Rafael Antonio Humberto S.

Carretero February 12, 2019

Seminar

Introduction to Church

The Church may be defined as the physical structure that is used as a place of worship, a place
where people gather as one faith for praise and worship of their God. It may also mean the Church as the
religion that binds all our belief and puts it into practice. It could also be the community of faithful
themselves gathering in one communion to praise and worship. These are some of the many interpretations
one can think of when one thinks of the church but in order for us to determine what the Church is for we
need to identify where it came from. Since Religion is a very broad topic I will focus more on the religion
that I was baptized into, the religion I chose over and over again, Catholicism.

Catholicism, as imperfect it may be, has been around for more than 2000 years and has been through
thick and thin. It has endured countless wars, persecution, plagues and all sorts of controversies. But how
did Catholicism start? If I remember my Catechism class correctly, it all began with Jesus Christ and his
teachings about life in general and how one should praise and worship God. He also gave out pointers and
debunked several age old traditions that Judaism had about worship and idolatry. He simplified the Ten
Commandments handed to Moses into two. Love God and Love thy neighbor. If we are to put it into a
graphic representation it can be symbolized by the cross, the vertical line representing our mission to love
God and the horizontal embracing our neighbors. It is indeed poetic and heartwarming that the God we
worship is someone who is relatable. A God made man. A son sent by the Father to shepherd the flock. To
die on the cross, to cleanse us from our sins and to save us and give us everlasting life.

It was later on established when Jesus appointed St. Peter the Apostle to become the rock that is to
become the foundation of Catholicism. 2000 years later we have Pope Francis as the shepherd guiding the
flock towards holiness and humility. Just like what Jesus did, Pope Francis is trying to adapt to the tides of
the time with his neo ecclesiastical viewpoints and call to discipleship. He understands the importance of
the youth in rebuilding and furthering the religion. With his sense of wonder and childlike innocence and
love, he is making waves by accepting all people from different walks of life, color, race, sex and religion.

The Church having endured so much has age-old traditions that makes it stand also there are some
changes adapted to continue its growth despite the changes in the tide. I guess what is remarkable with the
Church is that, since it is rooted in its people, it is willing to adapt, it is willing to be stern and it is there for
all of us so that at the end of the day, when the judgment day comes, we know that we have done our part.