Catechesis

"Jesus is the Lord"

 

Topics following the CATECHESIS of the Spanish Episcopal Conference

 

I. The Church and the Christians

1. The Christians

• We are the successors of those first ones! Christ also prayed for us
• Jesus describes the life of a Christian
• The task of the Christian: to be good soil for receiving the divine seed

2. We are a big family

• Jesus speaks to us about brotherhood. No one should go it alone in life, even less so Christians
• Those Christians, whom do they follow?
• "I am in the Father and the Father is in me"

3. God speaks to us: the Word of God

• How can I know what Jesus Christ explained to us twenty centuries ago?
• The Word of God travels the world almost at the speed of light
• "Sanctify them in the truth: your Word is Truth"

 

II. God is our Father

4. Creation is the work of God's love

• What tires us is to act as "god", trying to take his place. This is the cause of so much war and misery
• God is good and careful with all creation, but especially with each of us
• We must not fear God or his greatness as Creator

5. God's love is stronger than sin

• Even if I were the only sinner in humanity, God would still come to save me
• That woman, caught in adultery, is welcomed by Jesus' tender mercy
• God waits for our conversion to quench our "thirst"

6. God the Father never abandons us

• God is not a policeman, but a loving Father
• Do not give up! pray! ask!
• The Lord of the seas and the earth always comes to our aid

7. God the Father fulfills his promise

• "All that is mine is yours". That's how God is!
• In Jesus, all promises and prophecies are fulfilled
• Hope that does not disappoint!

 

III. Jesus comes to save us

8. Prepare the way of the Lord

• God needs us to prepare the way
• We must prepare ourselves for Christmas!
• What effort will you make to receive Jesus?

9. Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother

• God becomes man in the womb of a young woman, Mary of Nazareth
• Saint Mary was conceived full of Grace, without the stain of original sin
• We will follow in the footsteps of Our Mother

10. Jesus, the Messiah, is born in Bethlehem

• We admire the greatness of Saint Joseph: he did not rush; he prayed and reflected. And so, he found the light of God
• God has become a child! Born in a stable
• Today we accompany the shepherds

11. Jesus is true God and true man

• Jesus is God because he is the Son of God the Father, but at the same time, he is a perfect man, as he was born of a woman, Mary
• Jesus of Nazareth, true God and true man
• We contemplate Jesus Christ withdrawn into the desert: as a man he suffers temptations, just like us

12. The Baptism of Jesus

• We are surprised: Jesus Christ went to the Jordan River to receive Baptism
• Jesus receives Baptism! With this gesture, He instituted Christian Baptism
• With Baptism, God forgives us of original sin and adopts us as his children and members of his Church

 

IV. Jesus, the Son of God, lived among us

13. Jesus announces the Good News, the Gospel

• Jesus prepares the announcement of our salvation
• "The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor"
• Where can you find Him? Search in the Gospel!

14. Jesus brings us the Kingdom of God

• The Kingdom of God is at hand!
• Jesus is realistic (there are difficulties!) and, at the same time, optimistic (He accompanies me)
• The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed
• The Kingdom of Jesus is much more beautiful than imaginable
• Another characteristic of His Kingdom: humility, discretion

15. Jesus does admirable things

• Jesus, since you are in heaven, I know you are always by my side... and within me!
• Jesus preached with exceptional authority, attended to everyone, performed miracles...
• Some "wise men" test Jesus' patience

16. Jesus prays and fulfills the Father's will

• Jesus loved the Father's will to the point of giving his life for our salvation
• No one can "stop" the Son of God
• If I love the Father's will, then Jesus wants me as a brother

17. Jesus invites his friends to follow him

• The Christian life is a journey with Jesus
• "I am the Way (...). No one comes to the Father except through me"
• "You are my friends"
• "Master, I will follow you wherever you go"
• How comfortable it is to have opinions about Jesus Christ without following his footsteps!

18. Jesus goes through the world doing good

• If human civilization exists, it's because millions of human beings burn with love in their families
• Whoever thinks of not getting tired and having a good time, exhausts others
• Never be discouraged!

 

V. Jesus gives his life for us

19. Jesus celebrates the Passover

• Jesus washes my feet by shedding His Blood for me. Jesus, do not let me betray you!
• God triumphs over evil by "returning good for evil." This is how Jesus reigns!
• Jesus Christ institutes the Eucharist and gives us His sacrificed Body and Blood on the Cross

20. Passion and Death of Jesus

• We prepare to relive the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus
• Our King enters Jerusalem to give his life for our salvation
• Jesus completes the shedding of his Blood that began yesterday as he sweat blood

21. Jesus rose on the third day

• "He is not here, he has risen"
• Jesus is not in the tomb: He has risen!
• Jesus is in heaven, but also on earth...

22. The risen Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit

• Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit"
• The Holy Spirit: A Love so great that it is a Divine Person
• A guarantee of total success!

23. Jesus Christ reveals the intimate life of God

• Jesus declares that He is God and introduces us to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. It was a novelty!
• God is not a lonely being; He has always been like a family: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• "I am"

 

VI. The Holy Spirit and the Church

24. The Holy Spirit gives life to the Church

• "The Holy Spirit will remind you of everything I have said to you"
• "Abide in me, as I abide in you"
• We do not see Jesus as the Apostles did, but we "touch" Him more than ever

25. Today, we are the Church

• All the baptized are chosen
• Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts
• We are all apostles

26. We encounter the risen Jesus in the sacraments

• God with us! He is there: in the Church, in the Eucharist, and in the other sacraments
• Jesus "sleeps" in the Eucharist, in the intimacy of our temples
• God lives, God sees us, God speaks to us, God accompanies us...

27. Called to collaborate in the Church

• We are Christians, and we must also be "fishers" who help humanity
• Every baptized person has the honor of being another Christ, that is, another apostle
• God demands that we aspire to excellence. Otherwise, how would we move hearts?

 

VII. Through Baptism, we are born to new life

28. We are born to new life

• Jesus is going to be born: Do you really want to receive Him?
• We must be "born" again
• The seed of Baptism

29. We grow in the life of faith

• The faith of Christians has overthrown empires and raised cathedrals
• God can do everything
• "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith"

30. Called to live as children of God

• The children of God must convey the "flavor" of the happiness of this life and the "light" of the way
• Brothers of Jesus and, with Jesus, children of God! Can you think of anything greater?
• The measure of love is God Himself!

31. We love God above all things

• "To love God with all our strength"
• Jesus gives us very practical advice: not to take the things of this life as a treasure
• "Whoever loses his life for me will find it"

32. We learn to love in the family

• Jesus reveals the "family" intimacy of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• God is a "small" Family. Three Persons who are a closely united "Divine Home"!
• Today is family day
• "Go to your home, to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you"
• "Grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor figs from thistles": false prophets

33. We love others as brothers and sisters

• The style of love that God expects from us: whoever has a good heart love everyone
• We are all brothers and sisters; we are all children of God
• God begs for love among His children and demands that we love each other as brothers and sisters

34. As children, we pray to God, our Father

• Jesus Christ teaches us to pray as He does: lifting our hearts to God the Father
• Jesus talks with "His Father" and invites us to talk with "His Father"
• We must raise our eyes to the Father in heaven

 

VIII. Reconciliation. We receive the forgiveness that renews us

35. Sometimes we stray from God's love

• This is the state of humanity: paralyzed and sick with "original sin." Sometimes we don't even think about it
• Wars? Injustices? This happens because God has come and we haven't followed Him!
• The first and worst paralysis is sin. This is a very dangerous paralysis: it destroys us almost without us realizing it

36. Jesus brings us God the Father's forgiveness

• Jesus offers the sacrifice of His life to His Father for the forgiveness of our sins
• "Your sins are forgiven"
• The sick need a doctor: "I desire mercy… I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners"

37. We celebrate Reconciliation

• "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"
• When we repent and confess our sins, God forgives them
• What joy when we experience God coming to meet us with open arms!

 

IX. The Eucharist. We are nourished by the Body and Blood of the Lord

38. We celebrate the Eucharist on the Lord's Day

• Jesus went to the synagogue every Sabbath; we go to Mass every Sunday ("The Lord's Day")
• When man neglects faith (for example, stops attending Mass), he begins to set God aside...
• The bread and wine consecrated in the Mass become the Body and Blood of Christ

 

39. We listen to the Word of God

• Where is God's will? In His Word... and in your prayer
• "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it"
• It's worth living with Jesus! There in the Church, in the Eucharist, in His Word...

40. We give thanks to the Father for Jesus' sacrifice

• This is God: Infinite Open Love
• Jesus has hidden Himself in the fragile consecrated Bread so that He can be broken and shared
• Only one worshiped God, giving thanks for the miracle!

41. We eat the Bread of eternal life

• Jesus remains with us in the Eucharist
• "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life"
• There was enough for everyone and more! Such is the love of God: abundant to infinity

 

X. With Jesus, forever, in the Father's house

42. We are heirs to a great promise

• Jesus gives us great hope that illuminates our path
• "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever"
• God is a divine Family, with a Father, a Son, and Love...

43. God invites everyone to His House

• Jesus Christ, 20 centuries ago, already included women
• God goes even to the "crossroads" so that no one is left without an invitation
• He wants everyone with Him in Eternal Life

44. The Saints, friends of God forever

• Am I a friend of Jesus-Eucharist?
• Saints are not boring people
• "I am with you always, even to the end of the world"