1. State / discuss/ give the teachings of PCP II on becoming a church.

Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) states that the church of the poor is the

church that embraces and practices Evangelical spirit of poverty, which combines from

detachment from possessions with the profound trust in the Lord as the source of

salvation (PCP II, 25). Moreover, the PCP II emphasizes that the pastors and other

church leaders will give special attention and time to those who are poor, and will

generously share their own means in order to relieve their poverty and make them

known and feel the love of the God towards them regardless of their situation.

Communion is another teaching of PCP II on becoming a church. Each one is called

as individuals and each one must present a personal response. Christ wants the church

to be "a communion of life, love and truth". There should also be unity in diversity and

differences. There are different charisms and ministries in the Church, but there is only

one body. The diversity should not destroy the unity, but should bring out the

complementarity and necessary input of the different charisms and ministries.

Dispensing requited interaction of different members characterized the Church and

through them that people’s need is supplied and fulfilled.

Based on PCP II, participation is also another model of the church. Each has a gift

from the Spirit to share, and each has a need of the other's gifts for the establishment of

the body and for the fulfillment of its mission. It means that nobody is too poor as to

have nothing to give, and nobody is so rich as to have nothing to receive.

Furthermore, the Church practices Community-in-Mission. The Church is the

communion in the state of mission. It exists for the world not for itself or its members. It
is sent on a mission in the world to make known the Good News of Christ and to be a

channel of his grace. It exists in order to evangelize, to proclaim the Good News, to

build the Church and to serve the Kingdom by pervading the world with Gospel values

in order for all creations to get united together in Christ.

The Church makes sure that the call of being the church of the poor and community

of disciples passionately promotes a journey towards renewal, unity and empowerment

of the people to live with dignity amidst the crises and problems of our society. In

addition, it ratifies the true involvement of the people in changing the society to become

Christ-rooted and Christ-centered. It shows that the "new" Church must know how to

"identify the joys, hopes, grievances and aspirations of humanity and especially of the

poor as its own".

By virtue of our baptism, we must present ourselves as a sacrifice, living, holy and

pleasing to God, praising God and bearing witness to Christ. It is exercised by the

reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of the Holy life,

abnegation and active charity. We are tasked to spread the Good News of Christ to

others by the way we live our lives, behavior, testimony and teaching.
2. State / discuss/ give essential characteristics of the church as well its

mission.

The essential characteristics of the church is ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and

APOSTOLIC.

There is only ONE Catholic Church, united in faith, in worship, and in

succession from the Apostles themselves. For the Church is the Body of Christ

Himself, and so is whole and one as Christ's Body is whole and one. The Church

recognizes one Lord, confesses one faith, shares one style or form of Baptism,

being part of only one Body, and is given life by the Holy Spirit, for the sake of

one hope, at whose satisfaction is all divisions will be vanquished.

On the other hand, the Church is considered perfect and HOLY, called the

spotless bride of Christ, the uncorrupted Body of Christ which is filled with the

Holy Spirit. It is still holy and perfect regardless of the sinners that composed it

because its head which is Jesus Christ perfected it.

Moreover, the church is CATHOLIC, which means "universal" or it is for

everyone. It announces the fullness of faith. She bears in herself and administers

the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples and speaks to

all men. She encompasses all times. She is called missionary by her very nature.

Lastly, the Catholic Church is APOSTOLIC because it truly claims succession

or roots from the Apostles themselves. The bishops were ordained by the

Apostles. The passing on of the authority and mission of the Apostles throughout
the time is guided by the Holy Spirit who descended on the Apostles at Pentecost

and remains with the Church guiding Her until the Lord comes again.
3. State / give / discuss the Sacraments of Initiation. Its effects, forms,

matter/s, responsibilities of the God parents, witnesses, and ministers.

A sacrament is an outward efficacious sign instituted by Christ to give

grace. Jesus Christ himself is the sacrament, as he gave his life to save

mankind. His humanity is the outward sign or the instrument of his Divinity. It is

through his humanity that the life of the Trinity comes to us as grace through the

sacraments. It is Jesus Christ alone who mediates the sacraments to allow grace

to flow to mankind. 

The sacraments of initiation are Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.

Through these three, people are freed from the power of darkness. They die,

buried and rise again together with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were able

become the sons and daughters of God because God has given them the spirit

of adoption.

Among the three sacraments of initiation, Baptism is the first. Baptism is

the basis of the whole Christian life, as we are born of the water and the Spirit

and receive the grace of Christ. Baptism is necessary for salvation and conveys

a permanent sign that the new Christian is a child of God. Jesus himself was

baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Baptism is prefigured in the Old

Testament through the saving of Noah and his family during the Flood, and

Moses crossing of the Red Sea during the Exodus, leaving captivity for the

Promised Land.
 The Greek word baptizein means to "immerse, plunge, or dip." Baptism

can be in the form of water, blood, and desire. In water baptism, the infant or

candidate is anointed with the oil of catechumens, followed by the parents,

godparents, or candidate making the profession of faith. The essential rite of

Baptism consists of the minister immersing the baby or person in water or

pouring water on his head, while pronouncing "I baptize you in the name of the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The infant or candidate is then anointed

with sacred chrism. What has taken place in Baptism is indicated by the rites that

follow it, the clothing in the white garment and giving of the lighted candle: the

baptized person has "clothed yourself with Christ"

The effects of Baptism are the removal of the guilt of both original sin (the

sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden)

and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves); the remission of

all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and

in Purgatory) and eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in hell); the

infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us),

the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the three theological virtues; becoming a

part of Christ; becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ

on earth; enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers,

and the growth in grace.

Godparents, witnesses, and ministers have their own responsibilities in

the sacrament of baptism. First, Godparents for Catholic Baptism are

like sponsors for Confirmation. However, they take on a different role since

usually only children have godparents for baptism. Their role is to take over or

assist in the faith development of the person being baptized. This is especially

important in the event that the parents cannot or do not adequately raise their

children in the faith. Godparents can also be helpful through their prayers and

example even if the child’s parents fulfill their own promise to raise the child in

the faith. Therefore, the faith of the godparents is important in fulfilling the

baptismal promise of being raised in the Catholic faith. While a baptized person

who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community is called a witness and he or

she may perform all the parts of the ceremony that a godparent does. His or her

name will be entered into the Sacrament Record Book as an “official witness”.

Also, the Catholic Church has ordinary ministers for sacraments and those

are bishops, priests, and sometimes deacons. An ordinary minister is one who

has the authority to perform the sacrament under normal circumstances. 

On the other hand, Confirmation (or Chrismation) is the Sacrament of the

Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit whom Christ Jesus sent. Jesus instructed his Apostles

that "you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit" and called upon the Apostles to

be his "witnesses" to the ends of the earth. At the Pentecost, the Apostles were

filled with the Holy Spirit and began to spread the Word of God. The Acts of the

Apostles is often called the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. Confirmation is regarded as

the perfection of baptism, because, as the introduction to the Rite of Confirmation

states: by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound

to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence,
 they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend

the faith by word and deed.

Catholic Confirmation is performed with the ordinary minister extending his hand

over the one to be confirmed and anointing his/her head with the oil of chrism saying,

“be sealed with the Holy Spirit.” The actual Confirmation ceremony is much longer than

this, but this is the “meat” of the action. The oil of chrism is consecrated by the bishop at

the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday and is reserved for special things like Baptism,

Confirmation, Holy Orders, blessing of tower bells, consecration of churches, altars,

chalices and patens.

The effects of Confirmation are: it enables to have a closer union with the church

and; it strengthened and empowered by the Holy Spirit to actively spread the faith.

Confirmation sponsors “bring the candidates to receive the sacrament,

present them to the minister for anointing, and will later help them fulfill their

baptismal promises faithfully under the influence of the Holy Spirit whom they

have received.” They have a significant role to play in the development of

confirmation candidate that is why it is important that this person be one who is a

living example of faith, one whose actions reflect the actions of Jesus. A

confirmation sponsor offers support and encouragement during the confirmation

preparation process. Moreover, as the catechism of the Catholic Church points

out that the original minister of Confirmation is the bishop which means they are

the ones who have the authority to perform such sacrament.

 Lastly, the Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion which is the most

central and important to Catholicism. Holy Communion is offered at every Mass,

and in fact, the ritual of the Mass is largely taken up with preparing the hosts

(wafers made of wheat and water, or gluten-free) and wine to become the body

and blood of Christ and the congregation to receive the body of Christ.

Transubstantiation is the act of changing the substances of bread and wine into

the substances of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The sacrament effects union with Christ; it is nourishment for the soul,

gives increase in grace and remits venial sin and punishment.

Just as people have to eat and drink in order to survive in good health, so

our spiritual life needs to be continuously nourished in order to survive. The life

begun at baptism and strengthened in confirmation is nourished and fed by the

Eucharist. Thus, our initiation into God’s life is an ongoing process as we

continue to grow in that life.