Jesus and the Church

Students deepen their understanding of Jesus Christ, the fullness of God’s Revelation, as they encounter him in the living Body of Christ, the Catholic Church. Jesus and the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic supports Course IV of the USCCB curriculum and is the first high school textbook released by Ave Maria Press in its new Encountering Jesus series. As they engage with the content of this text, students will recognize Christ present and active in their lives through the visible and vibrant mission of Church, defined by her four characteristics—one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. While Jesus and the Church places the foundations of the Church in their historical and scriptural context, the textbook goes further by guiding students to recognize the sacred nature of the Church and engaging them to more actively participate in the living Body of Christ and serve as witnesses to the sacred Gospel in the world today. Simply put, the goal of the book—as in the Encountering Jesus series as a whole—is to change the lives of students by making real-life connections between what they are learning about the Church and how they encounter Jesus in the contemporary world.