In the New Testament, the word basileia can be translated by "kingship" (abstract noun), "kingdom" (concrete noun) or "reign" (action noun). the Kingdom of God lies aHead of us. It is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death and Resurrection. the Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst. the kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his Father:

Through the ordained Ministry, especially that of Bishops and Priests, the presence of Christ as Head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the Community of believers. 26 In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the Bishop is typos tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father. 27

In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high Priest of the redemptive Sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in perSona Christi Capitis: 23

Forgiveness of sins brings reconciliation with God, but also with the Church. Since ancient times the Bishop, visible Head of a particular Church, has thus rightfully been considered to be the one who principally has the power and Ministry of reconciliation: he is the moderator of the penitential discipline. 66 Priests, his collaborators, exercise it to the extent that they have received the commission either from their bishop (or religious superior) or the Pope, according to the law of the Church. 67

In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 45 "The Office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles United to its Head." 46

The Eucharist is also the Sacrifice of the Church. the Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire. She unites herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the Members of his Body. the lives of the Faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are United with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ's sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.

All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its Head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high Priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration. It is in representing him that the Bishop or priest acting in the perSon of Christ the head (in persona Christi capitis) presides over the assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer. All have their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way: readers, those who bring up the offerings, those who give communion, and the whole people whose "Amen" manifests their participation.

The essential rite of the Sacrament follows. In the Latin rite, "the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the foreHead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, and through the words: 'Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti' [Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.]." 113 In the Eastern Churches, after a prayer of epiclesis the more significant parts of the body are anointed with myron: forehead, eyes, nose, ears, lips, breast, back, hands, and feet. Each anointing is accompanied by the formula: "The seal of the gift that is the Holy Spirit."

A custom of the Roman Church facilitated the development of the Western practice: a double anointing with sacred chrism after Baptism. the first anointing of the neophyte on coming out of the baptismal bath was performed by the Priest; it was completed by a second anointing on the foreHead of the newly baptized by the Bishop. 101 The first anointing with sacred chrism, by the priest, has remained attached to the baptismal rite; it signifies the participation of the one baptized in the prophetic, priestly, and kingly Offices of Christ. If Baptism is conferred on an adult, there is only one post-baptismal anointing, that of Confirmation.

The essential rite of the Sacrament follows: Baptism properly speaking. It signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ. Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the candidate's Head.

But "the Members do not all have the same function." 12 Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the Community. These servants are chosen and consecrated by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the perSon of Christ the Head, for the service of all the members of the Church. 13 The ordained minister is, as it were, an "icon" of Christ the Priest. Since it is in the Eucharist that the sacrament of the Church is made fully visible, it is in his presiding at the Eucharist that the Bishop's Ministry is most evident, as well as, in communion with him, the ministry of priests and deacons.

It is the whole Community, the Body of Christ United with its Head, that celebrates. "Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is 'the Sacrament of Unity,' namely, the holy people united and organized under the authority of the Bishops. Therefore, liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church. They manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they touch individual Members of the Church in different ways, depending on their Orders, their role in the liturgical services, and their actual participation in them." 7 For this reaSon, "rites which are meant to be celebrated in common, with the Faithful present and actively participating, should as far as possible be celebrated in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately." 8

The ministerial Priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the Faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice. 31

"In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that Priests are the delegates of the Community. the prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable from the prayer and offering of Christ, her Head; it is always the case that Christ worships in and through his Church. the whole Church, the Body of Christ, prays and offers herself "through him, with him, in him," in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. the whole Body, caput et membra, prays and offers itself, and therefore those who in the Body are especially his ministers are called ministers not only of Christ, but also of the Church. It is because the ministerial priesthood represents Christ that it can represent the Church.

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

"Who art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are Heading and to which, already, we belong.

When we pray to "our" Father, we perSonally address the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so we do not divide the GodHead, since the Father is its "source and origin," but rather confess that the Son is eternally begotten by him and the Holy Spirit proceeds from him. We are not confusing the persons, for we confess that our communion is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, in their one Holy Spirit. the Holy Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him together with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son: by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the Head to the Members, he makes us other "Christs."

Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of Salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory. the thanksgiving of the Members of the Body participates in that of their Head.

The name one receives is a name for eternity. In the kingdom, the mysterious and unique character of each perSon marked with God's name will shine forth in splendor. "To him who conquers . . . I will give a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it." 88 "Then I looked, and Lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreHeads." 89

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

Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted Son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.

"Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your Head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." 1

This Sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special Grace of the Holy Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his Church. By ordination one is enabled to act as a representative of Christ, Head of the Church, in his triple Office of Priest, prophet, and king.

The essential rite of the Sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the Bishop's imposition of hands on the Head of the ordinand and in the bishop's specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the Ministry to which the candidate is being ordained. 60

"It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the Faithful (synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred Office; there, acting in the perSon of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the Sacrifice of Christ their Head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father." 49 From this unique sacrifice their whole Priestly Ministry draws its strength. 50

"Because it is joined with the episcopal order the Office of Priests shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body. Hence the priesthood of priests, while presupposing the Sacraments of initiation, is nevertheless conferred by its own particular sacrament. Through that sacrament priests by the anointing of the Holy Spirit are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the perSon of Christ the Head." 45

The above considerations explain why the Eucharist celebrated by the Bishop has a quite special significance as an expression of the Church gathered around the altar, with the one who represents Christ, the Good Shepherd and Head of his Church, presiding. 42

"One is constituted a member of the episcopal body in virtue of the Sacramental consecration and by the hierarchical communion with the Head and Members of the college." 39 The character and collegial nature of the episcopal order are evidenced among other ways by the Church's ancient practice which calls for several Bishops to participate in the consecration of a new Bishop. 40 In our day, the lawful ordination of a bishop requires a special intervention of the Bishop of Rome, because he is the supreme visible bond of the communion of the particular Churches in the one Church and the guarantor of their freedom.

Forming "as it were, one mystical perSon" with Christ the Head, the Church acts in the Sacraments as "an organically structured Priestly Community." 36 Through Baptism and Confirmation the pRiestly people is enabled to celebrate the liturgy, while those of the Faithful "who have received Holy Orders, are appointed to nourish the Church with the word and Grace of God in the name of Christ." 37

Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, "new heavens and a new earth." 630 It will be the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single Head "all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth." 631

Christ "is the Head of the body, the Church." 225 He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he (is) preeminent," 226 especially in the Church, through whom he extends his reign over all things.

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 him; she is United in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the Unity of all her Members with each other as a result of their union with Christ; Christ as Head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.

The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history: - It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal Priesthood, a holy nation." 202 - One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and the Spirit," 203 that is, by faith in Christ, and Baptism. - This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this is "the messianic people." - "The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the Sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple." - "Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us." 204 This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit. 205 - Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. 206 This people is "a most sure seed of Unity, hope, and Salvation for the whole human race." -Its destiny, finally, "is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time." 207

The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mystenum and Sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of Salvation which was indicated by the term mystenum. In this sense, Christ himself is the mystery of salvation: "For there is no other mystery of God, except Christ." 196 The saving work of his holy and sanctifying humanity is the sacrament of salvation, which is revealed and active in the Church's sacraments (which the Eastern Churches also call "the holy mysteries"). the seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the Grace of Christ the Head throughout the Church which is his Body. the Church, then, both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies. It is in this analogical sense, that the Church is called a "sacrament."

The Lord Jesus endowed his Community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their Head. 168 Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem. 169 The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot. 170 By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.

In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church. the images taken from the Old Testament are variations on a profound theme: the People of God. In the New Testament, all these images find a new center because Christ has become the Head of this people, which henceforth is his Body. 144 Around this center are grouped images taken "from the life of the shepherd or from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or from family life and marriage." 145

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 nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's Sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. (This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)

The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our Salvation. But in these "end times," ushered in by the Son's redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person. Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and Head of the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

As Lord, Christ is also Head of the Church, which is his Body. 551 Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. the redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom". 552

This final stage stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who "came from the Father" can return to the Father: Christ Jesus. 537 "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man." 538 Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the "Father's house", to God's life and happiness. 539 Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his Members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and our Source, has preceded us. 540

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.

"When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem." 304 By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his Passion and Resurrection; now, Heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: "It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem." 305

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

After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. and even after Christ's atonement, sin raises its Head in countless ways among Christians. 287 Scripture and the Church's Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin in man's history:

Christ unites us with his Passover: all his Members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be formed" in them. 227 "For this reaSon we . . . are taken up into the mysteries of his life, . . . associated with his sufferings as the body with its Head, suffering with him, that with him we may be glorified." 228

Christ provides for our growth: to make us grow toward him, our Head, 229 he provides in his Body, the Church, the gifts and assistance by which we help one another along the way of Salvation.

Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer.... She is 'clearly the mother of the Members of Christ' ... since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its Head." 500 "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church." 501

Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and Head issues all Grace, and the life of the People of God itself" 496 :

"Since all the Faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others.... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the Head.... Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the Members, through the Sacraments." 478 "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund." 479

"The Roman Pontiff, Head of the college of Bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his Office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the Faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.... the infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of Bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council. 418 When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed," 419 and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith." 420 This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself. 421

"This college, in so far as it is composed of many Members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the People of God; and of the Unity of the flock of Christ, in so far as it is assembled under one Head." 407

"The college or body of Bishops has no authority unless United with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its Head." As such, this college has "supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff." 404

The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. 400 "The Office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles United to its Head." 401 This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the Bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the Head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them." 398 Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the Bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and United to one another." 399

Sacramental Ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a perSonal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bonds between the episcopal college and its Head, the successor of St. Peter, and in the relationship between the Bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church.

Likewise, it belongs to the Sacramental nature of ecclesial Ministry that it have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as "the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy." 395 Chosen together, they were also sent out together, and their fraternal Unity would be at the service of the fraternal communion of all the Faithful: they would reflect and witness to the communion of the divine perSons. 396 For this reason every Bishop exercises his ministry from within the episcopal college, in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter and Head of the college. So also Priests exercise their ministry from within the presbyterium of the diocese, under the direction of their bishop.

How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? 335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all Salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

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.

"What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." 243 "To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted Head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the Members." 244 The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God": 245

The Unity of Christ and the Church, Head and Members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a perSonal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. the theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. 234 The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." 235 The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the Faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. 236 The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. 237 "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." 238 He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body: 239