Holy Week 2023

2. “Synod”
“Journeying”
“Together”

3. Towards
an End
“Together”“Journeying”

4. Towards
an End
Communion ParticipationMission
“Together”“Journeying”

6. “In the synodal Church the
whole community, in the
free and rich diversity of
its members, is called
together to pray, listen,
analyze, dialogue, discern
and offer advice on taking
pastoral decisions which
correspond as closely as
possible to God's will.
How to “journey together”
uphill?
(International Theological Commission: Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, #68)

7. Dialogue

10. Discernment is the ability to detect and mount the
currents of the Holy Spirit, to “wind-surf” as to fulfill
our mission and arrive to our destination.
“The wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound, but you cannot
tell where it comes from or where it is
going. So, it is with everyone born of
the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:8).
Example of Migratory Birds On their own strength, snowbirds cannot fly
from Canada to Florida. But they do have the
ability to detect and mount the currents of the
wind. They migrate by means of “wind-surfing.”

13. “Enlarge the space of your tent, spread out your tent
cloths unsparingly, lengthen your ropes and make firm
your pegs.”
Isaiah (54:2)

14. This tent is a space of COMMUNION, a place of
PARTICIPATION and a foundation for MISSION.

15. They need to be spread
out, so that they can
also protect those who
are still outside this
space, but who feel
called to enter it.
TENT
CLOTH

16. They need to be spread
out, so that they can
also protect those who
are still outside this
space, but who feel
called to enter it.
Balance the
tension needed to
keep the tent from
dropping; if the
tent expands, the
ropes must be
stretched to
maintain the right
tension.
ROPES
TENT
CLOTH

17. They need to be spread
out, so that they can
also protect those who
are still outside this
space, but who feel
called to enter it.
Balance the
tension needed to
keep the tent from
dropping; if the
tent expands, the
ropes must be
stretched to
maintain the right
tension.
They anchor the structure to the ground
and ensure its solidity, but remain capable
of moving when the tent must be pitched
elsewhere.
ROPES
TENT
CLOTH
PEGS

18. They need to be spread
out, so that they can
also protect those who
are still outside this
space, but who feel
called to enter it.
Balance the
tension needed to
keep the tent from
dropping; if the
tent expands, the
ropes must be
stretched to
maintain the right
tension.
They anchor the structure to the ground
and ensure its solidity, but remain capable
of moving when the tent must be pitched
elsewhere.
ROPES
TENT
CLOTH
PEGS
CENTER
POLE
At the center of this tent stands
the tabernacle, i.e., the presence
of the Lord.

19. The Church is marked by four signs which help to identify
its true nature: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. An
understanding of these four signs will help form a
definition of the Catholic Church.
Four Signs of a True Church
• One
• Holy
• Catholic
• Apostolic

20. • The unity of the Church is rooted
in the unity of the Holy Trinity –
God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Spirit.
• The Church has a common body
of beliefs and is universal in
doctrine.
• All united under the Pope,
Catholics profess one faith, creed,
and set of moral teachings.

21. • God is the ultimate source of holiness
in the Church and Jesus Christ is the
model of holiness for the Church.
• The Church is holy since it was
instituted by Christ, who gave the
Church the gift of the Holy Spirit to
continue his mission and ministry on
earth.
• Through the Church, one is called to
live a life which leads to the
wholeness of personal development
and true relationship with God, the
source of life and eternal salvation.

22. • The word “Catholic” means
“universal.”
• The Church, from the time Jesus
commissioned the Apostles until the
present age, has always been
centered on spreading the message of
Jesus Christ.
• The Church of yesterday, today, and
tomorrow will always have Christ as
our foundation.
• Furthermore, the Church is for all
people throughout the world. The
Mass and the other sacraments are
celebrated throughout the world,
bringing all Catholics together in a
spirit of prayer and unity.

23. • The Bishops, who are the successors
to the Apostles, in union with the Pope,
continue to teach, sanctify, and guide
the church until Christ comes again.
• The doctrine and way of life of the
Church is the same today as it was in
the time of the Apostles.
• The good news of Jesus Christ
announced by the Apostles almost
2,000 years ago continues to be
announced by the Church today.
• Furthermore, the Church recognizes
the apostolic mission – to reach out to
people of all nations and preach the
Good News of the Gospel.

24. Five Common Misconceptions About
the Catholic Church
1. The Catholic Church is not Biblical.
2. The Catholic Church is authoritarian.
3. Catholics are superstitious and worship idols.
4. Catholics have a lot of secret societies that try to control
the world.
5. Catholics are hung up on sex.

25. Five Common Misconceptions About the Catholic
Church
1. The Catholic Church is not Biblical.
• The Catholic Church is deeply biblical. Jesus's followers
gathered the sacred writings and established the
fundamental books of the Bible in the first centuries of the
Church.
• Teachers and preachers commented on the Bible and
wrote brilliant treatises on it -- people like St. Augustine
and St. Jerome.
• Catholic monks preserved the Bible through the "dark
ages" by copying it by hand. They also preserved
knowledge of ancient languages to help interpret the
Bible.
• Catholics were leaders in the early Biblical revival
(people like Erasmus) and are leading Bible scholars
today.
• All Catholic worship is based on a careful reading and
presentation of the Bible.

26. 2. The Catholic Church is authoritarian.
• The Catholic Church has a structure but it is not
authoritarian in the way most people take that
word.
• Catholic leaders basically serve believers by
preaching, by prayer, and by leadership.
• Catholic life is not run by the Pope. Rather,
Catholic life unfolds in local parish
congregations.
• The Pope and bishops give guidance on certain
fundamental issues of faith and good living...but
all pastors do that.
• The Catholic Church believes fundamentally in
the freedom of the human conscience.

27. 3. Catholics are superstitious and
worship idols.
• Some individual Catholics may be
superstitious, but the Church does not
foster superstition or silly religious
fantasies.
• The Church believes that God gave us
human reason to use in understanding our
faith.
• Catholics worship only God. We pray to
saints as our older brothers and sisters in
faith, who are united with us in Christ
through the Communion of Saints. Sacred
images inspire us and help focus our
thoughts and prayer.

28. 4. Catholics have a lot of secret societies
that try to control the world.
• Catholics have a lot of societies, but hardly any
of them are secret. Rather, these societies have
well-known traditions to help their members
become holy and live faithfully.
• Many of these societies are called "religious
orders"--groups of men and women who live
together to accomplish a particular good.
• Catholics keep secrets when it will help
people--as when they confess their sin or come
for counseling, in the same way we keep
secrets about our friends when they confide in
us.
• All Catholic societies need the approval of
church leadership to insure that their purposes
are sound.

29. 5. Catholics are hung up on sex.
• Catholics do take sex very seriously because they
see it as a beautiful and important gift from God.
• Catholics do not think that sex should be
recreational or irresponsible because God uses
sexual activity to bring new people into the world.
• Catholics believe that sexual activity belongs inside
of marriage, in a committed and mature
relationship.
• Catholics encourage personal discipline in the
exercise of sexual activity. Catholics accept the use
of family planning which cooperates with the
woman's natural periods of infertility and does not
rely on mechanical, chemical or other artificial
forms of contraception.
• Catholics think the modern world is hung up on
sex, given the way society treats sex as a
sensational, exploitative thing, and given the way
people use and abuse each other under the guise
of false love.

30. Top Ten Reasons for Being Catholic
1. The Eucharist
2. Sacraments
3. Community
4. Apostolic Tradition
5. Mary, Our Blessed Mother
6. Scripture & Tradition
7. Catholic Social Teaching
8. Prayer & Devotions
9. The Saints
10. Universal Church

31. Top Ten Reasons for Being Catholic
1. The Eucharist
The Eucharist is our number one reason because Jesus is our
number one reason for being Catholic. We believe the Eucharist
IS Jesus. We take seriously Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John:
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and
my blood is true drink” (John 6:54-55). We follow Jesus’
command at the Last Supper to celebrate the Eucharist: “This is
my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me”
(Luke 22:19). Jesus’ sacrifice, his self-gift on the cross,
continues to be made present in the celebration of the Mass,
where through the Eucharist we receive Jesus himself and are
brought into union with God and communion with one another.

32. 2. Sacraments
We believe the Sacrament of Baptism is our entry into
the life of Christ (John 3:5), as do many Christians.
We also celebrate six other sacraments, each based
on Sacred Scripture and given to us by Jesus Christ.
With each sacrament, it is Christ who acts through the
Spirit. It is Christ’s body we receive in the Eucharist
(Matthew 26:26); Christ’s touch we feel when sealed
in the Spirit at Confirmation (John 20:22); Christ’s
words of forgiveness we hear in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation (Luke 5:21); Christ’s healing we
experience in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the
Sick (Mark 8:22-25); Christ’s blessing voiced at the
Sacrament of Matrimony (Mark 10:9); and Christ’s
ministerial service given in the Sacrament of Holy
Orders (John 13:15). When celebrating a sacrament,
we are touched by Jesus. By God’s grace, we become
what we receive and are strengthened for the journey.

33. 3. Community
We believe our faith is lived out and transmitted through
the community of disciples. Our faith community is based
not on common ideas or interests, but rooted in the
Sacrament of Baptism and nourished through the
reception of Jesus in the Eucharist, where we become
one as the Body of Christ. We believe this is the unity
Jesus spoke of in the Gospel of John, “that they may all
be one, as you Father are in me and I in you, that they
also may be in us, that the world may believe that you
sent me” (John 17:21). As a result of this unity, we are
committed to sharing our gifts and resources for the good
of our brothers and sisters. Our religious communities
model this through their prayer and service. We are
dedicated to praying for one another, both those living and
deceased. Our belief in community extends even beyond
death to the Communion of Saints.

34. 4. Apostolic Tradition
Jesus proclaimed: “And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church. …I will give you
the keys to the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:18, 19).
We believe the Church was built on the witness of the first
apostles and carried on by their successors and the
Christian community through the ages. The pope receives
his authority through an unbroken line of succession that
began with Saint Peter. Each pope receives the keys of
Saint Peter and thereby directly carries on the work of
Jesus Christ. The pope, also known as the Bishop of
Rome, and all bishops, are connected to this apostolic
succession. The bishops ordain priests and deacons who
serve the community and lead us in the celebration of the
sacraments. As members of the Catholic Church, we are
connected to Jesus and his Gospel through this apostolic
tradition.

35. 5. Mary, Our Blessed Mother
We love and honor Mary, our heavenly mother, just as
Jesus did. We give her respect and reverence as the
Mother of God. We listen to her son, Jesus, when he
speaks from the cross: “‘Behold, your mother.’ And from
that hour the disciple took her into his home” (John 19:
27). We take Mary into our hearts. We do not worship
Mary (she is only human), but we do honor her for saying
“yes” to the Holy Spirit, for her closeness to her Son, and
for being Jesus’ first and most faithful disciple. We
recognize Mary as the Mother of the Church—mother of
salvation—for guiding the Church and leading each of her
faithful into a closer relationship with her son, our Lord,
Jesus Christ.

36. 6. Scripture & Tradition
We believe our faith is built on both Sacred Scripture and
Sacred Tradition. For years, the Christian faith was
passed on through oral tradition. "So then, brethren, stand
firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by
us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thessalonians
2:15). It was much later, at the Council of Carthage in 379
A.D., when the Catholic Church declared which writings
were divinely inspired and selected for the canon of
Sacred Scripture, the Bible, which inspires our doctrine,
our prayers, and our way of life. Even so, the oral tradition
continued in addition to the written Scriptures. This
tradition, which can be traced back to the apostles, is
called our Sacred Tradition. We believe the Church
continues to be guided by the Holy Spirit through the
teaching authority of the Church (the communion of
Bishops, known as the Magisterium), which addresses the
issues of our time and speaks the Truth in one voice. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church contains our sacred
teachings.

37. 7. Catholic Social Teaching
According to the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops: “The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure
of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of
holiness amidst the challenges of modern society.”
Catholic social teaching may be, as some say, the best-
kept secret of the Church. The foundation of Catholic
social teaching is the dignity of the human person and the
sacredness of each human life—as made in the image
and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). Catholic social
teaching, based on the Gospel, commits us to working on
behalf of each human person, especially the least of our
brothers and sisters (Matthew 25:40). Catholic social
teaching challenges us to participate in service and
advocacy. The members of the Catholic Church, the
largest charitable organization in the world, serve in
hospitals, orphanages, refugee camps, schools, soup
kitchens, homeless shelters, and nursing homes.

38. 8. Prayer & Devotions
With all Christians we pray the Our Father,
but we also have many other prayers and
devotions—2000 years’ worth! We pray
the Hail Mary, based on the Gospel of
Luke: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with
you” (Luke 1:28). Many of the faithful pray
the rosary, which is a meditation on the life
of Christ. Besides Holy Mass, the Church
prays daily the Liturgy of the Hours, which
contains prayers, Scripture, and hymns in
order to praise God and to intercede for all
people, day and night. Our sacred,
beautiful devotions include blessing
ourselves with the sign of the cross, ashes
on our forehead to begin Lent, and walking
the footsteps of Jesus with the Stations of
the Cross.

39. 9. The Saints
The Catholic Church has officially declared thousands of
Christians as saints. These were ordinary men, women,
and children who lived with extraordinary faithfulness to
Jesus Christ. The saints, these “holy ones” (Philippians
4:21), followed God’s will with great love and heroic
virtue—often in the face of persecution. They teach us the
pathway to sainthood through the witness of their humility,
single-mindedness, simplicity, prayer, and action. We
believe each one of us was created to be a saint—to be
fully alive in Christ—through our unique call to holiness.
We believe in the Communion of Saints, all the holy ones
who together form “the great cloud of witnesses”
(Hebrews 12:1). We ask the saints in heaven to intercede
for us because of their close proximity to God, just as we
ask our friends to pray for us on earth (Colossians 1:9-15).

40. 10. Universal Church
The word “catholic” means universal.
The Catholic Church, established by
Jesus Christ, is meant for all people
for all times. The Mass is the same
celebration—same prayers, same
Scripture, same Eucharist—whether
celebrated in Italy, Syria, India,
Congo, the Philippines, Mexico,
Burma, the United States or
Argentina. We value diversity and the
rich expressions of our faith. We
welcome all people—no matter one’s
race, language, culture, country, or
economic status. We welcome you!