Formation

 Conscience: morality

The role of conscience is to decide subjectively on the ethical propriety of a specific action, here and now, for this person, in these circumstances. But always, too, the decision is a mental conclusion derived from objective norms that conscience does not determine on its own, receiving it as given by the Author of nature and divine grace.

  The Sacred Scriptures:

The Bible: Old Testament and the New Testament

Church History

To be a Catholic, is to belong to a worldwide family of believers of nearly 1.3 billion persons. As with every family, we have a history. Our history goes back 2,000 years in an unbroken chain, right to the time when Jesus Christ established His Church

  Magisterium

The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God has been entrusted by Christ to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This means that the task of interpretation or Magisterium has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Pope.

This teaching office is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it, always assisted by the Holy Spirit. What the Church proposes for belief, as being divinely revealed, is drawn from this single Deposit of Faith (that is, all that Christ has taught and the Church has faithfully transmitted down the ages). As Christ said to His apostles: “He who hears you, hears me” (Luke 10:16).

 The Family: domestic church

The term “Domestic Church” refers to the family, the smallest body of gathered believers in Christ. Though recovered only recently, the term dates all the way back to the first century AD. The Greek word ecclesiola referred to “little church.” Our Early Church Fathers understood that the home was fertile ground for discipleship, sanctification, and holiness.

Second Vatican Ecumenical (= ‘universal’) Council: DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH

 Dogma

Obviously, when it comes to matters of belief in one God, our personal opinions or impressions of the idea of ‘god’ we might have, would have to remain just that: mere opinions and no more based on ourselves, we could have no guarantee of certainty. Yet for us, as believers in Jesus Christ, this thankfully is not the case.

 The Sacred Liturgy

A well-known word that is close in meaning to ‘liturgy’ is the word ‘worship’. But while worship can be done privately, ‘liturgy’ is always a public, group activity.

Like many other ‘churchy’ words, ‘liturgy’ comes from the language used by the early church in its worship and writings – Greek. The word liturgy is derived from leitourgia which was used to refer to any public work or function exercised by the people as a whole. The people who do the work of liturgy are the people of God, all baptised.

A well-known word that is close in meaning to ‘liturgy’ is the word ‘worship’. But while worship can be done privately, ‘liturgy’ is always a public, group activity.

A working definition of ‘liturgy’ that is helpful is ‘The official, public worship of the Church’.

In the Catholic Church, we worship using forms and patterns of worship that have developed during the Church’s 2000-year history. Every day of the year falls into a particular place into the church’s liturgical calendar, and certain scripture readings and prayers are assigned for use at Mass each day. The celebration of the rites of Baptism, Marriage, Funerals and so on are set out in the Church’s ritual of books.

Liturgy is always an action, something we do. It is a public action, a ritual action, and a symbolic action. It is the proclamation of the word that God speaks to us; it is in the breaking of the bread that we recognise Christ. We participate in the action of the liturgy by responding, singing, listening and joining the gestures.

The worship of the Catholic Church follows a calendar that is based on a cycle of liturgical seasons plus saints’ days celebrated throughout the year.

Just as we mark our lives by anniversaries, the Church celebrates the mysteries of Christ’s life in a recurrent pattern. Within the cycle of a year the Church remembers and celebrates Christ’s conception, birth, death, resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

During the course of the year we bring to mind past events and people to keep the mystery of faith alive today and we look forward to Christ’s return in glory at the end of time. As pilgrim people, we are constantly nourished by the story of Jesus and guided by the saints, our ancestors in the faith, living witness of God’s unchanging love.

In some respects the church’s way of keeping time conflicts with the secular calendar. The new liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent at the end of November, just as many other things like the academic year are coming to an end.