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CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT ARTICLE 9"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH" 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...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH CHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT ARTICLE 9"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH" 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."256 These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other,257 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...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITH SECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH CHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT ARTICLE 9"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH" Paragraph 2. The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit I. THE CHURCH - PEOPLE OF GOD 781 "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...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITH SECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH CHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT ARTICLE 9"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH" 748 "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."135 These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By choosing this...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRITARTICLE 8"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT" "No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."7 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...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH CHAPTER THREEI BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."1 "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"'2 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,...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD ARTICLE 7"FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD" I. HE WILL COME AGAIN IN GLORY Christ already reigns through the Church. . . "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."549 Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD ARTICLE 5"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN" 631 Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens."476 The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD ARTICLE 4"JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED, AND WAS BURIED" The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished "once for all"313 by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ. The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITHSECTION TWO THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITHCHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD ARTICLE 3"HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY" Paragraph 1. The Son of God Became Man I. WHY DID THE WORD BECOME FLESH? 456 With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITH SECTION ONE "I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE" CHAPTER TWO GOD COMES TO MEET MAN By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation.1 Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all...

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHSECOND EDITION PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITH SECTION ONE "I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE" 26 We begin our profession of faith by saying: "I believe" or "We believe". Before expounding the Church's faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy and lived in observance of God's commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what "to believe" means. Faith is man's response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life. Thus we...