Part 1: The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)
Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)
Chapter 3: I Believe in the Holy Spirit (683 - 1065)
Article 9: "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church" (748 - 975)
Paragraph 3: The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic (811 - 870)
III. THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC ⇡
The Church and ...-Christians ⇡
"Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."325
The relationship of the Church with the ...... People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the ...... People,326 "the first to hear the Word of God."327 The ...... faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the .... "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",328 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."329
325.
LG 16.
326.
Cf. NA 4.
327.
Roman Missal, Good Friday 13:General Intercessions,VI.
328.
329.
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.
Thursday, March 20
Liturgical Color: Violet
On this day in 1212, St. Clare of Assisi
entered the convent against the wishes
of her father. Coming from a wealthy
family, she renounced that lifestyle for a
more spiritual one, eventually founding
the order of Poor Clares.