The holiness of God is the inaccessible center of his eternal Mystery. What is revealed of it in Creation and History, Scripture calls "glory," the radiance of his majesty. 68 In making man in his image and likeness, God "crowned him with glory and honor," but by Sinning, man fell "short of the glory of God." 69 From that time on, God was to manifest his holiness by revealing and giving his name, in order to restore man to the image of his Creator. 70

The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of History. the present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by St. Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is also that of the Lutheran confessions. the Greek Fathers worked out a slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities.

It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized, that the Christian fulfills his vocation. From the Church he receives the Word of God containing the teachings of "the law of Christ." 72 From the Church he receives the grace of the sacraments that sustains him on the "way." From the Church he learns the example of holiness and recognizes its model and source in the all-holy Virgin Mary; he discerns it in the authentic witness of those who live it; he discovers it in the spiritual tradition and long History of the saints who have gone before him and whom the liturgy celebrates in the rhythms of the sanctoral cycle.

The natural law is immutable and permanent Throughout the variations of History; 10 it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. the rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies:

Freedom and Sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's plan of love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. This first alienation engendered a multitude of others. From its outset, human History attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom.

"Man, enticed by the Evil One, abused his freedom at the very beginning of History." 10 He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He still desires the good, but his nature bears the wound of original Sin. He is now inclined to evil and subject to error: Man is divided in himself. As a result, the whole life of men, both individual and social, shows itself to be a struggle, and a dramatic one, between good and evil, between light and darkness. 11

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).

Sacred Scripture begins with the Creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." 85 Scripture speaks Throughout of marriage and its "Mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the History of Salvation, the difficulties ariSing from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church. 86

In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blesSing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in Salvation History that already prefigured the Mystery of Baptism:

The Mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any Single Liturgical tradition. the History of the blossoming and development of these rites witnesses to a remarkable complementarity. When the Churches lived their respective liturgical traditions in the communion of the Faith and the sacraments of the faith, they enriched one another and grew in fidelity to Tradition and to the common mission of the whole Church. 66

Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole Liturgical year with its brilliance. Gradually, on either side of this source, the year is transfigured by the liturgy. It really is a "year of the Lord's favor." 42 The economy of Salvation is at work within the framework of time, but Since its fulfillment in the Passover of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the culmination of History is anticipated "as a foretaste," and the Kingdom of God enters into our time.

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:

Anamnesis. the Liturgical celebration always refers to God's Saving interventions in History. "The economy of Revelation is realized by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other.... (The) words for their part proclaim the works and bring to light the Mystery they contain." 22 In the Liturgy of the Word the Holy Spirit "recalls" to the assembly all that Christ has done for us. In keeping with the nature of liturgical actions and the ritual traditions of the Churches, the celebration "makes a remembrance" of the marvelous works of God in an anamnesis which may be more or less developed. the Holy Spirit who thus awakens the memory of the Church then inspires thanksgiving and praise (doxology).

Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy. A better knowledge of the Jewish people's Faith and religious life as professed and lived even now can help our better understanding of certain aspects of Christian liturgy. For both Jews and Christians Sacred Scripture is an essential part of their respective liturgies: in the proclamation of the Word of God, the response to this word, Prayer of praise and intercession for the living and the dead, invocation of God's mercy. In its characteristic structure the Liturgy of the Word originates in Jewish prayer. the Liturgy of the Hours and other Liturgical texts and formularies, as well as those of our most venerable prayers, including the Lord's Prayer, have parallels in Jewish prayer. the Eucharistic Prayers also draw their inspiration from the Jewish tradition. the relationship between Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy, but also their differences in content, are particularly evident in the great feasts of the liturgical year, such as Passover. Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover. For Jews, it is the Passover of History, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is the Passover fulfilled in the death and Resurrection of Christ, though always in expectation of its Definitive consummation.

For this reaSon the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of Salvation History in the "today" of her liturgy. But this also demands that catechesis help the Faithful to open themselves to this spiritual understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it and enables us to live it.

In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's Church was "prepared in marvellous fashion in the History of the people of Israel and in the Old Covenant," 14 The Church's liturgy has retained certain elements of the worship of the Old Covenant as integral and irreplaceable, adopting them as her own: -notably, reading the Old Testament; -praying the Psalms; -above all, recalling the Saving events and significant realities which have found their fulfillment in the Mystery of Christ (promise and covenant, Exodus and Passover, Kingdom and temple, exile and return).

God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the History of the one he addresses: "I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." the first word contains the first commandment of the Law: "You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him.... You shall not go after other gods." 5 God's first call and just demand is that man accept him and worship him.

The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, (of) silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them." 42 God, however, is the "living God" 43 who gives life and intervenes in History.

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. 48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, History, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

By the three first petitions, we are strengthened in Faith, filled with hope, and set aflame by charity. Being creatures and still Sinners, we have to petition for us, for that "us" bound by the world and History, which we offer to the boundless love of God. For through the name of his Christ and the reign of his Holy Spirit, our Father accomplishes his plan of Salvation, for us and for the whole world.

Before we make our own this first exclamation of the Lord's Prayer, we must humbly cleanse our hearts of certain false images drawn "from this world." Humility makes us recognize that "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him," that is, "to little children." 30 The purification of our hearts has to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural History, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the categories of the created world. To impose our own ideas in this area "upon him" would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down. To pray to the Father is to enter into his Mystery as he is and as the Son has revealed him to us.

The revelation of Prayer in the economy of Salvation teaches us that Faith rests on God's action in History. Our filial trust is enkindled by his supreme act: the Passion and Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer is cooperation with his providence, his plan of love for men.

Meditation is above all a quest. the mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. the required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, Liturgical texts of the day or seaSon, writings of the spiritual Fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of Creation, and that of History the page on which the "today" of God is written.

In the communion of saints, many and varied spiritualities have been developed Throughout the History of the Churches. the perSonal charism of some witnesses to God's love for men has been handed on, like "the spirit" of Elijah to Elisha and John the Baptist, so that their followers may have a share in this spirit. 43 A distinct spirituality can also arise at the point of convergence of Liturgical and theological currents, bearing witness to the integration of the Faith into a particular human environment and its history. the different schools of Christian spirituality share in the living tradition of Prayer and are essential guides for the faithful. In their rich diversity they are refractions of the one pure light of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the Kingdom revealed to "little children," to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes. It is right and good to pray so that the Coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of History, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom. 14

All the troubles, for all time, of humanity enslaved by Sin and death, all the petitions and intercessions of Salvation History are summed up in this cry of the incarnate Word. Here the Father accepts them and, beyond all hope, answers them by raising his Son. Thus is fulfilled and brought to completion the drama of Prayer in the economy of Creation and salvation. the Psalter gives us the key to prayer in Christ. In the "today" of the Resurrection the Father says: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession." 62

The Psalter's many forms of Prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or thanksgiving, whether individual or communal, whether royal chants, Songs of pilgrimage or wisdom meditations, the Psalms are a mirror of God's marvelous deeds in the History of his people, as well as reflections of the human experiences of the Psalmist. Though a given psalm may reflect an event of the past, it still possesses such direct simplicity that it can be prayed in truth by men of all times and conditions.

The Psalms both nourished and expressed the Prayer of the People of God gathered during the great feasts at Jerusalem and each Sabbath in the synagogues. Their prayer is inseparably perSonal and communal; it concerns both those who are praying and all men. the Psalms arose from the communities of the Holy Land and the Diaspora, but embrace all Creation. Their prayer recalls the Saving events of the past, yet extends into the future, even to the end of History; it commemorates the promises God has already kept, and awaits the Messiah who will fulfill them Definitively. Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the Psalms remain essential to the prayer of the Church. 38

In their "one to one" encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their Prayer is not flight from this unFaithful world, but rather attentiveness to the Word of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Savior God, the Lord of History. 36

In the Old Testament, the revelation of Prayer comes between the fall and the restoration of man, that is, between God's sorrowful call to his first children: "Where are you? . . . What is this that you have done?" 3 and the response of God's only Son on Coming into the world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." 4 Prayer is bound up with human History, for it is the relationship with God in historical events.

God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each perSon to that mysterious encounter known as Prayer. In prayer, the Faithful God's initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the heart. It unfolds Throughout the whole History of Salvation.

The Church's social teaching comprises a body of doctrine, which is articulated as the Church interprets events in the course of History, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, in the light of the whole of what has been revealed by Jesus Christ. 201 This teaching can be more easily accepted by men of good will, the more the Faithful let themselves be guided by it.

In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, 57 Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of original Sin, from the beginning of human History. Man has become the enemy of his fellow man. God declares the wickedness of this fratricide: "What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. and now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand." 58

The name "atheism" covers many very different phenomena. One common form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to space and time. Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be "an end to himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own History." 59 Another form of contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of man through economic and social liberation. "It holds that religion, of its very nature, thwarts such emancipation by raiSing man's hopes in a future life, thus both deceiving him and discouraging him from working for a better form of life on earth." 60

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.

From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman. the covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed this blesSing of fruitfulness despite man's sin which had brought a curse on the ground. But with Abraham, the divine blessing entered into human History which was moving toward death, to redirect it toward life, toward its source. By the Faith of "the Father of all believers," who embraced the blessing, the history of Salvation is inaugurated.

The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its Coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all History. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of Creation and of the entire economy of Salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. the Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death. 626

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:

The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. 282 Harmony with Creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. 283 Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay". 284 Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground", 285 for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human History. 286

The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his Kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature - to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic History. It is a great Mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him." 275

The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the History of man. 264 Revelation gives us the certainty of Faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents. 265

With the progress of Revelation, the reality of Sin is also illuminated. Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had tried to understand the pathos of the human condition in the light of the History of the fall narrated in Genesis, they could not grasp this story's ultimate meaning, which is revealed only in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 261 We must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin. the Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the risen Christ, came to "convict the world concerning sin", 262 by revealing him who is its Redeemer.

Sin is present in human History; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history.

Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. the world began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of nature, and all human History are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun. 207

Angels have been present Since Creation and Throughout the History of Salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham's hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets, just to cite a few examples. 194 Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor and that of Jesus himself. 195

We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its History. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God "face to face", 184 will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of evil and Sin - God has guided his Creation to that Definitive sabbath rest 185 for which he created heaven and earth.

And so we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a "primitive mode of speech", but a profound way of recalling God's primacy and absolute Lordship over History and the world, 165 and so of educating his people to trust in him. the Prayer of the Psalms is the great school of this trust. 166

The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its History. the sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." 162 and so it is with Christ, "who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens". 163 As the book of Proverbs states: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established." 164

Creation is the foundation of "all God's Saving plans," the "beginning of the History of Salvation" 117 that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the Mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery of creation and reveals the end for which "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth": from the beginning, God envisaged the glory of the new creation in Christ. 118

The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the "Mighty One of Jacob", the "Lord of hosts", the "strong and mighty" one. If God is almighty "in heaven and on earth", it is because he made them. 105 Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will. 106 He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of History, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will: "It is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the strength of your arm? 107

"O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!" 93 God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the "plan of his loving kindness", conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: "He destined us in love to be his sons" and "to be conformed to the image of his Son", through "the spirit of sonship". 94 This plan is a "grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began", stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. 95 It unfolds in the work of Creation, the whole History of Salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church. 96

The Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian Faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith". 56 The whole History of Salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from Sin". 57

In the course of its History, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reaSon to reveal himself to them, a Single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous love. 38 and thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped Saving them and pardoning their unFaithfulness and sins. 39

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of Faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's Definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of History. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission. 18 Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins". 19 in Jesus, God recapitulates all of his History of Salvation on behalf of men.

In the History of Salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage" 20 by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their Sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only he can forgive it. 21 For this reaSon Israel, beComing more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God. 22

All religious, whether exempt or not, take their place among the collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. 467 From the outset of the work of evangelization, the missionary "planting" and expansion of the Church require the presence of the religious life in all its forms. 468 "History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by religious families in the propagation of the Faith and in the formation of new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval orders, all the way to the more recent congregations." 469

Missionary paths. the Holy Spirit is the protagonist, "the principal agent of the whole of the Church's mission." 345 It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. "This mission continues and, in the course of History, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his Resurrection." 346 So it is that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians." 347

By canonizing some of the Faithful, i.e., by solemnly pro claiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by propoSing the saints to them as models and intercessors. 303 "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's History." 304 Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal." 305

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 Church is in History, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of Faith" 183 that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life.

"The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life," 150 to which he calls all men in his Son. "The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ." 151 This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human History, in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvellous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Advance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time." 152

We begin our investigation of the Church's Mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization in History.

The AntiChrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within History that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the Kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, 576 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism. 577

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

"Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." 548 Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the Father "has put all things under his feet." 549 Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of History. In him human history and indeed all Creation are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled. 550

Christ's Resurrection is an object of Faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God himself in Creation and History. In it the three divine perSons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. the Father's power "raised up" Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including his body, into the Trinity. Jesus is conclusively revealed as "Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead". 514 St. Paul insists on the manifestation of God's power 515 through the working of the Spirit who gave life to Jesus' dead humanity and called it to the glorious state of Lordship.

O truly blessed Night, Sings the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead! 512 But no one was an eyewitness to Christ's Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically. Still less was its innermost essence, his passing over to another life, perceptible to the senses. Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the Mystery of Faith as something that transcends and surpasses History. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples, "to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people." 513

Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. 359 He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's Definitive dwelling-place among men. 360 Therefore his being put to bodily death 361 presaged the destruction of the Temple, which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the History of Salvation: "The hour is Coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." 362

People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be History. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike; 151 so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. the meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the "connection of these mysteries with one another" 152 in the totality of Christ's mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection: "Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence." 153

From the beginning of Christian History, the assertion of Christ's Lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his perSonal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not "the Lord". 67 "The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master." 68

In many ways, Throughout History down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their Prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being: