CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
Paragraphs 701–800
- 701 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…
- 702 From the beginning until "the fullness of time," the joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden , but it is at work.…
- 703 The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature: It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify,…
- 704 "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…
- 705 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," of his…
- 706 Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. In Abraham's…
- 707 Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that…
- 708 This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law. God gave the Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people towards Christ. But…
- 709 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…
- 710 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…
- 711 "Behold, I am doing a new thing." Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to…
- 712 The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," speaking of…
- 713 The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs." These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show…
- 714 This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his own the following passage from Isaiah: The Spirit of the…
- 715 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…
- 716 The People of the "poor" - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but…
- 717 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" by Christ himself,…
- 718 John is "Elijah [who] must come." The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the…
- 719 John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of…
- 720 Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve…
- 721 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…
- 722 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"…
- 723 In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth…
- 724 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…
- 725 Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love, into communion with Christ. And the humble…
- 726 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." As…
- 727 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…
- 728 Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little…
- 729 Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection…
- 730 At last Jesus' hour arrives: he commends his spirit into the Father's hands at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so…
- 731 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…
- 732 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:…
- 733 "God is Love" and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who…
- 734 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…
- 735 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]…
- 736 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…
- 737 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…
- 738 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…
- 739 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…
- 740 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…
- 741 "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…
- 742 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' ( Gal 4:6).
- 743 From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.
- 744 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…
- 745 The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at his Incarnation (cf. Ps 2:6-7).
- 746 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…
- 747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the…
- 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…
- 749 The article concerning the Church also depends entirely on the article about the Holy Spirit, which immediately precedes it. "Indeed,…
- 750 To believe that the Church is "holy" and "catholic," and that she is "one" and "apostolic" (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from…
- 751 The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia , from the Greek ek-ka-lein , to "call out of") means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the…
- 752 In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of…
- 753 In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church.…
- 754 "The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold , the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself…
- 755 "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…
- 756 "Often, too, the Church is called the building of God. The Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was…
- 757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless…
- 758 We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization…
- 759 "The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe…
- 760 Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church." God created the world for the sake of communion…
- 761 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…
- 762 The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the…
- 763 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…
- 764 "This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ." To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the…
- 765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the…
- 766 The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled…
- 767 "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…
- 768 So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way…
- 769 "The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven," at the time of Christ's glorious return. Until that day, "the…
- 770 The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith" that one can see her in her visible…
- 771 "The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a…
- 772 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." St. Paul…
- 773 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…
- 774 The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mysterium and sacramentum . In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes…
- 775 "The Church, in Christ, is like a sacrament - a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men." The…
- 776 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…
- 777 The word "Church" means "convocation." It designates the assembly of those whom God's Word "convokes," i.e., gathers together to form the…
- 778 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…
- 779 The Church is both visible and spiritual, a hierarchical society and the Mystical Body of Christ. She is one, yet formed of two components,…
- 780 The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.
- 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…
- 782 The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups…
- 783 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…
- 784 On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly vocation: "Christ the Lord,…
- 785 "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…
- 786 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…
- 787 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…
- 788 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…
- 789 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…
- 790 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…
- 791 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…
- 792 Christ "is the head of the body, the Church." He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything…
- 793 Christ unites us with his Passover : all his members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be formed" in them. "For this reason we…
- 794 Christ provides for our growth : to make us grow toward him, our head, he provides in his Body, the Church, the gifts and assistance by…
- 795 Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" ( Christus totus ). The Church is one with Christ. The saints are acutely…
- 796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship.…
- 797 "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." "To this Spirit of Christ, as an…
- 798 The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." He works in many ways to build up the…
- 799 Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered…
- 800 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…