From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal Grace: - it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!"; 115 - it unites us more firmly to Christ; - it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us; - it renders our bond with the Church more perfect; 116 - it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the Faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross: 117

Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the Poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, 33 by the admission of faults to one's brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one's Cross each day and Following Jesus is the surest way of penance. 34

The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent's perSonal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed. It can consist of Prayer, an Offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, Sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the Cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, "provided we suffer with him." 63

Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." 111 But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the Cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world," 112 of which illness is only a consequence. By his Passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.

Christ invites his disciples to Follow him by taking up their Cross in their turn. 113 By Following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of comPassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them." 114

Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men." 15 The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the Unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek"; 16 "holy, blameless, unstained," 17 "by a single Offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified," 18 that is, by the unique Sacrifice of the Cross.

This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy - heavier than the Law of Moses. 108 By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and Grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by Following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their Crosses that spouses will be able to "receive" the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. 109 This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all Christian life.

Christ is the source of this Grace. "Just as of old God encountered his people with a Covenant of Love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of Matrimony." 147 Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their Crosses and so Follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," 148 and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb:

Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops' pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a Prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the Cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).

The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the Sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and Blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the Faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has Offered himself for us.

It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this Unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the Cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the Love with which he loved us "to the end," 207 even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, 208 and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

To the Offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of heaven. In communion with and commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the Cross with Mary, united with the offering and intercession of Christ.

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beLoved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and Resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with Grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'" 133

The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 158 The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same Mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will you also go away?": 159 The Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has "the words of eternal life" 160 and that to receive in Faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.

Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal Mystery of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "Following the narrow way of the Cross," 168 toward the heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of the kingdom.

In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing 178 ) on the bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the body and Blood of Jesus Christ and so that those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions put the epiclesis after the anamnesis). In the institution narrative, the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood, his Sacrifice Offered on the Cross once for all.

The Eucharist, the sacrament of our Salvation accomplished by Christ on the Cross, is also a Sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation Loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.

In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the Sacrifice Christ Offered once for all on the Cross remains ever present. 183 "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our Redemption is carried out." 184

Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a Sacrifice. the sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my Blood." 185 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the Cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." 186

The Eucharist is thus a Sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the Cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

The Sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then Offered himself on the Cross; only the manner of Offering is different." "In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a Bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner." 188

Among sacramentals blessings (of perSons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing." 175 This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the Cross of Christ.

Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the Faithful. the religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the Cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals, 178 etc.

Liberation and Salvation. By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage. "For freedom Christ has set us free." 34 In him we have communion with the "truth that makes us free." 35 The Holy Spirit has been given to us and, as the Apostle teaches, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 36 Already we glory in the "liberty of the children of God." 37

When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father's plan of Love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial Prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba . . . not my will, but yours."), 53 but even in his last words on the Cross, where prayer and the gift of self are but one: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", 54 "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise", 55 "Woman, behold your Son" - "Behold your mother", 56 "I thirst."; 57 "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 58 "It is finished"; 59 "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" 60 until the "loud cry" as he expires, giving up his spirit. 61

The Gospel reveals to us how Mary prays and intercedes in Faith. At Cana, 89 The mother of Jesus asks her Son for the needs of a wedding feast; this is the sign of another feast - that of the wedding of the Lamb where he gives his body and Blood at the request of the Church, his Bride. It is at the hour of the New Covenant, at the foot of the Cross, 90 that Mary is heard as the Woman, the new Eve, the true "Mother of all the living."

The Prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of Love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to Follow the way of the Cross in the Savior's steps. the stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.

Mary gave her consent in Faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son "who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties." 28 Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our Prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she "shows the way" (hodigitria), and is herself "the Sign" of the way, according to the traditional iconography of East and West.

Holy Mary, Mother of God: With Elizabeth we marvel, "and why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" 36 Because she gives us Jesus, her Son, Mary is Mother of God and our mother; we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her: she prays for us as she prayed for herself: "Let it be to me according to your word." 37 By entrusting ourselves to her Prayer, we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her: "Thy will be done." Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death: By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be Poor sinners and we address ourselves to the "Mother of Mercy," the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. and our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender "the hour of our death" wholly to her care. May she be there as she was at her son's death on the Cross. May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing 38 to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise.

Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. All our petitions were gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and, in his Resurrection, heard by the Father. This is why he never ceases to intercede for us with the Father. 32 If our Prayer is resolutely united with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children, we obtain all that we ask in his name, even more than any particular thing: the Holy Spirit himself, who contains all gifts.

In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: "dare in all confidence," "make us worthy of...." From the burning bush Moses heard a voice saying to him, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 26 Only Jesus could Cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for "when he had made purification for sins," he brought us into the Father's presence: "Here am I, and the children God has given me." 27

The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the Mystery of the Covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant, 56 but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven. 57 Jn Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled, 58 for the Son alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension. 59

Human work proceeds directly from perSons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. 209 Hence work is a duty: "If any one will not work, let him not eat." 210 Work honors the Creator's gifts and the talents received from him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work 211 in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the Cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. 212 Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.

The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord's Cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, comPassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These perSons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the Sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path, 54 we must assimilate it in Faith and Prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church. 55

The disciple of Christ must not only keep the Faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to Follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." 82 Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for Salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." 83

Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who Offered himself on the Cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose Blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of Faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life: 40

The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. 68 Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:

Outward Sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." 17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with Love of neighbor. 18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." 19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ Offered on the Cross as a total Offering to the Father's love and for our Salvation. 20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

The Christian begins his day, his Prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." the baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior's Grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father. the sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties.

Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace." 99 By the Blood of his Cross, "in his own perSon he killed the hostility," 100 he reconciled men with God and made his Church the sacrament of the unity of the human race and of its union with God. "He is our peace." 101 He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers." 102

In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a perSon, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. the devil (dia-bolos) is the one who "throws himself aCross" God's plan and his work of Salvation accomplished in Christ.

This catechism is conceived as an organic presentation of the Catholic Faith in its entirety. It should be seen therefore as a unified whole. Numerous Cross-references in the margin of the text (numbers found at the end of a sentence referring to other paragraphs that deal with the same theme), as well as the analytical index at the end of the volume, allow the reader to view each theme in its relationship with the entirety of the faith.

The Paschal Mystery of Christ's Cross and Resurrection stands at the centre 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.

On the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain "one stone upon another". 356 By doing so, he announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with his own Passover. 357 But this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during his interrogation at the high priest's house, and would be thrown back at him as an insult when he was nailed to the Cross. 358

The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the perSonal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost. 385 Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the Cross, and Peter in Following suit, both accept "the ignorance" of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. 386 Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the crowd's cry: "His Blood be on us and on our children!", a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence. 387 As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: . . .

Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. 405 But in the redeeming Love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the Cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 406 Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God "did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all", so that we might be "reconciled to God by the death of his Son". 407

The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming Love inspired Jesus' whole life, 418 for his redemptive Passion was the very reaSon for his Incarnation. and so he asked, "and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour." 419 and again, "Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?" 420 From the Cross, just before "It is finished", he said, "I thirst." 421

The Council of Trent emphasizes the Unique character of Christ's Sacrifice as "the source of eternal Salvation" 449 and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of the Cross merited justification for us." 450 and the Church venerates his cross as she sings: "Hail, O Cross, our only hope." 451

The Cross is the Unique Sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". 452 But because in his incarnate divine perSon he has in some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal Mystery" is Offered to all men. 453 He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and Follow (him)", 454 for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving (us) an example so that (we) should follow in his steps." 455 In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. 456 This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. 457 Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. 458

For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the Cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into his glory". 295 Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings. 296 Christ's Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant; 297 The cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud." 298

The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." 277 Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this world". 278 The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's Cross: "God reigned from the wood." 279

The kingdom belongs to the Poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; 253 he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 254 To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. 255 Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the Cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. 256 Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active Love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom. 257

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our Fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." 26 Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs. 1. the allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the Crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism. 84 2. the moral sense. the events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction". 85 3. the anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem. 86

Throughout her life and until her last ordeal 15 when Jesus her Son died on the Cross, Mary's Faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God's word. and so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.

To be human, "man's response to God by Faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. the act of faith is of its very nature a free act." 39 "God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced. . . This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus." 40 Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. "For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the Love with which Christ, lifted up on the Cross, draws men to himself." 41

The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the "New Adam" who, because he "became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross", makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam. 305 Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the "Proto-evangelium" as Mary, the mother of Christ, the "new Eve". Mary benefited first of all and Uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special Grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life. 306

Jesus accepted Peter's profession of Faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man. 40 He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man "who came down from heaven", and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." 41 Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the Cross. 42 Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus' messianic kingship to the People of God: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 43

Christ's whole life is a Mystery of Redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the Blood of his Cross, 179 but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life: -already in his Incarnation through which by becoming Poor he enriches us with his poverty; 180 - in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our disobedience; 181 - in his word which purifies its hearers; 182 - in his healings and exorcisms by which "he took our infirmities and bore our diseases"; 183 - and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us. 184

The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. 216 With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Saviour - the name given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the "light to the nations" and the "glory of Israel", but also "a sign that is spoken against". the sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and Unique oblation on the Cross that will impart the Salvation God had "prepared in the presence of all peoples".

Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal Mystery - his death on the Cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Into this union with Christ all men are called. 250

"By the Grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". 459 In his plan of Salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" 460 but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the Cross and the time he was raised from the dead. the state of the dead Christ is the Mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, 461 reveals God's great sabbath rest 462 after the fulfilment 463 of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe. 464

"We bring you the good news that what God promised to the Fathers, this day he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus." 488 The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our Faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal Mystery along with the Cross:

"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 and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal Mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.' For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the Cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church."' 3

In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal Mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly life Jesus announced his Paschal mystery by his teaching and anticipated it by his actions. When his Hour comes, he lives out the Unique event of history which does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father "once for all." 8 His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. the Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all men - participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. the event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life.

"To accomplish so great a work" - the dispensation or communication of his work of Salvation - "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the perSon of his minister, 'the same now Offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly Offered himself on the Cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them."' 11

It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built, 15 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the Mystery of Christ. It is called "typological" because it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first Covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled. 16 Thus the flood and Noah's ark prefigured Salvation by Baptism, 17 as did the cloud and the Crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven." 18

When the Church celebrates the Mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her Prayer: "Today!" - a word echoing the prayer her Lord taught her and the call of the Holy Spirit. 34 This "today" of the living God which man is called to enter is "the hour" of Jesus' Passover, which reaches aCross and underlies all history:

The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord's Cross, 59 from which the sacraments of the Paschal Mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the Church, the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. the altar is also the table of the Lord, to which the People of God are invited. 60 In certain Eastern liturgies, the altar is also the symbol of the tomb (Christ truly died and is truly risen).

Finally, the Church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must Cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life to which all men are called. the visible church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the People of God is journeying and where the Father "will wipe every tear from their eyes." 65 Also for this reaSon, the Church is the house of all God's children, open and welcoming.

If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the Mystery of the Cross. By this symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death.

But above all, the Crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:

Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the Crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life. the promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant.

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine Grace manifested in Christ. 590 The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and Faith. the parable of the Poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the Cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -a destiny which can be different for some and for others. 591

"This motherhood of Mary in the order of Grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the Cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal Salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." 510

Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples' Faith was drastically put to the test by their master's Passion and death on the Cross, which he had foretold. 502 The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad" 503 ) and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an "idle tale". 504 When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, "he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen." 505

"and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 541 The lifting up of Jesus on the Cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, "entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands. . . but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf." 542 There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he "always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to God through him". 543 As "high priest of the good things to come" he is the centre and the principal actor of the liturgy that honours the Father in heaven. 544

Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "acquired" this right by his Cross. the Father has given "all judgement to the Son". 586 Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. 587 By rejecting Grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of Love. 588

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 is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit. the People of God had to suffer this purification. 77 In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the Poor that returns from the Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.

The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our Salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the Cross. "The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the Blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus." 171 "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" 172 As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. 173

The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this Mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of PerSons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit." 259 The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the Cross, . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body." 260 The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the Faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity." 261 Unity is of the essence of the Church:

To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. the Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and Salvation. the Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's Cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood. 334

On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted." 348 Only by taking the "way of penance and renewal," the "narrow way of the Cross," can the People of God extend Christ's reign. 349 For "just as Christ carried out the work of Redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to Follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of Salvation to men." 350

The sign of the Cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the Grace of the Redemption Christ won for us by his cross.

It is Love "to the end" 446 that confers on Christ's Sacrifice its value as Redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he Offered his life. 447 Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." 448 No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. the existence in Christ of the divine perSon of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.