circa 1 AD: The Annunciation
The Angel Gabriel appears to a young Jewish woman named Mary and tells her she will bear the son of God.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
circa 1 AD: The Birth of Christ
As foretold at the Annunciation, Christ is born of Mary.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Note: In an effort to ease the conversion of pagans to Christianity, the early Church elected to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25. This coincides with the pagan celebration of the winter solstice.
circa 33 AD: Death and Resurrection of Christ
This three-day sequence of events is observed by the modern Catholic Church in what is called the Holy Triduum. It consists of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday / Easter Sunday.
Holy Thursday: The Last Supper
Jesus shares a last supper with His disciples, institutes the Eucharist in bread and wine, washes the disciples’ feet, and predicts the betrayal of Judas.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Good Friday: Christ’s Passion
Jesus is crucified. He suffers, dies, and is buried. Prior to dying on the cross, Jesus bequeaths his mother to John, He prays psalm 22 (a Jewish prayer he would have learned as a child) out loud.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved [John], he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
(John 19:26-27)
From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:45-46)
Holy Saturday / Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord
Jesus fulfills His promise to rise up and conquer death. “On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the scriptures” (Nicene Creed).
At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
(John 2:18-22)
Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
circa 30 AD: Peter is Made the First Pope
Even today, the sitting Pope (global leader of the Catholic Church) is considered to have a direct line to Peter who was name the first Pontiff by Jesus.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. l I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.* Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 16:18-19)
44-63 AD: Missionary Journeys of Paul the Apostle
After the death and resurrection of Christ, Paul traveled extensively preaching the news of Jesus. During his travels, Paul established churches at Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth and Ephesus. His missionary work is chronicled in the New Testament in Acts of the Apostles and his letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians.
325 AD: The Council of Nicaea
The council was convened as a result of the pleas of Emperor Constantine (possibly in conjunction with Pope Sylvester I). This meeting of Catholic Bishops addressed heresy being preached by some and formally established the Triune God as official Church doctrine. Its most notable result was the Nicene Creed, the official proclamation of Catholic faith still used today (Leclercq).
382 AD: The Council of Rome
Near the end of the fourth century, Pope Damasus convened the Council of Rome which formally established scriptural canon: the bible. The collective books of the bible were again solidified as official canon by the Council of Trent in 1546.
The Old Testament books were written well before Jesus’ Incarnation, and all of the New Testament books were written by roughly the end of the first century A.D. But the Bible as a whole was not officially compiled until the late fourth century, illustrating that it was the Catholic Church who determined the canon—or list of books—of the Bible (Nash).
1962-1965: Second Vatican Council
The Church as it functions today is the culmination of the above timeline and many additional councils and events. The Second Vatican Council, known also as Vatican II, was the last major doctrinal event in the Church. It was convened by Pope John XXIII and completed by his successor Pope Paul VI. John died in 1963. The Council resulted in 16 documents addressing various matters related to the Church (Petruzello). Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) was one of the most impactful as it called for greater participation by the laity in Holy Mass and resulted in liturgical translations from Latin into native languages. Before Vatican II, Mass was celebrated in Latin regardless of location.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Blackburn, Jim. “Was the Early Church ‘Catholic’ or Just ‘Christian’?” Catholic Answers Magazine. 8 June 2023.
Boyett, Jason. 12 Major World Religions. Christianity. pp. 51-66.
Ortiz, Kenneth. “Paul’s Four Missionary Journeys: The Complete Guide.” Theology for the Rest of Us. 12 January 2023.
“What the Early Church Believed: Peter as Pope.” Catholic Answers Magazine. 10 August 2004.
Works Cited
Leclercq, Henri. “The First Council of Nicaea.” New Advent: The Catholic Encyclopedia. 1911.
Nash, Tom. “Who Compiled the Bible and When?” Catholic Answers Magazine. n.d.
Petruzello, Melissa. “Second Vatican Council.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 10 November 2023.
#ProfessorJohn 
Leave a comment