Sacraments I

April 21 & 28, 2007

Before Class

• Read Chapters 12-17 in the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
• Read the following handouts:
  • The Kingdom of God
  • Infallibility
  • Separated Brethren

Homework

• Read On Catechesis in the Modern World
• Read Catechesis in Our Time
• Read the following handouts:
  • Sacramental Living
  • The Disciple of Christ
  • Real Presence

To Make Up an Absence

If you are unable to attend this class, please submit at the October class written responses to one question from each chapter and two from among the handouts (for a total of eight questions) from below. Each response should be 2-3 paragraphs in length and address the question completely. Please include the question that you are addressing at the top of each answer.

Chapter 12. Mary: The Church's First and Most Perfect Member

1. How would you explain to others the connection between Mary as the Mother of God and all her special gifts: her Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and Assumption? Why is it important to understand that Mary, too, needed to be redeemed?
2. "What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ." (CCC no. 487) Illustrate this statement using at least three of the Marian dogmas described in this chapter.
3. Explain why Mary is called "the Church's first and most perfect member." How is she also the Mother of the Church?

Chapter 13. Our Eternal Destiny

1. Why is the resurrection of our bodies important? In speaking of heaven or hell, why do we explain them in terms of our relationship with God?
2. Describe the particular judgment and the general judgment, referring to at least one passage from Scripture for each.
3. Why is burial of the dead a corporal work of mercy? Describe and explain the Church's preferences for the treatment of the body of the deceased.
4. Why do we pray for the dying? Why do we pray for the dead? Cite at least one passage from Scripture in your response.

Chapter 14. The Celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ

1. What is the relationship between liturgy and Sacrament? How are the two distinct? Give a definition and examples of each, describing how each example fulfills the definition.
2. "A liturgical celebration uses signs and symbols drawn from creation, human life, and the history of salvation. Integrated into faith, the signs become bearers of the sanctifying action of Christ." (p. 177) Give examples of signs and symbols used in the liturgy from each of the three sources mentioned and explain their function.
3. What are the roles of sacred song and music and sacred images in liturgy? Choose examples of each and describe how they fulfill their role.

Chapter 15: Baptism: Becoming a Christian

1. Why did Jesus submit to Baptism? What is the relationship between the Baptism of each Christian and Jesus' Baptism by John in the Jordan?
2. Describe the effects of this Sacrament and how they are signified by the signs and symbols in the Rite.
3. How does the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation differ between the Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches? Describe how these differences illustrate certain aspects of each of the three Sacraments.
4. Discuss the necessity of Baptism and the question of those who die without Baptism. What is meant by the principle "God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism, but he himself is not bound by the sacraments" (CCC no. 1257)?

Chapter 16. Confirmation: Consecrated for the Mission

1. Describe the relationship between Baptism and Confirmation. How is that relationship expressed in the Rite of Confirmation in the Latin and Eastern Churches?
2. Describe the effects of this Sacrament and how they are signified by the signs and symbols in the Rite.
3. Use at least three passages from Scripture to illustrate the relationship between the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit (Confirmation) and Christian mission.

Chapter 17. The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Christian Life

1. Describe how the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" (Lumen Gentium no. 11, cf. CCC no. 1324), using at least two passages from Scripture in your response.
2. Describe the effects of this Sacrament and how they are signified by the signs and symbols in the Rite.
3. What is meant by referring to the Eucharist as the Real Presence of Christ? Describe how our manner of treating the Eucharist inside and outside of Mass reflects our belief in the Real Presence.
4. How is the Eucharist the "Sacrament of Sacraments" and the end to which all other Sacraments are ordered (cf. CCC no. 1211; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica III, 65, 3)?

Handouts

• The Kingdom of God
  How is the Catholic Church identified with the Kingdom of God?
• Infallibility: God's Perfect Gift to His Imperfect Church
  Describe the precise conditions under which the Pope and the Bishops in union with him are preserved from teaching error. What is the difference between infallibility and impeccability?
• Separated Brethren
  Describe the role of the Church and of individual Catholics in working for Christian unity. Why is it important to recognize the dangers of false ecumenism?