Religion: Chapter 2



Religion 8 Unit 2 Teaching Notes

Holiness is:

Holiness is being called and calling others.

Luke 5.1-11-Jesus calls his first disciples.

(Sacrament: Confirmation)

Holiness is belonging and inviting others to belong.

Luke 5.29-32-Jesus eats with those who have been secluded.

(Sacrament: Baptism)

Holiness is being nourished and nourishing others.

John 6.1-14-Jesus feeds the five thousand.

(Sacrament: Eucharist)

Holiness is being freed and freeing others.

Mark 5. 1-20 – Jesus casts out the demons.

(Sacrament: Reconciliation)

Holiness is being healed and offering healing to others.

Luke 14.1-6 – Jesus heals the man with dropsy.

(Sacrament: Anointing)

Holiness is being faithful and encouraging faithfulness in others.

John 13.34-Jesus tells us to love one another as he has loved us.

Matthew 25.1-13-Parable of the ten bridesmaids.

Luke 17.1-4 – guide and forgive each other.

(Sacrament: Marriage and Holy Orders)

Why would anyone want to be holy?

Being healed, freed, faithful – these are the types of things that happen when people encounter God. When our response to God is the best we can give, then we are holy.

Holiness is…………

This theme introduces “sacrament” and prepares the way for the study of the seven sacraments in subsequent themes. We are all created for and called to holiness. Holiness is achieved, not by being good by our own will, but by entering into a relationship with God, being loved and loving as Jesus loves. This can happen only as we are chosen, freed, called, nourished, healed and helped through a life of fidelity. Sacraments are life giving encounters with God through Jesus Christ.

2.1 Key Concepts:

❑ God makes things holy by giving them a special purpose within the divine plan. We are holy when we live according to our purpose. We are holy when we are fully ourselves.

❑ Love is the “soul” of holiness. The Church leads us to holiness as it enables us to love more completely and to encounter God more fully.

❑ The sacraments reveal God’s loving, saving action and also enable us to participate in that action.

❑ The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church. They make us sharers in divine life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

We are all called to Holiness.

“All Christians, in any state or walk or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity”. All are called to Holiness. “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

We participate in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments.

The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify.

“The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men (and women), to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen and express it. That is why they are called sacraments of faith.

Sacraments confer the grace they signify.

Sacrament is wrought by the power of God.

From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

2.2 Key Concepts:

❑ Our Baptism marks us as chosen by God and as people called to grow in a loving relationship with God and each other.

❑ In Confirmation we are more firmly united to Christ and to the Church

❑ Confirmation gives us the strength to be better witnesses of Christ.

❑ God’s action in the sacraments is complete, although it takes us a lifetime to appropriate God’s action in our lives.

❑ Our commitments shape our growth as persons.

❑ We belong to Christ because we have taken His very self into us at the Eucharistic table.

❑ As we share in the one body of Christ, we are united with each other and reminded to live as God calls us to live. We must overcome all of those things that set one person against another.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The sacraments of initiation

Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Christ’s Body and Blood for his [her] transformation in Christ.

Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ

Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among Christians.

Symbols of Baptism:

1. Water: cleans, refreshes, cools, and sustains life. Water is the primary symbol of Baptism, and immersion in water, or the pouring of the water, is the essential action. Immersion in the waters of Baptism is the sign of our immersion into god’s life as expressed in Jesus. It is a sign of dying with Christ do that we may rise with him.

2. White Garment: Given to a person after he or she comes out of the water. It means that the person is now “clothed in Christ”. It is a sign of our sharing in Christ’s resurrection.

3. Light: The candle is lit from the Easter candle. It is a sign the Christ brings light to the life of the Baptized person. All who are baptized are called to carry Christ’s light to others.

4. The Laying on of Hands: a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit. It represens the sharing of love, strength, support and encouragement.

5. Oil: a sign of strength, beauty, health and healing. Christ is “The Anointed One”. The richness of the oil represents the fullness of sacramental grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Oil (chrism) is used in Baptism and Confirmation. A person who is anointed receives the mark or seal of the Holy Spirit and belongs to the Spirit.

6. Bread and wine: are the gifts of the Creator and symbols of human work. They are signs of the Eucharist and a sign that we want to share all we have with one another. When we take part of the Eucharist we (1) celebrate God’s abundant love and faithfulness. (2) Offer all that we are and all that we have to God. (3) Commit ourselves to care for and be at peace with one another.

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life- the gateway to the life of the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons [and daughters] of God. We become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers of her mission.

Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace. It is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit .It incorporates us more firmly into Christ, strengthens our bond with the Church, associates us more closely with her mission and helps us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds

The Eucharist contains the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ Himself.

2.3 Key Concepts:

1. We have been chosen by God to reveal God’s love to the world.

2. When we are unable to live out our call because of weakness and sin, God is there to strengthen and renew us so that we may once again live in holiness.

3. God has chosen the Church to bring God’s healing touch to the people of God. It is the job of the Christian community to love, forgive and comfort.

4. The sacrament of Anointing connects the suffering of the sick with the passion of Christ so that suffering serves holiness.

5. The sacrament of Reconciliation allows us to begin again when we have failed.

Healing may be:

1. Physical – recovering from an illness or injury.

2. Emotional – coming to terms with an emotional experience such as the illness or death of a loved one.

3. Spiritual – making peace with God

More review notes:

❑ The Sacraments are seven events in which the Church celebrates the different aspects of holiness.

❑ They were given to the Church by Christ.

❑ Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick.

❑ Baptism, Reconciliation and Eucharist are the Sacraments of Initiation.

❑ The Holy Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness.

❑ God makes things holy by giving them a special purpose.

❑ Anointing of the sick celebrates and brings together all of the other healing that takes place in the community.

❑ Reconciliation: restores people’s relationship with God that has been broken by sin.

❑

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