Chapter 5:
Christ Redeems Through His Church
THE MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION
1. The Kingdom of God
ANTICIPATORY SET
Incorporate Matthew 13 (Christ’s parables) into the class’s opening prayer.
Afterwards, have the students free write for a few minutes trying to explain
the meaning of one of the parables that Jesus himself did not explain.
Share responses.
1. The Kingdom of God
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What is God’s cosmic plan for man?
 What is the Church?
 What is the Kingdom of God?
KEY IDEAS
 God’s plan for man to share in his divine life existed before time, was
inaugurated in time by creation and salvation history, reached its fullness in
time with Christ and his Church, and will be fulfilled at the end of time when
all who have cooperated with grace are gathered together in the universal
Church.
 The Church is the new assembly of God’s people, redeemed by Christ, and is
the instrument of this redemption.
 The Kingdom of God is Christ acting in men’s hearts to bring them into
communion with the Blessed Trinity.
1. The Kingdom of God
GUIDED EXERCISE
Conduct a think/pair/share on the following prompt:
What is the meaning of the word “church” according to its Greek and
Hebrew roots?
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What was God’s plan for men from before the creation?
To raise men to a participation in the divine life.
Who are the elect?
Those who would cooperate in God’s plan.
Where is the Church seen in the Old Testament?
The Church is foreshadowed in the history of the people of Israel and
the covenant God made with them.
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
How does God make it possible for man to participate in the divine
life?
God makes it possible for man to have a share in divine life through the
Incarnation of Christ and the graces of the redemption mediated through
the Church Christ founded.
How will God’s original plan be fulfilled?
At the end of time, the Church will achieve glorious completion, when all
the just will be gathered together with the Father in the universal Church.
What is the Church, according to CCC 763?
It is “the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.”
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Where is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth found?
In the Catholic Church.
What is the difference between objective and subjective
redemption?
All men are objectively redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice. However, this
redemption has to be subjectively applied to the life of each individual,
who may or may not respond to grace.
What is the role of the Church in terms of subjective redemption?
The Church is Christ’s instrument to bring objective redemption to each
subject, to each person.
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the core message of the Gospel, according to Mark 1:15?
The Kingdom of God has arrived; therefore, turn away from your sins
and have faith.
In what way did Jesus help his followers picture what the Kingdom
of God is like?
Through parables.
How was Jesus not the Messiah people probably expected?
Some Jews expected a Messiah who would be a powerful king, like David,
who would make Israel glorious. They did not expect someone born into
poverty who would redeem through suffering and transform men from
within.
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the Kingdom of Heaven, according to the paragraph
beginning, “Christ’s teaching in the New Testament”?
The Kingdom of Heaven is a communion of God with his People, the
relationship that God had desired from the very beginning of creation.
How is the Kingdom of God like a mustard seed?
Like a mustard seed, the Church would begin small, but would grow very
large, in fact, would spread throughout the world.
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Why is the Church “pilgrim”?
The Church as a whole and in her individual members is on a journey to
Christ with whom it is already imperfectly united.
What is necessary to see the divine nature of the Church?
Faith.
When will the true nature of the Church be seen by everyone?
At the end of time when Christ returns in glory.
1. The Kingdom of God
GUIDED EXERCISE
Conduct a think/pair/share:
What do the Gospel writers mean when they say that
Jesus came in the “fullness of time”?
1. The Kingdom of God
FOCUS QUESTIONS
According to Benedict XVI, what is the core content of the Gospel?
The message that “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” so convert and
have faith.
What is the Kingdom of God, according to Benedict XVI?
It is the Person of Jesus Christ.
According to Benedict XVI, what is an adequate translation of the
term, “Kingdom of God”?
An adequate translation is “God’s being-Lord, of his lordship.” In other
words, Kingdom of God means God is now acting in a whole new way in
history.
1. The Kingdom of God
CLOSURE
Have the students write a paragraph on the meaning of the Kingdom
of God.
1. The Kingdom of God
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Reading
 The Mystical Body of Christ through The Church is
Necessary for Salvation (pp. 173–176)
Study Questions
 Questions 1–5.
Workbook
 Questions 1–6.
1. The Kingdom of God
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Have the students free write on the cosmic history of redemption
presented in this lesson, from before time, during time, and at the end
of time.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
ANTICIPATORY SET
Incorporate into the class’s opening prayer St. Paul’s discourse on
the Church as the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:12–31).
Have the students free write for a few minutes on something that
surprised or confused them about this passage.
Share responses.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What is the Mystical Body of Christ?
 Is the Church necessary for salvation?
KEY IDEAS
 The Mystical Body of Christ is an image that expresses the union of
each believer with Christ and with each other. The relationship
between the Church and Christ is like that of a bride and a
bridegroom.
 The Church is necessary for salvation because she is the means by
which God has chosen to convey the graces of the redemption to the
world.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the Mystical Body of Christ?
It is the divine communion in which each member of the Church is
united together in Christ, who is the Head.
What is the vertical dimension of the Mystical Body?
It is the relationship between each member of the Church and Christ. It is
vertical because God is higher than us.
What is the horizontal dimension of the Body of Christ?
It is the communion among the Church’s members. It is a horizontal
relation because the members of Christ’s body are essentially equal in
dignity as children of God.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is youth a time for Christians to discover?
One’s vocation, that is, what God wants a young person to do as a
member of the Body of Christ.
How is the idea of solidarity in the Body of Christ expressed in
Lumen Gentium, 7?
If “one member [in the body] endures anything, all the members coendure it, and if one member is honored, all the members together
rejoice.”
What are the three states in which the Church currently exists?
The pilgrim Church on earth, the suffering Church in Purgatory, and the
Church triumphant in Heaven.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students work with a partner to develop bullet points
relating Christ and his Church to a bridegroom and bride.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
GUIDED EXERCISE
Conduct a class discussion that debates the following proposition:
The Church should abandon missionary work because God saves
people anyway.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What does the Church “do”?
She is the means Christ chose to convey the graces of his redemption
to humanity.
What is an example of God’s use of mediators?
God used Moses as the means to deliver Israel from slavery and to
give them the Covenant.
How is the Church a Sacrament?
The Church is the sign and means of salvation for men of all times
and places.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What does it mean that the Church is necessary for salvation?
It means that man’s salvation comes through the Church. The
consequence is that if anyone knows that the Catholic Church was
founded as necessary by God for salvation, but refuses to enter it or
to remain in it, then he cannot be saved.
What does “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” mean?
Literally, it means “outside the Church there is no salvation.”
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the relationship between the necessity of the Church for
salvation and the missionary enterprise?
Because the Church is necessary for salvation, the Church has the
obligation to preach the Gospel to the whole world.
If the Church is necessary for salvation, are all those who are
not Catholics damned to Hell?
No. Those who are invincibly ignorant of the Gospel are not guilty of
not accepting it. Rather, if they seek God sincerely and follow the
dictates of their conscience, they will, with the help of grace, achieve
eternal salvation.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
CLOSURE
Have the students write a paragraph about how the Church is the
Mystical Body necessary for salvation.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Reading
 One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic through the
sidebar St. Ignatius of Loyola (pp. 177–181)
Study Questions
 Questions 6–9.
 Practical Exercise 1.
Workbook
 Questions 7–9.
2. The Mystical Body Necessary for Salvation
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Have the students do an Internet search for “Catholic missionary
orders.” Locate one order, research that order, and write a paragraph
about the work that order is doing in the mission field.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
ANTICIPATORY SET
Ask the students to imagine they are Christians living AD 200.
They meet a missionary from the sect of the prophet Mani who tells them that their
form of Christianity is in error and that the following doctrines are, in fact, true:
• There is a cosmic battle under way between two gods.
• Satan is the evil creator of the evil material world.
• God is the good creator of the good spiritual world. Satan stole some of the light
of the spiritual world and put it in human beings.
• Secret knowledge and asceticism can liberate this light, which is the way that the
“elect” are saved.
This missionary can give you this secret knowledge if you join his sect. Then, have
the students free write their response to explain how they would begin to defend
their Christian faith against these ideas.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What are the marks of the Church?
KEY IDEAS
 The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. That is, there is only
one Church, her holiness fully derives from Christ, she is for all men at
all times, and she is grounded in the Apostles.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students work with a partner to make a bullet-point list of the
ways in which the Church is one.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What kind of unity does Christ pray for at the Last Supper?
Christ prays to the Father that just as he and the Father are one, that his
followers and those who believe in him through them will be united in
him and the Father.
How did the four marks of the Church arise?
They were articulated by early Christians in contradistinction to the
qualities of various heretical sects that arose.
What is the result of dissentions within or related to Christianity?
The result is often the rupturing of the unity of the Church.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Conduct a think/pair/share on the following question:
 What is the meaning of the word “catholic” in the Catholic Church?
3. The Four Marks of the Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
How can the Church claim to be holy if it is made up of
sinful members?
The holiness of the Church comes directly from Christ.
How is Christ’s holiness conveyed to the Church?
Through the Sacraments.
To what end are all the activities of the Church directed?
To the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What are the three ways that the Church is apostolic?
(1) The Church was founded by the Apostles; (2) she faithfully hands on the
Apostles’ teaching; and (3) she is governed by the successors of the Apostles.
What is apostolic succession?
It is the chain of ordination from Apostle to bishop to successor bishop all the way
down to the present.
What does it mean to say that the Church “subsists” in the Catholic Church?
The fullness of the Church that Christ founded “continues to exist” in the Catholic
Church.
What is the indefectibility of the Church?
It means that the Church will last until the end of time.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students complete this table to clarify the three ways the
Church is apostolic.
Aspect of the Mark
Founded by the Apostles
Faithfully hands on the
Apostles’ teaching
Governed by the successors
of the Apostles
Explanation
3. The Four Marks of the Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Aspect of the Mark
Explanation
Founded by the Apostles
The Catholic Church was founded by the Twelve who were
chosen by Christ to do this.
Faithfully hands on the
Apostles’ teaching
With the aid of the Holy Spirit, the Church faithfully keeps and
hands on the teachings she received from the Apostles to every
age. She teaches what the Apostles taught.
Governed by the successors
of the Apostles
Her pastors were all ordained by men who can trace their line
back to the Apostles.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students work with a partner to write and answer three
focus questions on the sidebar: “St. Ignatius of Loyola” (p. 181).
3. The Four Marks of the Church
CLOSURE
Have the students write a paragraph summarizing the four marks of
the Church.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Reading
 The Mission of the Holy Spirit through the sidebar The
Seven Sacraments (pp. 182–185)
Study Questions
 Questions 10–17.
 Practical Exercise 2.
Workbook
 Questions 10–15.
3. The Four Marks of the Church
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Have a class discussion based on the example of Manichæism
from the anticipatory set on why the early Church would reject it
based on the marks of the Church.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
ANTICIPATORY SET
Have the students do an Internet search of the words “Holy Spirit”
in an online concordance such as the following:
 quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/simple.html
Have them choose one verse about the Holy Spirit and then free write
about what that verse means.
Briefly share results.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of the Church?
 What are bishops?
 What is the Magisterium?
 How do the Sacraments relate to the redemption?
KEY IDEAS
 The Holy Spirit gives life to the Church.
 The college of bishops are the successors of the Apostles.
 The Pope and the bishops united to him are the authentic teachers
of the faith and enjoy the charism of infallibility.
 The Church transmits the grace of Christ’s redemption through
the Sacraments.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
According to CCC 797, what effect does the Holy Spirit have on the
Church?
The Holy Spirit gives unity to the Church in the manner in which the soul
gives life to the human body. The human body is the “temple” that
houses the soul and the Holy Spirit makes the Church into a temple of
God.
What gifts does the Holy Spirit give the members of the Church?
The Holy Spirit gives members of the Church the theological virtues of
faith, hope, and charity and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit strengthens the graces of the Sacrament of Confirmation, giving
the Christian the ability to be a witness of Christ in the world.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the visible hierarchy that Christ gave the Church?
Christ chose the Twelve Apostles to be the foundation stones of the
Church with St. Peter as their leader.
How are Peter and his successors vicars of Christ?
They act in the place of Christ, the invisible Head, as the visible Head of
the Church.
Where do we first see evidence that the mission entrusted to the
Apostles was not to die with them?
The Apostles elected Matthias to succeed in the office left open by Judas.
Later Christ himself chose Paul to be an Apostle.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Develop an apologetical argument, based on Clement’s epistle, to prove
that having bishops today is part of Christ’s plan for the Church.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
From where did the first bishops come?
After the Apostles founded local churches, they appointed men to assist
them in their ministry. These men succeed the Apostles.
Where did the Church get the authority to teach?
Christ gave it to the Apostles when he commanded them to teach the
disciples they made to observe all that he has commanded.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the Magisterium?
It is the name for the teaching office of the Church. It belongs to the
Pope and the bishops united to him.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s doctrines?
Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would help the Apostles to
remember everything he said to them and that the Spirit would teach
them everything they needed to know.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students work with a partner to explain each term in the
definition of a Sacrament using one of the Seven Sacraments.
A Sacrament is (1) an efficacious sign of grace, (2) instituted by Christ and
(3) entrusted to the Church, by which (4) divine life is dispensed to us.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What are “matters of faith and morals”?
Faith refers to religious doctrines, for example, “Christ rose from the
dead.” Morals refer to behavior, for example, not to practice infanticide,
something the early Christian’s pagan neighbors did.
What does infallible mean?
Unable to make an error.
Who has the gift of infallibility?
The Pope and the bishops united to him.
What does it mean to define a doctrine?
It means formally proposing it for belief as being divinely revealed and as
the teaching of Christ.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is necessary for bishops to teach infallibly?
They must be in union with the Pope.
Where are most infallible episcopal teaching found?
In the decisions of ecumenical councils.
What is papal infallibility?
When the Pope, in virtue of his authority, defines a doctrine concerning
faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, he cannot be in error.
What does ex cathedra mean?
It means “from the chair” of St. Peter, an official, infallible teaching.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the basic work of the Church?
To bring salvation to people through word and Sacrament, e.g., teaching them
what Christ taught and giving them grace through the Sacraments to be able to
carry out those teachings.
What is a Sacrament, according to CCC 1131?
A Sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted
to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.
Who instituted the Sacraments and when?
The Sacraments were instituted by Christ, while on earth.
With whom do the bishops share their authority to celebrate the Sacraments?
Priests and deacons.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
CLOSURE
Have the students write a paragraph using one of the key ideas of this
lesson as the topic sentence.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Reading
 The Last Things through Conclusion (pp. 186–190)
Study Questions
 Questions 18–31.
Workbook
 Questions 16–25.
4. The Teaching and Sanctifying Church
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Have the students free write for five minutes on something that they had
a hard time understanding in this lesson to clarify their thinking.
5. Last Things
ANTICIPATORY SET
Incorporate Jesus’ description of the Last Judgment (cf. Mt 25:31–46)
into the class’s opening prayer.
Have the students free write for a few minutes about what conclusions
they can draw from this teaching and then share responses.
5. Last Things
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What are the last things?
 What is the Last Judgment?
 What is the Kingship of Christ like?
KEY IDEAS
 The final things are judgment, Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.
 The Last Judgment is when Christ will come in glory to publicly judge
the living and the dead. Then the universe will be transformed into its
definitive state.
 On earth, Christ now reigns in the hearts of men who allow him to,
while Christians await his glorious return.
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
For the Christian, what is the “end” or purpose of living a Christian
life?
Entrance into Heaven and the resurrection of the body at the end of
time.
When is the time in which people can cooperate with grace so as to
achieve salvation?
Only during life on earth. After death it is too late.
What is the Particular Judgment?
It is the judgment God makes upon each soul immediately at death of
either eternal communion with God (Heaven), temporary purification
(Purgatory), or eternal separation (Hell).
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
In Heaven, which persons are in communion?
God, the angels, and those human beings in Heaven are in communion.
What is the beatific vision?
It is the perfect, face-to-face contemplation of the glory of God the
blessed in Heaven enjoy.
What “emotion” most characterizes Heaven?
Bliss.
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the purpose of Purgatory?
To free the soul of every attachment to sin so as to be fit for Heaven.
What does it mean to say that Purgatory is temporary?
Every soul in Purgatory is assured of the eventual attainment of Heaven.
What does it mean to say that Purgatory is a state not a place?
Souls, being immaterial spirits, do not occupy space. The state they
experience is separation from God.
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is Hell?
It is the state of eternal self-exclusion from communion with God and
the blessed.
How does a person end up in Hell?
By dying in the state of mortal sin without repentance.
What does the soul experience in Hell?
Eternal hatred and unhappiness.
Why is there no happiness in Hell?
The soul is separated from God, in whom alone man can possess the life
and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the Parousia?
It is the return of Christ in power and majesty at the end of time. At the
Parousia, Christ will judge the living and the dead and establish his
kingdom in all its fullness.
What will happen at the Last Judgment?
When Christ returns, he will raise everyone in their own bodies,
everyone’s conduct will be revealed, and each person will be rewarded or
punished on that basis.
When will we understand why God sometimes allows the good to
suffer and the wicked to prosper?
At the Last Judgment.
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What will happen to the universe at the end of time?
It will be transformed into a perfect place, pictured in Sacred Scripture as
the New Jerusalem.
What is the Kingdom of God on earth like now?
It is a spiritual kingdom entered into through faith and Baptism.
How difficult is it to live under the reign of Christ even now, on
earth, according to Matthew 11:30?
It is not difficult: as Christ said, “My yoke is sweet and my burden light.”
5. Last Things
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What effect should the Kingdom of God have on earthly realities?
In her preaching of the Gospel, the Church proposes the ethical
principles to guide the transformation of the world and provides the
graces necessary for men to act in accord with them. The laity, then has
the major responsibility to reconstruct the secular world so that God’s
“will be done on earth.”
What would be the effect if each person embraced the Kingdom of
God within them?
People would be free from the slavery of sin and reconciled with God.
Private and public life would be characterized by real liberty, well-ordered
discipline, peace, and harmony.
5. Last Things
GUIDED EXERCISE
Have the students perform a paragraph shrink on CCC 671 to
examine its essential message:
Christians eagerly await the return of Christ because they, like all
human beings and creation itself, “groan and travail” under the
attack of evil powers and their own imperfections.
5. Last Things
GUIDED EXERCISE
The conclusion in the student text summarizes the content of this
chapter in four paragraphs.
Have the students further distill the message of this chapter by
reducing it to one, five sentence paragraph.
5. Last Things
CLOSURE
Have the students write a paragraph summarizing the content of
this lesson.
5. Last Things
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Study Questions
 Questions 32-45.
 Practical Exercise 3.
Workbook
 Questions 26-39.
5. Last Things
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Conduct a class discussion on the following question:
 Does it go against justice that there is Heaven, which men cannot ever
lose, and a Hell which men can never escape?
The End