Catechism of the Catholic Church — paragraphs 1001

1001 When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world." Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's…
1002 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…
1003 United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains "hidden…
1004 In expectation of that day, the believer's body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails…
1005 To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord." In that "departure" which is death…
1006 "It is in regard to death that man's condition is most shrouded in doubt." In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact…
1007 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…
1008 Death is a consequence of sin . The Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches…
1009 Death is transformed by Christ . Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite…
1010 Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." "The saying is sure: if we…
1011 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…
1012 The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: Lord, for your faithful people life is changed,…
1013 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…
1014 The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our death. In the ancient litany of the saints, for instance, she has us…
1015 "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…
1016 By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion…
1017 "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…
1018 As a consequence of original sin, man must suffer "bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" ( GS § 18).
1019 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…
1020 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…
1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament…
1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his…
1023 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…
1024 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…
1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in Christ," but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name.…
1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession…
1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in…
1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and…
1029 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…
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death…
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.…
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus]…
1033 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…
1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be…
1035 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…
1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon…
1037 God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until…
1038 The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who…
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will…
1040 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…
1041 The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation."…
1042 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…
1043 Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, "new heavens and a new earth." It will be the…
1044 In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and…
1045 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…
1046 For the cosmos , Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man: For the creation waits with eager longing…
1047 The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, "so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no…
1048 " 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…
1049 "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…
1050 "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…
1051 Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge…
1052 "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…
1053 "We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness…
1054 Those who die in God's grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a…
1055 By virtue of the "communion of saints," the Church commends the dead to God's mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice…
1056 Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality of eternal death" ( GCD 69), also called…
1057 Hell's principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was…
1058 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…
1059 "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…
1060 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…
1061 The Creed, like the last book of the Bible, ends with the Hebrew word amen. This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament.…
1062 In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word "believe." This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can…
1063 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…
1064 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…
1065 Jesus Christ himself is the "Amen." He is the definitive "Amen" of the Father's love for us. He takes up and completes our "Amen" to the…
1066 In the Symbol of the faith the Church confesses the mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the plan of God's "good pleasure" for all creation:…
1067 "The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind…
1068 It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness…
1069 The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means…
1070 In the New Testament the word "liturgy" refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and…
1071 As the work of Christ liturgy is also an action of his Church . It makes the Church present and manifests her as the visible sign of the…
1072 "The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church": it must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and conversion. It…
1073 The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer…
1074 "The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows." It is…
1075 Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (It is "mystagogy.") by proceeding from the visible to the…
1076 The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a…
1077 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,…
1078 Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift. When applied to man,…
1079 From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blessing . From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the…
1080 From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman. The covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed…
1081 The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus),…
1082 In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated. The Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the…
1083 The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us is thus…
1084 "Seated at the right hand of the Father" and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the…
1085 In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly life…
1086 "Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they…
1087 Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying: they became sacramental signs…
1088 "To accomplish so great a work" - the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation - "Christ is always present in his Church,…
1089 "Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified.…
1090 "In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we…
1091 In the liturgy the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the sacraments of the New…
1092 In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation: he…
1093 In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant . Since Christ's Church was "prepared in…
1094 It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built, and then, that of the Apostles and the…
1095 For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of…
1096 Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy . A better knowledge of the Jewish people's faith and religious life as professed and lived even now…
1097 In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter…
1098 The assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord and to become "a people well disposed." The preparation of hearts is the joint…
1099 The Spirit and the Church cooperate to manifest Christ and his work of salvation in the liturgy. Primarily in the Eucharist, and by analogy…
1100 The Word of God . The Holy Spirit first recalls the meaning of the salvation event to the liturgical assembly by giving life to the Word of…

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