Summary of Chapters 6 to

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Catechism for Filipino Catholics

Chapter 6 – God, the Father Almighty

The central focus of religious faith is God. The chapter discussed this doctrine by discussing who God is
and how people are related to Him. The exposition was divided into four parts:
I) Preliminary Points
The first point is what God has done for us through the history and how we can be freed from self-
centeredness by directing all our attention to the One God. The second preliminary observation deals with the
proper identity of God, as there is a need to respond to the general, universal human need for Him. The
chapter also concerns how God revealed Himself from the Old to the New Testament, and the mystery of the
Blessed Trinity.
II) God as Our Father
There are five basic reasons why God is our Father:
1. Our Creator: God created us humans. The Scriptures attest to this fact – that He has formed and
breathed into us; and that we are truly His handiwork, created in Jesus Christ.
2. Our Provider: God provides for our needs. He is our shepherd, we shall not want; and He cares for
humans more than He does for His other creations.
3. Our Redeemer: God has redeemed us. This redemption is a further sign of our Father’s love, as
enunciated on the well-known verse, John 3:16.
4. God’s Indwelling Spirit: God sends His Spirit to share His divine life with us.
5. Our Self-Identity or Destiny: God as our Father grounds our own self-identity. As children of God,
we are destined for life eternal with Him. We are called to be adopted children of the Father, in
Jesus Christ.
Despite the fact that God has been known to be our Father, His fullness of life embraces both paternal
and maternal dimensions of love.
III) God Revealed as “Father” in Scripture
 The Old Testament presents the story of God forming His own people by establishing a special
relationship with them. He first called Abraham and formed a covenant with Him. He showed Himself to be a
personal God, who is more than willing to bless his people in all aspects of their lives. Next, He called Moses
for Him to be able to liberate the Israelites, His chosen people. Despite the infidelities and stubbornness of the
Israelites, God remained faithful and loved them still. He also established a covenant with David that He will
raise up an heir after him.
In the New Testament, it was shown that the relation of Jesus to the Father is unique. Jesus constantly
speaks of God as Father, and usually referred to God as ‘Abba’. This is especially true at crucial points in our
Lord’s life – his Baptism, Transfiguration, Last Supper, and especially his Passion and Death. Jesus also taught
that God is the Father of all, and he instructed his disciples to pray to God as ‘Our Father’. Such revolutionized
the idea of God.
Proclaiming God as Father is to realize His place in our own self-identity. We recognize that we are
eternally indebted to Him for sustaining us every moment of our lives. We also come to realize our
responsibility to live our lives according to His loving will.
IV) Almighty
The description of God as Almighty can better be explained under three specific qualities:
1. Universal: God is PANTOKRATOR. He is the creator and the ruler of all things. He is utterly beyond
us and yet more intimately within us than we are to ourselves.
2. Loving: God’s loving power is revealed in Jesus Christ, present among us in the Spirit. He keeps
human as the apple of His eyes.
3. A Mystery: Here comes the ever-persistent question why God Almighty cannot wipe out all evil.
His mystery often appears as powerlessness. However, it was stated in the Scriptures that the
foolishness of God is wiser that human wisdom, and His weakness is stronger than human
strength. The only power that prevents the evils of this world from becoming intolerable and
totally devastating is God’s.

Chapter 7 – Creator of Heaven and Earth

Everything comes from the word of the Lord. The most perfect answer to the questions of purpose of
all and meaning of life and death is to be found in God alone, who created us and everything else there is in
heaven and earth.
The Catholic doctrine of creation basically affirms that:
1. the world and everything in it comes from the loving power of God who is its ultimate Origin,
Ruler, and Goal;

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 2. all created things and human history have a meaning, purpose, and destiny; and
3. the life of every person is not private possession, but is created, sustained, and guided now by the
creative, saving will and love of Almighty God.
It has been believed that creation is the foundation of God’s saving plan and beginning of salvation
history.
I) Creator
God is the only Uncreated Reality, and our most basic image of Him is being our Creator. He is our
primary cause for existing. Actually, it was not God the Father alone who created us and everything in heaven
and on earth. Christian faith teaches us that all the three Divine Persons act together as One God in creating,
redeeming, and sanctifying. The Holy Trinity cannot be separated, and they likewise operate inseparably.
II) God’s Creative Action
God commits Himself to us by His free creative activity. Genesis describes creation in two accounts –
that God established creation and that He formed a closer relationship with humans. It is different from what
the scientific description provides. It instead gives the ultimate meaning and significance of our existence.
The chapter also pointed out the difference between the biblical account and the scientific explanation
of creation – the former being the “why”, and the latter the “how” aspect of creation. The Genesis account
focuses on the meaning and purpose of everything. The Bible also presents God’s creative activity as a simple
act of speech. However, it is silent on the ‘how’ aspect.
The church teaches three things on creation, as set forth by the First Vatican Council:
1. God creates out of His divine goodness;
2. He creates by a free, intentional, purposeful act; and
3. He creates out of nothing.
III) Created Reality
The Christian vision can be summarized as follows:
1. as a product of divine wisdom, creation is intelligible and meaningful; therefore
2. evil is not an essential or necessary dimension of our existence; and thus
3. creation is open to God’s saving activity; and
4. our present lives have an inner divine purpose which we can discern in faith.
This can give us the assurance that since everything is dependent on the Lord, nothing in all creation
can rival Him. Thus, nothing must be feared. Christians have been liberated by the Lord. All the bondages set
by the enemy have been destroyed. Because of everything’s dependence on the Lord, nothing in all creation
must be worshipped and take the place of God. That would constitute idolatry, which is one of the most
popular forms of infidelity.

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 Aside from the visible creations of the Lord, there also exist the invisible ones. Angels form part of the
invisible spiritual world. They are said to be pure spirits who have the function to minister and serve those who
are to inherit salvation. They have also played a vital role in salvation history since the time the Old Testament
people lived.
IV) Meaning of Creation for Human Persons
We Filipinos tend to take everything personally. Life becomes more meaningful to us if we see in on a
personal perspective. This part provides for the personal aspects of creation:
1. God is creating, sustaining each of us in existence now;
2. there is a responsibility with which all humans are invested, which includes committing oneself to
the common good; and
3. the Creator has promised to be with His creatures.
Despite all our fears and anxieties, the Lord offers us a hope for fulfillment of all our yearnings, a vision
of relative importance of things, and a promise of inner strength and peace.
V) Divine Providence
We trust in God’s all knowing and loving providence. This special providence primarily concerns
humans, by offering the believers the spiritual strength and hope needed to face these evils and refuse to be
overcome by them. We have already realized the truth that God’s providence does not abolish all the evils and
sufferings of the world.

Chapter 8 – The Fall from Glory

Despite the goodness of human creation, we cannot do away with the sinful social structure that we
live with everyday. We Filipinos are very used to excuse our own faults, for we are too much bothered by the
feeling of shame for the sins that we commit. However, we have to look at things at the brighter side of life.
We must realize that sinfulness is a tragic background needed to understand God’s loving plan to save all men.
I) Scripture of Our Human “Fall”
The book of Genesis is the story of the fall of human race into sin. It describes how the first man and
woman turned away from God in disobedience and pride. They gave up to the devil’s temptation. The devil
and other demons became evil by their own doing, but their power is limited by the providence of God. In
rebelling against the Lord, man and woman destroyed their original harmony not just with God, but also with
each other, with other people, with the community, and with the nature.
In the New Testament, St. Paul claims that indeed, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
However, we can find our hope in Christ. As in Adam all die, in Christ we come to life again.
II) Church Teaching on Original Sin

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 Original sin can be described as the state in which we are born as members of the human race. Since it
dates back from the origin of our human race, it is universal. Sin is a state contrary to God’s will. Death was
introduced to the human race as a consequence of sin.
The Bible teaches that as descendants of Adam, we inherit the sinful condition started by his
originating sin. This universal sinfulness is confirmed by the Gospel proclamation that all are redeemed by
Christ. First of all, in describing original sin today we speak of the sin of the world, meaning the polluted
atmosphere into which we are all born. Second, there is a personal interior dimension of original sin, the heart
of darkness within us. Third, there us the ratification of original sin by our personal sinful thoughts, words, and
deeds. More emphasized today are the social consequences of original sin. We will only be saved by
responding to the grace of God.
III) Original Sin and Filipino Catholic Life
The reality of original sin is brought to most Filipinos by two prominent aspects of Catholic life – the
practice of infant baptism and the devotion to Mary. Baptism has been believed to wash away sins. There is a
need for such, as all are members of Adam’s race, thus affected by the sinfulness. Mary’s Immaculate
Conception shows Christ’s power in overcoming sin.

Chapter 9 – God Promises a Savior

Promise is one of the key words of love. God knows the suffering of His people. He loves and cares for
the oppressed, the afflicted, the poor, and the hungry. We Filipinos have natural attraction to the stories of the
Old Testament. This attraction must not be coupled with the thought that the Old Testament is already
obsolete and of no application in our lives at present. Furthermore, we must not take everything written on it
too literally.
I) Value of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is the living Word of God. The promise of salvation has been existent since the time
God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Salvation is a living and transforming presence of God. Thus,
the Old Testament Word is as necessary for us today as it was in the past. It will help us understand Christ as
our Savior more completely, as the plan of salvation is found in the Old Testament books.
II) Canon of the Old Testament
The whole Old Testament is a three-part presentation of the saving acts of God. Those are the
following:
1. Torah or Historical Books: These are the first five books of the Old Testament called the
Pentateuch. The Torah was formed gradually as a narrative memory of God’s covenant with His
people. For the people’s part of the covenant was to abide by the Commandments that God gave

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 them. The Commandments were given to liberate them from sins. Thus, God’s covenant brought
salvation to His people by His active presence.
2. The Word of Prophets: Prophets were the men called by God to speak His word to the people,
interpreting their present situation in the sight of God and telling them what He would do with
them. The history of the Israelites was marked with series of infidelities. They called the people
back to the covenant and proclaimed the message of deliverance. God makes Himself the firm
foundation for the hope held out to the people by the prophets.
3. The Counsel of the Wise: The third part of the Old Testament, called the Writings, presents the
discernment needed for ordinary day-to-day living. The Psalms and the Wisdom Literature present
how the faithful can discern the presence of God in their daily lives. The Wisdom Literature
mentions how God’s people respond by looking forward to the divine mystery. The Psalms, on the
other hand, present that people can personally and directly address to God, expressing deep faith
and trust in Him in all aspects of our daily lives.
In the New Testament, we meet Jesus Christ by responding in similar fashion to the same question
about salvation.

Chapter 10 – Jesus Christ: Mission and Person

The Center of Christian Faith is Jesus Christ. Christian teaching intends to put the believers not only in
touch but also in intimate communion with Jesus Christ. Jesus asks us the same question he asked his disciples
then: What do you say who I am?
I) Presuppositions
To really know Jesus Christ is a lifelong task, because to know Jesus is to know who God sent to
redeem and take away the sins of the world, and because only in Jesus that we come to know our own true
selves, and the deepest meaning and destiny of our lives. Furthermore, knowing Jesus is a living, changing,
growing, and deepening experience. It means entering into a personal relationship with him.
We must also realize that Jesus is both a historical figure and the Risen Christ of faith. To know him
means being committed to following him by being his disciple. Lastly, we come to know who Jesus is from
what he did. We must always remember that he has set us free when he died on the cross to redeem us from
our sins.
II) Ministry of the Historical Jesus
The starting point for knowing Christ is the historical Jesus. God sent His Son as an offering for our sins.
Jesus came to reveal to us God’s love that we might have life through him. Jesus came to be our model for
sanctity, so that we could share in his divine sonship.

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 The vocation of a biblical prophet often embraces the following tasks:
1. to proclaim the Word of God with authority;
2. to accompany the Word with signs and wonders; and
3. to suffer a martyr’s fate, which is death.
Christ’s typical method of communicating his word about the Kingdom was by telling parables. He also
showed his unique filial relationship with God, which he wants all of us to experience as well. Jesus also
performed numerous miracles, wonders, and signs. He established the direct connection of faith and healing,
as shown in the Scriptures. Despite all the goodness of Jesus, he was constantly attacked by Jewish religious
leaders. He was also rejected in his own town. And he was put into death by crucifixion, which was the
fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation.
Jesus Christ has set us free from all the bondages and curses of sins. He was noted from casting out evil
spirits. He continuously exposes the enslaving and corrupting power of riches and frees our hearts from
greediness by teaching us to respect and be sensitive to others. He also offers meaning and purpose in our
lives.
III) The Person of Jesus
The question posted earlier was answered by Peter, saying that Jesus in the Christ. This affirms that the
historical Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets. The Scriptures ground three fundamental truths about
Jesus:
1. Jesus is true man: He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. He had to
become like his brothers in everyway, so that he may understand things in human’s point of view
and based on human experience.
2. Jesus is true God: He came down to the earth in the Incarnation and he was lifted up in the
Resurrection. Through the centuries, the church gradually came to greater clarity and precision in
proclaiming the divinity of Christ.
3. Jesus is the one: He is the only one mediator between God and men. He gave himself as the
ransom for all.
IV) Mary, Mother of the God
For many Filipino Catholics, Jesus has become real Person in their lived through their devotion to
Mary, the one who gave birth to Jesus, and the one who is presumed to know him best. Mary has been
mentioned in the Scriptures as an agent to the fulfillment of the prophecy of salvation and has been set in
contrast with Eve. She was believed to be the Mother of God and the Blessed Virgin, over which the doctrines
of the Immaculate Conception, Assumption, and Mediatrix were all applicable.

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Chapter 11 – Christ Has Died
The focus of this chapter is Christ’s Passion and Death. His whole earthly life came to its climax in his
suffering. The cross of Christ is the symbol of salvation. It signifies not only Christ’s saving power, but also our
true faith.
I) The Cross: Symbol of Saving Love
The core of the good news is that Christ died for our sins. At first, that can be seen as a negative and
depressing reality. But in a deeper understanding, such reality shows the breadth, length, and height of Christ’s
love that surpasses all human knowledge. Such is a self-giving love that lived out to the death. The cross must
be seen as the transformation of the suffering and weakness through active, total self-giving love.
II) Christ’s View of His Suffering and Death
The apostle in the New Testament sees Jesus’ passion and death as the saving act of God in Jesus’ free
self-sacrifice. He predicted his suffering and death three times. He also interpreted his coming death in line
with the Old Testament, as a part of the coming of the Kingdom. Thus, he has been fully aware of his mission
for coming into this world. Yet, he accepted everything and lived up to the will of the Father.
III) Characteristics of Christ’s Suffering and Death
Jesus saw his Passion and Death as redemptive, his ultimate service in the Kingdom by giving his life in
ransom for the many. He is the new sacrificial lamb for the redemption of the people. This characteristic has
been expressed in the traditions of the church.
Christ’s coming was to compensate the sins of the people. His saving work is composed of offering a
sacrifice as both the priest and the victim, giving up himself for our sins to rescue us from all evil, and creating
a new Covenant with God, all for us and our salvation. He redeems us by removing our guilt by bringing God’s
pardon and forgiveness and by repairing the moral harm and contamination caused by sin. He also made it
clear that God hates sin, and not the sinners.
That Christ died for our sins means that he died because of our human sinfulness and he died to show
and empower us to overcome sin and its effects in our world. We must realize that we have been saved at a
price – that is the life of Jesus Christ. We are not to be merely passive recipients of such gift of salvation.
IV) Profound Effects of Christ’s Death
Christ saving love in unique because of the following characteristics:
1. It is universal. Jesus dies for the sins of the whole world. The Cross is the symbol of his universal
redeeming love. The horizontal branch stretches Jesus’ arms to embrace the whole world of
human suffering, while the vertical columns points him towards his heavenly Father, beyond the
bounds of time and space.

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 2. It is eschatological. Jesus died so that those who follow him will receive eternal life in the age to
come.
3. It is empowering. It helps us have saving power in out actions.
Indeed, Jesus is the Savior of the world. Through his suffering and death, he redeemed us sinners. He
did all these in loving obedience to the Father’s will and love for us.
This experience of salvation calls us to have radical conversion of the heart. Jesus saves us for us to
realize: that we have a loving Father, so there is no reason for us to think that no one loves and cares for us;
that His forgiveness gives us worth and positive self image, so we must not hesitate to feel good about
ourselves and to reach out and share with other; that we are already liberated by Christ and he calls us to be in
self-giving service to others, so that we can get along with them better; and that Christ urges us to live in
simplicity, thus we have to reject the temptation greed of riches, reputation, and power.
V) Christ’s Descent to the Dead
Christ rose up from the dead. It was a confirmation that he indeed died and was buried. It also implies
Christ’s salvific power on behalf of the just who had died before his coming. Its third implication is that all who
are saved are redeemed by Christ’s passion and death. Finally, just as in Adam all die, so in Jesus all will come
to life again.

Chapter 12 – Christ is Risen and Will Come Again

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fundamental Christian proclamation. Without Christ Risen from
the dead, there would be no Christian faith.
I) Importance and Nature of the Resurrection
If Christ was not raised, Christian faith is worthless. Its importance is given more weight by the
following points:
1. His Resurrection confirmed everything Christ had done and taught.
2. Through his Resurrection, Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies promising a Savior for all
the world.
3. The Resurrection confirmed Christ’s divinity.
4. Christ’s death freed us from sin, and his Resurrection brought us a share in the new life.
5. The Risen Christ is the principle and source of our future resurrection.
The importance of the Resurrection is often missed. Many people today seem to feel uneasy in
explaining the meaning and implications of Resurrection. There is also a need to clarify that Jesus’ Resurrection
is not only a proof of the Gospel message. It is also the message.

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 The Resurrection was basically Jesus’ passage from death to new, definitive glorified life. It is a
historical and trans-historical event, for it transcends history and it is beyond descriptions. Also, Christ arose
not to return to the earthly life, but to have a glorified existence. The Resurrection also represents the
definitive intervention of the Trinity into creation and our human history.
II) New Testament Witness to the Resurrection
The New Testament gives witness to Christ’s Resurrection in three basic ways:
1. Kerygma: His Resurrection is linked with the apostolic commission. Through this, a real
transformation of creation was effected by God.
2. Presence: The disciples’ encounter with the Risen Christ is constantly described in terms of seeing
and touching. His active presence is not confined to his appearances. Rather, it was intensely felt
by the early community and linked with life in the Spirit.
3. Christian’s Future: The empty tomb indicates about the nature of our salvation. The corpse of
Jesus was a symbol of the ultimate human sin, and God took that corpse and made of it the
beginning of the new creation.
III) Christ’s Ascension
The raising of Christ did not stop with the Resurrection from the dead. An integral part of all these is
the Ascension. Its primary meaning is Christ’s exaltation, sovereign authority, and power over creation and all
history. The Ascension is also a saving event for us. Christ’s return to the Father was necessary for sending the
Holy Spirit. It brings out a number of basic truths of our Christian faith. First, the Ascension marks Jesus’
exaltation into the heavenly realm of the Father. Next, it does not separate Christ from us because as
promised, he will draw us to himself. Next, he continues to exercise his priesthood and intercession for us.
Lastly, he gives us, members of his Body, the hope of one day entering into the glory with him.
IV) Christ Will Come Again
Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. His coming will be unmistakable, since it will be
accompanied by extraordinary signs in the heavens and on the earth. However, only the Father knows when all
these will happen. Despite that, there is one thing we can all be assured of: that the time of salvation has
already come because Christ is already in his glory and he has sent his Spirit among us.