Nicene Creed
• In the Nicene Creed, we profess, “I believe in
one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”
These are the four marks of the Church.
• They are inseparable and intrinsically linked
to one another.
Christ Marked the Church
• These characteristics reflect the Church’s essential features and
mission.
• Through the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church fulfills
these marks.
© flickr.com
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One
How is the Church One?
• united in charity
• one in the profession of
faith
• one in the common
celebration of worship and
Sacraments
• one in the Apostolic
Succession
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One
The Church is One because of . . .
• its source, the Holy Trinity, a
perfect unity of three Divine
Persons
• its founder, Jesus Christ, who
came to reconcile all mankind
• its “soul,” the Holy Spirit, who
dwells in the souls of the faithful,
unites all the faithful into one
communion of believers, and
guides the Church
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One • There is “one body and one
Spirit, as you were also called
to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father
of all” (Ephesians 4:4–6).
• “Because the loaf of bread is
one, we, though many, are one
body, for we all partake of the
one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17).
• Jesus had promised at the
outset that “there will be one
flock, one shepherd” (John
10:16).
Holy
The Church is Holy because, although Church members sin, the Church
as the Body of Christ is sinless.
Image in public domain
Holy
“Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over
for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath
of water with the word,
that he might present to
himself the church in
splendor, without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and
without blemish” Image in public domain
(Ephesians 5:25–27).
Holy
• From the beginning,
the Church has been
endowed with the
sacramental means
to help make holy the
sinners who are found
in the Church.
• The Church has been
given the Sacraments © Gene Plaisted
along with the Word precisely in order to
be able to make sinners holy.
Holy
• Each of us as a member of the Church has been called to holiness.
• By God’s grace we strive for holiness, through the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Image in public domain
To be Holy means to listen to God and do what He
wants, it means to love God and care for His people.
We love God by praying, by celebrating the Sacraments
and by being kind to others.
Identify some ways on how to take care of God’s
people: FAMILY
COMMUNITY, CLASSROOM
FRIENDS
Fullness of Grace
Jesus Christ intended that
the fullness of his grace
should come to his People
in a Church that, from the
beginning, was what the
Creed still calls it today:
“one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic.”
Our duty, then, as baptized Catholics, is to make these four marks of the
Church visible in our daily lives.
ACTIVITY – 3W’S
1. WHAT did you learn today?
2. So WHAT – (relevance, importance
3. Now WHAT? How does this fit into what you are learning? Does it affect
your thinking?
ANALOGY: The following items express the nature or mark of
the church. You may guess and write the letter that best fits
the item.
A. One B. Holy C. Catholic D. Apostolic
___ 1.The Church effects the presence of Christ in the world.
___ 2. In the church, Christ is the head, the believers are the
parts that contribute to the well-being of the whole body.
___ 3. The church is all-embracing and all-welcoming.
4. Jesus endowed the church with the Holy Spirit which enables
her to struggle for perfection as manifested by her capacity to
love.
___ 5. The church is compared to a human body with different
parts with different functions.
___ 6. In the church, there is one body and one spirit and it
springs from her source the One Living God in 3 divine persons.
___7. The apostles were the first foundation of the church.
___ 8. Although the church is composed of sinners and
saints, it is still ______ because of Christ’s presence in it.
___ 9. The church carries out the mission of Christ to the
whole world.
___10. The church promotes the reality of united relationship
of Christ and its member
