3. Faith and religion The human person is a religious being. Religion refers to a set of beliefs and practices followed by those committed to the service and worship of God. The vast majority of people have a ‘faith’ of some kind and join with others to express and live their faith through a particular religion. Being an active member of a community of faith can motivate, guide and provide opportunities for people to join with others and ‘put their faith to work’.

4. Religious faith versus idolatry Some people center their life on the worship and pursuit of false gods. They live a life of idolatry, which means ‘divinizing what is not God’. Both Scripture and human experience reveal the senselessness and tragic consequences of pursuing false gods and idolizing such things as wealth, celebrity, fame and success. A life of faith centred on God leads people to FREEDOM and FULLNESS OF LIFE. What false gods in contemporary culture tempt young people? How strong is that temptation? How do you overcome it?

5. How religions develop Most religions began with a founder, a charismatic person or group who had a powerful experience of the Divine that transformed their lives. Their efforts to make sense of the experience and their trust in the Divine eventually led to the development of doctrines or beliefs, or a creed; to worship, or cult; and to moral laws and ethics, or a ‘code’. For example, Catholics profess their beliefs in the Creeds of the Church. Catholic ‘codes’ include the Great Commandment and the Ten Commandments.

6. Religion from different perspectives Religion as a life stance: Faith, trust and life centered in God makes life meaningful and worthwhile and gives direction and a sense of ultimate purpose to the lives of believers. Religion as a spiritual tradition: Religions are faith communities built on and expressing spiritual traditions. These traditions inspire people to grow in their understanding and practice of their faith. Religion as an institutional structure: Religious traditions develop visible structures for expressing their beliefs and engaging members in customs and practices that foster and guide their spiritual life and that enable and support them to pass on the faith to the next generation.

7. The Church supports and guides us God gave the world the Church as a unique source of grace for coming to know and believe in him. The Church, the community of Jesus’ followers, supports and guides us in striving to keep God at the center of our life. Each one of us needs others in order to grow to be fully human and fully alive. We need other people of faith if we are to grow as people of faith. Why do you think some people try to ‘go it alone’ on their spiritual journey?

8. The Church Jesus Christ founded his Church and entrusted to her the fullness of the means of salvation. The word ‘Church’ describes: the People that God gathers in the whole world; the particular or local church (diocese); the liturgical (above all Eucharistic) assembly. The term ‘Church’ refers to the whole Catholic community of believers throughout the world. The term can also be used in the sense of a diocese or a particular parish. (USCCA, p. 507)

9. The Marks of the Church ‘One’, ‘holy’, ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’ are the four essential characteristics, or Marks, of the Church, founded by Jesus Christ. The Church is One: The Church is both human and divine; she is visible and invisible. She is a sign and instrument of unity through the presence of a visible world-wide community of the faithful sharing one Lord, one faith and one Baptism. The Church is Holy: The Church is holy because God, the Holy Trinity, always lives in communion with the Church. Through the Church we receive the grace to live together, the one holy People of God, the community of disciples of Jesus Christ.

10. Marks of the Church The Church is Catholic: The Church is ‘catholic’ because Christ is always present in the Church and her mission is to make disciples of the whole human race. The Church is Apostolic: Christ founded his Church on the Apostles, and, under the leadership of St. Peter, he gave them and their successors the responsibility to look after the Church. With the help of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church, Christ’s work among us moves forward from the days of the Apostles. How can you as young people give witness to the Four Marks of the Church?

11. Jesus teaches us how to be his Church In his words and actions, in every aspect of his life, Jesus revealed the way of being his Church in the world. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 4:23 ─ 7:29) is a summary of Jesus’ teachings on discipleship. The sermon begins with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes and the whole of the Sermon on the Mount teach us to live a God-centered life, as Jesus did. Discuss what difference you think it would make if people took these teachings of Jesus seriously and boldly lived by them.

12. The Church, the Body of Christ The Church is both visible and invisible. She is composed of two elements, human and divine. St. Paul’s image of the Church as the Body of Christ teaches that every member of the Church is interrelated and is vital to the functioning of the whole Church. There is a wide diversity of members who make up the Body of Christ. Among these are laypeople ─ young and old, clergy and members of religious communities, wealthy people and people living in poverty.

13. In union with Christ All members of the Church are to work together in union with Christ, the Head of the Church, according to their function in the Church. Everyone has been blessed with gifts, or charisms, to share, and given responsibilities to fulfill. We are to use our gifts and work together to build up the Body of Christ in the world. As a member of the Body of Christ, how do you contribute to the well-being of the whole Church?

14. The Church is our Mother and Teacher The Catholic Church is our home in the family of God. She teaches her members just as parents teach their children the language, practices and traditions of their family in the home. The Church nourishes us through her work of sanctification. Through the Eucharist and the other Sacraments we are made sharers in the life of God and we receive the grace to live our life in Christ.

15. St. Teresa of Jesus (Ávila) Teresa was born in Ávila, Spain in 1515. At the age of twenty she entered a Carmelite Convent where she began reading the writings of the mystics of the Church. In 1562 Teresa established St. Joseph’s convent in Ávila, where her community of sisters lived by a strict regime. Over the years Teresa founded, in total, seventeen convents for women, as well as many cloisters for men who wished to live the Gospel as Teresa did.

16. St. Teresa of Jesus (Ávila) Teresa’s followers became known as the ‘Discalced’, or barefoot, Carmelites. Teresa died in 1582. Forty years later Pope Gregory XV named her a saint of the Church and in 1969 Pope Paul VI honored her with the title Doctor of the Church. What does the commitment of St. Teresa of Jesus and the Discalced Carmelites to living the Gospel say about their faith?