The Blessed Trinity

The Blessed Trinity and Our Christian Vocation

The Blessed Trinity Chapter 4

Chapter 4 The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ

Chapter Objectives The student will be able to understand: • The Incarnation • The Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in the Incarnation • Sign of contradiction • The Finding of Christ in the Temple • Christ and the Essenes • Christ and ordinary life • The Baptism of Christ • Christ’s temptation in the desert • The call of the Apostles • Christ’s healing ministry • Christ’s teaching method • The parable • The Parable of the Good Samaritan • How to Pray • The Kingdom of God • The Apostles’ role in the Kingdom of God • The Sermon on the Mount • The Beatitudes • Christ’s Law of Love • Purity of Intention • St. Francis and the Sermon on the Mount • The Last Supper • Christ’s Passion and Death • The Resurrection of Christ

Keys to Chapter 4 • God the Son humbly emptied himself of his divinity and took on a human nature. • Christ is like us in all things, except sin. • Jesus’ mission was not to save the world from suffering, but from sin. • The essence of Christ’s teachings is himself. • Christ is the true Paschal Lamb who saves us from sin and death.

For Discussion: • What do we know about the early life of Jesus Christ? • What do we mean when we say Jesus is “the Christ”? • What were the main events in Christ’s public ministry? • What was Christ’s message? How did he teach? continued

For Discussion: • What was the example that Christ gave his followers? • What was the role of the Apostles and St. Peter in Church? • What lessons does the life of Christ hold for us today? • What does it mean to be called by Christ, and how do we respond to that call? • What does the Sermon on the Mount teach us about love?

Christ’s Incarnation Lesson Objectives The Incarnation The Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in the Incarnation Sign of contradiction

Christ’s Incarnation Basic Questions What is the mystery of the Incarnation? • The mystery of the Incarnation refers to the infinite God, who is beyond the limitations of human comprehension, having emptied himself to become man in order to reconcile all people to himself.

Christ’s Incarnation Basic Questions How did the Incarnation come about? • Christ’s Incarnation was announced by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who humbly agreed to be the Mother of Christ.

Christ’s Incarnation Basic Questions How was Christ’s life a sign of contradiction from the beginning? • As a sign of contradiction, Christ was born into poverty, and his life was in danger from the very beginning.

Anticipatory Set • Incorporate the Annunciation into the Opening Prayer.

Focus Question • According to St. Athanasius, why was Christ the only one who could recreate man in the image of God? • Christ himself is the image of God. Angels are not created in the image of God, and man is only made according to the image of God.

Focus Question • Why did Christ take on human nature to recreate man? • He defeated death and bodily corruption through his Death and Resurrection.

Focus Question • According to St. Athanasius, from what and to what did Christ intend to raise the minds of people? • Christ intended to raise men’s minds from earthly, sensible things to the height of God.

Focus Question • What does Jesus mean? • It means God saves.

Focus Question • Why was this common name highly fitting for Our Lord? • His mission was the salvation of man.

Focus Question • What is Christ’s hidden life? • It refers to the first thirty years of Christ’s life, especially the eighteen years from age twelve to thirty.

Focus Question • What is Christ’s public life? • It refers to the three years he taught and performed miracles.

Focus Question • What is the climax of Christ’s life on earth? • It climaxed in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Focus Question • What should a person do if he or she is not familiar with the life of Christ? • Read at least St. John’s Gospel and any of the other three (Matthew, Mark, or Luke) before proceeding with the text.

Focus Question • Why was the Blessed Virgin Mary greatly troubled by the Archangel Gabriel’s greeting? • An angel appeared to her and said she was full of grace and the Lord was with her.

Focus Question • How did Gabriel identify Jesus with the long-awaited Messiah? • He said God would give Mary’s son the throne of his father David with an eternal kingship.

Focus Question • How did Gabriel proclaim Mary’s son to be divine? • He said Christ will be called Son of the Most High and Son of God.

Focus Question • Why is it certain man had nothing to do with the conception of Christ? • The Blessed Virgin Mary did not have a husband.

Guided Exercise • Free write comparing the Blessed Virgin Mary’s encounter with the Archangel Gabriel to Eve’s encounter with the serpent.

Focus Question • What sign did the Archangel Gabriel give the Blessed Virgin Mary that he told the truth? • Mary’s elderly, barren cousin St. Elizabeth was pregnant.

Focus Question • How did Mary respond to Gabriel’s announcement? • She agreed and declared she was God’s servant. • Extension: • This is called her fiat, Latin for “let it be done.”

Focus Question • What is the climax of history? • The Incarnation is its climax.

Focus Question • What is the mystery of the Incarnation? • The infinite God, who is beyond the limitations of human comprehension, emptied himself to become man to reconcile people to himself.

Focus Question • How did Caesar Augustus help fulfill the prophecy the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem? • He called for a census in which each person was to return to his town of origin to be counted. Because St. Joseph was of the house of David, he and the Blessed Virgin Mary went to the City of David.

Focus Question • How was the Birth of Christ announced to kings and commoners? • The Magi, Gentiles from the East, came to see the newborn King of the Jews. Shepherds were the first to behold the newborn Savior.

Focus Question • How did St. Simeon foretell the Crucifixion of Christ? • He said, “A sword will pierce through [The Blessed Virgin Mary’s] own soul also.” Christ was pierced by nails and a lance.

Focus Question • Who are the Holy Innocents? • The male infants in Bethlehem murdered by Herod, who wished to kill Christ.

Focus Question • How many children were murdered by Herod? • There were probably about two dozen.

Guided Exercise • Conduct a think/pair/share using the following question: • Why was Christ’s Birth a sign of contradiction or stumbling block?

Focus Question • Why did St. Joseph take Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary into Egypt? • He was warned by an angel in a dream that Herod intended to kill Christ. • Extension: • The time Christ spent in Egypt recalls the centuries Abraham’s descendants were in exile there.

Christ’s Hidden Life Lesson Objectives The Finding of Christ in the Temple Christ and the Essenes Christ and his Hidden Life

Christ’s Hidden Life Basic Questions What is the significance of Christ in the Temple at age twelve? • Christ’s greatness was revealed at age twelve in the Temple, but he lived in obedience and obscurity for the next eighteen years.

Christ’s Hidden Life Basic Questions What is the relationship between Christ and the Essenes? • Christ and St. John the Baptist have some common points of reference with the Jewish sect of the Essenes, but are essentially different from them.

Christ’s Hidden Life Basic Questions What is the meaning of Christ’s hidden life? • The sanctity of everyday life.

Anticipatory Set • Incorporate the Finding in the Temple into the Opening Prayer.

Focus Question • During their return from Jerusalem to Nazareth, how could Christ have been missing from the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph? • The group from Nazareth could have included hundreds of people, and the men and women traveled in two separate groups. Because they were all friends and family, the children likely would have been playing and going between the two groups.

Focus Question • How long was Christ missing from the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph? • They searched three days for him. • Extension: The three days Christ was lost to his parents foreshadow the three days in the tomb before his Resurrection.

Focus Question • What is known about Christ’s hidden years besides obedience to his parents? • He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Focus Question • According to the Catechism, no. 531, what else did Christ do during his hidden years? • He did manual labor and lived the religious life of a Jew.

Focus Question • What were the three major sects in first-century Judaism? • The three were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes.

Focus Question • Why did the Essenes dwell in remote locations? • They broke with Jerusalem, rejecting the Temple built by Herod and the worldly lifestyle of the religious authorities there.

Focus Question • What is the meaning of Christ’s silence on the Essenes? • Some scholars take his silence as evidence of implicit approval. Others see it as evidence of the sect’s relative insignificance in Jewish society at that time.

Focus Question • How do the Essenes and Christ differ on the apocalypse? • The Essene apocalypse involves a literal war between the powers of light and darkness that restores the proper order in the existing world but does not involve the end of the world. Christ taught the end of the world culminates in the Final Judgment with the entrance of the faithful into Heaven and the damned into Hell.

The Blessed Trinity