SOWA catholic christianity

• Trinity


  One God in three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
• Nicene Creed: '"I believe in one God, the Father almighty... I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ... I believe in the Holy Spirit"'
• The Father is God

  Matthew 6:9 "Our Father who art in heaven"
• The Son is God

  John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." - John 1:14 "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us"
• The Holy Spirit is God

  Matthew 3:16 "the Spirit of God descending like a dove"
• CCC 253 "The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons"
• Appearance of the Trinity together


  • Matthew 3:16-17 "After Jesus had been baptized, as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened and he beheld the Spirit of God [the Holy Spirit] descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice came from heaven [the Father], saying, 'This is my beloved Son. Then a voice [the Father] from the cloud said, 'This is my beloved Son [the Son], with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him'."
• God as the Creator


  Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
• God as eternal


  John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
• God as omnibenevolent


  Genesis 1:10 "And God saw that it was good."
• God as omnipotent


  Genesis 1:3 "God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light."
• Origin of Free Will

  Genesis 2:16-17 "You can eat of any of the trees in the garden, but you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you were to eat from it, you would surely die."
• Humanity being created in imago Dei


  Genesis 1:26 "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the wild animals and reptiles that crawl upon the earth'."
• Obligation to procreate and continue God's creation


  Genesis 1:22 "Be fruitful and multiply"
• Incarnation of Jesus


  John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." - John 1:14 "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us"
• Jesus being fully Human


  • Born of Mary - Luke 2:6-7 "While they were there, the time came for her [Mary] to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son."
  • Died on the Cross - Matthew 27:50 "Then Jesus again cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit."
  • Got tired - John 4:6 "Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down at the well."
  • Had human emotion - John 11:35 "Jesus began to weep"
• Jesus being fully God


  • Born through the Holy Spirit - Matthew 1:18 "she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." - Matthew 1:20 "For this child has been conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit."
  • Mary was a virgin after having her son conceived - Matthew 1:22-23 "All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son...'"
  • Referred to Himself the same way God the Father did to Moses - John 8:57-58 "The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old. How can you have seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus responded: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'"
  • He is eternal - Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
  • Miraculously healed people and forgave their sins - Matthew 9:2 "Some people then approached him, carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. On perceiving their faith, Jesus said to the man, 'Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.'"
• Allowed disciples to pick corn on the Sabbath

  Matthew 12:2 "Look at your disciples. They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath." - Matthew 12:8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
• Paschal Mystery


  The suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus
• Why did the Word become flesh?

  • To save - CCC 457 "The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who 'loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins': "the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world", and 'he was revealed to take away sins': Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?"
  • To know God's love - CCC 458 "The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: 'In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.' 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.'"
  • To model holiness - CCC 459 "The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.' 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.' On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: 'Listen to him!' Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: 'Love one another as I have loved you.' This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example."
  • To share the grace of God - 2 Peter 1:4 "By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature."
• Why did Jesus die?

  • So that we may know how to respond to cruelty - Luke 23:34 "Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'"
  • To offer eternal life for humanity - Luke 23:43 "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
• Jesus erased the sins of the world with God's mercy - God himself died on the cross
• Why is the resurrection so important?

  • It is a present event - Matthew 28:20 "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world."
  • Proved Jesus is God - only God can conquer death
• Why is the Ascension important?


  • Allowed the disciples to continue on Jesus' work - Matthew 28:19 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
  • It was the 'letting go' of Jesus, ready for the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost - Acts 2:1-4 "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all assembled together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there came from heaven a sound similar to that of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to do so."
  • Prepares the way for humans to follow Jesus to Heaven - John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may attain eternal life. 17 'For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him...'."
• Eschatology


  The study of the end times and the final destiny of humanity
• Eschatological events


  • 2 Corinthians 5:10 "For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive suitable recompense for his conduct in the body, whether good or bad."
  • John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
  • Revelation 6:17 "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can endure it?"
  • Revelation 20:12-15 "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their deeds, as were recorded in the scrolls. 13 The sea gave up all the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. The dead were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were hurled into the fiery lake. This fiery lake is the second death. 15 Anyone who was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the fiery lake."
  • Revelation 21:1 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."
  • Revelation 21:4 "Neither will there be any mourning or crying or pain, for the old order has passed away."
• The Nature of the Resurrection

  • CCC 997 "In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body."
  • CCC 268 "We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious"
• Heaven, Hell, Purgatory

  • Heaven - CCC 1023 "Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they 'see him as he is,' face to face" - CCC 1027 "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"
  • Purgatory - CCC 1030 "All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven."
  • Hell - CCC 1033 "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice."
• We are warned about the judgment

  Psalm 37:13 "but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming"
• Sacraments


  An outward sign of inward grace given to us by Christ
• Baptism


  Matthew 28:19 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" - CCC 701 "The Spirit comes down and remains in the purified hearts of the baptized."
• Confirmation


  John 14:26 "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things"
• Eucharist


  Mark 14:22 "Take it [the bread] ; this is my body." - Mark 14:24 "This [the wine] is my blood of the covenant" - CCC 1211 "the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the 'Sacrament of sacraments': 'all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end'." - CCC 1324 "The Eucharist is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'. 'The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch'." - General Instruction on the Roman Missal "The action of breaking the bread ... means that all are united in mutual love through the one bread, since this one bread is shared among many" - Lumen Gentium "Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another."
• Reconciliation


  John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
• Jesus: '"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."'
• Eucharist


  The sacrament of the body and blood of Christ
• Mark 14:22: '"Take it [the bread] ; this is my body."'
• Mark 14:24: '"This [the wine] is my blood of the covenant"'
• CCC 1211: '"the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the 'Sacrament of sacraments': 'all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end'."'
• CCC 1324: '"The Eucharist is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'. 'The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch'."'