The document discusses the origins and meanings of key Christian terms: 1) "Church" derives from the Greek "ekklesia" meaning assembly, used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew "qahal" referring to God's calling of the Israelites. 2) In the New Testament, "ekklesia" designates the early Christian community called together by Christ for prayer and the Eucharist. 3) Today, the Church is understood as the new people of God in each local community, made real in the Eucharist. 4) To be Christian means to follow Jesus Christ, Catholic means universal and all-embracing, and Roman Catholic implies

1. Insights from
Matthew 6.25-34
(oral sharing)

2. Matthew 6.33
“Seek ye first
The Kingdom of God
And His Righteousness
And all these things
Shall be added unto to
you
A-lle-lu… Alleluia
(repeat)

3. Without GOD
our WEEK
would be…
SINday, MOURNday, TEARSday,
WASTEday, THIRSTday, FIGHTday
and SHATTERday.
Seven days without God
makes one WEAK!

4. “CHURCH” is…
(summary)
O Building/Physical Structure
O Place of Worship and Prayer
O Hierarchy
O Community of Believers

5. Results from Church Survey
O What is the most common notion of the
church according to:
O First Year students -----
O Second Year students -----
O Third Year students -----
O Fourth and Fifth Year Students ------
O Tallying all the scores, what is the most
common notion of the church?
O Any unique responses about the church?

6. O The church defines today as…
“ the community of baptized men
and women who, united in Christ,
and guided by the Holy Spirit,
press onward towards the
Kingdom of God and are bearers
of a message of salvation
intended for all men (and
women).”
GAUDIUM ET SPES (GS) 1

7. ORIGIN OF THE WORD
“CHURCH”
IN THE BIBLE

8. Theology of the Word
by Fr. James Meehan, SJ
O With the coming of the HS amidst the
sound “a s a vio le nt wind blo wing ” and the
appearance of “to ng ue s like fire whic h
d is tribute d the m s e lve s a nd s e ttle d o n e a c h
o ne o f the m ”(Acts 2:2-3) there began for
all men to see, the life of the Christian
community which has continued down to
our own day and will remain until the Lord
returns.

9. O The early chapters of Acts of the
Apostles depict for us the first day
of this community: a period
characterized by a profound unity
among all believers and an exultant
joy in their possession of the Holy
Spirit and in the visible but real
presence among them of the risen
Jesus.

10. O The When the divinely inspired
writers of the NT wished to
give a name to the community
born of Christ and the Spirit,
they frequently employed the
Greek word e kkle s ia often
translated into English
as“church”.

11. O [Ekkle s ia ] was not a word coined by
the sacred writers themselves, for it
already existed in the secular Greek of
their day.
O The Englishword“assembly” perhaps
best conveys the idea of what e kkle s ia
meant in ordinary usage: an assembly
of men, and in particular, an assembly
of citizens “called together to
deliberate upon affairs of state.

12. Greek “Assembly”
of Citizens
O If the word had a technical ring to it, it was
in this civic sense. It had no special
religious connotation.

13. O Although the word had no special
religious meaning in ordinary Greek, it
very definitely did in the Greek
translation of the Hebrew OT known
as Septuagint, a version of the Sacred
Scriptures substantially completed a
century or so before the Christian Era.
O The word Ekkle s ia was chosen to
render a Hebrew word rich in
theological context.

14. O The word was q a ha l “assembly”.
O Qahal “assembly”or Qe ha l
Ya hwe h, “the assembly of the
Lord,” designated the Hebrew
people of the old at those
moments in their history when
they were most especially “called
together”.

15. Two Characteristics of
Qe ha l Ya hwe h
1. The people did not constitute themselves
the “assembly of the Lord. Rather, it was
God who took the initiative; It was He who
freely summoned them to Himself.
2. The purpose of their being“called together”
by the Lord was that they might become a
sacred and holy people, a community
consecrated to the worship of God.

16. The Chosen People of
Yahweh

17. O [The Lord said to Moses] “Thus shall you
say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites:
You have seen for yourselves how I treated
the Egyptians and how I bore you up on
eagle wings and brought you here to myself.
Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and
keep my covenant, you shall be my special
possession, dearer to me than all other
people, though all the earth is mine. You
shall be to me kingdom of priests, a holy
nation. That is what you must tell the
Israelites” (Ex o d us 1 9 : 3 -6 ).

18. O The author of the book of
Deuteronomy … picture Moses
as recalling to the Israelites, who
are about to enter the Promised
land, all that God had said and
done when “the Lord spoke to
you on the mountain from the
midst of the fire on the d a y o f the
a s s e m bly ”(Deut. 9:10)

19. O The Hebrew word qahal, then, is rich in
meaning. Literally it signifies an
assembly, a convocation, But the
reality it refers to is much more than a
mere grouping of men. It is essentially
a divinely created assembly.
O Yahweh, the lord, and He alone
gathered His people to Himself and
made them His own. He and He alone
made them hole … and consecrated
them to His worship.

20. ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH
 Old Testament – “ QAHAL ”
 New Testament – “ EKKLESIA ”

21. BIBLICAL MEANING
OF THE CHURCH
O Old Testament O New Testament
(QAHAL) (EKKLESIA)
--used to designate the --The gathering together of
Hebrews who were early Christians for prayer
CALLED TOGETHER
by Yahweh, the Lord and for the breaking of
the bread
--Known as the
ASSEMBLY OF THE --A COMMUNITY called
LORD together by Christ

22. Modern Understading of the
CHURCH today…
O The church today is the NEW PEOPLE OF
GOD which exists in each local community
and made real in Eucharist assembly
(Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC
752).

23. Modern Understading of the
CHURCH today…
O Gaudium et Spes #1 of Vatican II
document defines the church as “ a
community of baptized men and women
who, united in Christ, and guided by the
Holy Spirit, press onward towards the
Kingdom of God and are bearers of a
message of salvation intrended for all
men”

24. Understanding
A New Term

25. What do we mean
when we say:
I am a
CHRISTIAN.

26. Answer:
O I am a
CHRISTIAN
because I am a
fo llo we r and be lie ve r
of Jesus the Christ.

31. How about …
O As a Christian,
I am a CATHOLIC.

32. Answer:
O CATHOLIC means universal or
all embracing as defined by St.
Ignatius of Antioch in 100 AD.
O As member of the Catholic
church, we embrace and accept
all types of persons.

33. In addition, but what do we
mean by:
O I am a
ROMAN

34. Answer:
O I am a ROMAN
CATHOLIC
because I submit
myself to the authority
of the Pope in Rome.

35. CHRISTIAN means …
O A follower of Jesus Christ
CATHOLIC means…
• Given by St. Ignatius of
Antioch in 100 AD which
means UNIVERSAL, ALL
EMBRACING, OPEN FOR ALL.
ROMAN CATHOLIC means…
• we are in union with the bishop
of Rome, the successor of
Peter = the Pope.