arius.

To learn more how Jesus is true God and true man read CCC 464 and YOUCAT 77.

Review Questions

1. What does the word “heresy” mean?

2. What is an ecumenical council?

3. What did the Edict of Milan decree?

UNIT 6: THE CHURCH FACES A NEW WORLD

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LESSON 13: THE CHURCH—FREE AT LAST!

After the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313, the Church began to enjoy freedom from persecution.

On the lines below, write down what you think members of the Church might have been able to do in public without fear of being arrested for their beliefs.

New believers now entered the Church by the thousands. Previously, Christians had usually come to the Faith as adults; now there were many children being baptized along with other members of their families. Christians were now building many new churches and decorating them with gold, silver, and other precious materials. Constantine him self contributed greatly to their construction. The saving words of Jesus had fi nally reached into all Roman ter ritories. Church leaders and missionaries had much to do, however, because there were still large numbers of Romans who refused to accept the good news of Christ. Sometimes the people refused to give up their faith in gods and goddesses. Some of the wealthier people were against Christianity for fear of losing political power and because many followers of Christ came from the poorer classes. Still others refused Christ because to accept His message would have meant that they would have to give up sinful ways of life.

Saint Martin of Tours: Missionary of FranceThe converts to Christianity continued to grow in number. Special men and women chose to carry Christ’s message to people who were eager to hear the good news. One such person was Martin of Tours. Martin was born to non-Christian parents in the area of the Roman Empire known today as Hungary. Although originally raised as a pagan (one who believes in many gods and goddesses), he became interested in Christianity as a child, and by the age of ten he wanted to dedicate his life to Jesus. He was not able to fulfi ll this wish right away, however.


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When Martin was fi fteen, his father forced him to join the Roman army. While on duty in Amiens, France, he passed a shivering, half-naked beggar on the road. Like most Roman soldiers, Martin was wear ing a cape over his armor. Imitating Christ’s merciful love, he took his cape, divided it in two with his sword, and gave half of it to the poor man. That night, Jesus appeared to Martin, carrying the half cloak he had given to the beggar by the side of the road. Shortly thereafter Mar tin was baptized, and he asked to be discharged from the army. He met Saint Hilary, bishop of Tours, and helped him to establish many monasteries. When Hilary died, the people of Tours wanted Martin to take his place. Martin accepted. As a bishop and teacher of Christ’s word he was tireless. Riding a donkey, he traveled through many French villages bringing all who would listen into the fellow ship of Christ. Temples dedicated to gods and goddesses were con verted to churches in many of the places he visited. In 397, while he was on one of his many missionary journeys, he died. Saint Martin of Tours and the work he did for Christ and His Church were not to be forgotten by the people. He is especially well-known and honored in France.

To learn more about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy read CCC 2447 and YOUCAT 450–51.

LESSON 14: THE EARLY CHURCH—ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

Why don’t you get organized, Billy?Allison, get your room organized and clean up this mess!

Being organized is a necessary part of our lives. It gives us a feeling of order and makes us more effi cient. When we organize our lives and ourselves, we fi nd it much easier to share God’s love and life with oth ers. Our energies and efforts can be more easily directed to the needs of others, because we spend less time worrying about trying to man age our own. In the fourth century the Church adapted her own organization in order better to carry out her mission of bringing the love of Christ to greater numbers of people. Some of these developments are still used in our Church today.

Below are listed two ways the Church developed her internal organization and structure. These are still used today. See if you can identify them.

1. Because Christian communities became larger and larger, the Church found it necessary to divide them into small groups to attend better to their needs. A priest was assigned to each of these smaller sections of Christians to look after their spiritual needs. Most of these sections were placed under the protection of a saint. Today you too are associated with a community of Catholics who are under the spiritual guidance of a priest. Your community may be named after a saint who is its heavenly protector.

This community is called a .


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2. In earlier times, the Church organized these smaller communities into larger groups under the direction of a bishop. The Church continues to maintain these larger groupings.

What are these larger groupings of Catholic communities called today?

3. The Church at this time also began to recognize that its priests needed a good spiritual education to be able to carry out their duties properly as caretakers of God’s people.

Today we call the institutions that educate men to be priests .

Saint Augustine: From Great Sinner to Great SaintHave you ever felt like not doing the right thing? Have you ever known what you really should do and yet not done it right away? Well, you’re not alone. One of the great saints of the Church faced the same diffi culties in choosing to do God’s will. Augustine was born in the year 354 in the Roman town of Tagaste in what is now in northern Algeria. His mother, Monica, was a Christian. His father, a pagan, wanted his son to be taught the skills of reading and writing, so he sent Augustine to a school in Carthage. Carthage was a city in the Roman Empire in which a young per son could easily be led into a sinful life. Augustine, being only eight een, quickly was attracted to this lifestyle. He took a mistress for himself and had a son by her. His friends there were strong believers in the heresy of Manichaeism, and soon Augustine was one of its strongest supporters. Even then, Augustine felt that there was something missing from his life—the truth. He searched for it endlessly. His strong belief in Manichaeism did not seem to answer his questions about the meaning of life and the difference between right and wrong. God never gave up on Augustine. Through his mother, Monica, we see God at work in the life of this great saint-to-be. Monica never stopped praying for her son. Many times she would show up at his house and plead with him to come back to the Christian Faith, in which he had been raised. She always tried to give him good Christian advice, even though most of the time in Augustine’s early life he did not want to listen to it.

Think of a time when your parents tried to give you good advice, or out of love tried to prevent you from doing something. On the lines below, write a prayer of thanks to God for the people in your life who care about your spiritual well-being.


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Augustine eventually moved to the Roman city of Milan in Italy, where a Manichaean friend found him a position in a school teaching the skills of speaking and writing. One day Augustine happened to hear a sermon of Bishop Ambrose. The sermon helped Augustine begin to understand the Scriptures in a new way. As a younger man he had considered them old-fashioned and totally out of touch with the world. Saint Ambrose also spoke about the Catholic Church and how one could fi nd truth in her teachings. Truth! Was it not truth that Augustine had been seeking all these years? Could it really be found in the Faith to which his mother had been trying to convince him to return—the Faith he had been ignoring all these years? As time went on, Augustine met priests and friends who lived exceptionally good Christian lives. He was by now strongly attracted to the Christian way of life. Intellectual diffi culties and his old life of sin held him back. Augustine had lived in sinful ways for so long that he had formed many bad habits that were very hard to break. Even though he wanted to be free of these sinful actions, he was very much attached to them and the pleasure they could give him. Augustine, when on the verge of giving up his old ways, heard the priests and friends protesting, “Are you really going to send us away? If you do, you will never be able to do this, that, or the other thing ever again.” On these occasions Augustine would pray, “Lord, give me a sinless life . . . but not yet!” As he sat in the garden of his home in Milan, an opportunity pre sented itself by which this great saint would fi nally give himself over to God’s will and life, once and for all. Augustine was feeling abso lutely miserable. On the one hand he was drawn by the love of God, to which he wanted so much to respond, and on the other by the sinful life he felt he could not leave behind. In a nearby garden he heard children singing what sounded like “Take and read! Take and read!” Jumping to his feet, he took up a book containing the writings of Saint Paul. He opened it and began to read Romans 13:13–14.

On the lines below, write out these verses.

Augustine interpreted these words of Paul as a direct invitation from God. They changed his life forever. He was baptized by Bishop Ambrose and returned to his hometown of Tagaste, selling his mate rial goods and giving the money to the poor. Augustine eventually joined a religious community and was later ordained a priest and a bishop. He wrote many books defending the Christian Faith against heresies. Augustine, one of the Catholic Church’s great saints, died on August 28, 430, fully realizing the meaning of his own prayer, “Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You.”

To learn more about the importance of pastors and bishops read CCC 832 andYOUCAT 253.


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LESSON 15: GOD—OUR HOPE IN AGES PAST . . . AND IN THE PRESENT

By the end of the fourth century A.D., Rome was no longer the powerful, undefeated force it had been in centuries past. The Roman Empire in the West was nearing its end. Most outsiders could not see Rome’s weaknesses, because the Empire’s armies were still large and its boundaries still extended many thousands of miles. At fi rst glance, things seemed to be going as well as ever. However, a closer look at the Western Empire reveals several major factors that were causing its society to come apart from the inside:

1. The economy of the Empire was in a dangerous state. Prices were rising, money lost more and more of its value, and taxes also were rising. Many people were gradually becoming disgusted with their government’s monetary policies.

2. The upper classes lived only for money and the good things of life. They lost their sense of responsibility for others. The poorer people in the cities had become increasingly lazy. Fewer and fewer people wanted to do an honest day’s work.

3. Sexual morality was low. The divorce rate was very high. The number of abortions and infants abandoned to the elements was increasing.

4. People still fl ocked to the bloody games for entertainment. They enjoyed seeing people deliberately try to kill each other simply to provide entertainment for a crowd.

5. The common man, who in earlier days considered it an honor to serve in the Roman army, now tried to avoid military service sim ply because it required too much hard work. To fi ll the ranks of its armies, which were needed to defend the borders and keep order, Rome hired men from the tribes just outside of its boundaries. In other words, it hired its own enemies to guard the borders!

6. There was an infl ux of immigrants that the Roman Empire could not absorb.

With the Empire suffering such serious weakening on the inside, it did not take very much to give it the fi nal blow. This “blow” came from Rome’s enemies, the tribes of people who lived just beyond the Empire’s border defenses. The Romans called these tribes “barbarians”. The barbarian peoples were fi erce, uncivilized, and warlike groups. Many of them dressed in the skins of wild animals, dying the fur red. Some wore cone-shaped helmets with horns coming out both sides. There were many different barbarian tribes: Goths, Visigoths, Burgundians, Alans, Vandals, and Huns, among others. They were, for the most part, nomads, moving from place to place in order to fi nd good grazing land for their cattle. The plentiful pastures and riches of the Romans had always fi lled them with envy. Gradually, they began to sense the Empire’s internal weakness. They especially saw a lack of strength in Rome’s attempts to bribe them not to attack. No longer could the Romans beat them


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in battle. Now they had to buy their ene mies off. In the year 410, a force of Visigoths attacked the city of Rome, striking fear into the hearts of most Romans. Who would have imagined that anyone would dare to attack the city that had for so many centuries stood for the might of the Roman Empire? As the barbarians swept across the Western Roman Empire, burn ing, killing, and destroying as they went, the Romans soon discovered that their government was no longer capable of defending them or reestablishing law and order. Where could they go? To whom could they turn in this hour of greatest need? There was only one institution to which many people felt they could turn for help, protection, and comfort. That institution was the Catholic Church. Of all the examples a person could use to show the ways in which the Church acted to protect and help the common people during these fearful and violent times, one stands out among the rest: the famous encounter between Pope Saint Leo I and Attila, the leader of the Huns. Of all the barbarian tribes, perhaps none were feared more than the Huns. Coming out of Mongolia, they migrated westward. The Romans and even many of the other barbarian tribes feared them. The leader of the Huns was a fi erce warrior named Attila. Attila and his tribe moved across Europe, and in the year 452, he prepared to attack the city of Rome itself. One story says that a group of Romans came out to meet him. Among them was an old man with a white beard. Who were they? Who was he? Roman soldiers with the emperor? A high-ranking Roman offi cer? Attila moved cautiously toward the group and called out to the old man, “What is your name?” Came the answer, “I am Leo, the Pope.” The Roman emperor, having given up all hope of defeating the barbarian in battle, had sent the rep resentative of Christ on earth, Pope Leo I, to save what he could not. The Pope rode forward, and Attila did the same. They met in an open area and discussed terms, by which Attila would not attack Rome if he were paid a sum of money. The Hun leader agreed, and the city was saved! Although this event may not have happened exactly as stated here, it does represent the protection the people felt they received from the Church during these troubled times.

To learn more about the virtue of hope read CCC 1818 or YOUCAT 108.

Review Questions

1. What are two things Emperor Constantine did to help the Christians?

2. Name three major factors of the breakdown of the Roman Empire.

3. Who met face-to-face with Attila the Hun to save the city of Rome?

UNIT 7: AN AGE OF HERESY AND AN AGE OF TRUTH

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LESSON 16: ARIANISM—THE THREAT RETURNS

As the barbarians invaded the Western Roman Empire, they not only brought danger to the physical life of the citizens of Rome, but they brought with them a religious threat to the Church as well: the reestab lishment of the heresy of Arianism. As you may remember, this heresy had been condemned at the Church Council of Nicaea in 325. At that time the Roman Empire was still intact, and so steps could be taken to bring those who had fallen away from the Church back into Christ’s fold. For a while, the threat of Ari anism seemed to be past. Then an Arian bishop named Ulfi las (c. 310– 383) began spreading the Arian heresy to some of the barbarian tribes living near the frontiers of the Eastern Empire. As these tribes eventu ally made their way westward and invaded the crumbling Western Empire, they brought their misguided religion with them. The Church then faced a new challenge of winning people to Christ—

new because these people believed in Jesus, but in a totally false way. They believed in a Jesus who was simply a man, a very special man, to be sure, but still just a man. Because of false teaching, they had been cheated of their right to know what God is like and how He acts.

Write in your own words what Jesus shows us about God in the actions listed below.

Christ’s love for the poor.

Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery.

The cure of the ten lepers.

Vocabulary

pontifi cate: a Pope’s term in offi ce as head of the Churchplague: a very contagious and deadly disease


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Many of the barbarians had accepted Arianism. The Church, recogniz ing her task of teaching the message of Christ, responded by sending missionaries to the barbarians. By 700, because of the tireless work of the missionaries, the threat of Arianism was lessened. The Church had once again brought truth to those who had been misled. Who were these missionaries, these holy people sent to bring Christ’s word to the world that did not know Him yet? After the persecutions against the Church had stopped, some people went to live in secluded places to pray and to devote their whole attention to God. Those who lived by themselves were called hermits. Men who lived with others in small communities were called monks. Women who lived in communities were called nuns. These people wished to follow the example of Christ, who sought God in the desert. The lives of hermits and monks were devoted to prayer and silence and sometimes to manual labor. They ate simple foods and often ate only a small amount. They hoped by their actions to make up to God for their sins and those of the world. (This is called “doing penance for sin”, “atonement”, or “reparation”.) They did penance because of their love for Jesus. They wished, in a small way, to show their appreciation for His dying for all of us on the Cross. As the holiness of these hermits and monks became known throughout the Christian community, people would go to them to seek their advice on how to become more Christlike. Who better to send to spread the gospel to the barbarians than the monks, who already had a reputation for helping Christians live the gospel more fully?

A popular story of missionary activity in the early Church is the conversion of Ireland, brought about, in large part, by the actions of that country’s most famous saint, Patrick. Patrick was born sometime around the year 385, probably near the southwest coast of England. When he was a young boy, a group of Irish pirates raided his village and carried him off to Ireland, where he was treated as a slave. After several years, he was able to escape. Some accounts say that he made his way to France, where he entered a monas tery and became a monk. He could not forget, though, the people he had met in Ireland. “I hear the voices of children, calling me from Ire-land”, Patrick said. Eventually he was allowed to return to Ireland to spread the gospel. Saint Patrick worked nearly thirty years among the Irish, teaching them about the love Christ had for them. The story of Ireland’s conversion is unique in Church history. No missionaries were killed there while trying to spread the Faith, and no violence was used to bring the Irish


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people to believe in Jesus. Patrick simply let the Irish compare Christianity with their pagan beliefs to see for them selves the superiority of Christ’s gospel. By the time he died, about 461, Ireland was becoming a country dedicated to Jesus. Ireland was among the fi rst countries converted to Christianity that had not been part of the Roman Empire. The Church was reaching out, following Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to help the pagans living in Ireland understand the Blessed Trinity.

Describe how you think the shamrock can help people understand the idea of three Persons in one God.

To learn more about the Christian mission read CCC 852 and YOUCAT 11.

LESSON 17: SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD—POPE GREGORY I

The year was 590, and a new man became Pope. His name was Gregory. The situation that Gregory faced in Italy was desperate: the area around Rome was surrounded by barbarians who each year attacked more and more villages. Because of these roving bands of invaders, the roads were unsafe to travel. The prisoners the invaders took were used as slaves and were paraded through the streets with ropes around their necks. The city of Rome was also in a bad state. The Tiber River had fl ooded its banks, destroying grain that had been stored in the city and causing starvation among the people. The river had also washed up the cadavers of animals killed in the fl ood, causing unsanitary con ditions that led to a plague. As a result, Rome lost three-quarters of its population. The Pope who faced these diffi culties, however, was well-prepared for the tasks that lay ahead of him. Gregory’s personality had been formed by two infl uences: Roman and Christian. As a Roman offi cial he had been in charge of the city and had served as chief of police. These posts had given him a feeling and respect for ancient Roman traditions. They also provided him with valuable experience in directing


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large organizations, which was to serve him well as Pope. Gregory’s strong Christian Faith led him to appreciate the only things in life that are lasting: God and His Church. It was because of this Faith that he left public offi ce and became a monk. He turned his house into a monastery, and soon his holiness and abilities were noticed by Pope Pelagius II. When that Pope died in 590 from the plague, the people immediately called upon Gregory to take his place. As leader of the Church, Pope Gregory’s attention was focused on the needs of God’s people:

1. At a time when law and order seemed to be a thing of the past, Gregory helped to reorganize the city offi ces of Rome.

2. He issued new rules and guidelines for the priesthood that helped priests live better religious lives.

3. He negotiated with the barbarian Lombards and prevented another invasion.4. He sent missionaries to spread the gospel.

Gregory is also remembered for his love and care for the poor. In him we see a life dedicated to making the merciful love of Christ known and felt in the world. In the suffering people, this man saw the suffering Jesus. Gregory had a special place in his heart for the weak, the orphans, and those who had lost everything through hard times. He organized food and clothing distributions for the poor. He protected the rights of the small farmer. Riches donated to churches in Italy were collected to ease the terrible sufferings of the needy. He called such Church riches “the property of the poor”.

On the lines below, write why you think Gregory was right to call certain Church possessions the “property of the poor”:

Pope Saint Gregory died in 604 after a pontifi cate of only fourteen years. He is best remembered by a phrase he once used to describe himself: “servant of the servants of God”.

LESSON 18: INTO THE DARKNESS

Imagine that you are a member of your school’s basketball team. This year the team is made up of enough talent to give it a fair chance at taking the city championship. The only obstacle your team must over come is your archrival, Southwest Junior High, a team that has been undefeated for three years. As the season progresses, and the date for your game against them gets closer, your team practices more and plays harder than ever before. You know your team has a better chance than ever at the championship, because this season it is also undefeated. The big day fi nally arrives. Both teams are “psyched up” and ready! This game is decisive, because the losing team will be dropped from the tournament fi nals. At halftime, Southwest is up by six points, and your whole team knows that the pressure is on. After a tough second half, though, you and your


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teammates pull ahead by four points. The fi nal buzzer sounds, the bleachers empty, and the court fi lls with people who want to congratulate your team. The air is charged, and you know the sweet smell of victory. A few minutes later, down in the locker room, the place is wild with jumping and cheering teammates. The cry resounds over and over, “We’re unbeatable! Nothing can stop us now!” Descending the stairs to join in the celebration and to offer congratulations, your coach hears the chant and stops. A feeling of uneasiness fi lls your coach’s mind. Why?

Explain on the lines to the right why your team’s attitude caused the coach’s uneasiness.

To learn more about esotericism read CCC 2138 and YOUCAT 356.

Just as the sports team began to take its talents and victories for granted, so, after the persecutions ended, the Christians began to take their Faith and the Church for granted. The ending of the Roman persecutions of the Church was greeted with great joy by the Christian community. Although this period of religious freedom had the positive effects of allowing Christians to express their beliefs openly without fear and of showing them that earthly powers could not destroy God’s people, there were negative effects as well:

1. Because believing in Christ no longer meant that one might have to die for the Faith, people began to take their Faith for granted.

Jupiterimages/Getty Images


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2. When the Faith was no longer valued as it had been, people became lazy and careless in their practice of it. Others joined the Church out of social convenience. During the persecutions, the Christians had proudly maintained a strict line between their beliefs and practices and those of the pagans. But when the pagans were no longer putting Christians to death, the Church began to see some of her members return to paganism.

As the barbarians entered the Western Empire, the situation grew worse. Although some of these people respected marriage and were faithful to their word, they had other characteristics that were opposed to the Christian way of life. Christians who had grown weak in their faith adopted the barbarians’ bad qualities, and these weak Christians did not set a good example for the barbarians. In other words, it was almost as if they were trading bad habits! By not being true to the teachings of the Church as regards faith and right and wrong, these weak Christians were contaminating themselves and others. The Church, through her missionaries and bishops, took on the task of helping people return to the teachings of Christ. In many cases the Church Christianized pagan customs that were not morally wrong (not directly sinful), instead of trying to get rid of them completely. By doing this, Church leaders, out of love for the faithful, avoided wiping away some of the customs so dear to the peo ple. For example, Pope Gregory the Great, when he sent missionaries to England, told them not to tear down pagan temples but to bless them with holy water and set up in them altars dedicated to Christ. Parts of pagan holidays were taken and adapted for Christian holiday celebrations.

See how many you can identify.

1. The name for this important Christian feast was taken from the Anglo–Saxon goddess of spring, Eostra.

2. In Germany, Saint Boniface (680–754) replaced pagan sacrifi ces to the sacred oak tree of the god Odin with a fi r tree decorated in honor of the Christ Child.

3. The ancient Druids thought this plant had magical powers. It is used today as a Christmas holiday decoration. Some people identify it with romance.

4. In their religions the pagans identifi ed many things, especially open fi res, with light. In the Church today the use of these objects reminds us of Christ’s light.


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One long–lasting pagan practice was superstition. The people used spells, magic formulas, and lucky charms. List examples of super stitious practices on the lines below.

Superstition is wrong because it attributes to people, things, or actions powers only God Himself has. Relying on superstition instead of relying on God is a way of saying, “God, I don’t need You any more. For help I can use these things, people, and actions that are more powerful than You are.” In turning to other sources for help in our times of need, we ignore God, who loves us and wants to do every thing for us. God and His Church are the real sources of our strength and are always there to help us. All we have to do is turn to our caring God in prayer and the Sacraments. Christ Himself told us, “And behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Review Questions

1. What heresy returned to the Church with the barbarian invasion of the Western Roman Empire?

2. What are monks, hermits, and nuns?

3. What did Saint Patrick use to help Irish pagans understand the Blessed Trinity?


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Review Questions (continued)

4. After the collapse of the old Roman order in the sixth century, which Pope reorganized the city offi ces of Rome, issued new rules and guidelines to help priests live better lives, negotiated with the Lombards to prevent another invasion, and sent missionaries to spread the gospel?

5. The end of the Roman persecutions of the Christians brought about effects that were positive and negative. Decide which of the following list of results were positive and which were negative:

Freedom to practice Christianity openly.

Taking the Faith for granted.

Becoming lazy or careless in practicing the Faith.

Joining the Church out of social convenience.

Return of some Christians to paganism.

Survival of certain pagan customs in the form of superstitions.

Adapting certain pagan customs and holidays to Christian feasts.

6. Superstition is wrong because it attributes to people, things, or actions powers that only who has?

UNIT 8: EUROPE MOVES TOWARD FEUDALISM

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LESSON 19: CHURCH AND STATE—TO MIX OR SEPARATE?

Many people today hear about and argue about whether to mix or separate Church and State. The term “Church” refers to areas that have to do with religious matters and beliefs. The term “State” refers to things and actions that the government (city, county, state, or federal) regu lates. Most people in the United States believe it is a good policy to keep these two areas separate.

On the lines below, list three areas of Church policy in which you think the State should never interfere.

Now, list three areas in which you think the Church should not interfere in State matters.

Vocabulary

Byzantium: the Roman Empire of the EastByzantine: relating to or belonging to Byzantiumpontiff: the Popepapacy: the Pope and the system of Church government in RomePapal States: lands under the direct governmental control of the Pope and Churchfeudalism: a political and military system that existed in the Middle Agesdoctrine: truths taught by the Church that all Catholics are to believeiconoclasm: a heresy, stating that paintings or statues of Jesus were idols and evil


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In American society the practice of separating Church and State gener ally serves all people, including Catholics, well. It allows for the pro tection of religious freedoms and keeps the government from interfering in the religious policies and beliefs of different faiths. Therefore, most people

today see the value of separating Church and State and take great care to see that each keeps to separate spheres of infl uence. However, Church and State have not always been separate. In Europe, beginning in about the sixth century, the Church began taking on more and more civic duties that the weak local governments were no longer able to perform. For example, in Italy the Church took on such gov ernment functions as the building of walls and bridges and the settling of legal disputes. In Rome, the Pope actually nominated government offi cials. Finally, because it was an age in which people were still at the mercy of invading barbarians, the Pope had at his disposal a small army for defense. At the same time, certain governments had an infl uence in Church policies. For example, the Roman Empire in the East centered in Constantinople (which was then called Byzantium, or the Byzantine Empire), considered itself the pro tector of the Church. The Byzantine Empire demanded the right to approve every new Pope before he could assume his duties. Sometimes the Church had to pay a tax to the Empire before the installation of a new Pope was allowed. This meant that on several occasions the papacy was left vacant for long periods of time. In the eighth century, the Byzantine Empire began to promote the heresy of iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is a belief that paintings or statues of Jesus and the saints are evil because they resemble the idols that were condemned in Old Testament times. Iconoclasts destroyed relig ious images in churches throughout the Empire. The government per secuted those people who continued to honor holy pictures and statues. Because the Byzantine Empire had become involved in Church policies, the infl uence of iconoclasm began to spill over into the lives of the faithful in the West, centered in Rome. Because of this and similar problems, the Pope saw the need to free the Church from the domination of the Roman Empire of the East. Freedom from Byzantium might certainly bring certain benefi ts for the Church, but it would also leave her open to problems from another kingdom, that of the Lombards. This barbar-ian tribe occupied much of northern Italy and would certainly try to extend its control over the Church once the Church no longer had the protection of the Byzantine Empire. The only solution was for the Pope to ask the protection of the most powerful and infl uential of the barbarian tribes, the Franks. The Franks lived in parts of the countries we know today as France and Germany. Since about the end of the fi fth century, the rulers of the Franks had come from the Merovingian family. Through the years, however, this family had increasingly given the power to rule to their top aides. These aides were called mayors of the palace. In 732 one of these mayors, Charles Martel, increased the power of his position by leading the Frankish army into battle and defeating the Muslims, who were trying to invade France. Charles Martel belonged to the Carolingian family. His son Pepin the Short took the title of King of the Franks for himself in 751. Pope Saint Zachary (741 –752) supported Pepin the Short and showed his approval by sending a representative to anoint him as king. This anointing was a very impor tant step in the relationship between the Church and a government. The Church, which for so many years had been at the mercy of differ ent governments, now had given offi cial approval to the ruler of a mighty kingdom


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in Europe. From this point on, the Church took on more and more the role of overseer of earthly kingdoms as well as the overseer of God’s kingdom on earth. In return for Pope Zachary’s sup port, Pepin the Short later helped Pope Stephen II (III) by defeating the Lombards in 755, freeing the Church from the threat of that barbarian tribe. In order to further ensure that the Lombards would no longer threaten the papacy, Pepin the Short donated to the Pope vast areas of land that he had won from the Lombards in battle. These lands were not to be simply part of the Pope’s personal property but were to form a country or state. They would eventually be called the Papal States. The Pope then found himself to be not only the spiritual leader of the Church but an earthly ruler as well. While today the Papal States no longer exist and the Pope no longer has an army at his command, questions of Church and State are still important and even urgent in some cases. The Papal States ceased to exist in 1870 after the war for Italian unifi cation. Present-day Vatican City State is the result of a treaty between Italy and the Pope in 1929. Here are some excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI’s 2005 encyclical Deus caritas est, no. 28:

Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God (Mt 22:21), in other words, the distinction between Church and State. . . . The State may not impose religion, yet it must guarantee religious freedom and harmony between the followers of different religions. For her part, the Church . . . has a proper independence and is structured . . . as a community which the State must recognize. The two spheres are distinct, yet always interrelated. Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics.

Catholic social doctrine . . . has no intention of giving the Church power over the State. Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. Its aim is simply . . . to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just.

The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fi ght for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifi ce, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.

To learn more about what the Church says about democracy and civil authority read CCC 2254–57 and YOUCAT 441.


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LESSON 20: CHARLEMAGNE—PROTECTOR OF THE CHURCH

An important and infl uential man in Church history during the last part of the eighth century and the fi rst part of the ninth was Charles, a son of Pepin the Short. Because of his great deeds and his reforms that infl uenced many lives, he came to be known as Charles the Great, or Charlemagne. Pepin the Short’s sons, Carloman and Charles, inherited the Frankish kingdom from their father upon his death. Carloman died in 771, leaving the entire kingdom to Charlemagne. Charlemagne was a great king. He had a strong faith in God, from whom he believed his authority came. Through military conquests he continually expanded his kingdom until it covered what is now known as Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Holland. It also included half of Italy and Germany, part of Austria, and a northern portion of Spain! Charlemagne was not only a military leader. He was also a great reformer who believed that he should use his God-given authority to improve the lives of his subjects. The following are some of his well-known contributions to the kingdom:

1. He established a system of schools for members of the ruling class, as well as for royalty. The schools taught Latin, grammar, and mathematics, along with court manners and the art of war.

2. Because Charlemagne’s kingdom was so large, he divided it into smaller areas called counties, each directed by a count, who answered to Charlemagne himself. Woe to the count who was caught misusing his powers: Charlemagne’s punishments were strict and swift!


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3. In order to issue laws to all the counties, Charlemagne needed a method of handwriting that everyone could read. At that time there were many different ways of forming letters, and communi-cation in writing was therefore diffi cult. At Charlemagne’s court a new method of writing was developed that made it possible for the royal commands to be read and understood. The new method was based on the ancient Roman method of printing and is still the basis of the lower-case letters used for writing many languages.

Charlemagne’s vision of the world blended Church and State. He saw himself as not only the Church’s protector, but, in many cases, her spiritual guide as well. His courts disciplined priests and religious for not living up to their religious duties. He himself called meetings to make sure that Church doctrine was unifi ed. Once, Charlemagne conducted a trial in which Pope Leo III successfully defended himself against charges of “crimes and misdeeds”. Charle magne had the fi nal say in the election of a bishop or a head of a mon astery. Bishops, in turn, were expected to act as agents of the king. Monasteries, besides serving religious needs, became government administration centers. A bishop could be commanded to leave his diocese and come to work in the king’s court. The head of a monas tery might be asked to gather men to repair a road. Missi dominici (ambassadors of the king) were sent throughout the kingdom to administer the government. These government offi cials usually trav eled in pairs, with one of the pair being a bishop. Sometimes these men had to administer civil justice. (This made the bishops into a kind of police force.) The Pope knew of Charlemagne’s interference in Church affairs, but, because he needed Charlemagne’s protection, he did not dare to interfere with the way the king administered his kingdom and the affairs of the Church. Even though other religious leaders also saw the danger in having an earthly ruler with so much control in the Church, they knew that Charlemagne’s rule had helped to spread the Faith throughout the kingdom. The high point of Charlemagne’s career came on Christmas Day in the year 800. A year earlier, Pope Leo III had been attacked by an angry mob in the streets of Rome. He had immediately called upon the Frankish king for help. Charlemagne responded by sending an escort of soldiers who reestablished order and guaranteed the safety of the Pope. About a year later Charlemagne came to Rome. The Pope went out to greet him personally. While Charlemagne was in Saint Peter’s Basilica attending the Christmas Mass, Pope Leo walked up to him, placed a crown on his head, and declared him to be the “emperor of the Romans”. For the fi rst time since the fall of Rome, the West had an emperor. Charlemagne’s kingdom came to be called the Holy Roman Empire, a name that described well the mixture of Church and State that had grown during his reign. Unfortunately, Charlemagne, though a king, was a barbarian king. The Byzantine Empire—the Roman Empire of the East—took offense when the Pope declared a barbarian king emperor. The new emperor governed the lands that had once been part of the mighty Empire of Rome in the West. The Byzantine Empire also thought that the Pope was favoring the Western powers over those in the East. As we will see in a later lesson, the coronation of Charlemagne would affect the relationship between the Eastern Church and the Roman Church in the West.

To learn more about the importance of the unity of Christians read CCC 1202 and YOUCAT 131.


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LESSON 21: THE CHURCH IN THE AGE OF FEUDALISM

Charlemagne died in 814, ending his strong, controlling rule. His kingdom was eventually divided among his grandsons, who did not have his ability to govern. As a result, Charlemagne’s mighty Holy Roman Empire disintegrated into many small states. The form of gov ernment that replaced Charlemagne’s empire was very different from the one we experience in the United States.

In our government:

1. The leader of our country is the .

2. Those who make our country’s laws are the and the .

3. The laws are interpreted by the .

4. The three branches of our federal government are ,

, .

Our federal government, state governments, and city governments try to work for the good of their citizens. In the ninth and tenth centuries, however, the breakup of the Holy Roman Empire resulted in the loss of an effective central gov ernment that could protect society. And it did need protection. Barbar-ian tribes were once again devastating parts of Europe. One tribe’s name struck terror into the hearts of those who heard it: the Vikings. These raiders from the north came from the territories we now call Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. They were usually fair-haired, and many wore beards. These barbarians used ships as their main means of transportation and attack. The Vikings had perfected the art of sail ing and could move their crafts skillfully up and down almost any river. This skillfulness made their movements diffi cult to stop and allowed them to reach their target quickly, raid it, and retreat without being caught. It was diffi cult to know where or when they would attack next. By the time information reached the commanders who had the power to stop them, the Vikings had taken what they wanted and fl ed. The Viking leader’s authority was based on strength and suc cess in these raids. Some people thought that God had sent this new wave of invasions as a punishment for sins. It is important to remember, however, that while war and suffering are the result of sin, God is a God of love, forgiveness, and compassion. Jesus showed us that in His life on earth. The lack of a central government and the need for protection led to the creation of governmental organizations that did not depend on a king. Each of these governments was headed by a man who was usu ally given the title of lord. The people turned to these lords, who had wealth and a certain amount of power, for security.


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In return for his protection the lord would usually ask for a prom ise of loyalty and service in his army. The men who swore loyalty to the lord became his vassals. This relationship between lord and vassal was known as feudalism. The map of Europe, in many places, became dotted with small governmental units centered in fortifi ed castles. The rise of feudalism led to increased confusion between Church and State. The lords, recognizing the great power they pos sessed, considered everything in their realms, including Church institu tions, their property, which they could use as they wished. Church lands were confi scated. Many priests, leaders of monasteries, and even bish ops had to swear loyalty to a lord. The lords then thought they had the right to make appointments to Church positions. As a result, some priests deserted their parishes to become personal chaplains to lords. Some heads of monasteries led men into battle to fulfi ll their promise of loyalty to a lord. Church money, collections, and gifts were often stolen. In the midst of this darkness, however, there was one bright spot. After Charlemagne’s death and the disintegration of his empire, the Pope was able to regain some control over the Church. We see this effort most clearly in the life of Pope Saint Nicholas I, who became Pope in the year 858. He corrected bishops and priests who did not live according to the Church’s teachings. He ordered the king of Lorraine (a part of France today) to stop seeing his mistress and to return to his wife. He urged missionaries to avoid force when converting people to Christ. Because he tried to live a life worthy of a good priest and Church leader, Saint Nicholas was an inspiration to all who sought to achieve holiness. He died in Rome on November 13, 867.


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Review Questions

1. What is feudalism?

2. What is doctrine?

3. Name three of Charlemagne’s contributions to the kingdom he ruled.

Documents

UNIT 1: THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH - Ignatius · UNIT 1: THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH 1 LESSON 1: THE GOSPELS Friends. ... now began to speak to the crowd that had gathered