• Jesus is born. 

The Angel Gabriel comes to a consecrated perpetual virgin named Mary and tells her a miracle will occur and she will become pregnant with child without a man. The child will be given the name Jesus and He will be the Savior of the world and save us from our sins. 

(Luke 1:34-35), (Matthew 1:21)

• Jesus begins his mission.

Jesus is Baptized and begins His mission. Jesus brings us the Kingdom of God. The dead are raised, those that are sick are healed, and sins are forgiven.

He chooses twelve individuals who will lead the Kingdom of God (the Church). These men are called to be the priests, bishops, and apostles of God’s Kingdom. They are called and sent out to preach, to pray, and to administer the Sacraments. They are called Apostles, Priests, and Bishops. “Apostles” because they are sent. “Apostle” comes from the Latin word meaning “to be sent”. “Priests” because they are given the power of the Sacred Mysteries. “Sacrament” is the Latin word meaning “sacred mysteries”. And “Bishops” because they are overseers of the Church. “Bishop” means “overseer” in Latin. In the near future others will be called (ordained) as well. The word Church is from the Latin word meaning “to be called out”. Those in the Church are called out of the world and have entered into the Kingdom of God with Jesus as Lord and Savior. They are sent out to the world to bring the Salvation of Jesus to others. 

(Mark 1:9), (Mark 2:9-12), (Luke 6:13)

• Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God on earth (the Church). 

Jesus teaches His priests how to organize and develop the Church. The Church will be made up of people who believe in Jesus as the Savior of the world, and they will hold meetings. At the end of the meetings, the priest will say “go in peace” (later, the meetings are called “the Mass” meaning “to Go”). Jesus teaches the twelve about the Sacraments and how to administer them. 

(Matthew 4:17), (Matthew 28:18-20)

• Jesus gives the keys of the Kingdom to Peter, who is the first Pope of the Church.  

Of the twelve Jesus chooses, Jesus specifically chooses Peter to be the father (elder) of the other eleven in carrying out the Word of God and making sure the Church stays pure from the contamination of the World. Peter is shown to be the elder apostle in many scriptures. “Pope” means “father” or “elder” in Latin. (Matthew 16:18,19), (Matthew 10:2), (Luke 6:14), (Acts 2:37), (Mark 16:7), (Luke 22:31-32)

• Jesus gives the twelve the power to administer the sacraments, so they can minister to others. 

To Baptize, to forgive sins, to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, to Confirm Believers in the Faith, to Perform Marriages, to Perform Ordinations to the Priesthood, and to anoint the sick.   (Matthew 10:1-8), (John20:23), (Acts 16:31-33), (Luke 13:3), (James 5:14), (Ephesians 5:25), (1Peter 2:9)

• Jesus dies on the cross for mankind’s sins. 

Jesus gives up his life for the sins of all mankind. On the cross of Calvary Jesus dies for us. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and are Baptized, we become children of God and are Born Again. 

(1 John 2:2), (John 2,3)

• Jesus rises from the dead on the third day just as he said he would. 

Jesus laid down his life freely and took it up again on the third day. It was a Sunday that He rose from the dead. This day becomes known as the Lord’s Day and is especially celebrated each week in the Church.

(Mark 8:31), (John 10:18), (Acts 20:7)

• Jesus remains with His followers for another forty days and continues to prepare them to bring the Kingdom of God (the Church) to the people of the world.

Jesus teaches His followers about the Kingdom of God. He teaches them about worship, service, and the use of their talents for the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. He tells His followers how life will be for them on earth and in Heaven. He gives them the great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel (the good news of salvation) and to Baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

(Matthew 28:16-20)

• Jesus tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost comes upon them.

Jesus is with his disciples, but now is telling them that the Holy Ghost will be in them. God will be intimate with all believers and will remain in them forever. 

(Acts 1:4-8)

• Jesus then ascends into Heaven with two Angels, as His followers watch.

Jesus returns to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.                                                                  (Luke 24:50)

• The day of Pentecost comes (fifty days after Passover) and with it the Holy Ghost comes upon the 120 believers that are in the upper room.

The Bible emphasizes the fact that Mary the mother of Jesus is there with the disciples. This shows her importance in the early Church. 

(Acts 2:1-13)

• The Apostles and other followers are filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to speak in other languages so that all the people can hear the good news (Gospel) that Jesus has saved them from their sins and that they need to repent of their sins, receive Jesus into their hearts as Lord and Savior, and be Baptized. 

(Acts 2:1-13)

• Peter, the spiritual father of the new Church, stands up and is able to preach the good news to all the people. They all hear him in their own languages. 

A careful study of scripture shows that Peter is an elder to the other believers. 

(Acts 2:14-40), (Mark 16:7), (Galatians 1:18) 

• 3,000 people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior that day and enter the Church. They are all Baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

The priest does what Jesus commands. The Great Commission is being fulfilled. The numbers of believers are huge and larger homes have to be used for the daily meetings to occur.

(Acts 2:41)

• The Church immediately begins to organize so they can teach and minister to the people. The priests preach the teachings of Jesus for the Church to hear. The creed that Jesus taught the Apostles (those sent) is now shared to all believers so they might be taught the things of God.

The teachings of Jesus are so important that the Apostles preach about them daily. These teachings become known as the Apostle’s Creed.

(Acts 2:42-45)

• They choose, at first, places where Jesus preached to hold their first meetings, including some homes and the Porch of the Temple (Solomon’s Porch). After that, other homes are converted to Churches as well. The believers meet daily to hear the word preached, to pray, and to have communion in the breaking of bread.

Large rooms and locations have to be converted to Churches because more and more people are coming to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

(Acts 2:46-47)

• They begin to assemble together as a Church and administer the Sacraments as Jesus had taught them to do.

People are being Baptized, people are being Healed at the anointing of the priests, sins are being forgiven, people are being filled with the Holy Ghost and Confirmed in the Faith, Men and Women are being Married, people are receiving the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, and more and more Men are being ordained to the priesthood. 

(Matthew 28:19), (Matthew 26:26-29), (John 20: 21-23), (James 5:14), (Matthew 19:6), (Matthew 19:4-6), (Matthew 10:1-8), (Acts 6:3-6), (Acts 8:14-17) 

The priests teach from the Books of Moses, the Psalms, the Prophets, and how Jesus is the Fulfillment of these scriptures.

(Acts 2:42)

• They consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus so that the believers can receive Jesus not only spiritually, but also physically, daily. 

(Luke 22:19-20), (John 6:52-57), (1 Corinthians 11: 23-30)

• As time goes on the Church begins to grow under the preaching of Paul to the Gentiles.     

No longer is the Church just for the Chosen People of God (Israel) but the whole world is given salvation through the Father’s Only Son so that whosoever believes in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

(John 3:16)

• The Church grows. 

It is in Antioch that the Believers are first called Christians. In some places they are called “Followers of The Way”. Thousands of people are accepting Jesus into their hearts as Lord and Savior.

(Acts 11:19-30), (Acts 24:14) 

• Persecution begins and many of the Apostles spread out to all the parts of the world bringing the Gospel to everyone.

(The Entire Book of the Acts) 

• As the years of persecution persist, it becomes difficult for the Apostles like Peter and Paul to visit all the Churches. They begin to write letters that are read in the Churches. This is the forming of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John write to people of Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Aramaic backgrounds. The Church reads the Books and Letters by the Apostles and then expounds on them.

(The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the letters of Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude)

• They begin writing these books and letters years after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. The last book written is by John on the Island of Patmos in about 90 AD. Jesus appears to Him and gives him- Word for Word- what to write. 

It is in this book called the Apocalypse (Revelation) that we are shown what Heaven looks like. The Church then begins to model the earthly Church buildings after what Heaven looks like.

(Apocalypse 1-3)

• Each book or letter written or approved by the Apostles is read in the Churches and is accepted as the Word of God taught by the Apostles to the Churches.

(Bishop Ignatius of Antioch 100 AD.)

(Justin Martyr 130 AD-165 AD)

• As time passes there arise those teaching false beliefs that are not what the Church believes. These beliefs are corrected by the Apostles. 

The Church begins to hold Councils consisting of many of the Priests, Deacons and the Priesthood of Believers (lay people) of the Church gathering to reiterate the beliefs of the Church and to correct those people who are misled.

(Acts 15)

• As the Popes are martyred and pass on to Heaven, new Popes have to be ordained.

Here is a list of the first four Popes.

1. St. Peter (An Apostle chosen by Jesus, martyred)

2. St. Linus (1 Timothy 4:21, martyred)

3. St. Cletus (mentioned in Hegesippus 160 AD, martyred)

4. St. Clement (Philippians 4:3, martyred)

• The last Apostle to pass on is John the Apostle. He writes down the Apocalypse in about 90 AD and passes on shortly after in about 100AD.

(Apocalypse 1)

• After this time the Church undergoes the worst persecution of all. 

The Popes and Bishops are being martyred daily. The believers are being fed to lions, torn apart, set on fire, and beheaded daily. This goes on from 100AD to 313AD. 213 years of persecution of the Church. The Church hides and has their meetings in catacombs which are the underground burial places of believers. When sharing the Gospel to people, the faithful are caught and martyred. They persevere in the Faith. It is a bloody time for Christians everywhere.

• Eusebius (260-340 AD) 

• Bishops continue to write letters and today we still have those letters written by some of the Bishops like Ignatius and Clement. We call these bishops the Church Fathers. Their writings are not part of the Word of God but give us historical facts about the early Church.

(Letters of Ignatius and Clement)

• We know from their writings that the Church becomes known as the Catholic Church sometime after the Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) is written. 

“Catholic” means “universal” in Latin. A Church for everyone. The sacred mysteries given to the twelve and handed down to the other Bishops are now called “Sacraments”. 

(Letters of Ignatius of Antioch 100 AD)

(The History of Josephus 37 AD-100 AD) 

• It is in 313AD that the ruler of Rome, Constantine, and his mother, Helena, become Catholics and stop the persecutions. Helena makes trips to Jerusalem in search of relics of Jesus (a relic is either a part of the person or something they wore or touched).

The Cross of Jesus is brought back, as are the Crown of Thorns, the Nails used to crucify Jesus, the Shroud of Jesus, Veronica’s Veil of Jesus and even some of the original written manuscripts of the Apostles. These relics are held in libraries in Rome. Many relics still exist today in different locations around the world. Others are either still missing or have been destroyed. 

(The History of Eusebius 337 AD)

• The Pope at this time is Pope Damasus. 

He commissions Bishop Jerome- a person who can translate Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic- to take the scriptures that exist and translate them into Latin- the language of the people of Rome and of the world at that time. His translation is the most accurate to the original scriptures because he writes it only 300 years after the original scriptures are written and he has access to some of the original written manuscripts that are kept in Libraries. History tells us that Bishop Jerome read the original manuscript of Saint Matthew in Hebrew called The Gospel of Matthew. Bishop Jerome lives in the caves of Bethlehem for over 20 years translating the scriptures. This translation, called the Latin Vulgate, has been used in the Church since 383 AD. This is the only manuscript of scripture from these early times that is kept as is for all these years. The Douay Rheims is translated into English from this Latin Vulgate.

(Letters of Jerome 336 AD), (The Douay Rheims Translation)

The Church is the same Church that the Lord gave us two thousand years ago. He says “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It is our Church. The Universal Church given to us all. Jesus says “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Church is that Kingdom. Jesus will someday come again and lead His Church to Victory.

(The Entire New Testament of the Bible)