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40 days after Jesus Christ's resurrection, He ascends into heaven leaving the Apostles behind with two things.
Jesus Christ's Mission and Promise
He ordered them to preach the word of God and to go  make disciples of all nations. Them He promised them,"I am with you always."

Insights and Reflection:
I realized that Jesus or God will always be with us and as long as we keep our faith in Him, we will realize this. He will always fulfill His promise just like He did during the Pentecost. And we should not fail to realize this. I also learned that God is open to everyone, the Gospel is for everyone. No matter who you are, God will always accept you.

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On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the 12 Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary as tongues of fire(Jesus Christ's promise). Peter then preached to the people and about 3 thousand people were converted to Christians, it could be said that the Church officially began here.
Some Christians started to preach all over the world such as Philip, Paul, Barnabas and many more, and slowly the population of the Church grew larger.

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The Council of Jerusalem was the resolution to a question raised before, are Gentiles(non-Jews) supposed to follow Judaism in order to become a follower of Christ.
This Council resulted in two things:
1.  Christianity became a distinct religion fro Judaism and was no longer a form of Judaism.
2. The Gospel is not just for the Jews but for everyone.

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Christianity began to spread out more, these are the factors that helped the spread of Christianity:
1.  Pax Romana(Roman Peace)
- It became easy for Christian missionaries to travel and spread the Gospel due to the system of roads built by the Romans.
2.  Cultural Unity
- Alexander the Great conquered many nations which helped spread Christianity.
3.  Spiritual Hunger
- Life was good during the Pax Romana but many people thought they had lacked something. Their lives were perfect but they still longed for something which made most people willing to listen and accept the teachings of Christianity.
4.  The Christian Example
- Many Christians set good examples to society by doing what Christ asked them to do. They did many good deeds and fully embodied and emulated Christ in all their actions.

Insights and Reflection:
From here, we can really see that it reflects the famous line, "All roads lead to Rome". The Roman Empire had just built a system of roads which made it easier for the Christians to spread the Gospel. But of course, the Church also faced many challenges.

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Internal and External Threats during the Roman Empire

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Internal and External Threats during the Roman Empire

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Internal Threat: Gnosticism
- Valentinus came to Rome and started preaching about Gnosticism. He believes that  he holds a certain knowledge of God, and this distorted the knowledge and teachings of the Church. It caused confusion and division among Christians.
The Church took these actions in response:
1.  Apostolic Succession
2.  The Nicene Creed
3. The New Testament
External Threat: The Roman Government
- Back then, many people refused to believe in God and worshipped the emperor instead. The Church was also accused of many things such as cannibalism and many more. The Church had also been said to weaken state authority because they believed that everyone is equal in God's eyes. Because of all these, Christians were persecuted.
External Threats
Constantine
It was only until Constantine became the emperor of Rome that Christianity was accepted again in Rome. He issued the Edict of Milan which allowed Christianity again. Then he establishes the Council Nicaea which brings together the Church through an assembly to resolve the controversy of Arianism.

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( 5th-15th Century )
1. Fall of Rome
2. Charlemagne
3. Monasticism
4. The Great Schism of 1054
5. Gregorian Reform
6. Crusades
7. Inquisition
8. Avignon Papacy
9. Western schism
10. Mendicant Orders

Insights and Reflection:
The Church started off as a minority in society but as they slowly grew bigger and gained power, they became just like the other people in power. This shows how people can easily be led astray by temptations and personal desires that is why we should always be reminded of God and our faith. We should see Him in all the things that we do and embody Christ in all our actions.

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Many Christians resorted to hiding because they were being persecuted. But when the Roman Empire began to collapse, Christianity started to rise again. Many people believe that the Rise of Christianity also contributed to the fall of Rome.

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Charlemagne was a medieval emperor from 768 to 814.  He ruled most of Western Europe and was also known as Charles the Great. He was crowned emperor of the Romans because of his efforts to support Christianity by giving money and land to the Christian Church as well as protecting the Pope.

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Monasticism, also known as monkhood, is a way of life wherein you isolate yourself from the world in order to get closer to God. This became popular(but has been established sine the 4th century) during the Medieval ages and many monks and nuns helped spread Christianity in different forms such as artworks.

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The Great Schism happened due to many religious and political disagreements and conflicts, thus splitting the Church into two sections. Christianity had two sections, the Western and the Eastern.

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The Gregorian Reform was a series reforms to the papal curia established by Pope Gregory VII. This was done to prevent the abuses of authority in the Church. In these reforms, bishops and priests did not appoint their successors and lay investiture was removed.

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The Crusades was a series of Holy Wars initiated by the Christians to reclaim the Holy Land(Jerusalem) from the Muslims. Because of this, the Pope gained more power, prestige, and authority over the Church.

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An inquisition is an institution set up by the Church to fight and suppress heresy. It was initiated by Pope Lucius III in the 12th Century and went on for centuries. The Church tortured and persecuted many Jews and Muslims all over Europe.

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Mendicant orders are religious orders that follow a certain way of living, poverty. The mendicants choose to live in poverty, surviving through charity. They choose to help and preach to the poor. The two great founders were St. Dominic, who founded the Dominican order, and St. Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscan order. Some of the recognized Mendicant orders are:
1. Dominicans
2. Franciscans
3. Augustinians
4. Carmelites

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The Avignon Papacy was the Catholic Papacy from when the popes resided in Avignon, France than in Rome. The popes moved to France due to political conditions or political factionalism in Rome.

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The last Avignon Pope was Pope Gregory XI and 1377 the papal capital was moved back to Rome. He died shortly after moving and a new pope was elected by the people, Pope Urban VI. The French cardinals were not satisfied with this so they decided to elect their own pope, Pope Clement VII. This division is known as the Western Schism. Later on, the Council of Pisa elects another pope, Pope Alexander V, making the Church have 3 popes. Soon, this was resolved and a new pope was elected as the official pope. The Western Schism also brewed the start of the Protestant Reformation.

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After the Medieval period came the Renaissance, from worshipping God and the religious perspective, people started to see human beings as the center of the universe. They valued more the art of man and the precedence of humans rather than God. Because of this, many Church leaders still remained corrupt and  they continued to abuse their power.

Insights and Reflection:
During the Renaissance, the Church only got worse. The sins and crimes of the Church authorities just multiplied and it took a threat to finally awaken them. I learned that we shouldn't be blinded by temptation and we should learn to be open to different things. The Church only regained its true form when the Church leaders finally realized what was wrong and was open to change.

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Rodrigo Borgia, later on known as Pope Alexander VI, started off as a cardinal and he was reportedly engaged in bribery, nepotism, and wild orgies. When Pope Callixtus III died, he bribed cardinals for their votes and was elected pope. He was known for having many mistresses and being corrupt. He used his power to grow his family's power and wealth and he also engaged in simony or selling church offices. His family was also known for poisoning his political enemies and having orgies involving more than 50 prostitutes.

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During the Renaissance, most Church leaders such as bishops and priests found no meaning in Christianity and were incompetent. These so called "Church leaders" did not even celebrate the mass nor did they know the Ten Commandments. The Church was all about power and corruption rather than faith which is why many people started to lose trust and faith in the Church. Many Church humanists, such as St. Thomas More and Erasmus of Rotterdam wanted to reform the Church but the Church never listened. That is what led to the Protestant Reformation.

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A German priest named Martin Luther started to doubt the Church and realize the wrongdoings of the Church authorities so he decided to take action.  He posted 95 arguments against the Church so he was put on trial and was excommunicated after being accused of heresy. But because of the printing press, people started to support his reformation. This caused the split of Christianity, creating a new branch called Protestantism. The Bible also became more accessible because the reformists translated the Latin Bible into other languages.

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The Church finally realized their wrongdoings when the Protestant Reformation.  The Church faced a huge crisis and many people lost trust in them, so they responded with the Council of Trent. It was the counter reformation of the Catholic Church, aiming to cleanse the Church and regain Christianity. The outcomes of the council were:

Faith and works are important

Importance of Sacraments

Elimination of selling of indulgences

Improving the quality of bishops and priests

Bishops should remain in his diocese, preach regularly, visit every parish each year, watch over monasteries and convents, supervise charitable institutions and be an example of good Christian conduct.

Every diocese should have a seminary for the formation of priests.

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One thing that made a huge contribution to the revival of the Church was the spread of different religious orders. The Society of Jesus which was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola was one of them.

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Insights and Reflection:
This era was mostly a threat to the Church and I think this also served as an "awakening" to help regain the Church. In life, there will really be challenges but this will only shape you into a better person in the future.

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The Scientific Revolution (16th - 17th Century)

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The Scientific Revolution (16th - 17th Century)

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The Scientific Revolution was a period of time wherein there were huge advancements in the field of science. People started to understand the world through reasoning and processes instead of faith. These new ideas brought to life contradicted with the Church's beliefs and teachings and it weakened the Church.

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The French Revolution ended feudalism and took over the French and Catholic monarchy in France. People attempted to reorganize and abolish the Catholic Church. All of Church property was nationalized and the Church was suppressed. This caused many Christians to go against the revolution.

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The Vatican II was a meeting of bishops from all over the world to discuss the issues that the Church was facing. In this meeting, documents of reform have been established to bring the Church up to date and adaptable to the new changes in society.
Principles that guided the Vatican II:
1. Aggiornamento
- bringing up to date
2. Ressourcement
- go back to the original sources

These principles were able to guide the Church authorities in establishing a modernized Church without forgetting its roots and traditional teachings.

Insights and Reflection:
I learned from here that you really have to look back at where you started to know where you are supposed to go. You should always look at the reason you entered or got involved in something. Just like the Church, looking back at its roots made the Church relize again what it's real purpose is and that helped shaped them into a better Church in the future.

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Some changes established in the second Vatican council that are still practiced to this day are:
- the priest facing the people during the Holy Eucharist
- having lay people to serve in the Mass to get ordinary Catholics more involved
- the Church having a stand against war
- the Church being more welcoming and open to other religions