CHAPTER THREE I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

SECTION TWO

I. THE CREEDS

Whoever says "I believe" says "I pledge myself to what we believe." Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith.

From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formulae normative for all. Cf. ⇒ Rom 10:9 ; ⇒ I Cor 15:3-5, etc. But already very early on, the Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of her faith into organic and articulated summaries, intended especially for candidates for Baptism:

This synthesis of faith was not made to accord with human opinions, but rather what was of the greatest importance was gathered from all the Scriptures, to present the one teaching of the faith in its entirety. and just as the mustard seed contains a great number of branches in a tiny grain, so too this summary of faith encompassed in a few words the whole knowledge of the true religion contained in the Old and the New Testaments. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. illum. 5, 12: PG 33, 521-524.

Such syntheses are called "professions of faith" since they summarize the faith that Christians profess. They are called "creeds" on account of what is usually their first word in Latin: credo ("I believe"). They are also called "symbols of faith".

The Greek word symbolon meant half of a broken object, for example, a seal presented as a token of recognition. the broken parts were placed together to verify the bearer's identity. the symbol of faith, then, is a sign of recognition and communion between believers. Symbolon also means a gathering, collection or summary. A symbol of faith is a summary of the principal truths of the faith and therefore serves as the first and fundamental point of reference for catechesis.

The first "profession of faith" is made during Baptism. the symbol of faith is first and foremost the baptismal creed. Since Baptism is given "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", ⇒ Mt 28:19 The truths of faith professed during Baptism are articulated in terms of their reference to the three persons of the Holy Trinity.

and so the Creed is divided into three parts: "the first part speaks of the first divine Person and the wonderful work of creation; the next speaks of the second divine Person and the mystery of his redemption of men; the final part speaks of the third divine Person, the origin and source of our sanctification." Roman Catechism I, 1, 3. These are "the three chapters of our [baptismal] seal". St. Irenaeus, Dem. ap. 100: SCh 62, 170.

"These three parts are distinct although connected with one another. According to a comparison often used by the Fathers, we call them articles. Indeed, just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of faith, the name "articles" has justly and rightly been given to the truths we must believe particularly and distinctly." Roman Catechism I, I, 4. In accordance with an ancient tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also customary to reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the fullness of the apostolic faith by the number of the apostles. Cf. St. Ambrose, Expl. symb. 8: PL 17, 1196.

Through the centuries many professions or symbols of faith have been articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the creeds of the different apostolic and ancient Churches, Cf. DS 1-64. e.g., the Quicumque, also called the Athanasian Creed; Cf. DS 75-76. The professions of faith of certain Councils, such as Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent; Cf. DS 525-541; 800-802; 851-861; 1862-1870. or the symbols of certain popes, e.g., the Fides Damasi Cf. DS 71-72. or the Credo of the People of God of Paul VI. Paul VI, CPG (1968).

None of the creeds from the different stages in the Church's life can be considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it. Among all the creeds, two occupy a special place in the Church's life:

The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is "the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith". St. Ambrose, Expl. symb. 7: PL 17, 1196.

The Niceno-Constantinopolitan or Nicene Creed draws its great authority from the fact that it stems from the first two ecumenical Councils (in 325 and 381). It remains common to all the great Churches of both East and West to this day.

Our presentation of the faith will follow the Apostles' Creed, which constitutes, as it were, "the oldest Roman catechism". the presentation will be completed however by constant references to the Nicene Creed, which is often more explicit and more detailed.

As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the "standard of teaching", ⇒ Rom 6:17 let us embrace the Creed of our life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe:

This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul. St. Ambrose, Expl. symb. I: PL 17, 1193.

CHAPTER THREE

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." ⇒ 1 Cor 12:3. "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' ⇒ Gal 4:6. This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us. By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son.

Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. For those who bear God's Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the Son presents them to the Father, and the Father confers incorruptibility on them. and it is impossible to see God's Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the Father without the Son, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of God's Son is obtained through the Holy Spirit. St. Irenaeus, Dem. ap. 7: SCh 62, 41-42.

Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to "know the Father and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ." In 17:3. But the Spirit is the last of the persons of the Holy Trinity to be revealed. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian, explains this progression in terms of the pedagogy of divine "condescension":

The Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely. the New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself. It was not prudent, when the divinity of the Father had not yet been confessed, to proclaim the Son openly and, when the divinity of the Son was not yet admitted, to add the Holy Spirit as an extra burden, to speak somewhat daringly.... By advancing and progressing "from glory to glory," the light of the Trinity will shine in ever more brilliant rays. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio theol., 5, 26 (= Oratio 31, 26): PG 36, 161-163.

To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, consubstantial with the Father and the Son: "with the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified." Nicene Creed; see above, par. 465. For this reason, the divine mystery of the Holy Spirit was already treated in the context of Trinitarian "theology." Here, however, we have to do with the Holy Spirit only in the divine "economy."

The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our salvation. But in these "end times," ushered in by the Son's redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person. Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and head of the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

ARTICLE 8 "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"

ARTICLE 8

"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"

"No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." ⇒ 1 Cor 2:11. Now God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. the Spirit who "has spoken through the prophets" makes us hear the Father's Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself. We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. the Spirit of truth who "unveils" Christ to us "will not speak on his own." ⇒ Jn 16:13. Such properly divine self-effacement explains why "the world cannot receive (him), because it neither sees him nor knows him," while those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them. ⇒ Jn 14:17.

The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit: - in the Scriptures he inspired; - in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses; - in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists; - in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ; - in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us; - in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up; - in the signs of apostolic and missionary life; - in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

I. The Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit

The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. Cf. ⇒ Gal 4:6. Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them, in both the inner life of the Trinity and his gift of love for the world. In adoring the Holy Trinity, life-giving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's faith also professes the distinction of persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.

Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on derives from this fullness. Cf. ⇒ Jn 3:34. When Christ is finally glorified, ⇒ Jn 7:39. he can in turn send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe in him: he communicates to them his glory, Cf. ⇒ Jn 17:22. that is, the Holy Spirit who glorifies him. Cf. ⇒ Jn 16:14. From that time on, this joint mission will be manifested in the children adopted by the Father in the Body of his Son: the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in him:

The notion of anointing suggests . . . that there is no distance between the Son and the Spirit. Indeed, just as between the surface of the body and the anointing with oil neither reason nor sensation recognizes any intermediary, so the contact of the Son with the Spirit is immediate, so that anyone who would make contact with the Son by faith must first encounter the oil by contact. In fact there is no part that is not covered by the Holy Spirit. That is why the confession of the Son's Lordship is made in the Holy Spirit by those who receive him, the Spirit coming from all sides to those who approach the Son in faith. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Spiritu Sancto, 16: PG 45, 1321A-B.

II. The Name, Titles, and Symbols of the Holy Spirit

The proper name of the Holy Spirit

"Holy Spirit" is the proper name of the one whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. the Church has received this name from the Lord and professes it in the Baptism of her new children. Cf. ⇒ Mt 28:19.

The term "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word ruah, which, in its primary sense, means breath, air, wind. Jesus indeed uses the sensory image of the wind to suggest to Nicodemus the transcendent newness of him who is personally God's breath, the divine Spirit. In 3:5-8. On the other hand, "Spirit" and "Holy" are divine attributes common to the three divine persons. By joining the two terms, Scripture, liturgy, and theological language designate the inexpressible person of the Holy Spirit, without any possible equivocation with other uses of the terms "spirit" and "holy."

Titles of the Holy Spirit

When he proclaims and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls him the "Paraclete," literally, "he who is called to one's side," advocatus. In 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7. "Paraclete" is commonly translated by "consoler," and Jesus is the first consoler. Cf. I ⇒ Jn 2:1[ETML:C/]. The Lord also called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth." In 16:13.

Besides the proper name of "Holy Spirit," which is most frequently used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, we also find in St. Paul the titles: the Spirit of the promise, Cf. ⇒ Gal 3:14 ; ⇒ Eph 1:13. The Spirit of adoption, ⇒ Rom 8:15 ; ⇒ Gal 4:6. The Spirit of Christ, ⇒ Rom 8:9. The Spirit of the Lord, ⇒ 2 Cor 3:17. and the Spirit of God ⇒ Rom 8:9, ⇒ Rom 8:9 4 ; ⇒ 15:19 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 6:11 ; ⇒ 7:40. - and, in St. Peter, the Spirit of glory. ⇒ 1 Pet 4:14.

Symbols of the Holy Spirit

Water. the symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." ⇒ 1 Cor 12:13. Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified ⇒ Jn 19:34 ; ⇒ 1 Jn 5:8[ETML:C/]. as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. Cf. ⇒ Jn 4:10-14 ; 738; ⇒ Ex 17:1-6 ; ⇒ Isa 55:1 ; ⇒ Zech 14:8 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 10:4 ; ⇒ Rev 21:6 ; ⇒ 22:17.

Anointing. the symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, Cf. 1 In 2:20:27; ⇒ 2 Cor 1:21. to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew "messiah") means the one "anointed" by God's Spirit. There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, pre-eminently King David. Cf. ⇒ Ex 30:22-32 ; ⇒ 1 Sam 16:13. But Jesus is God's Anointed in a unique way: the humanity the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit. the Holy Spirit established him as "Christ." Cf. ⇒ Lk 4 18-19 ; ⇒ Isa 61:1. The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth, and prompted Simeon to come to the temple to see the Christ of the Lord. Cf. ⇒ Lk 2:11, ⇒ 26-27. The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and of saving. Cf. ⇒ Lk 4:1 ; ⇒ 6:19 ; ⇒ 8:46. Finally, it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Cf. ⇒ Rom 1:4 ; ⇒ 8:11. Now, fully established as "Christ" in his humanity victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until "the saints" constitute - in their union with the humanity of the Son of God - that perfect man "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ": ⇒ Eph 4:13 ; cf. ⇒ Acts 2:36. "the whole Christ," in St. Augustine's expression.

Fire. While water signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit, fire symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions. the prayer of the prophet Elijah, who "arose like fire" and whose "word burned like a torch," brought down fire from heaven on the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. ⇒ Sir 48:1 ; cf. ⇒ 1 Kings 18:38-39. This event was a "figure" of the fire of the Holy Spirit, who transforms what he touches. John the Baptist, who goes "before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah," proclaims Christ as the one who "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." ⇒ Lk 1:17 ; ⇒ 3:16. Jesus will say of the Spirit: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" ⇒ Lk 12:49. In the form of tongues "as of fire," the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself ⇒ Acts 2:3-4. The spiritual tradition has retained this symbolism of fire as one of the most expressive images of the Holy Spirit's actions. Cf. St. John of the Cross, the Living Flame of Love, in the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD (Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979), 577 ff. "Do not quench the Spirit." ⇒ 1 Thess 5:19.

Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory - with Moses on Mount Sinai, Cf. ⇒ Ex 24:15-18. at the tent of meeting, Cf. ⇒ Ex 33:9-10. and during the wandering in the desert, Cf. ⇒ Ex 40:36-38 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 10:1-2. and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. Cf. ⇒ 1 Kings 8:10-12. In the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfills these figures. the Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows" her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. ⇒ Lk 1:35. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'" ⇒ Lk 9:34-35. Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming. Cf. ⇒ Acts 1:9 ; cf. ⇒ Lk 21:27.

The seal is a symbol close to that of anointing. "The Father has set his seal" on Christ and also seals us in him. ⇒ Jn 6:27 ; cf. ⇒ 2 Cor 1:22 ; ⇒ Eph 1:13 ; ⇒ 4:30. Because this seal indicates the indelible effect of the anointing with the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, the image of the seal (sphragis) has been used in some theological traditions to express the indelible "character" imprinted by these three unrepeatable sacraments.

The hand. Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on them. Cf. ⇒ Mk 6:5 ; ⇒ 8:23 ; ⇒ 10:16. In his name the apostles will do the same. Cf. ⇒ Mk 16:18 ; ⇒ Acts 5:12 ; ⇒ 14:3. Even more pointedly, it is by the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given. Cf. ⇒ Acts 8:17-19 ; ⇒ 13:3 ; ⇒ 19:6. The Letter to the Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of its teaching. Cf. ⇒ Heb 6:2. The Church has kept this sign of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its sacramental epicleses.

The finger. "It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons." ⇒ Lk 11:20. If God's law was written on tablets of stone "by the finger of God," then the "letter from Christ" entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." ⇒ Ex 31:18 ; ⇒ 2 Cor 3:3. The hymn Veni Creator Spiritus invokes the Holy Spirit as the "finger of the Father's right hand." LH, Easter Season after Ascension, Hymn at Vespers: digitus paternae dexterae.

The dove. At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a sign that the earth was again habitable. Cf. ⇒ Gen 8:8-12. When Christ comes up from the water of his baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon him and remains with him. Cf. ⇒ Mt 3:16 and parallels. The Spirit comes down and remains in the purified hearts of the baptized. In certain churches, the Eucharist is reserved in a metal receptacle in the form of a dove (columbarium) suspended above the altar. Christian iconography traditionally uses a dove to suggest the Spirit.

III. God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises

From the beginning until "the fullness of time," ⇒ Gal 4:4. The joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets," wants to tell us about Christ. Cf. ⇒ 2 Cor 3:14 ; ⇒ Jn 5:39, ⇒ 46.

By "prophets" the faith of the Church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in the composition of the sacred books, both of the Old and the New Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law (the five first books or Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and prophetic books) and finally the Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms). Cf. ⇒ Lk 24:44.

In creation

The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature: Cf. ⇒ Pss 33:6 ; ⇒ 104:30 ; ⇒ Gen 1:2 ; ⇒ 2:7 ; ⇒ Eccl 3:20-21 ; ⇒ Ezek 37:10.

It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son.... Power over life pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son. Byzantine liturgy, Sundays of the second mode, Troparion of Morning Prayer.

"God fashioned man with his own hands [that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit] and impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way that even what was visible might bear the divine form." St. Irenaeus, Dem ap. 11: SCh 62, 48-49.

The Spirit of the promise

Disfigured by sin and death, man remains "in the image of God," in the image of the Son, but is deprived "of the glory of God," ⇒ Rom 3:23. of his "likeness." the promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of which the Son himself will assume that "image" Cf. ⇒ Jn 1:14 ; ⇒ Phil 2:7. and restore it in the Father's "likeness" by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is "the giver of life."

Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. Cf. ⇒ Gen 18:1-15 ; ⇒ Lk 1:26-38. ⇒ 54-55 ; ⇒ Jn 1:12-13 ; ⇒ Rom 4:16-21. In Abraham's progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself, Cf. ⇒ Gen 12:3 ; ⇒ Gal 3:16. in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Cf. In 11:52. God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and "the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." ⇒ Eph 1:13-14 ; cf. ⇒ Gen 22:17-19 ; ⇒ Lk 1:73 ; ⇒ Jn 3:16 ; ⇒ Rom 8:32 ; ⇒ Gal 3:14.

In Theophanies and the Law

Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.

This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law. Cf. ⇒ Ex 19- ⇒ 20 ; ⇒ Deut 1-11 ; ⇒ 29-30. God gave the letter of the Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people towards Christ. ⇒ Gal 3:24. But the Law's powerlessness to save man deprived of the divine "likeness," along with the growing awareness of sin that it imparts, Cf. ⇒ Rom 3:20. enkindles a desire for the Holy Spirit. the lamentations of the Psalms bear witness to this.

In the Kingdom and the Exile

The Law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth. "If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." ⇒ Ex 19:5-6 ; Cf. ⇒ 1 Pet 2:9. But after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. the Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David, Cf. ⇒ 2 Sam 7 ; ⇒ Ps 89 ; ⇒ Lk 1:32-33. would be the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according to the Spirit.

The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is the Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit. the People of God had to suffer this purification. Cf. ⇒ Lk 24:26. In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.

Expectation of the Messiah and his Spirit

"Behold, I am doing a new thing." ⇒ Isa 43:19. Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in hope the "consolation of Israel" and "the redemption of Jerusalem." Cf. ⇒ Zeph 2:3 ; ⇒ Lk 2:25, ⇒ 38.

We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning himself. We limit ourselves here to those in which the relationship of the Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.

The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," ⇒ Jn 12:41 ; cf. ⇒ Isa 6-12. speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11: ⇒ Isa 11:1-2.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs." Cf. ⇒ Isa 42:1-9 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 12:18-21 ; ⇒ Jn 1:32-34 ; then cf. ⇒ Isa 49:1-6 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 3:17 ; ⇒ Lk 2:32 ; finally cf. ⇒ Isa 50:4-10 and ⇒ Isa 52:13-53:12. These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our "form as slave." ⇒ Phil 2:7. Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.

This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his own the following passage from Isaiah: ⇒ Isa 61:1-2 ; cf. ⇒ Lk 4:18-19.

The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor.

The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity." Cf. ⇒ Ezek 11:19 ; ⇒ 36:25-28 ; ⇒ 37:1-14 ; ⇒ Jer 31:31-34 ; and cf. ⇒ Joel 3:1-5. St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. Cf. ⇒ Acts 2:17-21. According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.

The People of the "poor" Cf. ⇒ Zeph 2:3 ; ⇒ Pss 22:27 ; ⇒ 34:3 ; ⇒ Isa 49:13 ; ⇒ 61:1 ; etc. - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but of the Messiah - are in the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's hidden mission during the time of the promises that prepare for Christ's coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit, which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready "a people prepared for the Lord." ⇒ Lk 1:17.

IV. The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time

John, precursor, prophet, and baptist

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." ⇒ Jn 1:6[ETML:C/]. John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" ⇒ Lk 1:15, ⇒ 41. by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people. Cf. ⇒ Lk 1:68.

John is "Elijah (who) must come." ⇒ Mt 17:10-13 ; cf. ⇒ Lk 1:78. The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the precursor, the Holy Spirit completes the work of "[making] ready a people prepared for the Lord." ⇒ Lk 1:17.

John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." ⇒ Lk 7:26. In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. Cf. ⇒ Mt 11:13-14. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of the Consoler who is coming. ⇒ Jn 1:23 ; cf. ⇒ Isa 40:1-3. As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear witness to the light." ⇒ Jn 1:7 ; cf. ⇒ Jn 15:26 ; ⇒ 5:35. In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. Cf. ⇒ 1 Pet 1:10-12. "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. and I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.... Behold, the Lamb of God." ⇒ Jn 1:33-36.

Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John's baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth. Cf ⇒ Jn 3:5[ETML:C/].

"Rejoice, you who are full of grace"

Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. Cf. ⇒ Prov 8:1- ⇒ 9:6 ; ⇒ Sir 24. Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom." In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested:

The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" ⇒ Col 2:9. should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice." Cf. ⇒ Zeph 3:14 ; ⇒ Zech 2:14. It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle Cf. ⇒ Lk 1:46-55. lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.

In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. With and through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful. Cf. ⇒ Lk 1:26-38 ; ⇒ Rom 4:18-21 ; ⇒ Gal 4:26-28.

In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known. Cf. ⇒ Lk 1:15-19 ; ⇒ Mt 2:11.

Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love, Cf. ⇒ Lk 2:14. into communion with Christ. and the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples.

At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve ("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ." Cf. ⇒ Jn 19:25-27. As such, she was present with the Twelve, who "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer," ⇒ Acts 1:14. at the dawn of the "end time" which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church.

Christ Jesus

The entire mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of time, is contained in this: that the Son is the one anointed by the Father's Spirit since his Incarnation - Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Everything in the second chapter of the Creed is to be read in this light. Christ's whole work is in fact a joint mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here, we shall mention only what has to do with Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of him by the glorified Lord.

Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world. Cf. ⇒ Jn 6:27, ⇒ 51, ⇒ 62-63. He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus, Cf. ⇒ Jn 3:5-8. to the Samaritan woman, Cf. ⇒ Jn 4:10, ⇒ 14, ⇒ 23-24. and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles. Cf. ⇒ Jn 7:37-39. To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer Cf. ⇒ Lk 11:13. and with the witness they will have to bear. Cf. ⇒ Mt 10:19-20.

Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill the promise made to the fathers. Cf. ⇒ Jn 14:16-17, ⇒ 26 ; ⇒ 15:26 ; ⇒ 16:7-15 ; ⇒ 17:26. The Spirit of truth, the other Paraclete, will be given by the Father in answer to Jesus' prayer; he will be sent by the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send him from the Father's side, since he comes from the Father. the Holy Spirit will come and we shall know him; he will be with us for ever; he will remain with us. the Spirit will teach us everything, remind us of all that Christ said to us and bear witness to him. the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and will glorify Christ. He will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

At last Jesus' hour arrives: Cf. ⇒ Jn 13:1 ; ⇒ 17:1. he commends his spirit into the Father's hands Cf. ⇒ Lk 23:46 ; ⇒ Jn 19:30. at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father," ⇒ Rom 6:4. he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by "breathing" on his disciples. Cf. ⇒ Jn 20:22. From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." ⇒ Jn 20:21 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 28:19 ; ⇒ Lk 24:47-48 ; ⇒ Acts 1:8.

V. The Spirit and the Church In the Last Days

Pentecost

On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. Cf. ⇒ Acts 2:33-36.

On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the "last days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated.

We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us. Byzantine liturgy, Pentecost Vespers, Troparion, repeated after communion.

The Holy Spirit - God's gift

"God is Love" 1 ⇒ Jn 4:8,16. and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." ⇒ Rom 5:5.

Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. the communion of the Holy Spirit 2 Cor 13:14. in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.

He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as "God (has) loved us." 1 ⇒ Jn 4: 12 ; cf. ⇒ Rom 8:23 ; ⇒ 2 Cor 1:21. This love (the "charity" of 1 Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received "power" from the Holy Spirit. ⇒ Acts 1:8 ; cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 13

By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." ⇒ Gal 5:22-23. "We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit." ⇒ Gal 5:25 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 16:24-26.

Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory. St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15,36: PG 32,132.

The Holy Spirit and the Church

The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. the Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. the Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit." ⇒ Jn 15:8, ⇒ 16.

Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next article):

All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, . . . and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity. St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Jo. ev., 11,11: PG 74, 561.

Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. (This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)

These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.)

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words." ⇒ Rom 8:26. The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God's works, is the master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.)

IN BRIEF

"Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' ( Gal 4:6).

From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.

In the fullness of time the Holy Spirit completes in Mary all the preparations for Christ's coming among the People of God. By the action of the Holy Spirit in her, the Father gives the world Emmanuel "God-with-us" ( Mt 1:23).

The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at his Incarnation (cf Ps 2:6-7).

By his Death and his Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in glory as Lord and Christ (cf Acts 2:36). From his fullness, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the Church.

The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men.

Article 9 "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"

Article 9

"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"

"Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart-felt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, that, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature, it may bring to all men that light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church." LG 1; cf. ⇒ Mk 16:15. These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By choosing this starting point, the Council demonstrates that the article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning Christ Jesus. the Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun.

The article concerning the Church also depends entirely on the article about the Holy Spirit, which immediately precedes it. "Indeed, having shown that the Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness, we now confess that it is he who has endowed the Church with holiness." Roman Catechism I, 10, 1. The Church is, in a phrase used by the Fathers, the place "where the Spirit flourishes." St. Hippolytus, Trad. Ap. 35: SCh 11, 118.

To believe that the Church is "holy" and "catholic," and that she is "one" and "apostolic" (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the Apostles' Creed we profess "one Holy Church" (Credo . . . Ecclesiam), and not to believe in the Church, so as not to confuse God with his works and to attribute clearly to God's goodness all the gifts he has bestowed on his Church. Roman Catechism I, 10, 22.

Paragraph 1. THE CHURCH IN GOD'S PLAN

I. NAMES AND IMAGES OF THE CHURCH

The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of") means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose. Cf. ⇒ Acts 19:39. Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy people. Cf. ⇒ Ex 19. By calling itself "Church," the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is "calling together" his people from all the ends of the earth. the equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means "what belongs to the Lord."

In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 11:18 ; ⇒ 14:19, ⇒ 28, ⇒ 34, ⇒ 35. but also the local community Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 1:2 ; ⇒ 16:1. or the whole universal community of believers. Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 15:9 ; ⇒ Gal 1:13 ; ⇒ Phil 3:6. These three meanings are inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ's Body.

Symbols of the Church

In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church. the images taken from the Old Testament are variations on a profound theme: the People of God. In the New Testament, all these images find a new center because Christ has become the head of this people, which henceforth is his Body. Cf. ⇒ Eph 1:22 ; ⇒ Col 1:18 ; LG 9. Around this center are grouped images taken "from the life of the shepherd or from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or from family life and marriage." LG 6.

"The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep. LG 6; Cf. ⇒ Jn 10:1-10 ; ⇒ Isa 40:11 ; ⇒ Ezek 34:11-31 ; ⇒ Jn 10:11 ; ⇒ 1 Pet 5:4 ; ⇒ Jn 10:11-16.

"The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain in Christ, without whom we can do nothing. LG 6; Cf. 1 Cor 39; ⇒ Rom 11:13-26 ; ⇒ Mt 21:32-43 and parallels ; ⇒ Isa 51-7 ; ⇒ Jn 15:1-5.

"Often, too, the Church is called the building of God. the Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was made into the comer-stone. On this foundation the Church is built by the apostles and from it the Church receives solidity and unity. This edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God in which his family dwells; the household of God in the Spirit; the dwelling-place of God among men; and, especially, the holy temple. This temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone, is praised by the Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in the liturgy to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. As living stones we here on earth are built into it. It is this holy city that is seen by John as it comes down out of heaven from God when the world is made anew, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. LG 6; Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 3:9 ; ⇒ Mt 21:42 and parallels ; ⇒ Acts 4:11 ; ⇒ 1 Pet 2:7 ; ⇒ PS 118:22 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 3:11 ; ⇒ 1 Tim 3:15 ; ⇒ Eph 2:19-22 ; ⇒ Rev 21:3 ; ⇒ 1 Pet 2:5 ; ⇒ Rev 21:1-2.

"The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes.'" LG 6; Cf. ⇒ Gal 4:26 ; ⇒ Rev 12:17 ; ⇒ 19:7 ; ⇒ 21:2, 9 ; ⇒ 22:17 ; ⇒ Eph 5:25-26, ⇒ 29.

II. THE CHURCH'S ORIGIN, FOUNDATION AND MISSION

We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization in history.

A plan born in the Father's heart

"The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life," LG 2. to which he calls all men in his Son. "The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ." LG 2. This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvellous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Advance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time." LG 2.

The Church - foreshadowed from the world's beginning

Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church." Pastor Hermae, Vision 2, 4, 1: PG 2,899; cf. Aristides, Apol. 16, 6; St. Justin, Apol. 2,7: PG 6, 456; Tertullian, Apol. 31, 3; 32, 1: PL 1, 508-509. God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church. the Church is the goal of all things, Cf. St. Epiphanius, Panarion 1, 1, 5: PG 41, 181C. and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels' fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world:

Just as God's will is creation and is called "the world," so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church." Clement of Alex., Paed. 1, 6, 27: PG 8, 281.

The Church - prepared for in the Old Covenant

The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves. the gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction to the chaos provoked by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the heart of all peoples: "In every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable" to God. ⇒ Acts 10:35 ; cf. LG 9; 13; 16.

The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people. Cf. ⇒ Gen 12:2 ; ⇒ 15:5-6. Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God. By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of All nations. Cf. ⇒ Ex 19:5-6 ; ⇒ Deut 7:6 ; ⇒ Isa 2:2-5 ; ⇒ Mic 4:1-4. But the prophets accuse Israel of breaking the covenant and behaving like a prostitute. They announce a new and eternal covenant. "Christ instituted this New Covenant." LG 9; cf. ⇒ Hos 1 ; ⇒ Isa 1:2-4 ; ⇒ Jer 2 ; ⇒ 31:31-34 ; ⇒ Isa 55:3.

The Church - instituted by Christ Jesus

It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. Cf. LG 3; AG 3. "The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures." LG 5. To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. the Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery." LG 3.

"This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ." LG 5. To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself." LG 5. The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the "little flock" of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. ⇒ Lk 12:32 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 10:16 ; ⇒ 26:31 ; In 10:1-21. They form Jesus' true family. Cf. ⇒ Mt 12:49. To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting" and a prayer of their own. Cf. ⇒ Mt 5- 6.

The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head. Cf. ⇒ Mk 3:14-15. Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem. Cf. ⇒ Mt 19:28 ; ⇒ Lk 22:30 ; ⇒ Rev 21:12-14. The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot. Cf. ⇒ Mk 6:7 ; ⇒ Lk 10:1-2 ; ⇒ Mt 10:25 ; ⇒ Jn 15:20. By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.

The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus." LG 3; cf. ⇒ Jn 19:34. "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" SC 5. As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. Cf. St. Ambrose, In Luc. 2, 85-89 PL 15,1666-1668.

The Church - revealed by the Holy Spirit

"When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church." LG 4; Cf. ⇒ Jn 17:4. Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun." AG 4. As the "convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them. Cf. ⇒ Mt 28:19-20 ; AG 2; 5-6.

So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her." LG 4. "Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom." LG 5.

The Church - perfected in glory

"The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven," LG 48. at the time of Christ's glorious return. Until that day, "the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this world's persecutions and God's consolations." St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 18, 51: PL 41, 614; Cf. LG 8. Here below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full coming of the Kingdom, when she will "be united in glory with her king." LG 5; Cf. 6; ⇒ 2 Cor 5:6. The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will "all the just from the time of Adam, 'from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,' . . . be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father's presence." LG 2.

III. THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH

The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith" Roman Catechism 1, 10, 20. that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life.

The Church - both visible and spiritual

"The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men." LG 8 # 1. The Church is at the same time: - a "society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ; - the visible society and the spiritual community; - the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches." LG 8. These dimensions together constitute "one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element": LG 8.

The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest. SC 2, Cf. ⇒ Heb 13:14.

O humility! O sublimity! Both tabernacle of cedar and sanctuary of God; earthly dwelling and celestial palace; house of clay and royal hall; body of death and temple of light; and at last both object of scorn to the proud and bride of Christ! She is black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, for even if the labor and pain of her long exile may have discolored her, yet heaven's beauty has adorned her. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Cant. Sermo 27:14 PL 183:920D.

The Church - mystery of men's union with God

It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all things in him." ⇒ Eph 1:10. St. Paul calls the nuptial union of Christ and the Church "a great mystery." Because she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a mystery in her turn. ⇒ Eph 5:32 ; ⇒ 3:9-11 ; ⇒ 5:25-27. Contemplating this mystery in her, Paul exclaims: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." ⇒ Col 1:27.

In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world. ⇒ 1 Cor 13:8 ; cf. LG 48. "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. and holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom." John Paul II, MD 27. Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle." ⇒ Eph 5:27. This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine." Cf. John Paul II, MD 27.

The universal Sacrament of Salvation

The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mystenum and sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mystenum. In this sense, Christ himself is the mystery of salvation: "For there is no other mystery of God, except Christ." St. Augustine, Ep. 187,11,34: PL 33, 846. The saving work of his holy and sanctifying humanity is the sacrament of salvation, which is revealed and active in the Church's sacraments (which the Eastern Churches also call "the holy mysteries"). the seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head throughout the Church which is his Body. the Church, then, both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies. It is in this analogical sense, that the Church is called a "sacrament."

"The Church, in Christ, is like a sacrament - a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men." LG 1. The Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God. Because men's communion with one another is rooted in that union with God, the Church is also the sacrament of the unity of the human race. In her, this unity is already begun, since she gathers men "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues"; ⇒ Rev 7:9. at the same time, the Church is the "sign and instrument" of the full realization of the unity yet to come.

As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of salvation," by which Christ is "at once manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God's love for men." LG 9 # 2, 48 # 2; GS 45 # 1. The Church "is the visible plan of God's love for humanity," because God desires "that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit." Paul VI, June 22, 1973; AG 7 # 2; cf. LG 17.

IN BRIEF

The word "Church" means "convocation." It designates the assembly of those whom God's Word "convokes," i.e., gathers together to form the People of God, and who themselves, nourished with the Body of Christ, become the Body of Christ.

The Church is both the means and the goal of God's plan: prefigured in creation, prepared for in the Old Covenant, founded by the words and actions of Jesus Christ, fulfilled by his redeeming cross and his Resurrection, the Church has been manifested as the mystery of salvation by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. She will be perfected in the glory of heaven as the assembly of all the redeemed of the earth (cf Rev 14:4).

The Church is both visible and spiritual, a hierarchical society and the Mystical Body of Christ. She is one, yet formed of two components, human and divine. That is her mystery, which only faith can accept.

The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.

Paragraph 2. THE CHURCH - PEOPLE OF GOD, BODY OF CHRIST, TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

I. THE CHURCH - PEOPLE OF GOD

"At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has, however, willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with it. He gradually instructed this people.... All these things, however, happened as a preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified in Christ . . . the New Covenant in his blood; he called together a race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit." LG 9; Cf. ⇒ Acts 10:35 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 11:25.

Characteristics of the People of Got

The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history: - It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." ⇒ 1 Pet 2:9. - One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and the Spirit," ⇒ Jn 3:3-5. that is, by faith in Christ, and Baptism. - This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this is "the messianic people." - "The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple." - "Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us." Cf. ⇒ Jn 13 34 This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit. ⇒ Rom 8:2 ; ⇒ Gal 5:25. - Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. Cf. ⇒ Mt 5:13-16. This people is "a most sure seed of unity, hope, and salvation for the whole human race." -Its destiny, finally, "is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time." LG 9 # 2.

A priestly, prophetic, and royal people

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. the whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them. Cf. John Paul II, RH 18-21.

On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly vocation: "Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men, has made this new people 'a kingdom of priests to God, his Father.' the baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood." LG 10; Cf. ⇒ Heb 5:1-5 ; ⇒ Rev 1:6.

"The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office," above all in the supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay and clergy, when it "unfailingly adheres to this faith . . . once for all delivered to the saints," LG 12; Cf. Jude 3. and when it deepens its understanding and becomes Christ's witness in the midst of this world.

Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection. Cf. ⇒ Jn 12:32. Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ⇒ Mt 20:28. For the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder." LG 8; Cf. 36. The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.

The sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal race and sharers in Christ's priestly office. What, indeed, is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? and what is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart? St. Leo the Great, Sermo 4, 1: PL 54, 149.

II. THE CHURCH - BODY OF CHRIST

The Church is communion with Jesus

From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. Cf. ⇒ Mk 1:16-20 ; ⇒ 3:13-19 ; ⇒ Mt 13:10-17 ; ⇒ Lk 10:17-20 ; ⇒ 22:28-30. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you.... I am the vine, you are the branches." ⇒ Jn 15:4-5. and he proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." ⇒ Jn 6:56.

When his visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to remain with them until the end of time; he sent them his Spirit. Cf. ⇒ Jn 14:18 ; ⇒ 20:22 ; ⇒ Mt 28:20 ; ⇒ Acts 2:33. As a result communion with Jesus has become, in a way, more intense: "By communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation." LG 7.

The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.

"One Body"

Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with him: "In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification." LG 7. This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which "really sharing in the body of the Lord, . . . we are taken up into communion with him and with one another." LG 7; cf. ⇒ Rom 6:4-5 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 12:13.

The body's unity does not do away with the diversity of its members: "In the building up of Christ's Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church." LG 7 # 3. The unity of the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: "From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice." LG 7 # 3; cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 12:26. Finally, the unity of the Mystical Body triumphs over all human divisions: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." ⇒ Gal 3:27-28.

"Christ is the Head of this Body"

Christ "is the head of the body, the Church." ⇒ Col 1:18. He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he (is) preeminent," ⇒ Col 1:18. especially in the Church, through whom he extends his reign over all things.

Christ unites us with his Passover: all his members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be formed" in them. ⇒ Gal 4:19. "For this reason we . . . are taken up into the mysteries of his life, . . . associated with his sufferings as the body with its head, suffering with him, that with him we may be glorified." LG 7 # 4; cf. ⇒ Phil 3:21 ; ⇒ Rom 8:17.

Christ provides for our growth: to make us grow toward him, our head, Cf. ⇒ Col 2:19 ; ⇒ Eph 4:11-16. he provides in his Body, the Church, the gifts and assistance by which we help one another along the way of salvation.

Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). the Church is one with Christ. the saints are acutely aware of this unity:

Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man.... the fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does "head and members" mean? Christ and the Church. St. Augustine, In Jo. ev, 21, 8: PL 35, 1568.

Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself. Pope St. Gregory the Great Moralia in Job, praef., 14: PL 75, 525A.

Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 48, 2.

A reply of St. Joan of Arc to her judges sums up the faith of the holy doctors and the good sense of the believer: "About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." Acts of the Trial of Joan of Arc.

The Church is the Bride of Christ

The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. the theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. ⇒ Jn 3:29. The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." ⇒ Mk 2:19. The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. Cf. ⇒ Mt 22:1-14 ; ⇒ 25:1-13 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 6:15-17 ; ⇒ 2 Cor 11:2. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. Cf. ⇒ Rev 22:17 ; ⇒ Eph 1:4. ⇒ 5:27. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." ⇒ Eph 5:25-26. He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body: Cf. ⇒ Eph 5:29.

This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? "The two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church." ⇒ Eph 5:31-32. and the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh." ⇒ Mt 19:6. They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . . . as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself "bride." St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 74:4: PL 36, 948-949.

III. THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

"What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." St. Augustine, Sermo 267, 4: PL 38, 1231D. "To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members." Pius XII, encyclical, Mystici Corporis: DS 3808. The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God": ⇒ 2 Cor 6:16 ; cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 3:16-17 ; ⇒ Eph 2:21.

Indeed, it is to the Church herself that the "Gift of God" has been entrusted.... In it is in her that communion with Christ has been deposited, that is to say: the Holy Spirit, the pledge of incorruptibility, the strengthening of our faith and the ladder of our ascent to God.... For where the Church is, there also is God's Spirit; where God's Spirit is, there is the Church and every grace. St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 24, 1: PG 7/1, 966.

The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." Pius XII, encyclical, Mystici Corporis: DS 3808. He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: Cf. ⇒ Eph 4:16. by God's Word "which is able to build you up"; ⇒ Acts 20:32. by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 12:13. by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts"; LG 7 # 2. by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church." LG 12 # 2; cf. AA 3.

Charisms

Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.

Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms. Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 13.

It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office (is) not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good," LG 12; cf. 30; ⇒ 1 Thess 5:12, ⇒ 19-21 ; John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 24. so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together "for the common good." ⇒ 1 Cor 12:7.

IN BRIEF

Christ Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own" ( Titus 2:14).

"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" ( 1 Pet 2:9).

One enters into the People of God by faith and Baptism. "All men are called to belong to the new People of God" (LG 13), so that, in Christ, "men may form one family and one People of God" (AG 1).

The Church is the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now risen, establishes the community of believers as his own Body.

In the unity of this Body, there is a diversity of members and functions. All members are linked to one another, especially to those who are suffering, to the poor and persecuted.

The Church is this Body of which Christ is the head: she lives from him, in him, and for him; he lives with her and in her.

The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of all God's children.

The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. the Spirit is the soul, as it were, of the Mystical Body, the source of its life, of its unity in diversity, and of the riches of its gifts and charisms.

"Hence the universal Church is seen to be 'a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit'" (LG 4 citing St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 23: PL 4, 553).

Paragraph 3. THE CHURCH IS ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC

"This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic." LG 8. These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, Cf. DS 2888. indicate essential features of the Church and her mission. the Church does not possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.

Only faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human reason. As the First Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvellous propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an irrefutable witness of her divine mission." Vatican Council I, DS Filius 3: DS 3013.

I. THE CHURCH IS ONE

"The sacred mystery of the Church's unity" (UR 2)

The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit." UR 2 # 5. The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross, . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body." GS 78 # 3. The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity." UR 2 # 2. Unity is of the essence of the Church:

What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her "Church." St. Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1, 6, 42: PG 8,300.

From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them. Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together. Among the Church's members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life. "Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions." LG 13 # 2. The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity. Yet sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. and so the Apostle has to exhort Christians to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." ⇒ Eph 4:3.

What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity "binds everything together in perfect harmony." ⇒ Col 3:14. But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion: - profession of one faith received from the Apostles; -common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments; - apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God's family. Cf. UR 2; LG 14; ⇒ CIC, can. 205.

"The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it.... This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him." LG 8 # 2.

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God." UR 3 # 5.

Wounds to unity

In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame." UR 3 # 1. The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 751. - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers. Origen, Hom. in Ezech. 9, 1: PG 13, 732.

"However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers .... All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church." UR 3 # 1.

"Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" LG 8 # 2. are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." UR 3 # 2; cf. LG 15. Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, Cf. UR 3. and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity." Cf. LG 8.

Toward unity

"Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time." UR 4 # 3. Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion, and does not cease praying to his Father, for the unity of his disciples: "That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, . . . so that the world may know that you have sent me." ⇒ Jn 17:21 ; cf. ⇒ Heb 7:25. The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit. Cf. UR 1.

Certain things are required in order to respond adequately to this call: - a permanent renewal of the Church in greater fidelity to her vocation; such renewal is the driving-force of the movement toward unity; Cf. UR 6. - conversion of heart as the faithful "try to live holier lives according to the Gospel"; UR 7 # 3. for it is the unfaithfulness of the members to Christ's gift which causes divisions; - prayer in common, because "change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians, should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement, and merits the name 'spiritual ecumenism;"' UR 8 # 1. -fraternal knowledge of each other; Cf. UR 9. - ecumenical formation of the faithful and especially of priests; Cf. UR 10. - dialogue among theologians and meetings among Christians of the different churches and communities; Cf. UR 4; 9; 11. - collaboration among Christians in various areas of service to mankind. Cf. UR 12. "Human service" is the idiomatic phrase.

Concern for achieving unity "involves the whole Church, faithful and clergy alike." UR 5. But we must realize "that this holy objective - the reconciliation of all Christians in the unity of the one and only Church of Christ - transcends human powers and gifts." That is why we place all our hope "in the prayer of Christ for the Church, in the love of the Father for us, and in the power of the Holy Spirit." UR 24 # 2.

II THE CHURCH IS HOLY

"The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as 'alone holy,' loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God." LG 39; Cf. ⇒ Eph 5 25-26. The Church, then, is "the holy People of God," LG 12. and her members are called "saints." Acts 913; 1 Cor 61; ⇒ 16 1.

United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying. "All the activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God." SC 10. It is in the Church that "the fullness of the means of salvation" UR 3 # 5. has been deposited. It is in her that "by the grace of God we acquire holiness." LG 48.

"The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect." LG 48 # 3. In her members perfect holiness is something yet to be acquired: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state - though each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father himself is perfect." LG 11 # 3.

Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it "governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification." LG 42.

If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart BURNING WITH LOVE. and I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT'S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND SPACE - IT'S ETERNAL! St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography of a Saint, tr. Ronald Knox (London: Harvill, 1958) 235.

"Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. the Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal." LG 8 # 3; Cf. UR 3; 6; ⇒ Heb 2:17 ; 726; ⇒ 2 Cor 5:21. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. Cf. 1 ⇒ Jn 1:8-10. In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time. Cf. ⇒ Mt 13:24-30. Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way to holiness:

The Church is therefore holy, though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life, her members are sanctified; if they move away from her life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses, of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul VI, CPG # 19.

By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly pro claiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. Cf. LG 40; 48-51. "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history." John Paul II, CL 16, 3. Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal." CL 17, 3.

"But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness. and so they turn their eyes to Mary": LG 65; Cf. ⇒ Eph 5:26-27. in her, the Church is already the "all-holy."

III. THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC

What does "catholic" mean?

The word "catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." the Church is catholic in a double sense: First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church." St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8, 2: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 311. In her subsists the fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation" UR 3; AG 6; ⇒ Eph 1:22-23. which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession. the Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost Cf. AG 4. and will always be so until the day of the Parousia.

Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: Cf. ⇒ Mt 28:19.

All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God's will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one.... the character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit. LG 13 ## 1-2; cf. ⇒ Jn 11:52.

Each particular Church is "catholic"

"The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in the New Testament.... In them the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated.... In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present, through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is constituted." LG 26.

The phrase "particular church," which is the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession. Cf. CD 11; ⇒ CIC, cann. 368-369. These particular Churches "are constituted after the model of the universal Church; it is in these and formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists." LG 23.

Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity." St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Rom. 1, 1: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 192; cf. LG 13. "For with this church, by reason of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord." St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 3, 2: PG 7/1, 849; Cf. Vatican Council I DS 3057. Indeed, "from the incarnate Word's descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior's promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her." St. Maximus the Confessor, Opuscula theo.: PG 91 137-140.

"Let us be very careful not to conceive of the universal Church as the simple sum, or . . . the more or less anomalous federation of essentially different particular churches. In the mind of the Lord the Church is universal by vocation and mission, but when she pub down her roots in a variety of cultural, social, and human terrains, she takes on different external expressions and appearances in each part of the world." Paul VI, EN 62. The rich variety of ecclesiastical disciplines, liturgical rites, and theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches "unified in a common effort, shows all the more resplendently the catholicity of the undivided Church." LG 23.

Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

"All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God.... and to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God's grace to salvation." LG 13.

"Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'" LG 14.

"The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter." LG 15. Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church." UR 3. With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist." Paul VI, Discourse, December 14, 1975; cf. UR 13-18.

The Church and non-Christians

"Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways." LG 16. The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, Cf. NA 4. "the first to hear the Word of God." Roman Missal, Good Friday 13: General Intercessions, VI. The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ", ⇒ Rom 9:4-5. "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." ⇒ Rom 11:29.

and when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." LG 16; cf. NA 3.

The Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . . NA 1.

The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life." LG 16; cf. NA 2; EN 53.

In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:

Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair. LG 16; cf. ⇒ Rom 1:21, ⇒ 25.

To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. the Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. the Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood. St. Augustine, Serm. 96, 7, 9: PL 38, 588; St. Ambrose, De virg. 18, 118: PL 16, 297B; cf. already ⇒ 1 Pet 3:20-21.

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 73.21: PL 3, 1169; De unit.: PL 4, 509-536. Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. LG 14; cf. ⇒ Mk 16:16 ; ⇒ Jn 3:5[ETML:C/].

This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. LG 16; cf. DS 3866-3872.

"Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men." AG 7; cf. ⇒ Heb 11:6 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 9:16.

Mission - a requirement of the Church's catholicity

The missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men": AG 1; cf. ⇒ Mt 16:15. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age." ⇒ Mt 28:19-20.

The origin and purpose of mission. the Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit." AG 2. The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love. Cf. John Paul II, RMiss 23.

Missionary motivation. It is from God's love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ urges us on." ⇒ 2 Cor 5:14 ; cf. AA 6; RMiss 11. Indeed, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"; ⇒ 1 Tim 2:4. that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.

Missionary paths. the Holy Spirit is the protagonist, "the principal agent of the whole of the Church's mission." John Paul II, RMiss 21. It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. "This mission continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection." AG 5. So it is that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians." Tertullian, Apol. 50, 13: PL 1, 603.

On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted." GS 43 # 6. Only by taking the "way of penance and renewal," the "narrow way of the cross," can the People of God extend Christ's reign. LG 8 # 3; 15; AG 1 # 3; cf. RMiss 12-20. For "just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men." LG 8 # 3.

By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God." GS 40 # 2. Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, Cf. RMiss 42 47. continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," AG 15 # 1. and leads to the foundation of local churches. Cf. RMiss 48-49. It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. Cf. RMiss 52-54. There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic." AG 6 # 2.

The Church's mission stimulates efforts towards Christian unity. Cf. RMiss 50. Indeed, "divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice the fullness of catholicity proper to her in those of her sons who, though joined to her by Baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her. Furthermore, the Church herself finds it more difficult to express in actual life her full catholicity in all its aspects." UR 4 # 8.

The missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the Gospel. Cf. RMiss 55. Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning to appreciate better "those elements of truth and grace which are found among peoples, and which are, as it were, a secret presence of God." AG 9. They proclaim the Good News to those who do not know it, in order to consolidate, complete, and raise up the truth and the goodness that God has distributed among men and nations, and to purify them from error and evil "for the glory of God, the confusion of the demon, and the happiness of man." AG 9.

IV. THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC

The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the foundation of the Apostles," ⇒ Eph 2:20 ; ⇒ Rev 21:14. The witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself; Cf. ⇒ Mt 28:16-20 ; ⇒ Acts 1:8 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 9:1 ; ⇒ 15:7-8 ; ⇒ Gal 1:1 ; etc. - with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, Cf. ⇒ Acts 2:42. The "good deposit," the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; Cf. ⇒ 2 Tim 1:13-14. - she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, "assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor": AG 5.

You are the eternal Shepherd

who never leaves his flock untended.

Through the apostles you watch over us and protect us always.

You made them shepherds of the flock

to share in the work of your Son.... Roman Missal, Preface of the Apostles I.

The Apostles' mission

Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he "called to him those whom he desired; .... and he appointed twelve, whom also he named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach." ⇒ Mk 3:13-14. From then on, they would also be his "emissaries" (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own mission: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." ⇒ Jn 20:21 ; cf. ⇒ Jn 13:20 ; ⇒ Jn 17:18. The apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve: "he who receives you receives me." ⇒ Mt 10:40 ; cf. ⇒ Lk 10:16.

Jesus unites them to the mission he received from the Father. As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but receives everything from the Father who sent him, so those whom Jesus sends can do nothing apart from him, ⇒ Jn 5:19, ⇒ 30 ; cf. ⇒ Jn 15:5. from whom they received both the mandate for their mission and the power to carry it out. Christ's apostles knew that they were called by God as "ministers of a new covenant," "servants of God," "ambassadors for Christ," "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." ⇒ 2 Cor 3:6 ; ⇒ 6:4 ; ⇒ 5:20 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 4:1.

In the office of the apostles there is one aspect that cannot be transmitted: to be the chosen witnesses of the Lord's Resurrection and so the foundation stones of the Church. But their office also has a permanent aspect. Christ promised to remain with them always. the divine mission entrusted by Jesus to them "will continue to the end of time, since the Gospel they handed on is the lasting source of all life for the Church. Therefore, . . . the apostles took care to appoint successors." LG 20; cf. ⇒ Mt 28:20.

The bishops - successors of the apostles

"In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their ministry." LG 20; cf. ⇒ Acts 20:28 ; St. Clement of Rome, Ad Cor. 42, 44: PG 1, 291-300.

"Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops." LG 20 # 2. Hence the Church teaches that "the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ." LG 20 # 2.

The apostolate

The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with her origin: and in that she is "sent out" into the whole world. All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways. "The Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well." Indeed, we call an apostolate "every activity of the Mystical Body" that aims "to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth." AA 2.

"Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate"; thus the fruitfulness of apostolate for ordained ministers as well as for lay people clearly depends on their vital union with Christ. AA 4; cf. ⇒ Jn 15:5. In keeping with their vocations, the demands of the times and the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostolate assumes the most varied forms. But charity, drawn from the Eucharist above all, is always "as it were, the soul of the whole apostolate." AA 3.

The Church is ultimately one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that "the Kingdom of heaven," the "Reign of God," ⇒ Rev 19:6. already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time. the kingdom has come in the person of Christ and grows mysteriously in the hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made "holy and blameless before him in love," ⇒ Eph 1:4. will be gathered together as the one People of God, the "Bride of the Lamb," ⇒ Rev 21:9. "the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." ⇒ Rev 21:10-11. For "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." ⇒ Rev 21:14.

IN BRIEF

The Church is one: she acknowledges one Lord, confesses one faith, is born of one Baptism, forms only one Body, is given life by the one Spirit, for the sake of one hope (cf Eph 4:3-5), at whose fulfillment all divisions will be overcome.

The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is "the sinless one made up of sinners." Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.

The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is "missionary of her very nature" (AG 2).

The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" ( Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.

"The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines"(LG 8).

Paragraph 4. CHRIST'S FAITHFUL - HIERARCHY, LAITY, CONSECRATED LIFE

"The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one." ⇒ CIC, Can. 204 para 1 ; Cf. LG 31.

"In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one's own condition and function." ⇒ CIC, Can. 208 ; Cf. LG 32.

The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body serve its unity and mission. For "in the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To the apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in his name and by his power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole People of God." AA 2. Finally, "from both groups [hierarchy and laity] there exist Christian faithful who are consecrated to God in their own special manner and serve the salvific mission of the Church through the profession of the evangelical counsels." ⇒ CIC, Can. 207 # 2.

I. THE HIERARCHICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH

Why the ecclesial ministry?

Christ is himself the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted the Church. He gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal:

In order to shepherd the People of God and to increase its numbers without cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of offices which aim at the good of the whole body. the holders of office, who are invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God . . . may attain to salvation. LG 18.

"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? and how are they to hear without a preacher? and how can men preach unless they are sent?" Rom 10:14:15. No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard." ⇒ Rom 10:17. No one can give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. the one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, they receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi Capitis. the ministry in which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.

Intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry is its character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives mission and authority, ministers are truly "slaves of Christ," Cf. ⇒ Rom 1:1. in the image of him who freely took "the form of a slave" for us. ⇒ Phil 2:7. Because the word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are given to them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become the slaves of all. Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 9:19.

Likewise, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as "the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy." AG 5. Chosen together, they were also sent out together, and their fraternal unity would be at the service of the fraternal communion of all the faithful: they would reflect and witness to the communion of the divine persons. Cf. ⇒ Jn 17:21-23. For this reason every bishop exercises his ministry from within the episcopal college, in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter and head of the college. So also priests exercise their ministry from within the presbyterium of the diocese, under the direction of their bishop.

Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a personal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in communion with one another, they also always act in a personal way. Each one is called personally: "You, follow me" ⇒ Jn 21:22 ; Cf. ⇒ Mt 4:19. ⇒ 21 ; ⇒ Jn 1:4[ETML:C/]. in order to be a personal witness within the common mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."; "I absolve you...."

Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a personal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bonds between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St. Peter, and in the relationship between the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church.

The episcopal college and its head, the Pope

When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them." LG 19; cf. ⇒ Lk 6:13 ; ⇒ Jn 21:15-17. Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another." LG 22; cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 330.

The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. Cf. ⇒ Mt 16:18-19 ; ⇒ Jn 21:15-17. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." LG 22 # 2. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful." LG 23. "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered." LG 22; cf. CD 2,9.

"The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head." As such, this college has "supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff." LG 22; cf. ⇒ CIC, can 336.

"The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council." ⇒ CIC, can. 337 # 1. But "there never is an ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter's successor." LG 22.

"This college, in so far as it is composed of many members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the People of God; and of the unity of the flock of Christ, in so far as it is assembled under one head." LG 22.

"The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches." LG 23. As such, they "exercise their pastoral office over the portion of the People of God assigned to them," LG 23. assisted by priests and deacons. But, as a member of the episcopal college, each bishop shares in the concern for all the Churches. Cf. CD 3. The bishops exercise this care first "by ruling well their own Churches as portions of the universal Church," and so contributing "to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from another point of view, is a corporate body of Churches." LG 23. They extend it especially to the poor, Cf. ⇒ Gal 2:10. to those persecuted for the faith, as well as to missionaries who are working throughout the world.

Neighboring particular Churches who share the same culture form ecclesiastical provinces or larger groupings called patriarchates or regions. Cf. Apostolic Constitutions 34. The bishops of these groupings can meet in synods or provincial councils. "In a like fashion, the episcopal conferences at the present time are in a position to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegiate spirit." LG 23 # 3.

The teaching office

Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command. PO 4; cf. ⇒ Mk 16:15. They are "heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ." LG 25.

In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a "supernatural sense of faith" the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, "unfailingly adheres to this faith." LG 12; cf. DV 10.

The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. the exercise of this charism takes several forms:

"The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.... the infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council. LG 25; cf. Vatican Council I: DS 3074. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed," DV 10 # 2. and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith." LG 25 # 2. This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself. Cf. LG 25.

Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent" LG 25. which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.

The sanctifying office

The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood," LG 26. especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. the Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. the bishop and priests sanctify the Church by their prayer and work, by their ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock." ⇒ 1 Pet 5:3. Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life." LG 26 # 3.

The governing office

"The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example, but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power" which indeed they ought to exercise so as to edify, in the spirit of service which is that of their Master. LG 27; cf. ⇒ Lk 22:26-27.

"The power which they exercise personally in the name of Christ, is proper, ordinary, and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately controlled by the supreme authority of the Church." LG 27. But the bishops should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope. His ordinary and immediate authority over the whole Church does not annul, but on the contrary confirms and defends that of the bishops. Their authority must be exercised in communion with the whole Church under the guidance of the Pope.

The Good Shepherd ought to be the model and "form" of the bishop's pastoral office. Conscious of his own weaknesses, "the bishop . . . can have compassion for those who are ignorant and erring. He should not refuse to listen to his subjects whose welfare he promotes as of his very own children.... the faithful ... should be closely attached to the bishop as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father": LG 27 # 2.

Let all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ follows his Father, and the college of presbyters as the apostles; respect the deacons as you do God's law. Let no one do anything concerning the Church in separation from the bishop. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8, 1: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 309.

II. THE LAY FAITHFUL

"The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the World." LG 31.

The vocation of lay people

"By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will.... It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer." LG 31 # 2.

The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church:

Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church. Pius XII, Discourse, February 20, 1946: AAS 38 (1946) 149; quoted by John Paul II, CL 9.

Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it. Cf. LG 33. The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office

"Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. and so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives." LG 34; cf. LG 10, ⇒ 1 Pet 2:5.

In a very special way, parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian education of their children." ⇒ CIC, can. 835 # 4.

Lay people who possess the required qualities can be admitted permanently to the ministries of lector and acolyte. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 230 # 1. When the necessity of the Church warrants it and when ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply for certain of their offices, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to preside over liturgical prayers, to confer Baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion in accord with the prescriptions of law." ⇒ CIC, can. 230 # 3.

Participation in Christ's prophetic office

"Christ . . . fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy . . . but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses and provides them with the sense of the faith [sensus fidei] and the grace of the word" LG 35.

To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh. III, 71, 4 ad 3.

Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, "that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world." LG 35 # 1, # 2.

This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful. AA 6 # 3; cf. AG 15.

Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communications media. Cf. ⇒ CIC, cann. 229 ; ⇒ 774 ; ⇒ 776 ; ⇒ 780 ; ⇒ 823 # 1.

"In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons." ⇒ CIC, can. 212 # 3.

Participation in Christ's kingly office

By his obedience unto death, Cf. ⇒ Phil 2:8-9. Christ communicated to his disciples the gift of royal freedom, so that they might "by the self-abnegation of a holy life, overcome the reign of sin in themselves": LG 36.

That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal power over himself. and because he knows how to rule his own person as king, so too does he sit as its judge. He will not let himself be imprisoned by sin, or thrown headlong into wickedness. St. Ambrose, Psal 118:14:30: PL 15:1476.

"Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice, favoring rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will impregnate culture and human works with a moral value." LG 36 # 3.

"The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate with their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake of its growth and life. This can be done through the exercise of different kinds of ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has been pleased to bestow on them." Paul VI, EN 73.

In the Church, "lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this power [of governance] in accord with the norm of law." ⇒ CIC, can. 129 # 2. and so the Church provides for their presence at particular councils, diocesan synods, pastoral councils; the exercise in solidum of the pastoral care of a parish, collaboration in finance committees, and participation in ecclesiastical tribunals, etc. Cf. ⇒ CIC, cann. 443 # 4 ; ⇒ 463 ## 1 and 2 ; ⇒ 492 # 1 ; ⇒ 511 ; ⇒ 517 # 2 ; ⇒ 536 ; ⇒ 1421 # 2.

The faithful should "distinguish carefully between the rights and the duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as members of the human society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously, remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a Christian conscience, since no human activity, even of the temporal order, can be withdrawn from God's dominion." LG 36 # 4.

"Thus, every person, through these gifts given to him, is at once the witness and the living instrument of the mission of the Church itself 'according to the measure of Christ's bestowal."' LG 33 # 2; cf. ⇒ Eph 4:7.

III. THE CONSECRATED LIFE

"The state of life which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness." LG 44 # 4.

Evangelical counsels, consecrated life

Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. the perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God. Cf. LG 42-43; PC 1.

The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. Cf. PC 5. In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 573.

One great tree, with many branches

"From the God-given seed of the counsels a wonderful and wide-spreading tree has grown up in the field of the Lord, branching out into various forms of the religious life lived in solitude or in community. Different religious families have come into existence in which spiritual resources are multiplied for the progress in holiness of their members and for the good of the entire Body of Christ." LG 43.

From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. These the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved. PC 1.

Bishops will always strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life granted to the Church by the Holy Spirit; the approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic See. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 605.

The eremitic life

Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance." ⇒ CIC, can. 603 # 1.

They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.

Consecrated virgins

From apostolic times Christian virgins, called by the Lord to cling only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the Church's approval to live in a state of virginity "for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven." ⇒ Mt 19:12 ; cf. ⇒ l Cor 7:34-36.

"Virgins who, committed to the holy plan of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church." ⇒ CIC, can. 604 # 1. By this solemn rite (Consecratio virginum), the virgin is "constituted . . . a sacred person, a transcendent sign of the Church's love for Christ, and an eschatological image of this heavenly Bride of Christ and of the life to come." Ordo Consecrationis Virginum, Praenotanda 1.

"As with other forms of consecrated life," the order of virgins establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in prayer, penance, service of her brethren, and apostolic activity, according to the state of life and spiritual gifts given to her. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 604 # 1 ; OCV Praenotanda 2. Consecrated virgins can form themselves into associations to observe their commitment more faithfully. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 604 # 2.

Religious life

Religious life was born in the East during the first centuries of Christianity. Lived within institutes canonically erected by the Church, it is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, public profession of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life led in common, and witness given to the union of Christ with the Church. Cf. ⇒ CIC, cann. 607 ; ⇒ 573 ; UR 15.

Religious life derives from the mystery of the Church. It is a gift she has received from her Lord, a gift she offers as a stable way of life to the faithful called by God to profess the counsels. Thus, the Church can both show forth Christ and acknowledge herself to be the Savior's bride. Religious life in its various forms is called to signify the very charity of God in the language of our time.

All religious, whether exempt or not, take their place among the collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. Cf. CD 33-35; ⇒ CIC, can. 591. From the outset of the work of evangelization, the missionary "planting" and expansion of the Church require the presence of the religious life in all its forms. Cf. AG 18; 40. "History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by religious families in the propagation of the faith and in the formation of new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval orders, all the way to the more recent congregations." John Paul II, RMiss 69.

Secular institutes

"A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within." ⇒ CIC, can. 710.

By a "life perfectly and entirely consecrated to [such] sanctification," the members of these institutes share in the Church's task of evangelization, "in the world and from within the world," where their presence acts as "leaven in the world." Pius XII, Provida Mater; cf. PC 11. "Their witness of a Christian life" aims "to order temporal things according to God and inform the world with the power of the gospel." They commit themselves to the evangelical counsels by sacred bonds and observe among themselves the communion and fellowship appropriate to their "particular secular way of life." Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 713 # 2.

Societies of apostolic life

Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of their society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical counsels" according to their constitutions. Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 731 ## 1 and 2.

Consecration and mission: proclaiming the King who is corning

Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church. By this state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderfully in her. and so the first mission of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work, in accord with the character of the institute." ⇒ CIC, can. 783. ; cf. RM 69

In the Church, which is like the sacrament - the sign and instrument - of God's own life, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the mystery of redemption. To follow and imitate Christ more nearly and to manifest more clearly his self-emptying is to be more deeply present to one's contemporaries, in the heart of Christ. For those who are on this "narrower" path encourage their brethren by their example, and bear striking witness "that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes." LG 31 # 2.

Whether their witness is public, as in the religious state, or less public, or even secret, Christ's coming remains for all those consecrated both the origin and rising sun of their life:

For the People of God has here no lasting city, . . . [and this state] reveals more clearly to all believers the heavenly goods which are already present in this age, witnessing to the new and eternal life which we have acquired through the redemptive work of Christ and preluding our future resurrection and the glory of the heavenly kingdom. LG 44 # 3.

IN BRIEF

"Among the Christian faithful by divine institution there exist in the Church sacred ministers, who are also called clerics in law, and other Christian faithful who are also called laity." In both groups there are those Christian faithful who, professing the evangelical counsels, are consecrated to God and so serve the Church's saving mission (cf. CIC, can. 207 # 1, 2).

To proclaim the faith and to plant his reign, Christ sends his apostles and their successors. He gives them a share in his own mission. From him they receive the power to act in his person.

The Lord made St. Peter the visible foundation of his Church. He entrusted the keys of the Church to him. the bishop of the Church of Rome, successor to St. Peter, is "head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth" ( CIC, can. 331).

The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, "supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls" (CD 2).

The Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles. They are "the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches" (LG 23).

Helped by the priests, their co-workers, and by the deacons, the bishops have the duty of authentically teaching the faith, celebrating divine worship, above all the Eucharist, and guiding their Churches as true pastors. Their responsibility also includes concern for all the Churches, with and under the Pope.

"The characteristic of the lay state being a life led in the midst of the world and of secular affairs, lay people are called by God to make of their apostolate, through the vigor of their Christian spirit, a leaven in the world" (AA 2 # 2).

Lay people share in Christ's priesthood: ever more united with him, they exhibit the grace of Baptism and Confirmation in all dimensions of their personal family, social and ecclesial lives, and so fulfill the call to holiness addressed to all the baptized.

By virtue of their prophetic mission, lay people "are called . . . to be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the community of mankind" (GS 43 # 4).

By virtue of their kingly mission, lay people have the power to uproot the rule of sin within themselves and in the world, by their self-denial and holiness of life (cf. LG 36).

The life consecrated to God is characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a stable state of life recognized by the Church.

Already destined for him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the whole Church.

Paragraph 5. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

After confessing "the holy catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" Nicetas, Expl. Symb., 10: PL 52:871B. The communion of saints is the Church.

"Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others.... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head.... Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments." St. Thomas Aquinas, Symb., 10. "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund." Roman Catechism I, 10, 24.

The term "communion of saints" therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and "among holy persons (sancti).

"Sancta sancti's! ("God's holy gifts for God's holy people") is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. the faithful (sancta) are fed by Christ's holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.

I. COMMUNION IN SPIRITUAL GOODS

In the primitive community of Jerusalem, the disciples "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers." ⇒ Acts 2:42. Communion in the faith. the faith of the faithful is the faith of the Church, received from the apostles. Faith is a treasure of life which is enriched by being shared.

Communion of the sacraments. "The fruit of all the sacraments belongs to all the faithful. All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful with one another and binding them to Jesus Christ, and above all Baptism, the gate by which we enter into the Church. the communion of saints must be understood as the communion of the sacraments.... the name 'communion' can be applied to all of them, for they unite us to God.... But this name is better suited to the Eucharist than to any other, because it is primarily the Eucharist that brings this communion about." Roman Catechism 1, 10, 24.

Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the building up of the Church. LG 12 # 2. Now, "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." ⇒ 1 Cor 12:7.

"They had everything in common." ⇒ Acts 4:32. "Everything the true Christian has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christians should be ready and eager to come to the help of the needy . . . and of their neighbors in want." Roman Catechism 1, 10, 27. A Christian is a steward of the Lord's goods. Cf. ⇒ Lk 16:1, 3.

Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." ⇒ Rom 14:7. "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." ⇒ 1 Cor 12:26-27. "Charity does not insist on its own way." ⇒ 1 Cor 13:5 ; cf. ⇒ 10:24. In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion.

II. THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating 'in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is"': LG 49; cf. ⇒ Mt 25:31 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 15:26-27 ; Council of Florence (1439): DS 1305.

All of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the same charity towards God and our neighbours, and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All, indeed, who are of Christ and who have his Spirit form one Church and in Christ cleave together. LG 49; cf. ⇒ Eph 4:16.

"So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods." LG 49.

The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.... They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped." LG 49; cf. ⇒ 1 Tim 2:5.

Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life. St. Dominic, dying, to his brothers.

I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. St. Therese of Lisieux, the Final Conversations, tr. John Clarke (Washington: ICS, 1977), 102.

Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself" LG 50; cf. ⇒ Eph 4:1-6. :

We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples! Martyrium Polycarpi, 17: Apostolic Fathers II/3, 396.

Communion with the dead. "In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins' she offers her suffrages for them." LG 50; cf. ⇒ 2 Macc 12:45. Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.

In the one family of God. "For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ - we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church." LG 51; d. ⇒ Heb 3:6.

IN BRIEF

The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought about" (LG 3).

The term "communion of saints" refers also to the communion of "holy persons" (sancti) in Christ who "died for all," so that what each one does or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all.

"We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive] to our prayers" (Paul VI, CPG # 30).

Paragraph 6. MARY - MOTHER OF CHRIST, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer.... She is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ' ... since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head." LG 53; cf. St. Augustine, De virg. 6: PL 40,399. "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church." Paul VI, Discourse, November 21,1964.

I. MARY'S MOTHERHOOD WITH REGARD TO THE CHURCH

Wholly united with her Son . . .

Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; LG 57. it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son." LG 58; cf. ⇒ Jn 19:26-27.

After her Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." LG 69. In her association with the apostles and several women, "we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation." LG 59.

. . . also in her Assumption

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." LG 59; cf. Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950): DS 3903; cf. ⇒ Rev 19:16. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th.

. . . she is our Mother in the order of grace

By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) LG 53; 63. of the Church.

Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace." LG 61.

"This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." LG 62.

"Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it." LG 60. "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source." LG 62.

II. DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

"All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." ⇒ Lk 1:48 ; Paul VI, MC 56. The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.... This very special devotion ... differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." LG 66. The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary. Cf. Paul VI, MC 42; SC 103.

III. MARY - ESCHATOLOGICAL ICON OF THE CHURCH

After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the saints," LG 69. The Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.

In the meantime the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God. LG 68; Cf. ⇒ 2 Pet 3 10.

IN BRIEF

By pronouncing her "fiat" at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, Mary was al ready collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish. She is mother wherever he is Savior and head of the Mystical Body.

The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.

"We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ" (Paul VI, CPG # 15).

Article 10 "I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS"

Article 10

"I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS"

The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the communion of saints. It was when he gave the Holy Spirit to his apostles that the risen Christ conferred on them his own divine power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." ⇒ Jn 20:22-23.

(Part Two of the catechism will deal explicitly with the forgiveness of sins through Baptism, the sacrament of Penance, and the other sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Here it will suffice to suggest some basic facts briefly.)

I. One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins

Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." ⇒ Mk 16:15-16. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life." ⇒ Rom 6:4 ; Cf. ⇒ 4:25.

"When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil " Roman Catechism I, 11,3.

In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be brave and watchful enough to escape every wound of sin? "If the Church has the power to forgive sins, then Baptism cannot be her only means of using the keys of the Kingdom of heaven received from Jesus Christ. the Church must be able to forgive all penitents their offenses, even if they should sin until the last moment of their lives." Roman Catechism I, 11,4.

It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:

Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers "a laborious kind of baptism." This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1672; Cf. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 39,17: PG 36,356.

II. The Power of the Keys

After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." ⇒ Lk 24:47. The apostles and their successors carry out this "ministry of reconciliation," not only by announcing to men God's forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith; but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ: ⇒ 2 Cor 5:18.

[The Church] has received the keys of the Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit's action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us. St. Augustine, Sermo 214, 11: PL 38, 1071-1072.

There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Roman Catechism I, 11, 5. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin. Cf. ⇒ Mt 18:21-22.

Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the mission and the power to forgive sins through the ministry of the apostles and their successors:

The Lord wills that his disciples possess a tremendous power: that his lowly servants accomplish in his name all that he did when he was on earth. Cf. St. Ambrose, De poenit. I, 15: PL 16, 490. Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels nor to archangels .... God above confirms what priests do here below. John Chrysostom, De sac. 3, 5: PG 48, 643. Were there no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope of life to come or eternal liberation. Let us thank God who has given his Church such a gift. St. Augustine, Sermo 213, 8: PL 38,1064.

The Creed links "the forgiveness of sins" with its profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the apostles the power to forgive sins when he gave them the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.

By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the sacrament of Penance.

"In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification" (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).

Article 11 "I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY"

Article 11

"I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY"

The Christian Creed - the profession of our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in God's creative, saving, and sanctifying action - culminates in the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead on the last day and in life everlasting.

We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day. Cf. ⇒ Jn 6:39-40. Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. ⇒ Rom 8:11 ; cf. ⇒ 1 Thess 4:14 ; ⇒ 1 Cor 6:14 ; ⇒ 2 Cor 4:14 ; ⇒ Phil 3:10-11.

The term "flesh" refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality. Cf. ⇒ Gen 6:3 ; ⇒ Ps 56:5 ; ⇒ Isa 40:6. The "resurrection of the flesh" (the literal formulation of the Apostles' Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our "mortal body" will come to life again. ⇒ Rom 8:11.

Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live." Tertullian, De res, 1,1: PL 2, 841. How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ⇒ 1 Cor 15:12-14.

I. Christ's Resurrection and Ours

The progressive revelation of the Resurrection

God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively. Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead established itself as a consequence intrinsic to faith in God as creator of the whole man, soul and body. the creator of heaven and earth is also the one who faithfully maintains his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. It was in this double perspective that faith in the resurrection came to be expressed. In their trials, the Maccabean martyrs confessed:

The King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws. ⇒ 2 Macc 7:9. One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. ⇒ 2 Macc 7:14 ; cf. ⇒ 7:29 ; ⇒ Dan 12:1-13.

The Pharisees and many of the Lord's contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. Jesus teaches it firmly. To the Sadducees who deny it he answers, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" ⇒ Mk 12:24 ; cf. In 11:24; ⇒ Acts 23:6. Faith in the resurrection rests on faith in God who "is not God of the dead, but of the living." ⇒ Mk 12:27.

But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life." ⇒ Jn 11:25. It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. Cf. ⇒ Jn 5:24-25 ; ⇒ 6:40, ⇒ 54. Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, Cf. ⇒ Mk 5:21-42 ; ⇒ Lk 7:11-17 ; ⇒ Jn 11. announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," ⇒ Mt 12:39. The sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day. Cf. ⇒ Mk 10:34 ; ⇒ Jn 2:19-22.

To be a witness to Christ is to be a "witness to his Resurrection," to "[have eaten and drunk] with him after he rose from the dead." ⇒ Acts 1:22 ; ⇒ 10:41 ; cf. ⇒ 4:33. Encounters with the risen Christ characterize the Christian hope of resurrection. We shall rise like Christ, with him, and through him.

From the beginning, Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition. Cf. ⇒ Acts 17:32 ; ⇒ 12Cor 15:12-13. "On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body." St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 88, 5: PL 37, 1134. It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life?

How do the dead rise?

What is "rising"? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus' Resurrection.

Who will rise? All the dead will rise, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." ⇒ Jn 5:29 ; cf. ⇒ Dan 12:2.

How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; ⇒ Lk 24:39. but he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, "all of them will rise again with their own bodies which they now bear," but Christ "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body," into a "spiritual body": Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 801; ⇒ Phil 3:21 ; 2 Cor 15:44.

But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. and what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel ....What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.... the dead will be raised imperishable.... For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. ⇒ 1 Cor 15:35-37, ⇒ 42, ⇒ 52, ⇒ 53.

This "how" exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ's transfiguration of our bodies:

Just as bread that comes from the earth, after God's blessing has been invoked upon it, is no longer ordinary bread, but Eucharist, formed of two things, the one earthly and the other heavenly: so too our bodies, which partake of the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possess the hope of resurrection. St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 18, 4-5: PG 7/1, 1028-1029.

When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world." ⇒ Jn 6: 39-40, ⇒ 44, ⇒ 54 ; ⇒ 11:24 ; LG 48 # 3. Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ will rise first. ⇒ 1 Thess 4:16.

Risen with Christ

Christ will raise us up "on the last day"; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. For, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ:

And you were buried with him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead .... If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ⇒ Col 2:12 ; ⇒ 3:1.

United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains "hidden with Christ in God." ⇒ Col 3:3 ; cf. ⇒ Phil 3:20. The Father has already "raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." ⇒ Eph 2:6. Nourished with his body in the Eucharist, we already belong to the Body of Christ. When we rise on the last day we "also will appear with him in glory." ⇒ Col 3:4.

In expectation of that day, the believer's body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that he should treat with respect his own body, but also the body of every other person, especially the suffering:

The body [is meant] for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? .... You are not your own; .... So glorify God in your body. ⇒ 1 Cor 6:13-15, ⇒ 19-20.

II. Dying in Christ Jesus

To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord." ⇒ 2 Cor 5:8. In that "departure" which is death the soul is separated from the body. Cf. ⇒ Phil 1:23. It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead. Cf. Paul VI, CPG # 28.

Death

"It is in regard to death that man's condition is most shrouded in doubt." GS 18. In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact "the wages of sin." ⇒ Rom 6:23 ; cf. ⇒ Gen 2:17. For those who die in Christ's grace it is a participation in the death of the Lord, so that they can also share his Resurrection. Cf. ⇒ Rom 6:3-9 ; ⇒ Phil 3:10-11.

Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, . . . before the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. ⇒ Eccl 12:1, 7.

Death is a consequence of sin. the Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death entered the world on account of man's sin. Cf. ⇒ Gen 2:17 ; ⇒ 3:3 ; ⇒ 3:19 ; ⇒ Wis 1:13 ; ⇒ Rom 5:12 ; ⇒ 6:23 ; DS 1511. Even though man's nature is mortal God had destined him not to die. Death was therefore contrary to the plans of God the Creator and entered the world as a consequence of sin. Cf. ⇒ Wis 2:23-24. "Bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" is thus "the last enemy" of man left to be conquered. GS 18 # 2; cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 15:26.

Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will. Cf. ⇒ Mk 14:33-34 ; ⇒ Heb 5:7-8. The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing. Cf. ⇒ Rom 5:19-21.

The meaning of Christian death

Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." ⇒ Phil 1:21. "The saying is sure: if we have died with him, we will also live with him. ⇒ 2 Tim 2:11. What is essentially new about Christian death is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ" sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace, physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act:

It is better for me to die in (eis) Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. Him it is I seek - who died for us. Him it is I desire - who rose for us. I am on the point of giving birth .... Let me receive pure light; when I shall have arrived there, then shall I be a man. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Rom., 6, 1-2: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 217-220.

In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ. " ⇒ Phil 1:23. He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ: Cf. ⇒ Lk 23:46.

My earthly desire has been crucified; . . . there is living water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Rom., 6, 1- 2: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 223-224. I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die. St. Teresa of Avila, Life, chap. 1. I am not dying; I am entering life. St. Therese of Lisieux, the Last Conversations.

The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: Cf. I Thess 4:13-14.

Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven. Roman Missal, Preface of Christian Death I.

Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When "the single course of our earthly life" is completed, LG 48 # 3. we shall not return to other earthly lives: "It is appointed for men to die once." ⇒ Heb 9:27. There is no "reincarnation" after death.

The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our death. In the litany of the saints, for instance, she has us pray: "From a sudden and unforeseen death, deliver us, O Lord"; Roman Missal, Litany of the saints. to ask the Mother of God to intercede for us "at the hour of our death" in the Hail Mary; and to entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death.

Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience .... Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you aren't fit to face death today, it's very unlikely you will be tomorrow .... The Imitation of Christ, 1, 23, 1. Praised are you, my Lord, for our sister bodily Death,

from whom no living man can escape.

Woe on those who will die in mortal sin!

Blessed are they who will be found in your most holy will,

for the second death will not harm them. St. Francis of Assisi Canticle of the Creatures.

IN BRIEF

"The flesh is the hinge of salvation" (Tertullian, De res. 8, 2: PL 2, 852). We believe in God who is creator of the flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh; we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and the redemption of the flesh.

By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever, so all of us will rise at the last day.

"We believe in the true resurrection of this flesh that we now possess" (Council of Lyons II: DS 854). We sow a corruptible body in the tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body, a "spiritual body" (cf 1 Cor 15:42-44).

As a consequence of original sin, man must suffer "bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" (GS # 18).

Jesus, the Son of God, freely suffered death for us in complete and free submission to the will of God, his Father. By his death he has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation to all men.

Article 12 "I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING"

Article 12

"I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING"

The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life. When the Church for the last time speaks Christ's words of pardon and absolution over the dying Christian, seals him for the last time with a strengthening anointing, and gives him Christ in viaticum as nourishment for the journey, she speaks with gentle assurance:

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world

in the name of God the almighty Father,

who created you,

in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,

who suffered for you,

in the name of the Holy Spirit,

who was poured out upon you.

Go forth, faithful Christian! May you live in peace this day,

may your home be with God in Zion,

with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,

with Joseph, and all the angels and saints.... May you return to [your Creator]

who formed you from the dust of the earth.

May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints

come to meet you as you go forth from this life.... May you see your Redeemer face to face. OCF, Prayer of Commendation.

I. The Particular Judgment

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. Cf. ⇒ 2 Tim 1:9-10. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. the parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -a destiny which can be different for some and for others. Cf. ⇒ Lk 16:22 ; ⇒ 23:43 ; ⇒ Mt 16:26 ; ⇒ 2 Cor 5:8 ; ⇒ Phil 1:23 ; ⇒ Heb 9:27 ; ⇒ 12:23.

Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 857-858; Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304- 1306; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820. or immediately, Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000-1001; John XXII, Ne super his (1334): DS 990. -or immediate and everlasting damnation. Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1002.

At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love. St. John of the Cross, Dichos 64.

II. Heaven

Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face: ⇒ 1 Jn 3:2 ; cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 13:12 ; ⇒ Rev 22:4.

By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000; cf. LG 49.

This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." the elect live "in Christ," ⇒ Phil 1:23 ; cf. ⇒ Jn 14:3 ; ⇒ 1 Thess 4:17. but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name. Cf. ⇒ Rev 2:17.

For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom. St. Ambrose, In Luc., 10, 121: PL 15, 1834A.

By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. the life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.

This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him." ⇒ 1 Cor 2:9.

Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. the Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision":

How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends. St. Cyprian, Ep. 58, 10, 1: CSEL 3/2, 665.

In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever." ⇒ Rev 22:5 ; cf. ⇒ Mt 25:21, ⇒ 23.

III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. Cf. Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820; (1547): 1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. the tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: Cf. ⇒ 1 Cor 3:15 ; ⇒ 1 Pet 1:7.

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39: PL 77, 396; cf. ⇒ Mt 12:31.

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." ⇒ 2 Macc 12:46. From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 856. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41, 5: PG 61, 361; cf. ⇒ Job 1:5.

IV. Hell

We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." 1 ⇒ Jn 3:14-15. Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. Cf. ⇒ Mt 25:31-46. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Cf. ⇒ Mt 5:22, ⇒ 29 ; ⇒ 10:28 ; ⇒ 13:42, ⇒ 50 ; ⇒ Mk 9:43-48. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," ⇒ Mt 13:41-42. and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!" ⇒ Mt 25:41.

The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." Cf. DS 76; 409; 411; 801; 858; 1002; 1351; 1575; Paul VI, CPG # 12. The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few." ⇒ Mt 7:13-14.

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth." LG 48 # 3; ⇒ Mt 22:13 ; cf. ⇒ Heb 9:27 ; ⇒ Mt 25:13, ⇒ 26, ⇒ 30, ⇒ 31 ⇒ 46.

God predestines no one to go to hell; Cf. Council of Orange II (529): DS 397; Council of Trent (1547):1567. for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance": ⇒ 2 Pet 3:9.

Father, accept this offering

from your whole family.

Grant us your peace in this life,

save us from final damnation,

and count us among those you have chosen. Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 88.

V. The Last Judgment

The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," ⇒ Acts 24:15. will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." ⇒ Jn 5:28-29. Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.... and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." ⇒ Mt 25:31, ⇒ 32, ⇒ 46.

In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. Cf. ⇒ Jn 12:49. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life:

All that the wicked do is recorded, and they do not know. When "our God comes, he does not keep silence.". . . he will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . "I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence." St. Augustine, Sermo 18, 4: PL 38, 130-131; cf. ⇒ Ps 50:3.

The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. the Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death. Cf. ⇒ Song 8:6.

The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation." ⇒ 2 Cor 6:2. It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the "blessed hope" of the Lord's return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all who have believed." ⇒ Titus 2:13 ; ⇒ 2 Thess 1:10.

VI. Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth

At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. the universe itself will be renewed:

The Church . . . will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ. LG 48; Cf. ⇒ Acts 3:21 ; ⇒ Eph 1:10 ; ⇒ Col 1:20 ; ⇒ 2 Pet 3:10-13.

Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, "new heavens and a new earth." ⇒ 2 Pet 3:13 ; Cf. ⇒ Rev 21:1. It will be the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single head "all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth." ⇒ Eph 1:10.

In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. Cf. ⇒ Rev 21:5. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." ⇒ Rev 21:4.

For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has been "in the nature of sacrament." Cf. LG 1. Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city" of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." ⇒ Rev 21:2, 9. She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community. Cf. ⇒ Rev 21:27. The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion.

For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God . . . in hope because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.... We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ⇒ Rom 8:19-23.

The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, "so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just," sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ. St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 5, 32, 1 PG 7/2, 210.

"We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed. the form of this world, distorted by sin, is passing away, and we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, in which happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of men." GS 39 # 1.

"Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society." GS 39 # 2.

"When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise . . . according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal kingdom." GS 39 # 3. God will then be "all in all" in eternal life: 1 Cor 5:28.

True and subsistent life consists in this: the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, pouring out his heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to his mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. illum. 18, 29: PG 33, 1049.

IN BRIEF

Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.

"We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ's grace . . . are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when these souls will be reunited with their bodies" (Paul VI, CPG # 28).

"We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and helping our weakness by their fraternal concern" (Paul VI, CPG # 29).

Those who die in God's grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.

By virtue of the "communion of saints," the Church commends the dead to God's mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.

Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality of eternal death" (GCD 69), also called "hell."

Hell's principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

The Church prays that no one should be lost: "Lord, let me never be parted from you." If it is true that no one can save himself, it is also true that God "desires all men to be saved" ( 1 Tim 2:4), and that for him "all things are possible" ( Mt 19:26).

"The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ's tribunal to render an account of their own deeds" (Council of Lyons II [1274]: DS 859; cf. DS 1549).

At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe itself will be transformed. God will then be "all in all" ( 1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life.

"Amen"

The Creed, like the last book of the Bible, Cf. ⇒ Rev 22:21. ends with the Hebrew word amen. This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament. the Church likewise ends her prayers with "Amen."

In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word "believe." This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. and so we can understand why "Amen" may express both God's faithfulness towards us and our trust in him.

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression "God of truth" (literally "God of the Amen"), that is, the God who is faithful to his promises: "He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [amen]." ⇒ Isa 65:16. Our Lord often used the word "Amen," sometimes repeated, Cf. ⇒ Mt 6:2, 5, ⇒ 16 ; ⇒ Jn 5:19. to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God's truth.

Thus the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the "Amen" of infinite love and perfect faithfulness. the Christian's everyday life will then be the "Amen" to the "I believe" of our baptismal profession of faith:

May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if you believe everything you say you believe. and rejoice in your faith each day. St. Augustine, Sermo 58, 11, 13: PL 38, 399.

Jesus Christ himself is the "Amen." ⇒ Rev 3:14. He is the definitive "Amen" of the Father's love for us. He takes up and completes our "Amen" to the Father: "For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God": ⇒ 2 Cor 1:20.

Through him, with him, in him,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all glory and honor is yours,

almighty Father,

God, for ever and ever.

AMEN.

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