Catechism

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SABBATH: The Sabbath or seventh "day," on which God rested after the work of the "six days" of creation was completed, as recounted in the opening narrative of the Bible. Creation is thus ordered to the Sabbath, the day to be kept holy to the praise and worship of God. Just as the seventh day or Sabbath completes the first creation, so the "eighth day," Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose from the dead, is celebrated as the "holy day" by Christians--the day on which the "new creation" began (345-349). Thus the Christian observance of Sunday fulfills the commandment to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day (2175).

SACRAMENT: An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit (774, 1131). The sacraments (called "mysteries" in the Eastern Churches) are seven in number: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance or Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony (1210).

SACRAMENTALS: Sacred signs which bear a certain resemblance to the sacraments, and by means of which spiritual effects are signified and obtained through the prayers of the Church (1667).

SACRED HEART: The symbol of the love with which Jesus continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception (478).

SACRIFICE: A ritual offering made to God by a priest on behalf of the people, as a sign of adoration, gratitude, supplication, and communion (2099). The perfect sacrifice was Christ's death on the cross; by this sacrifice, Christ accomplished our redemption as high priest of the new and eternal covenant (616). The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is commemorated and mysteriously made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church (1357, 1544).

SACRILEGE: Profanation of or irreverence toward persons, places, and things which are sacred, i.e., dedicated to God; sacrilege against the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is a particularly grave offense against the first commandment (2120).

SAINT: The "holy one" who leads a life in union with God through the grace of Christ and receives the reward of eternal life. The Church is called the communion of saints, of the holy ones (823, 946; cf. 828). See Canonization.

SALVATION: The forgiveness of sins and restoration of friendship with God, which can be done by God alone (169).

SANCTIFYING GRACE: The grace which heals our human nature wounded by sin by giving us a share in the divine life of the Trinity. It is a habitual, supernatural gift which continues the work of sanctifying us--of making us "perfect," holy, and Christlike (1999).

SANCTUARY: (1) The part of a church set apart for the principal rites of worship (cf. 1183). (2) A shrine or place of pilgrimage (1674).

SATAN: A fallen angel or the devil; the Evil One (391, 395, 2851).

SATISFACTION (FOR SIN): An act whereby the sinner makes amends for sin, especially in reparation to God for offenses against him. The penance given by the confessor in the Sacrament of Penance constitutes such satisfaction. All true satisfaction for sin must be a participation in the satisfaction for sin made by Christ through his death on the cross (1459). See Penance; Penitent/Penitential; Reparation.

SAVIOR: Jesus (which means "God saves" in Hebrew). The Son of God became man to achieve our salvation; he is the unique savior of humanity (430).

SCANDAL: An attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil (2284).

SCHISM: Refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff, or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him (2089).

SCRIPTURE, SACRED: The sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments (101). See Bible.

SEAL OF CONFESSION: The confessor's obligation to keep absolutely secret what a penitent has told to him in the Sacrament of Penance; also known as the "sacramental seal" (1467).

SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: See Parousia.

SECULAR INSTITUTE: See Institute, Secular.

SENSUS FIDEI: A supernatural appreciation of the faith (sensus fidei) shown by the universal consent in matters of faith and morals manifested by the whole body of the faithful under the guidance of the Magisterium (92).

SEPTUAGINT: A pre-Christian Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures made by Jewish scholars, and later adopted by Greek-speaking Christians (213).

SIGN OF THE CROSS: A sign in the form of a cross made by the Christian as a prayer honoring the Blessed Trinity, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (2157; cf. 786).

SIMONY: The buying or selling of spiritual things, which have God alone as their owner and master (2121).

SIN: An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. Sin is a deliberate thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the eternal law of God. In judging the gravity of sin, it is customary to distinguish between mortal and venial sins (1849, 1853, 1854).

SLANDER: See Calumny.

SLOTH: A culpable lack of physical or spiritual effort; acedia or laziness. One of the capital sins (1866, 2094, 2733).

SOCIAL JUSTICE: The respect for the human person and the rights which flow from human dignity and guarantee it. Society must provide the conditions that allow people to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and vocation (1928, 1931).

SOCIAL SIN: The effect of sin over time, which can affect society and its institutions to create "structures of sin," by analogy called "social sin" (1869).

SOCIAL TEACHING: The teaching (social doctrine) of the Church on the truth of revelation about human dignity, human solidarity, and the principles of justice and peace; the moral judgments about economic and social matters required by such truth and about the demands of justice and peace (2419-2422).

SON OF GOD: A title frequently applied to Jesus in the Gospel, signifying his unique relationship to the Father. The second Person of the Blessed Trinity is called Son of God in reference to the Eternal Father. The revelation of his divine sonship is the principal dramatic development of the story of Jesus of Nazareth (441-445).

SON OF MAN: The title used by our Lord of himself in the Gospel. This title connotes a relationship with the eschatological figure of the "Son of man appearing in clouds and glory" in the prophecy of Daniel (Mk 13:26; Dn 7:13) (440; cf. 661).

SOUL: The spiritual principle of human beings. The soul is the subject of human consciousness and freedom; soul and body together form one unique human nature. Each human soul is individual and immortal, immediately created by God. The soul does not die with the body, from which it is separated by death, and with which it will be reunited in the final resurrection (363, 366; cf. 1703).

SPIRIT: See Holy Spirit.

STEALING/THEFT: Unjustly taking and keeping the property of another, against the reasonable will of the owner (2408). Stealing is a violation of the seventh commandment of God, "You shall not steal."

SUICIDE: The willful taking of one's own life; a grievous sin against the fifth commandment. A human person is neither the author nor the supreme arbiter of his life, of which God is sovereign master (2280).

SUNDAY: The "Lord's Day," the principal day of the week for the Eucharistic celebration of the Church. Each Sunday Mass commemorates the resurrection of Christ on the first Easter Sunday, and is a reminder of the first day of creation for those who have become a "new creation in Christ" (1166, 2174, 2180).

SUPERNATURAL: Surpassing the power of created beings; a result of God's gracious initiative. Our vocation to eternal life is supernatural (1998; cf. 1722).

SUPERSTITION: The attribution of a kind of magical power to certain practices or objects, like charms or omens. Reliance on such power, rather than on trust in God, constitutes an offense against the honor due to God alone, as required by the first commandment (2110).

SYNOD: A meeting of bishops of an ecclesiastical province or patriarchate (or even from the whole world, e.g., Synod of Bishops) to discuss the doctrinal and pastoral needs of the church. A diocesan synod is an assembly of priests and other members of Christ's faithful who assist the bishop by offering advice about the needs of the diocese and by proposing legislation for him to enact (887, 911). The words "synod" and "council" are sometimes used interchangeably.

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TABERNACLE: The receptacle in the church in which the consecrated Eucharist is reserved for Communion for the sick and dying. Reservation of the Eucharist in the tabernacle lends itself to private devotional visits and adoration of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament by the faithful (1183, 1379).

TEACHING OFFICE: See Magisterium.

TEMPERANCE: The cardinal moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasure and pro- vides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the mastery of the will over instinct, and keeps natural desires within proper limits (1809).

TEMPLE: The house of worship built in Jerusalem by Solomon as God's dwelling-place, for the exercise of the priestly rites of sacrifice in the Jewish religion. After the capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans, the second temple was destroyed and never rebuilt. Jesus recognized the Temple as God's dwelling, and a house of prayer; he even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place. The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God" (583, 797; cf. 2580).

TEMPTATION: An attraction, either from outside oneself or from within, to act contrary to right reason and the commandments of God. Jesus himself during his life on earth was tempted, put to the test, to manifest both the opposition between himself and the devil and the triumph of his saving work over Satan (538).

TESTAMENT: The name given to the two major parts of the Bible; a synonym for "covenant," as in Old and New Covenants. The Old Testament recounts the history of salvation before the time of Christ (46 books), and the New Testament unfolds the saving work of Jesus and the apostolic beginnings of the Church (27 books) (120-121, 124). See Covenant.

THEOLOGY: The study of God, based on divine revelation (236, 2033, 2038).

THEOPHANY: A revelation or visible appearance of God, as in the case of Moses at Mount Sinai (2059).

TIME: See Eternal Life.

TRADITION: The living transmission of the message of the Gospel in the Church. The oral preaching of the Apostles, and the written message of salvation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Bible), are conserved and handed on as the deposit of faith through the apostolic succession in the Church. Both the living Tradition and the written Scriptures have their common source in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ (75-82). The theological, liturgical, disciplinary, and devotional traditions of the local churches both contain and can be distinguished from this apostolic Tradition (83).

TRANSFIGURATION: The mysterious event in which Jesus, seen speaking with Moses and Elijah on the mountain, was transformed in appearance--in the sight of Peter, James, and John --as a moment of disclosure of his divine glory (554).

TRANSUBSTANTIATION: The scholastic term used to designate the unique change of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. "Transubstantiation" indicates that through the consecration of the bread and the wine there occurs the change of the entire substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ, and of the entire substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ--even though the appearances or "species" of bread and wine remain (1376).

TRIDUUM: A liturgical celebration of three days duration, as in the Easter Triduum (1168).

TRINITY: The mystery of one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The revealed truth of the Holy Trinity is at the very root of the Church's living faith as expressed in the Creed. The mystery of the Trinity in itself is inaccessible to the human mind and is the object of faith only because it was revealed by Jesus Christ, the divine Son of the eternal Father (232, 237, 249, 253-256). See Person, Divine.

TYPOLOGY: The discernment of persons, events, or things in the Old Testament which prefigured, and thus served as a "type" (or prototype) of, the fulfillment of God's plan in the person of Christ. The typology of the Old Testament which is made clear in the New Testament demonstrates the dynamic unity of the divine plan of salvation (128).

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UNITY, CHRISTIAN: See Ecumenism.

VENERATION (OF SAINTS): Showing devotion and respect to Mary, the Apostles, and the martyrs, who were viewed as faithful witnesses to faith in Jesus Christ. Later, veneration was given to those who led a life of prayer and self-denial in giving witness to Christ, whose virtues were recognized and publicly proclaimed in their canonization as saints (828). Such veneration is often extended to the relics or remains of those recognized as saints; indeed, to many sacred objects and images. Veneration must be clearly distinguished from adoration and worship, which are due to God alone (1154, 1674, 2132).

VENIAL SIN: Sin which does not destroy the divine life in the soul, as does mortal sin, though it diminishes and wounds it (1855). Venial sin is the failure to observe necessary moderation, in lesser matters of the moral law, or in grave matters acting without full knowledge or complete consent (1862).

VIATICUM: The Eucharist received by a dying person. It is the spiritual food for one's "passing over" to the Father from this world. With Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, the reception of Holy Communion as Viaticum constitute the "last sacraments" of the Christian (1524).

VICAR OF CHRIST: A title given to St. Peter, head of the Twelve Apostles, and to his successors, the popes (882); "vicar" means one who stands in for or acts for another.

VICE: A habit acquired by repeated sin in violation of the proper norms of human morality. The vices are often linked with the seven capital sins. Repentance for sin and confession may restore grace to a soul, but the removal of the ingrained disposition to sin or vice requires much effort and self-denial, until the contrary virtue is acquired (1866).

VIRGIN BIRTH: The conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary solely by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church's confession of faith in the virgin birth affirms that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit without human seed (496). See Virgin Mary.

VIRGIN MARY: The mother of Jesus, who is honored as "ever-virgin" for her perpetual virginity (499).

VIRTUE: An habitual and firm disposition to do the good. The moral virtues are acquired through human effort aided by God's grace; the theological virtues are gifts of God (1803). See Cardinal Virtues.

VIRTUES, THEOLOGICAL: Gifts infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. The theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity (1813).

VISION, BEATIFIC: See Beatific Vision.

VOCATION: The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. God has created the human person to love and serve him; the fulfillment of this vocation is eternal happiness (1, 358, 1700). Christ calls the faithful to the perfection of holiness (825). The vocation of the laity consists in seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will (898). Priestly and religious vocations are dedicated to the service of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation (cf. 873; 931).

VOW: A deliberate and free promise made to God, concerning a possible and better good which must be fulfilled by reason of the virtue of religion (2102). Religious vows, the public profession of the evangelical counsels in the Church, have an exemplary value in witnessing to the Kingdom to come (cf. 915).

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WAY OF THE CROSS: A devotional exercise which follows the "way of the cross" in the Savior's steps, observing stops or "stations" to meditate on the path Jesus took from the Praetorium in Jerusalem to Golgotha and the tomb. "By his holy Cross he has redeemed the world" (2669).

WISDOM: A spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God; one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (1831). Wisdom is also the name of one of the books of the Old Testament (120).

WORD OF GOD: The entire content of Revelation as contained in the Holy Bible and proclaimed in the Church. In John's Gospel, God's "Word" means his only-begotten Son, who is the fullness of God's Revelation and who took flesh (the Word incarnate) and became man for the sake of our salvation (65, 81, 101, 241, 461; cf. 2653).

WORKS OF MERCY: Charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbors in their bodily and spiritual needs (2447). The spiritual works of mercy include instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving, and patiently forbearing. Corporal works of mercy include feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, sheltering the homeless, and burying the dead (2447).

WORLD: Creation, or the earth, or even the universe. "All that is"--often called the "world" in Scripture--owes its existence to God's act of creation; God's creation is called "good" in the Bible, and human beings are said to have been created "in his own image and likeness" (282, 295). In the New Testament the "world" is sometimes used to indicate the forces of opposition to the work of Jesus and of his Holy Spirit. In this sense it signifies the world which Jesus came to redeem from sin. The world will reach its goal and perfection when it has been renewed and transformed into "the new heaven and the new earth" in the fullness of God's kingdom (1043).

WORSHIP: Adoration and honor given to God, which is the first act of the virtue of religion (2096). Public worship is given to God in the Church by the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ in the liturgy (1067).

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YAHWEH (YHWH): The personal name of the God of Israel, revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, meaning "I am who I am" (205).

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