CHRIST:
GOD’S
REVELATION
TO THE
WORLD
TRUE HAPPINESS
“Happy the people so blessed; happy the people whose God
is the Lord.” (Ps 144:15)
But, what is happiness?
GOD: THE SOURCE OF
TRUE HAPPINESS
WE ALL WANT TO BE HAPPY!
because
WE WERE MADE TO BE HAPPY!
“True happiness is found . . . In God alone, the source of
every good and of all love” (CCC, 1723).
THE RESTLESS HUMAN
HEART
Nothing in this life can
make us fully content or
perfectly happy.
Why is this?
God gave us a hunger
for happiness!
Only God can fulfill this
hunger because he
placed it in us!
St. Augustine:
“Our heart is restless
until it rests in you.”
QUESTIONING MINDS
 Do you ever wonder
what is beyond the
stars?
 Do you ever question
the meaning of life?
 Do you ever think
about where your life
is going?
 Do you ever wonder
what will happen to
you after you die?
WE ARE RELIGIOUS BY
NATURE
We have always
searched for God and
given expression to this
quest.
God speaks to us
through our human
reason, through
prayer, and through
our hearts. He calls
us first.
In spite of the prevalence of irreligion and secularism,
most people still belong to an organized religion.
KNOWING GOD THROUGH
NATURAL REVELATION
Something does not come out of nothing!
CONTEMPLATING
CREATION
Because we are created
in God’s image, we are
endowed with
intelligence.
Look at the world around
us.
Where did all these
beautiful things come
from if not from the
beautiful One who made
them?
The Church teaches that
human intelligence can
discover God.
“CONVERGING AND CONVINCING
ARGUMENTS” OF GOD’S EXISTENCE
(ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS)
Unmoved Mover
First Cause
Everything comes from Something ”Cosmological Argument”
Supreme Model
Grand Designer
CONTEMPLATING THE
HUMAN PERSON
Our lives have
meaning!
Beauty
Truth
Moral goodness
Personal Conscience
Justice
Love
Intelligence
KNOWING GOD
THROUGH
DIVINE REVELATION
Human language and human reason
cannot fully describe God or really know
what God is like.
God is truly a mystery!
That is why God does not leave us to
our own limited knowledge. He gives us
Divine Revelation.
WHAT IS DIVINE
REVELATION?
God’s free gift of
selfcommunication by
which he makes
known his divine
plan
God tells us who
he really is through
the events of
Salvation History
God invites us to
live in covenant
with him
The greatest sign
of God’s love was
the sending of his
Son, Jesus Christ,
to be our Savior
from sin and death
SALVATION HISTORY
 God’s creation of the
world begins Salvation
History (the account of
God’s saving activity
for humankind).
 God intended from the
very beginning to invite
humans to live in
intimate union with
him.
 God remains faithful to
us despite our
sinfulness.
GOD’S COVENANTS
WITH HUMANKIND
Covenant
with Moses,
the Sinai
Covenant
Covenant
with Noah
Covenant
with
Abraham
Wisdom
Literature
Kings and
Prophets
Jesus
Christ, the
New
Covenant—
the climax
of Salvation
History
HANDING DOWN
DIVINE REVELATION
SACRED TRADITION
SACRED SCRIPTURE
The word tradition means
“handing down.”
The word bible means
“books.”
The Apostles preached
the Gospel to all nations.
Jesus gave the Apostles the
authority to interpret the
divinely inspired Scriptures.
They chose men to
succeed them (bishops
headed by the Bishop of
Rome).
This teaching authority is
known as the Magisterium.
“Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects
me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sends me.”
RESPONSE
TO DIVINE
REVELATION
Makes it possible
for us to accept
Jesus Christ
Require free
acceptance
FAITH: a
theological virtue
Opens up the
gates of Heaven
for us
Enables us to
partake in the life
of the Holy Spirit
ST. PETER
IMPETUOUS
BRAVE
HEADSTRONG
COMPASSIONATE
HEROIC
BORN LEADER
“And so I say to you, you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of
the netherworld shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the key
of the kingdom of Heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven”
(Mt 16: 18-19).