RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
OF ADULTS
The Story of Salvation
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"Salvation History" is defined as:
The history of God's saving work among men and women. More usually it is supposed to denote a distinctive concept in the Bible itself, according to which God is essentially one who acts in history, and Christ is the midpoint of a continuum from creation to consummation.
So if you accept that Salvation History began when God created man and concludes when Christ returns, we have a lot to cover in the brief time we have together. There is no way we can even reasonably scratch the surface of this topic so we are going to just try to grasp some of the general concepts and some of the most significant events in history that highlight God's efforts to save us from our sinfulness. Below is a video that will get you started (about 10 minutes) and I strongly recommend you watch it so you at least a have a basic framework from which to work on Sunday.
As a bonus, I would also recommend the following video from Father Mike Schmitz on how to discern God's plan for your life (about 5 minutes). God is present in the world to help us reach salvation. How do we know what he wants us to do? This video will help answer that question.
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If you enjoy this video from Father Mike Schmitz, he has numerous videos and a podcast. I listen to his podcasts on the Podbean app on my phone if you are interested in downloading it for yourself.
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Below is a link to the first Symbolon video and here is this weeks handout:
Terms to Know
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Covenant - is a solemn agreement between people or between people and God. Another word for covenant is “testament.” The Old Testament tells of three main covenants. First, God promised Noah that he would never again destroy the world by flood, and human beings were to respect and care for living things. Second, God promised Abraham many descendants and the land of Canaan. In return, all males would be circumcised. Third, at Mount Sinai, the Israelites promised to obey God, and God said that they would be his special people. In the New Testament, at the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of the New Covenant established by his blood. We are people of this New Covenant. It will be fulfilled at the end of time. A covenant is different from a contract in that a contract establishes "what" belongs to me, while a covenant establishes "who" belongs to me.
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Concupiscence - any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the “flesh” against the “spirit.”302 Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.303 (405)
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