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PHILIP RCIA SESSION # 2 - “ AND ”

““For so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever in him should not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 ~

GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO MAN IN BRIEF: God has revealed Himself to us. Through this  Religion (Catholicism) is “seeking right revelation, God offers us a relationship with relationship with God.”

Him. All of God’s revelation, every act of God  God, desiring to bring into relationship with telling us about Himself, is an invitation to Him, has revealed Himself to the world. enter into union with Him.  God’s revelation of Himself is contained in 1) , 2) Scripture, and 3) EVELATION COMES TO US WAYS the . R 3 How do we know this Revelation? How do we  Faith is an act of the will. It is a response to have “access” to what God has told us about God’s invitation. Himself? We receive this truth three ways: 1) The first way we receive this Revelation is through Sacred Tradition; the living faith of , that has been passed on from parent to child, teacher to student, for thousands of years. Note that Sacred Tradition is different from Human Tradition.

2) The second way we receive this Revelation is through Sacred Scripture. The , first guiding the Jews, then the Apostles, inspired them to write down certain works. The , guided by the Holy Spirit, compiled these works in during the third and fourth centuries. This compilation of writings is what we call the , or Sacred Scripture.

3) The third way we receive this Revelation is through the Magisterium. When Christ established the Church upon Peter and the Apostles, He promised that it would never fail (Cf. Mt 16:18). The Church is guided, by the Holy Spirit, from the failure of error when she provides to us the Revelation of God.

Since all Revelation is from God, and since God does not contradict Himself, these three “paths” of Revelation must, in principle, always agree.

GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF FULLY IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST The fullness of God’s revelation is in the Person and earthly life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God made Man through the mystery of the . “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be4through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” – (John 1:1-5, 14)

THE RESPONSE TO THIS REVELATION IS FAITH Faith is more than a feeling. Faith is an act of the will. Faith is something you “do”. If God has revealed Himself to us, then faith is a response. God’s revelation is an invitation to every human, and faith is a conscious decision to say “yes” to that invitation.

THE CATHOLIC RELIGION By natural man can know God with All Religion, but specifically the Catholic certainty, on the basis of His works. But there is Faith, is man seeking to have right another order of , which man cannot relationship with God. Every aspect, possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order every part, of the Catholic religion has of divine Revelation. Through an utterly free this goal in mind. Confession, Mass, decision, God has revealed Himself and given , Lent, Palms, Christmas, and the himself to man. This He does by revealing the list goes on! Everything is designed by mystery, His plan of loving goodness, formed God to help us grow in relationship with from all in Christ, for the benefit of all Him. men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us His beloved Son, our Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. - Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 50