In the Lord's Prayer, "thy kingdom come" refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ's return. 88 But, far from distracting the Church from her Mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who "complete(s) his work on earth and brings us the Fullness of Grace." 89

The Eucharistic Sacrifice. When the celebration takes place in Church the Eucharist is the heart of the Paschal reality of Christian death. 189 In the Eucharist, the Church expresses her efficacious communion with the departed: offering to the Father in the Holy Spirit the sacrifice of the death and resurrection of Christ, she asks to purify his child of his sins and their consequences, and to admit him to the Paschal Fullness of the table of the Kingdom. 190 It is by the Eucharist thus celebrated that the commUnity of the Faithful, Especially the family of the deceased, learn to live in communion with the one who "has fallen asleep in the Lord," by communicating in the Body of Christ of which he is a living member and, then, by praying for him and with him.

The Second Vatican Council "teaches . . . that the Fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by episcopal consecration, that fullness namely which, both in the liturgical tradition of the Church and the language of the Fathers of the Church, is called the high priesthood, the acme (summa) of the sacred ministry." 36

Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic Mystery in its Fullness, Especially because of the absence of the Sacrament of Holy Orders." 236 It is for this reaSon that Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible for the Catholic Church. However these ecclesial communities, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory." 237

If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest should give him Confirmation. 132 Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest, should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ's Fullness.

In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop. 130 Although the bishop may for grave reaSons concede to priests the faculty of administering Confirmation, 131 it is appropriate from the very meaning of the Sacrament that he should confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for this reason. Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the Fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. the administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her Apostolic origins, and to her Mission of bearing witness to Christ.

Anointing with oil has all these meanings in the Sacramental life. the pre-baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies cleansing and strengthening; the anointing of the sick expresses healing and comfort. the post-baptismal anointing with sacred chrism in Confirmation and ordination is the sign of consecration. By Confirmation Christians, that is, those who are anointed, share more completely in the Mission of Jesus Christ and the Fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled, so that their lives may give off "the aroma of Christ." 104

This Fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. 93 On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, 94 a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost. 95 Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age. 96 Those who believed in the Apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn. 97

The Holy Spirit's transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the kingdom and the consummation of the Mystery of Salvation. While we wait in hope he causes us really to anticipate the Fullness of communion with the Holy Trinity. Sent by the Father who hears the epiclesis of the Church, the Spirit gives life to those who accept him and is, even now, the "guarantee" of their inheritance. 25

"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." 13 It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God. "Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and Sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, Especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in Fullness for the transformation of men." 14

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 Christ, glorified in body and soul. the universe itself will be renewed:

Fruit of the Spirit and Fullness of the Law, Charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my Love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." 99

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their Fullness to Christ, Son of David. 109 They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the Faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

The term "to hallow" is to be understood here not primarily in its causative sense (only God hallows, makes holy), but above all in an evaluative sense: to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way. and so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as praise and thanksgiving. 66 But this petition is here taught to us by Jesus as an optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and man are involved. Beginning with this first petition to our Father, we are immersed in the innermost Mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the Salvation of our humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws us into his plan of loving kindness for the Fullness of time, "according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ," that we might "be holy and blameless before him in Love." 67

In the first place these are prayers that the Faithful hear and read in the Scriptures, but also that they make their own - Especially those of the Psalms, in view of their fulfillment in Christ. 96 The Holy Spirit, who thus keeps the memory of Christ alive in his Church at prayer, also leads her toward the Fullness of Truth and inspires new formulations expressing the unfathomable Mystery of Christ at work in his Church's life, Sacraments, and Mission. These formulations are developed in the great liturgical and spiritual traditions. the forms of prayer Revealed in the Apostolic and canonical Scriptures remain normative for Christian prayer.

That is why the Canticle of Mary, 91 The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the Song both of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song of the Daughter of Zion and of the new People of God; the song of thanksgiving for the Fullness of Graces poured out in the economy of Salvation and the song of the "poor" whose hope is met by the fulfillment of the promises made to our ancestors, "to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

Mary's prayer is Revealed to us at the dawning of the Fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation, for Christ's conception; at Pentecost, for the formation of the Church, his Body. 88 In the Faith of his humble handmaid, the Gift of God found the acceptance he had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almighty made "full of Grace" responds by offering her whole being: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." "Fiat": this is Christian prayer: to be wholly God's, because he is wholly ours.

The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured them in her heart. 41 He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people, in the synagogue at Nazareth and the Temple at Jerusalem. But his prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the age of twelve: "I must be in my Father's house." 42 Here the newness of prayer in the Fullness of time begins to be Revealed: his filial prayer, which the Father awaits from his children, is finally going to be lived out by the only Son in his humanity, with and for men.

Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in Faith and adoration, the transcendent Mystery of God - the surpassing invisible beauty of Truth and Love visible in Christ, who "reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature," in whom "the whole Fullness of deity dwells bodily." 296 This spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God, the angels, and saints. Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration, to prayer, and to the love of God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and Sanctifier.

"By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its Fullness the sense of true mutual Love and its orientation toward man's exalted vocation to parenthood." 156

Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, 89 Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. the Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her Faithful, until "we all attain to the Unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ." 90

"All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the Fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of Charity." 65 All are called to holiness: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." 66

The evangelical counsels manifest the living Fullness of Charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its vitality and call forth our spiritual readiness. the perfection of the New Law consists essentially in the precepts of Love of God and neighbor. the counsels point out the more direct ways, the readier means, and are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each:

The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire divine and human Truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure, 22 where Faith, hope, and Charity are formed and with them the other virtues. the Gospel thus brings the Law to its Fullness through imitation of the perfection of the heavenly Father, through forgiveness of enemies and prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine generosity. 23

The moral law finds its Fullness and its Unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in perSon the way of perfection. He is the end of the law, for only he teaches and bestows the justice of God: "For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has Faith may be justified." 4

The Church's Mission stimulates efforts towards Christian Unity. 357 Indeed, "divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice the Fullness of Catholicity proper to her in those of her Sons who, though joined to her by Baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her. Furthermore, the Church herself finds it more difficult to express in actual life her full catholicity in all its aspects." 358

By her very Mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God." 351 Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, 352 continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," 353 and leads to the foundation of local churches. 354 It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. 355 There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a Fullness which is Catholic." 356

The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his Mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". 232 Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death. 233 Already he is coming to "fulfil all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of Love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. 234 The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. 235 The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in Fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him". 236 Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened" 237 - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.

The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the Faith 174 and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his Mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. 175 His deeds, miracles and words all Revealed that "in him the whole Fullness of deity dwells bodily." 176 His humanity appeared as "Sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the Salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine Sonship and redemptive Mission

Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven." 162 From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure." 163 From "his Fullness" as the head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, Grace upon grace." 164

The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the Fullness of time", 119 The time of the fulfilment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily". 120 The divine response to her question, "How can this be, since I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." 121

By its union to the divine wisdom in the perSon of the Word incarnate, Christ enjoyed in his human knowledge the Fullness of understanding of the eternal plans he had come to reveal. 108 What he admitted to not knowing in this area, he elsewhere declared himself not sent to reveal. 109

We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the eternal Son of God made man. He 'came from God', 4 'descended from heaven', 5 and 'came in the flesh'. 6 For 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. . . and from his Fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.' 7

The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is Revealed in his Mission in time. the Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he had returned to the Father. 69 The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus' glorification 70 reveals in its Fullness the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.

But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is Love": 44 God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the Fullness of time, God has Revealed his innermost secret: 45 God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.

The revelation of the ineffable name "I AM WHO AM" contains then the Truth that God alone IS. the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church's Tradition, understood the divine name in this sense: God is the Fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is.

"These three parts are distinct although connected with one another. According to a compariSon often used by the Fathers, we call them articles. Indeed, just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of Faith, the name "articles" has justly and rightly been given to the Truths we must believe particularly and distinctly." 6 In accordance with an ancient tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also custoMary to reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the Fullness of the Apostolic faith by the number of the apostles. 7

By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the Fullness of his Love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company." 1 The adequate response to this invitation is Faith.

The Church, as early as Apostolic times, 104 and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the Unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the Fullness of time in the perSon of his incarnate Son.

"Catechesis is an education in the Faith of children, young people and adults which includes Especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the Fullness of Christian life." 8

The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus. 568 St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old." 569 St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?" 570 The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's Salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles", 571 will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all". 572

Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on derives from this Fullness. 11 When Christ is finally glorified, 12 he can in turn send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe in him: he communicates to them his glory, 13 that is, the Holy Spirit who glorifies him. 14 From that time on, this joint Mission will be manifested in the children adopted by the Father in the Body of his Son: the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in him:

"The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic Faith in its entirety or have not preserved Unity or communion under the successor of Peter." 322 Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church." 323 With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the Fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist." 324

The word "Catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." the Church is catholic in a double sense: First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church." 307 In her subsists the Fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of Salvation" 308 which he has willed: correct and complete confession of Faith, full Sacramental life, and ordained ministry in Apostolic succession. the Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost 309 and will always be so until the day of the Parousia.

United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying. "All the activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God." 292 It is in the Church that "the Fullness of the means of Salvation" 293 has been deposited. It is in her that "by the Grace of God we acquire holiness." 294

"Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of Truth" 273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word Of God; the life of Grace; Faith, hope, and Charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." 274 Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of Salvation, whose power derives from the Fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, 275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic Unity." 276

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 sent. 160 "The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures." 161 To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. the Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in Mystery." 162

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 Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine perSon: of his Fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. 122

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 Father's Spirit since his Incarnation - Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Everything in the second chapter of the Creed is to be read in this light. Christ's whole work is in fact a joint mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here, we shall mention only what has to do with Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of him by the glorified Lord.

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" 102 should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice." 103 It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle 104 lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.

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 first time in the plan of Salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. 101 Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom." In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested:

From the beginning until "the Fullness of time," 60 The joint Mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully Revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reaSon, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets," wants to tell us about Christ. 61

Anointing. the symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, 30 to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the Sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the priMary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew "messiah") means the one "anointed" by God's Spirit. There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, pre-eminently King David. 31 But Jesus is God's Anointed in a unique way: the humanity the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit. the Holy Spirit established him as "Christ." 32 The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth, and prompted Simeon to come to the temple to see the Christ of the Lord. 33 The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and of saving. 34 Finally, it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. 35 Now, fully established as "Christ" in his humanity victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until "the saints" constitute - in their union with the humanity of the Son of God - that perfect man "to the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ": 36 "the whole Christ," in St. Augustine's expression.

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reaSon, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to Love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the Unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the Fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.