MISTICAL BODY OF CHRIST

Episode #1

Baptized become children of GodGod made each of us and he care for us.◦ And each of us is important.

When we were baptized, we became children of God

Not only that, but we also are brought into God’s family

God is our Father, the Catholic Church is God’s family

In fact all those who follow Jesus are God’s true family.

All Members are ImportantIn a family everyone is different, and everyone is important.

In one his letters Paul talks about this, when he compares God’s family to a body.◦ He said if a foot says I’m not a hand, and not belong to the

body… it is wrong!

◦ Everybody know that humans need to had hands and feet.

Then Paul says◦ if the ear says I'm not an eye, so I am not belong to the

body… it is wrong!

◦ If body can have only eye, how can smell anything? How we can ever talk? How we can ever hear?

We know that a human body needs all this different parts and these parts are called MEMBERS.

Mystical Body of Christ, the God’s family

St. Paul helps to understand why we called God’s family the MISTICAL BODY OF CHRIST

The word MYSTICAL means SPIRITUAL

Spiritual refers to something that is real, but we cannot see it with our eyes.

In baptism the Holy Spirit brings us all together into the one family or one body

This is the mystical body of Christ◦ It Includes all living baptized, all who have lived

before us, and all saints in heaven, even though we don’t see them.

◦ We all are members of God’s family or One Body.

We come together into Jesus Mystical Body

We come together into one family into one Mystical Body of Christ, when we are united to Jesus.

To help us to understand this,

Jesus told us a kind of story (known as parable) about the Vine

The Parable about the Vine

Jesus said:• “I am the vine; • you are the branches”

Jesus says: I am the Vine

So we are the branches or leaves connected to the vine

Then Jesus said: ◦ If a man (you & me) doesn’t abide

in me, he is cast for as a branch and wider”

◦ To wider mean: dry up & whither is death.

Jesus wants us to have life and to be with him.◦ So he said: “abide in me”

Beautiful Paintings of the Vine

We are Members of The Mystical Body of Christ

We must always remain close to Jesus, just like the leaves are connected to the vine.

We will enjoy life and enjoy with God forever.

All the branches that are connected to the vine, are the same Plant.

Just as you & I are the same family of God.

We are part of the same Mystical Body of Christ.

Jesus thought how we are to live in God’s family

HE gave us a NEW WAY OF LIFE, and an new commandment for us.

His commandment tells us how we have to live.

Jesus' Commandment

Jesus says this is my commandment:“that you should love one another as I have love you”

So we suppose to love all people around us We are suppose to love other people in the same way Jesus love us.

How does Jesus loves us?◦ HE loves us so much that he died for us.

◦ Jesus told us that the greater love that we can have is lying our lives for our friends

This means that we always need to be thinking about other people before our selves.

We Need to be Thinking about others

we always need to be thinking about other people before our selves.◦ This is hard because we can be very selfish◦ When we are being selfish, we are not being

like Jesus.

When we love other people and think about them first, then we are being like Jesus.And loving other as he loves us.

Since God is our Father, we need to love each other as brothers and sisters

Jesus is our brother, whatever we do to other people we do it to Him.

Think Of Others More Than You Think About Yourself

If we are selfish and do not care about other people, we are not caring about Jesus.

If we love others as Jesus loves them, we become more like Him.

For example: ◦ IF we live like Jesus, we will let others have

the larger piece of cake, even though it is hard to do this.

If we think of others, more than we think about ourselves, we are showing Jesus that we love Him.

Jesus says that whatever we do to the least of his brothers, we did for Him.

We Can Show Jesus That We Love Him

There are many ways, we can show Jesus that we love Him.◦ For example showing love to others!

What are some ways we can show love to other people?◦ When they are sick, you can cook them a

special food.

◦ When you help someone who fall

◦ Helping cleaning up your stuff.

All this are wonderful ideas

Little Sings of Love for Jesus.

It is good to practice and show every day small acts of love such as:1) Obeying your parents2) Doing you home work3) Going to be at time

All these are little sings of love for Jesus.

LOVE is CHARITY

Another word for LOVE is CHARITY

When we are Baptized, The Holy Spirit gave us FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY

The Holy Spirit fills us with Love or Charity◦ And He wants us to share his CHARITY, or LOVE with

our neighbor.

God is our Father, we call the God’s family (the Church), the Mystical Body of Christ.

We have life as part of God’s family, when we are united to Jesus like branches are united to a Vine

Whatever We do to Others, We do to Jesus.

Jesus calls us to love other as he loves them.Whatever we do to others, we do to Jesus.Lets see the Story of the Good Samaritan

The Parable of the Good SamaritanOn one occasion an expert in the law… asked Jesus: ◦ “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus replied: ”What is written in the Law?”

He answered, ◦ “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”

◦ and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus replied.“You have answered correctly.” “Do this and you will live.”

But he asked Jesus, ◦ “And who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus answered him with THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN

The Parable of the Good SamaritanJesus said:◦ “A man was going down from

Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.

◦ They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

◦ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side,

◦ So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

The Good Samaritan

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was;

and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

Then he put the man on his own donkey,

And brought him to an inn and took care of him.

The Good Samaritan

The next day he took out two denarii $$$$,and gave them to the innkeeper.

Then he said to the innkeeper: ◦ “Look after him, ◦ and when I return, ◦ I will reimburse you for any

extra expense you may have.”

“Go and do likewise.”

When Jesus ended the parable, he asked:“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

Jesus is asking us to go and do the same with everyone: to love them and take care of them.

This is a good way to show God that we love him.

QUICK REVIEW1. When we are baptized we become members of the

Mystical Body of Christ

2. Jesus New Commandment is: “Love one another as I have Love you”

3. Another word for Love is CHARITY ◦ we receive this LOVE in Baptism◦ The New word for Love: Charity

4. The Holy Spirit fills us with CHARITY when we are baptized

5. God is our Father and he loves each of us6. When we love others, we are showing Jesus that we

love Him, too.

The Church and the Pope

Episode #2

• In the last episode, we learned that Everyone who follows Jesus makes up the True family of God.

• God is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters.▫ The Catholic Church is God’s family.

• We enter God’s family, when we are baptized

COMMUNION of SAINTS

• COMMUNION of SAINTS: is another name for the Church.

• The word COMMUNION means “Union With” someone, or something ▫ COM▫ UNION

• It means many things come together to form one thing.▫ United or in Communion▫ You all are getting alone▫ You’re grow together in love▫ You’re united, or in communion

• But here we are taking about the Union with the Saints.

Communion of Saints is the Church• We mean the union with

the members of all saints in God’s family

• Even though me and you may not know each other, we are united▫ If we are both members of God’s

family, we are together▫ We are part of the Communion

of Saints

• The Catechism says: that the Communion of Saints is the Church.

▫ It is another way of saying that the Church is God’s family.

God our Father

in Heaven

• Do you expect that this family has a father?

• Well, the Church has a Father: God our Father in Heaven

• Our heavenly father take good care of us, in one way, is through the Church

• The Church teaches us the True about God and the way God wants us to live.

▫ How does the Church know the true about God?

▫ How the Church teaches us?

God teaches us through The Bible

• God teaches us in a special way:

• The 1st way is the Bible▫ The BIBLE: is God Holy word to us.▫ It is God speaking to us.

• Sometimes though we need help to understand the Bible,and what God tells us about Himself

• So God gave us someone to teach us; this someone is the POPE.

The Holy Spirit makes sure that the

Pope teaches the Truth• The Holy Spirit makes sure that the

Pope teaches the Truth ▫ about God, ▫ and about the way that we should live.

• Jesus Promised to the Apostles that the Holy Spirit will guide them:

▫ “I have many more things to say to you… "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;

▫ for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

▫ "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.… (John 16:13-15)

God gave us someone to teach us

• The POPE in union with the Bishops help us to understand the Bible,

• and all that God has shown us about himself.

• What Jesus thought to the apostles is handed on to us in the Bible

• And through the teachings of The Church

The First Pope• Jesus called together 12 apostles

to follow Him, and to learned from Him.

• One of them would become the Bishop of Rome, and the first Pope.

• One day Jesus was talking with the disciples and asked them:▫ Who do people said that I am?

• They replied:▫ Some say that you are John the Baptize▫ Or Elias or Jeremiah▫ Or maybe one of the Prophets.

• A course all these answers were wrong!

One became the Bishop of Rome

The First Pope• Jesus said:

▫ But who do you say that I am?

• It was Peter who answered:▫ You are the Christ the Son of the

Living God”

• Peter knew that Jesus was God, and He said so because God the Father has revealed this to Peter.

• Then Jesus said to Peter:▫ I tell you, you are Peter and in this

Rock I will build my Church…

One became the Bishop of Rome

The First Pope

• Jesus said to Peter:▫ I tell you, you are Peter, and

in this Rock I will build my Church,

▫ And the Powers of the death shall not prevail against it.

▫ I will give you the Keys of the kingdom of Heaven.

“Strengthen

Your

Brothers”

• In another place Jesus tells Peter ▫ strengthen your brothers.”

• Also in other occasion Jesus said to Simon Peter,▫ "Tend My lambs…▫ "Shepherd My sheep…"▫ "Tend My sheep.…”

• Jesus was putting Peter in charge of all other apostles, and in charge of Church on earth.▫ What ever Peter thought was to help up to build the family of God.▫ Everyone can be sure that everything Peter said about God, or about how we have to

live the Christian life, is True,

Peter became the 1st Pope• Peter became the 1st Pope and

became so much like Jesus

• Peter was crucify upside down because he thought that he was not worthy to died exactly as Jesus have died.

• The Pope has the very important job:

• helping to lead others to Heaven,

Peter all the way down to

the Pope today

• Jesus chose Peter to be the 1st Pope

• When Peter died St Linus took his Place

• We can follow one Pope up to another all the way down to the Pope today.

Jesus Speaks to us through Pope • Today Jesus Speaks to us through Pope

Francis • Whatever he teaches about God, and how

we should live us Christian, is base in the teachings of the Gospels.

• Parents have to make sure that the family stick together, and remain united.

• That is one of the important jobs of a Parent ▫ When mom and dad make a decision everyone

needs to follow▫ It is the only way a family can stay to UNITED

• In the same way the Church stay united together, when we listen to the POPE ▫ He is like a father here on earth▫ And he guides us and protects us .

Someone Have to Make Sure that the

Family Stick Together

• When a family do different things by their own,

• they may be together, but not united.

• All of the different activities are fine, • but some have to make sure that the

members of the family stick together, and remain united.

• This is the job of the Pope, to guide and protect this unity.

Laid Hands on them and Ordain

Priests and Bishops

• Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, Jesus made Peter the first Pope

• Also He made Peter and other apostles the first Bishops

• When Peter and other apostles pray and laid hands in other men,

• they ordain them as priests and Bishops, too.

Bishops to take Apostles’ Place

• Then when the apostles died,

• there were new Bishops to take their place.

• And to tell the new believers that Jesus has risen from the death

• This happened time, and time on again.

Bishops are the Apostles Successors

• Today the Bishops are the apostles successors

• They take the place of the apostles▫ We should respect them, and we

should listen t them ▫ Just like we should listen to the

apostles

• They have the special job of leading you to Jesus… Pray for them.

Good Shepherd

• In the Bible Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd

• We are like sheep, and He guides and protects us

Shepherds Guide and Protect

• The Bishops and the Pope are also Shepherds to us,

• They help in Jesus’ job of guiding and protecting us.

• They carry something in their hands that remain us they are Bishops.

• Thy carry a special staff called: THE CROSIER

Closier usage

• This part is used to put on: the neck of the sheep,

or body of small sheep,

• And bring it to safety!

The other end is used to hit a dangerous wolf,

who want to eat the sheep.

• The Shepherds can used the Crosier to knock the sheep as they walk along, to keep the sheep all together.

• The Shepherd can see danger and can help to keep the sheep safer, than they keep themselves.

• It is like this with the Pope and Bishops

▫ The Closer we stay to their teachings,

▫ The closer we are to Jesus and safer we are.

Catherine of Siena

• She had a grater love for the Church and the Pope,▫ At that time something was wrong with the

Church…

• Years before, the Pope was in captured and carry away to a French town called: Avignon…

…and the Pope secretly decided, he will go back to Rome, where he belongs.

• But he was surrounded by many powerful people, who tried to stop him.

• Thus when Catherine step in.

▫ She wrote letters to the Holy Father, encouraging him to be brave and go back to Rome.

He took the Place of Jesus and Earth

• Knowing that he took the place of Jesus on earth,

• Eventually she pay the Holy Father (Pope) a visit ▫ and give him the courage he

need it.

• She bravely and courage told him: ▫ Be a Man and promise what

you promise to do.

• She knew that it will help the church if the Pope live in Rome.

The Pope was made it

back to Rome

• Thanks to her strength and encourage, the Pope was able to make it back to Rome.

• The troubles for the Church were not over, but Catherine helped the Pope during difficult times.

• When Jesus was on earth, prayed that we all are one

• And He form a Catholic Church (Universal church that includes & embrace everyone)

• Being separated from the Pope, the Church is not united at it should be.

SAINT JOSAPHAT

THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH UNDER THE POPE

• St. Josaphat was Archbishop & Martyr (1584-4623)▫ He born in 1584 in Vladimir, a City of ancient Poland

• At 23 years of age, he deplored the situation of Religion in Poland,

▫ In 1596 the Ruthenian Chuch was divided into two

contending parties

▫ He saw divisions growing in the Church,

▫ and that few remain faithful to the Holy See.

• Saint Josaphat studied philosophy and theology and decided to enter religios life.

• Saint Josapaht was ordained priest and began to preach in various churches, bringing back many dissedentsto the Union.

Saint Josephat

began to follow the Pope

• St Josephat was one who began to follow the Pope again.

• He lived in Russia; he spend all his life trying to help people to love Jesus more.

• He knew that the Church BE ONE CHURCH.

• He encourage other to follow the Pope

▫ Some listen, but some not.

▫ Some get so angry with Josephat that they murdered him.

Saint Josaphat• He was most cruelly assassinated and

his body profaned; he was in his forty-forth year

• His mortal remains were covered after five days from the waters of a river.

• And exposed for nine days, constantly emitting a fragrance of roses and lilies.

• Four years after his death, the author of the troubles, Melece Smotritski, ▫ after many combats, made a decisive step ▫ and consecrated his life to penance, prayer

and defense of the Union

• Such changes of heart are indeed the greatest miracles, won by the sanctity of the true servants of God.

St. Josapath

• About five years after St. Josaphat’s martyrdom,

▫ his body was found intact, though the clothing had rotten away.

• Again in 1637 it was still white and supple

▫ A beautiful silver reliquary was made for it,

▫ with a life-size image of the reclining Saint surmounting it.

• His body eventually was taken to the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.

The Unity of the Church

• There are many beautiful way and customs of being Catholics

▫ But Josaphat also knew that there is only One Catholic Church

• We must be united to the Pope to fully belong to the Church.

The Priestly Society of St Josaphat

Kuntsevych

• The Priestly Society of St Josaphat Kuntsevych,

• declares that one of its main goals is conversion of Russia and Ukraine to unity with the Catholic Church.

The Communion of Saints

• The Communion of Saints:▫ Family united together

▫ Members of God’s Family:

• God is our Father in Heaven.

• He care for us in a special way through the teachings of the Pope.

• The Pope has many important names and titles, one of them is ▫ The Holy Father

▫ Because he has to lead us guide us like a father…

Bishops have to help us

and to lead us to heaven• Bishops take the place of the apostles

today.

• The Pope & the Bishops are God’s special witness and gifts for us.

• And they have the job to help us, and to lead us to Heaven, ▫ NOT ONLY BY TEACHINGS

• But also by deeds and actions: Humility, Patient, Charity, and Self-giving.

The Church and the Pope