"Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his Apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, Sharers in his consecration and Mission; and these, in their turn, duly Entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the office of their Ministry." 43 "The function of the bishops' ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcapal order for the proper fulfillment of the Apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ." 44

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

The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an adMission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the Communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.

Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before receiving reconciliation. To this "order of penitents" (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish Missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the "private" practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the Sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day.

The seaSons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church's penitential practice. 36 These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and Missionary works).

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

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.

Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father's seal. 107 Christians are also marked with a seal: "It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has comMissioned us; he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." 108 This seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial. 109

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

In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving Mission. 90 The descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his Baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God. 91 He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total Communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him "without measure." 92

The forgiveness of sin and restoration of Communion with God entail the reMission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a Grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by Prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man." 84

"This treasury includes as well the Prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his Grace have made their lives holy and carried out the Mission the Father Entrusted to them. In this way they attained their own Salvation and at the same time cooperated in saving their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body." 88

As Christ's vicar, each bishop has the pastoral care of the particular Church Entrusted to him, but at the same time he bears collegially with all his brothers in the episcopacy the solicitude for all the Churches: "Though each bishop is the lawful pastor only of the portion of the flock entrusted to his care, as a legitimate successor of the Apostles he is, by divine institution and precept, responsible with the other bishops for the Apostolic Mission of the Church." 41

To fulfil their exalted Mission, "the Apostles were endowed by Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, and by the imposition of hands they passed on to their auxiliaries the gift of the Spirit, which is transmitted down to our day through episcopal consecration." 35

Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." 20 The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. the Faithful exercise their Baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's Mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the Faithful are "consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood." 21

Holy Orders is the Sacrament through which the Mission Entrusted by Christ to his Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of Apostolic Ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

Two other Sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the Salvation of others; if they contribute as well to perSonal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular Mission in the Church and Serve to build up the People of God.

Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are Sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ's Disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the Mission of evangelizing the world. They confer the Graces needed for the life according to the Spirit during this life as pilgrims on the march towards the homeland.

The risen Lord renews this Mission ("In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." 115 ) and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name. 116 These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves." 117

An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the reMission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity. 89

"Reborn as Sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the Faith they have received from God through the Church" and participate in the Apostolic and Missionary activity of the People of God. 79

The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." 73 By Baptism they Share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal Mission. They are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light." 74 Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.

The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for Salvation. 59 He also commands his Disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. 60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this Sacrament. 61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the Mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

The Sacraments are "of the Church" in the double sense that they are "by her" and "for her." They are "by the Church," for she is the sacrament of Christ's action at work in her through the Mission of the Holy Spirit. They are "for the Church" in the sense that "the sacraments make the Church," 35 since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the Mystery of Communion with the God who is love, One in three perSons.

The epiclesis is also a Prayer for the full effect of the assembly's Communion with the Mystery of Christ. "The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" 28 have to remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. the Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the Faithful a living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation into the image of Christ, by concern for the Church's unity, and by taking part in her Mission through the Witness and service of charity.

In this Sacramental dispensation of Christ's Mystery the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of Salvation: he prepares the Church to encounter her Lord; he recalls and makes Christ manifest to the Faith of the assembly. By his transforming power, he makes the mystery of Christ present here and now. Finally the Spirit of Communion unites the Church to the life and Mission of Christ. The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ

"The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church": 10 it must be preceded by evangelization, Faith, and conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the Faithful: new life in the Spirit, involvement in the Mission of the Church, and service to her unity.

Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free subMission to his Father's will. 572 The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing. 573

Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the Faithful Faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the Mission and the power to forgive sins through the Ministry of the Apostles and their successors:

After speaking of the Church, her origin, Mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her Mystery on her own "pilgrimage of Faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the Communion of all the saints," 516 The Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.

The ordained Ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the Baptismal priesthood. 38 The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the Sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church. the saving Mission Entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was committed to the Apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person. 39 The ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments.

Christ sent his Apostles so that "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." 41 "Go therefore and make Disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 42 The Mission to baptize, and so the Sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the Faith which is assent to this word:

First Holy Communion. Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding garment, the neophyte is admitted "to the marriage supper of the Lamb" 44 and receives the food of the new life, the body and blood of Christ. the Eastern Churches maintain a lively awareness of the unity of Christian initiation by giving Holy Communion to all the newly baptized and confirmed, even little children, recalling the Lord's words: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them." 45 The Latin Church, which reServes adMission to Holy Communion to those who have attained the age of reaSon, expresses the orientation of Baptism to the Eucharist by having the newly baptized child brought to the altar for the praying of the Our Father.

The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church "the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps." 34 The rites for these stages are to be found in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). 35 The Council also gives perMission that: "In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian tradition, those elements of initiation rites may be admitted which are already in use among some peoples insofar as they can be adapted to the Christian ritual." 36

From the time of the Apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of Faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and adMission to Eucharistic Communion.

All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan. 17 After his resurrection Christ gives this Mission to his Apostles: "Go therefore and make Disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obServe all that I have commanded you." 18

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 4 and the door which gives access to the other Sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as Sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made Sharers in her Mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word." 5

Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three Sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of Communion and the Mission of the Faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end." 2

Christ instituted the Sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. the seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: 1 they give birth and increase, healing and Mission to the Christian's life of Faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reaSon of the Church's Mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the Mystery of Christ through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition of the "deposit of Faith," 67 in liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal Communion, in the theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness. Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and Salvation of all peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that Church is sent and in which she is rooted. the Church is catholic, capable of integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of cultures. 68

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

Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through Prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public Mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. 159 In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in Communion with his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart," and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: "Keep them in your name." 160 The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. 161 Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake." 162

David is par excellence the king "after God's own heart," the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His subMission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the Prayer of the people. His prayer, the prayer of God's Anointed, is a Faithful adherence to the divine promise and expresses a loving and joyful trust in God, the only King and Lord. 28 In the Psalms David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. the prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and fulfill the meaning of this prayer.

"Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." 21 Moses' Prayer is characteristic of contemplative prayer by which God's servant remains Faithful to his Mission. Moses converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and entreat him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of his God for their guidance. Moses "is Entrusted with all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly, not in riddles," for "Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth." 22

Here again the initiative is God's. From the midst of the burning bush he calls Moses. 20 This event will remain one of the primordial images of Prayer in the spiritual tradition of Jews and Christians alike. When "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob" calls Moses to be his servant, it is because he is the living God who wants men to live. God reveals himself in order to save them, though he does not do this alone or despite them: he caLls Moses to be his messenger, an associate in his compassion, his work of Salvation. There is something of a divine plea in this Mission, and only after long debate does Moses attune his own will to that of the Savior God. But in the dialogue in which God confides in him, Moses also learns how to pray: he balks, makes excuses, above all questions: and it is in response to his question that the Lord confides his ineffable name, which will be revealed through his mighty deeds.

The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as Witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transMission of the Faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known. 268 All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of their word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at Confirmation.

The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, "when the fundamental rights of the perSon or the Salvation of souls requires it." 199 In the moral order she bears a Mission distinct from that of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign Good, our ultimate end. She strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and in socio-economic relationships.

"Christian revelation . . . promotes deeper understanding of the laws of social living." 198 The Church receives from the Gospel the full revelation of the truth about man. When she fulfills her Mission of proclaiming the Gospel, she bears Witness to man, in the name of Christ, to his dignity and his vocation to the Communion of perSons. She teaches him the demands of justice and peace in conformity with divine wisdom.

Called to give life, spouses Share in the creative power and Fatherhood of God. 153 "Married couples should regard it as their proper Mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility." 154

Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment. So the Church, which "is on the side of life" 150 teaches that "each and every marriage act must remain open 'per se' to the transMission of life." 151 "This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act." 152

The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transMission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple's spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family. The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity.

For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their education in Prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening offering, the incense, and the bread of the Presence (“shewbread") - all these signs of the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near were appeals to and ways of prayer. But ritualism often encouraged an excessively external worship. the people needed education in Faith and conversion of heart; this was the Mission of the prophets, both before and after the Exile.

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 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

But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically. 14 As in every vocal Prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer; at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us "spirit and life." 15 Even more, the proof and possibility of our filial prayer is that the Father "sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" 16 Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the Father, "he who searches the hearts of men," who "knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." 17 The prayer to Our Father is inserted into the mysterious Mission of the Son and of the Spirit.

The Witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, 41 especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, Share in the living tradition of Prayer by the example of their lives, the transMission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were "put in charge of many things." 42 Their intercession is their most exalted service to God's plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.

In the Sacramental liturgy of the Church, the Mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the Mystery of Salvation, which is continued in the heart that prays. the spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar. Prayer internalizes and assimilates the liturgy during and after its celebration. Even when it is lived out "in secret," 6 prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a Communion with the Holy Trinity. 7

Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transMission (Sacred Tradition) within "the believing and praying Church," 1 The Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray.

Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. 107 There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. This collaboration with the Mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the object of the Prayer of the Apostolic community. 108 It is the prayer of Paul, the apostle par excellence, which reveals to us how the divine solicitude for all the churches ought to inspire Christian prayer. 109 By prayer every baptized perSon works for the coming of the Kingdom.

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.

The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of Prayer in Christ's Ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his Mission: before his Father's Witness to him during his Baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion. 43 He also prays before the decisive moments involving the mission of his Apostles: at his election and call of the Twelve, before Peter's confession of him as "the Christ of God," and again that the Faith of the chief of the Apostles may not fail when tempted. 44 Jesus' prayer before the events of Salvation that the Father has asked him to fulfill is a humble and trusting commitment of his human will to the loving will of the Father.

Certain constant characteristics appear throughout the Psalms: simplicity and spontaneity of Prayer; the desire for God himself through and with all that is good in his creation; the distraught situation of the believer who, in his preferential love for the Lord, is exposed to a host of enemies and temptations, but who waits upon what the Faithful God will do, in the certitude of his love and in subMission to his will. the prayer of the psalms is always sustained by praise; that is why the title of this collection as handed down to us is so fitting: "The Praises." Collected for the assembly's worship, the Psalter both sounds the call to prayer and sings the response to that call: Hallelu-Yah! (“Alleluia"), "Praise the Lord!"

Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. the perSon who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or oMission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.

Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A perSon who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," 76 "by the very comMission of the offense," 77 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. 78 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

It is a part of the Church's Mission "to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the Salvation of souls requires it. the means, the only means, she may use are those which are in accord with the Gospel and the welfare of all men according to the diversity of times and circumstances." 53

When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a perSon or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcizing. 176 In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. the solemn exorcism, called "a major exorcism," can be performed only by a priest and with the perMission of the bishop. the priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual Authority which Jesus Entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness. 177

According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage needs for liceity the express perMission of ecclesiastical Authority. 135 In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment is required for the validity of the marriage. 136 This permission or dispensation presupposes that both parties know and do not exclude the essential ends and properties of marriage and the obligations assumed by the Catholic party concerning the Baptism and education of the children in the Catholic Church. 137

In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning perMission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts. 106 The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble: God himself has determined it "what therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." 107

It is true that someone validly ordained can, for a just reaSon, be discharged from the obligations and functions linked to ordination, or can be forbidden to exercise them; but he cannot become a layman again in the strict sense, 75 because the character imprinted by ordination is for ever. the vocation and Mission received on the day of his ordination mark him permanently.

Christ himself chose the Apostles and gave them a Share in his Mission and Authority. Raised to the Father's right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same pastors who continue his work today. 61 Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops. 62

As in all the Sacraments additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly among the different liturgical traditions, these rites have in common the expression of the multiple aspects of sacramental Grace. Thus in the Latin Church, the initial rites - presentation and election of the ordinand, instruction by the bishop, examination of the candidate, litany of the saints - attest that the choice of the candidate is made in keeping with the practice of the Church and prepare for the solemn act of consecration, after which several rites syrnbolically express and complete the Mystery accomplished: for bishop and priest, an anointing with holy chrism, a sign of the special anointing of the Holy Spirit who makes their Ministry fruitful; giving the book of the Gospels, the ring, the miter, and the crosier to the bishop as the sign of his Apostolic Mission to proclaim the Word of God, of his fidelity to the Church, the bride of Christ, and his office as shepherd of the Lord's flock; presentation to the priest of the paten and chalice, "the offering of the holy people" which he is called to present to God; giving the book of the Gospels to the deacon who has just received the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate "as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy," 58 while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church's Mission. Indeed it is appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal Ministry in the Church, whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable works, should "be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come down from the Apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be made more fruitful through the Sacramental Grace of the diaconate." 59

Deacons Share in Christ's Mission and Grace in a special way. 55 The Sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character") which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all. 56 Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity. 57

Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or oMission. the root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false Witness, slander. These are what defile a man." 128 But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.

The "divine and natural" law 6 shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. the natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and subMission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one's equal. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue. This law is called "natural," not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reaSon which decrees it properly belongs to human nature:

The Church, because of her comMission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human perSon. "The Church respects and encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen." 52

SubMission to Authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country:

It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. the love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. SubMission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.

Education in the Faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the Witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the Mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. 35 The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.

The Christian family is a Communion of perSons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects the Father's work of creation. It is called to partake of the Prayer and sacrifice of Christ. Daily prayer and the reading of the Word of God strengthen it in charity. the Christian family has an evangelizing and Missionary task.

To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute subMission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name. 14 The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.

Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-Baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic Faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of subMission to the Roman Pontiff or of Communion with the members of the Church subject to him." 11

The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church's Mission in the world. In order that the message of Salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the Witness of the life of Christians. "The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the Faith and to God." 88

The first work of the Grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 38 Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the reMission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man. 39

Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders priests Share in the universal dimensions of the Mission that Christ Entrusted to the Apostles. the spiritual gift they have received in ordination prepares them, not for a limited and restricted mission, "but for the fullest, in fact the universal mission of Salvation 'to the end of the earth,"' 47 "prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere." 48

Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the Missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.

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 finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. 226 Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the Mystery of his total consecration to a Mission that flows from his divine Sonship: "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?" 227 Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in Faith. Mary "kept all these things in her heart" during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.

Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, 209 is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covenant. It is the sign of his subMission to the Law 210 and his deputation to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout his life. This sign prefigures that "circumcision of Christ" which is Baptism. 211

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

The 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

The eyes of Faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reaSons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive Mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.

Throughout the Old Covenant the Mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living. 128 By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a Son in spite of her old age. 129 Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his Faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women. 130 Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive Salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established." 131

The Mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. 122 The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.

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

Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine Mission, "for the name 'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very anointing with which he was anointed'. the one who anointed is the Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing.'" 35 His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his Baptism by John, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power", "that he might be revealed to Israel" 36 as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as "the Holy One of God". 37

Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; 283 Jesus Entrusted a unique Mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." 284 Christ, the "living Stone", 285 thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the Faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. 286

In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the Chosen People: - subMission to the whole of the Law in its written commandments and, for the Pharisees, in the interpretation of oral tradition; - the centrality of the Temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special way; - Faith in the one God whose glory no man can Share.

From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his Mission. 280 He gives the Twelve a Share in his Authority and 'sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal." 281 They remain associated for ever with Christ's kingdom, for through them he directs the Church:

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 One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. 10 Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them, in both the inner life of the Trinity and his gift of love for the world. In adoring the Holy Trinity, life-giving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's Faith also professes the distinction of persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint Mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.

The Church, a Communion living in the Faith of the Apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit: - in the Scriptures he inspired; - in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely Witnesses; - in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists; - in the Sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ; - in Prayer, wherein he intercedes for us; - in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up; - in the signs of Apostolic and Missionary life; - in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of Salvation.

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

"The Gospel was preached even to the dead." 483 The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of Salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic Mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made Sharers in the redemption.

After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". 422 By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover. 423 Christ's whole life expresses his Mission: "to Serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." 424

The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)", 413 said on coming into the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." 414 From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine Salvation in his redemptive Mission: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work." 415 The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world" 416 expresses his loving Communion with the Father. "The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord, "(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." 417

Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by keeping it in its all embracing detail - according to his own words, down to "the least of these commandments". 330 He is in fact the only one who could keep it perfectly. 331 On their own adMission the Jews were never able to obServe the Law in its entirety without violating the least of its precepts. 332 This is why every year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel ask God's forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. the Law indeed makes up one inseparable whole, and St. James recalls, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." 333

The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine Mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets. 29 This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. 30 It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. 31 Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

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.

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.

This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the Faith regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine Missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfils the "plan of his loving goodness" of creation, redemption and sanctification.

What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reaSon: we believe "because of the Authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived". 28 So "that the subMission of our Faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." 29 Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind". 30

Believing is possible only by Grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reaSon. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to Share a Communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to "yield by Faith the full subMission of... intellect and will to God who reveals", 26 and to share in an interior communion with him.

"It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred comMission and Ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God." 88

As a result the Church, to whom the transMission and interpretation of Revelation is Entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence." 44

This living transMission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes." 37 "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a Witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her Prayer." 38

The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other" 4 and shed light on each another. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the perSon and Mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

While not being formally identified with them, catechesis is built on a certain number of elements of the Church's pastoral Mission which have a catechetical aspect, that prepare for catechesis, or spring from it. They are: the initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary preaching to arouse Faith; examination of the reaSons for belief; experience of Christian living; celebration of the Sacraments; integration into the ecclesial community; and Apostolic and missionary Witness. 9

So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the Apostles he had chosen, comMissioning them to proclaim the Gospel: "Go therefore and make Disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obServe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." 4 Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it." 5

"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 whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine perSons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle." 97 However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are". 98 It is above all the divine Missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

The transMission of the Christian Faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first Disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." 11 It and they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their Communion with Christ:

The Church's teaching on the transMission of original sin was articulated more precisely in the fifth century, especially under the impulse of St. Augustine's reflections against Pelagianism, and in the sixteenth century, in opposition to the Protestant Reformation. Pelagius held that man could, by the natural power of free will and without the necessary help of God's Grace, lead a morally good life; he thus reduced the influence of Adam's fault to bad example. the first Protestant reformers, on the contrary, taught that original sin has radically perverted man and destroyed his freedom; they identified the sin inherited by each man with the tendency to evil (concupiscentia), which would be insurmountable. the Church pronounced on the meaning of the data of Revelation on original sin especially at the second Council of Orange (529) 296 and at the Council of Trent (1546). 297

How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? the whole human race is in Adam "as one body of one man". 293 By this "unity of the human race" all men are implicated in Adam's sin, as all are implicated in Christ's justice. Still, the transMission of original sin is a Mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a perSonal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. 294 It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. and that is why original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" - a state and not an act.

Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam's sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the "death of the soul". 291 Because of this certainty of Faith, the Church baptizes for the reMission of sins even tiny infants who have not committed perSonal sin. 292

God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free subMission to God. the prohibition against eating "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" spells this out: "for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die." 276 The "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" 277 symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom.

Scripture Witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the Mission received from his Father. 273 "The reaSon the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." 274 In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.

The beauty of the universe: the order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. the beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and subMission of man's intellect and will.

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

"The Christian Faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reaSon, since they have become Sharers in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the Mission which God has Entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one." 385

The whole Church is Apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other Apostles, in Communion of Faith and life with her origin: and in that she is "sent out" into the whole world. All members of the Church Share in this Mission, though in various ways. "The Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well." Indeed, we call an apostolate "every activity of the Mystical Body" that aims "to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth." 377

"In order that the Mission Entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the Apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their Ministry." 374

In the office of the Apostles there is one aspect that cannot be transmitted: to be the chosen Witnesses of the Lord's Resurrection and so the foundation stones of the Church. But their office also has a permanent aspect. Christ promised to remain with them always. the divine Mission Entrusted by Jesus to them "will continue to the end of time, since the Gospel they handed on is the lasting source of all life for the Church. Therefore, . . . the apostles took care to appoint successors." 373

Jesus unites them to the Mission he received from the Father. As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but receives everything from the Father who sent him, so those whom Jesus sends can do nothing apart from him, 371 from whom they received both the mandate for their mission and the power to carry it out. Christ's Apostles knew that they were called by God as "ministers of a new covenant," "servants of God," "ambassadors for Christ," "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." 372

Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his Ministry, he "called to him those whom he desired; .... and he appointed twelve, whom also he named Apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach." 368 From then on, they would also be his "emissaries" (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own Mission: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 369 The apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve: "he who receives you receives me." 370

The Church is Apostolic because she is founded on the Apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the foundation of the Apostles," 362 The Witnesses chosen and sent on Mission by Christ himself; 363 - with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, 364 The "good deposit," the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; 365 - she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, "assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor": 366

The Missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the Gospel. 359 Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning to appreciate better "those elements of truth and Grace which are found among peoples, and which are, as it were, a secret presence of God." 360 They proclaim the Good News to those who do not know it, in order to consolidate, complete, and raise up the truth and the goodness that God has distributed among men and nations, and to purify them from error and evil "for the glory of God, the confusion of the demon, and the happiness of man." 361

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

The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body Serve its unity and Mission. For "in the Church there is diversity of Ministry but unity of mission. To the Apostles and their successors Christ has Entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in his name and by his power. But the laity are made to Share in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole People of God." 387 Finally, "from both groups [hierarchy and laity] there exist Christian Faithful who are consecrated to God in their own special manner and serve the salvific mission of the Church through the profession of the evangelical counsels." 388

Christ is himself the source of Ministry in the Church. He instituted the Church. He gave her Authority and Mission, orientation and goal:

Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the perSon who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church. By this state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderfully in her. and so the first Mission of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work, in accord with the character of the institute." 474

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

"Thus, every perSon, through these gifts given to him, is at once the Witness and the living instrument of the Mission of the Church itself 'according to the measure of Christ's bestowal."' 452

Lay people also fulfill their prophetic Mission by evangelization, "that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world." 440

"The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the Faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the Faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made Sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the Mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the World." 430

The Mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preServe God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true Faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. the exercise of this charism takes several forms:

"The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches." 408 As such, they "exercise their pastoral office over the portion of the People of God assigned to them," 409 assisted by priests and deacons. But, as a member of the episcopal college, each bishop Shares in the concern for all the Churches. 410 The bishops exercise this care first "by ruling well their own Churches as portions of the universal Church," and so contributing "to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from another point of view, is a corporate body of Churches." 411 They extend it especially to the poor, 412 to those persecuted for the Faith, as well as to Missionaries who are working throughout the world.

Finally, it belongs to the Sacramental nature of ecclesial Ministry that it have a perSonal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in Communion with one another, they also always act in a personal way. Each one is called personally: "You, follow me" 397 in order to be a personal Witness within the common Mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."; "I absolve you...."

Intrinsically linked to the Sacramental nature of ecclesial Ministry is its character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives Mission and Authority, ministers are truly "slaves of Christ," 392 in the image of him who freely took "the form of a slave" for us. 393 Because the word and Grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are given to them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become the slaves of all. 394

"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? and how are they to hear without a preacher? and how can men preach unless they are sent?" 390 No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard." 391 No one can give himself the mandate and the Mission to proclaim the Gospel. the one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own Authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow Grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, they receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in perSona Christi Capitis. the Ministry in which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own powers, is called a "Sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.

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

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

Missionary motivation. It is from God's love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ urges us on." 343 Indeed, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"; 344 that is, God wills the Salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been Entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.

So that she can fulfill her Mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her." 177 "Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and Faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom." 178

"When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church." 174 Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun." 175 As the "convocation" of all men for Salvation, the Church in her very nature is Missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make Disciples of them. 176

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.

Thus the Church's Mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its Sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear Witness, make present, and spread the Mystery of the Communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next article):

The Mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christ's Faithful to Share in his Communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. the Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his Grace, in order to draw them to Christ. the Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the Mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit." 132

At last Jesus' hour arrives: 117 he commends his spirit into the Father's hands 118 at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father," 119 he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by "breathing" on his Disciples. 120 From this hour onward, the Mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 121

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.

At the end of this Mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve ("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ." 108 As such, she was present with the Twelve, who "with one accord devoted themselves to Prayer," 109 at the dawn of the "end time" which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church.

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:

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

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. the whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for Mission and service that flow from them. 208

The origin and purpose of Mission. the Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit." 341 The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men Share in the Communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love. 342

The Missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal Sacrament of Salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men": 339 "Go therefore and make Disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obServe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age." 340

"Let us be very careful not to conceive of the universal Church as the simple sum, or . . . the more or less anomalous federation of essentially different particular churches. In the mind of the Lord the Church is universal by vocation and Mission, but when she pub down her roots in a variety of cultural, social, and human terrains, she takes on different external expressions and appearances in each part of the world." 318 The rich variety of ecclesiastical disciplines, liturgical rites, and theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches "unified in a common effort, shows all the more resplendently the catholicity of the undivided Church." 319

Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a Mission to the whole of the human race: 310

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 sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, Entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, comMissioning him and the other Apostles to extend and rule it.... This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in Communion with him." 267

Only Faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human reaSon. As the First Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvellous propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an irrefutable Witness of her divine Mission." 258

"This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and Apostolic." 256 These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, 257 indicate essential features of the Church and her Mission. the Church does not possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.

From the beginning, Jesus associated his Disciples with his own life, revealed the Mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a Share in his Mission, joy, and sufferings. 215 Jesus spoke of a still more intimate Communion between him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you.... I am the vine, you are the branches." 216 and he proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." 217

The People of the "poor" 87 - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but of the Messiah - are in the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's hidden Mission during the time of the promises that prepare for Christ's coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit, which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready "a people prepared for the Lord." 88

Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the Apostles, has been Faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ's Faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and Prayer. 6

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.