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

Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. the beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint." 88 Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." 89 Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of Salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of Faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." 90 It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation." 91 Hope is expressed and nourished in Prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.

We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven Promised by God to those who love him and do his will. 92 In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" 93 and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." 94 She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:

The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the Promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love. It is at once firm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love.

The Law of the Gospel "fulfills," refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection. 21 In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine Promises by elevating and orienting them toward the "kingdom of heaven." It is addressed to those open to accepting this new hope with Faith - the poor, the humble, the afflicted, the pure of heart, those persecuted on account of Christ and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.

God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. the soul only enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. the Promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:

Filial adoption, in making us partakers by grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God's gratuitous justice. This is our right by grace, the full right of love, making us "co-heirs" with Christ and worthy of obtaining "the Promised inheritance of eternal life." 60 The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness. 61 "Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due.... Our merits are God's gifts." 62

The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair, man ceases to hope for his perSonal Salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God's goodness, to his justice - for the Lord is Faithful to his Promises - and to his mercy.

In many circumstances, the Christian is called to make Promises to God. Baptism and Confirmation, Matrimony and Holy Orders always entail promises. Out of perSonal devotion, the Christian may also promise to God this action, that Prayer, this alms-giving, that pilgrimage, and so forth. Fidelity to promises made to God is a sign of the respect owed to the divine majesty and of love for a Faithful God.

"A vow is a deliberate and free Promise made to God concerning a possible and better good which must be Fulfilled by reaSon of the virtue of religion," 21 A vow is an act of devotion in which the Christian dedicates himself to God or promises him some good work. By fulfilling his vows he renders to God what has been promised and consecrated to Him. the Acts of the Apostles shows us St. Paul concerned to fulfill the vows he had made. 22

Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the Promises of God Fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. 86 "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations." 87

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's Promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is Faithful." 84 "The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life." 85

When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, as is the case in the Roman Rite, the Liturgy of Confirmation begins with the renewal of baptismal Promises and the profession of Faith by the confirmands. This clearly shows that Confirmation follows Baptism. 110 When adults are baptized, they immediately receive Confirmation and participate in the Eucharist. 111

In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; 154 their daily bread is the fruit of the Promised land, the pledge of God's Faithfulness to his promises. The "cup of blessing" 155 at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.

At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." 240 Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this Promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her Prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!" 241 "May your grace come and this world pass away!" 242

"The priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, together with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college (presbyterium) dedicated, it is, true to a variety of distinct duties. In each local assembly of the Faithful they represent, in a certain sense, the bishop, with whom they are associated in all trust and generosity; in part they take upon themselves his duties and solicitude and in their daily toils discharge them." 51 priests can exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in communion with him. the Promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that the bishop considers them his co-workers, his Sons, his brothers and his friends, and that they in return owe him love and obedience.

The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of perSons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh." 151 They "are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage Promise of total mutual self-giving." 152 This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives of the common Faith and by the Eucharist received together.

The first and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life." 24 It is by looking to him in Faith that Christ's faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his Promises in them, and that, by loving him with the same love with which he has loved them, they may perform works in keeping with their dignity:

The dignity of the human perSon is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is Fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human person does, or does not, conform to the good Promised by God and attested by moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article 7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal son 1 to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they attain to the perfection of charity.

The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the Promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven:

The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the Faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical Promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.

The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual perSonally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the Promise and live from it in Faith.

The beatitude we are Promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love:

Promises made to others in God's name engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness, and authority. They must be respected in justice. To be unFaithful to them is to misuse God's name and in some way to make God out to be a liar. 77

A perSon commits perjury when he makes a Promise under oath with no intention of keeping it, or when after promising on oath he does not keep it. Perjury is a grave lack of respect for the Lord of all speech. Pledging oneself by oath to commit an evil deed is contrary to the holiness of the divine name.

God renews his Promise to Jacob, the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel. 17 Before confronting his elder brother Esau, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious figure who refuses to reveal his name, but he blesses him before leaving him at dawn. From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of Prayer as a battle of Faith and as the triumph of perseverance. 18

Once the Promise begins to be Fulfilled (Passover, the Exodus, the gift of the Law, and the ratification of the Covenant), the Prayer of Moses becomes the most striking example of intercessory prayer, which will be fulfilled in "the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 19

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.

The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of Prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his Son, Solomon. the prayer at the dedication of the Temple relies on God's Promise and Covenant, on the active presence of his name among his People, recalling his mighty deeds at the Exodus. 29 The king lifts his hands toward heaven and begs the Lord, on his own behalf, on behalf of the entire people, and of the generations yet to come, for the forgiveness of their sins and for their daily needs, so that the nations may know that He is the only God and that the heart of his people may belong wholly and entirely to him.

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

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

On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place." 92 While awaiting the Spirit, "all these with one accord devoted themselves to Prayer." 93 The Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls for her everything that Jesus said 94 was also to form her in the life of prayer.

The traditional form of petition to the Holy Spirit is to invoke the Father through Christ our Lord to give us the Consoler Spirit. 23 Jesus insists on this petition to be made in his name at the very moment when he Promises the gift of the Spirit of Truth. 24 But the simplest and most direct Prayer is also traditional, "Come, Holy Spirit," and every liturgical tradition has developed it in antiphons and hymns.

When we say "our" Father, we recognize first that all his Promises of love announced by the prophets are Fulfilled in the new and eternal Covenant in his Christ: we have become "his" people and he is henceforth "our" God. This new relationship is the purely gratuitous gift of belonging to each other: we are to respond to "grace and truth" given us in Jesus Christ with love and Faithfulness. 45

Since the Lord's Prayer is that of his people in the "endtime," this "our" also expresses the certitude of our hope in God's ultimate Promise: in the new Jerusalem he will say to the victor, "I will be his God and he shall be my Son." 46

As a final stage in the purification of his Faith, Abraham, "who had received the Promises," 13 is asked to sacrifice the Son God had given him. Abraham's faith does not weaken (“God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering."), for he "considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead." 14 and so the father of believers is conformed to the likeness of the Father who will not spare his own Son but wiLl deliver him up for us all. 15 Prayer restores man to God's likeness and enables him to share in the power of God's love that saves the multitude. 16

Because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in Covenant with him, 10 The patriarch is ready to welcome a mysterious Guest into his tent. Abraham's remarkable hospitality at Mamre foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the Promise. 11 After that, once God had confided his plan, Abraham's heart is attuned to his Lord's compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence. 12

When God calls him, Abraham goes forth "as the Lord had told him"; 8 Abraham's heart is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiveness of the heart, whose decisions are made according to God's will, is essential to Prayer, while the words used count only in relation to it. Abraham's prayer is expressed first by deeds: a man of silence, he constructs an altar to the Lord at each stage of his journey. Only later does Abraham's first prayer in words appear: a veiled complaint reminding God of his Promises which seem unFulfilled. 9 Thus one aspect of the drama of prayer appears from the beginning: the test of Faith in the fidelity of God.

The production and the sale of arms affect the common good of nations and of the international community. Hence public authorities have the right and duty to regulate them. the short-term pursuit of private or collective interests cannot legitimate undertakings that promote violence and conflict among nations and comPromise the international juridical order.

Whoever wants to remain Faithful to his baptismal Promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God's commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to Prayer. "Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity." 127

The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, 133 who has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a Promise of immortality. Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one's neighbor. Whether it develops between perSons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion.

Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does injury to the sign of the Covenant which the marriage bond is, transgresses the rights of the other spouse, and undermines the institution of marriage by breaking the contract on which it is based. He comPromises the good of human generation and the welfare of children who need their parents' stable union.

Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just. A significant part of economic and social life depends on the honoring of contracts between physical or moral perSons - commercial contracts of purchase or sale, rental or labor contracts. All contracts must be agreed to and executed in good Faith.

False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness. 275 When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused. 276 They gravely comPromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.

The "pure in heart" are Promised that they will see God face to face and be like him. 311 Purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God. Even now it enables us to see according to God, to accept others as "neighbors"; it lets us perceive the human body - ours and our neighbor's - as a temple of the Holy Spirit, a manifestation of divine beauty.

The economy of law and grace turns men's hearts away from avarice and envy. It initiates them into desire for the Sovereign Good; it instructs them in the desires of the Holy Spirit who satisfies man's heart. The God of the Promises always warned man against seduction by what from the beginning has seemed "good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . to be desired to make one wise." 329

Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God. "The Promise [of seeing God] surpasses all beatitude.... In Scripture, to see is to possess.... Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive." 343

It remains for the holy people to struggle, with grace from on high, to obtain the good things God Promises. In order to possess and contemplate God, Christ's Faithful mortify their cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power.

"You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 9 Paradoxically our Prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!" 10 Prayer is the response of Faith to the free Promise of Salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God. 11

In the Promise to Abraham and the oath that accompanied it, 71 God commits himself but without disclosing his name. He begins to reveal it to Moses and makes it known clearly before the eyes of the whole people when he saves them from the Egyptians: "he has triumphed gloriously." 72 From the Covenant of Sinai onwards, this people is "his own" and it is to be a "holy (or "consecrated": the same word is used for both in Hebrew) nation," 73 because the name of God dwells in it.

The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the Promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church. 18 They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe. 19

In the Old Testament, "Son of God" is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings. 44 It signifies an adoptive sonship that establishes a relationship of particular intimacy between God and his creature. When the Promised Messiah-King is called "son of God", it does not necessarily imply that he was more than human, according to the literal meaning of these texts. Those who called Jesus "son of God", as the Messiah of Israel, perhaps meant nothing more than this. 45

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

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 Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility: 148 "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee. 149 The Church sees here the fulfilment of the divine Promise given through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son." 150

The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the world. the great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. 212 In the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of Salvation through the Incarnation. the magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. 213 Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic Promise as contained in the Old Testament. 214 The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas 215 (is made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").

The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him. 241 At the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to comPromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil leaves him "until an opportune time". 242

Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the Promised Messiah. 268

Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished. 373 But such an act of Faith must go through a mysterious death to self, for a new "birth from above" under the influence of divine grace. 374 Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a fulfilment of the Promises 375 allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a blasphemer. 376 The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time out of "ignorance" and the "hardness" of their "unbelief". 377

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

"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your Faith is in vain." 520 The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ's works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reaSon, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had Promised.

Christ's Resurrection is the fulfilment of the Promises both of the Old Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life. 521 The phrase "in accordance with the Scriptures" 522 indicates that Christ's Resurrection Fulfilled these predictions.

The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had said: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he." 523 The Resurrection of the crucified one shows that he was truly "I AM", the Son of God and God himself. So St. Paul could declare to the Jews: "What God Promised to the fathers, this he has Fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'" 524 Christ's Resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God's Son, and is its fulfilment in accordance with God's eternal plan.

Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", Promised by God to Israel. 38 Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political. 39

To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah Promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." 32 From the beginning he was "the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world", conceived as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb. 33 God called Joseph to "take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", so that Jesus, "who is called Christ", should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David. 34

'But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.' 1 This is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God': 2 God has visited his people. He has Fulfilled the Promise he made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation - he has sent his own 'beloved Son'. 3

After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the Covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the Promised Saviour. 20

"Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been Promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he Fulfilled in his own perSon and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline." 32

"Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal." 40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who Promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age". 41

The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the Faith of Israel's ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go." 4 By faith, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the Promised land. 5 By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the Son of the promise. and by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice. 6

The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of Faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and Promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." 12 Elizabeth greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." 13 It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed. 14

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.

Now, however, "we walk by Faith, not by sight"; 49 we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". 50 Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. the world we live in often seems very far from the one Promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that burns without being consumed: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." 9 God is the God of the fathers, the One who had called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the Faithful and compassionate God who remembers them and his Promises; he comes to free their descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for this plan.

"The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever." 30 "and now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true"; 31 this is why God's Promises always come true. 32 God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and Faithfulness of his word in all things. the beginning of sin and of man's fall was due to a lie of the tempter who induced doubt of God's word, kindness and faithfulness.

Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. the inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of Salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning": creation, fall, and Promise of salvation.

Scripture bears witness to Faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of Promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven Sons encourages them for martyrdom:

When he proclaims and Promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls him the "Paraclete," literally, "he who is called to one's side," advocatus. 18 "Paraclete" is commonly translated by "consoler," and Jesus is the first consoler. 19 The Lord also called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth." 20

Besides the proper name of "Holy Spirit," which is most frequently used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, we also find in St. Paul the titles: the Spirit of the Promise, 21 The Spirit of adoption, 22 The Spirit of Christ, 23 The Spirit of the Lord, 24 and the Spirit of God 25 - and, in St. Peter, the Spirit of glory. 26

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

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

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression "God of truth" (literally "God of the Amen"), that is, the God who is Faithful to his Promises: "He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [amen]." 645 Our Lord often used the word "Amen," sometimes repeated, 646 to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God's truth.

Thus the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's words, Promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the "Amen" of infinite love and perfect Faithfulness. the Christian's everyday life will then be the "Amen" to the "I believe" of our baptismal profession of faith:

Jesus Christ himself is the "Amen." 648 He is the definitive "Amen" of the Father's love for us. He takes up and completes our "Amen" to the Father: "For all the Promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God": 649

The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus), the gift of the Promised land, the election of David, the presence of God in the Temple, the purifying exile, and return of a "small remnant." the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, interwoven in the liturgy of the Chosen People, recall these divine blessings and at the same time respond to them with blessings of praise and thanksgiving.

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

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

The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in addition to grace, a sacramental character or "seal" by which the Christian shares in Christ's priesthood and is made a member of the Church according to different states and functions. This configuration to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible, 40 it remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a Promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church. Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated.

The gathering of the People of God begins with Baptism; a Church must have a place for the celebration of Baptism (baptistry) and for fostering remembrance of the baptismal Promises (holy water font). The renewal of the baptismal life requires penance. A church, then, must lend itself to the expression of repentance and the reception of forgiveness, which requires an appropriate place to receive penitents. A church must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent Prayer that extend and internalize the great prayer of the Eucharist.

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

For all the baptized, children or adults, Faith must grow after Baptism. For this reaSon the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renewal of baptismal Promises. Preparation for Baptism leads only to the threshold of new life. Baptism is the source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth.

"Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways." 325 The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, 326 "the first to hear the Word of God." 327 The Jewish Faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the Sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the Promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ", 328 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." 329

Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity." 315 "For with this church, by reaSon of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the Faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord." 316 Indeed, "from the incarnate Word's descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior's Promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her." 317

When his visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He Promised to remain with them until the end of time; he sent them his Spirit. 218 As a result communion with Jesus has become, in a way, more intense: "By communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation." 219

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

Disfigured by sin and death, man remains "in the image of God," in the image of the Son, but is deprived "of the glory of God," 66 of his "likeness." the Promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of Salvation, at the culmination of which the Son himself will assume that "image" 67 and restore it in the Father's "likeness" by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is "the giver of life."

Against all human hope, God Promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of Faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. 68 In Abraham's progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself, 69 in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." 70 God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and "the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." 71

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 Law, the sign of God's Promise and Covenant, ought to have governed the hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's Faith gave birth. "If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 75 But after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. the Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David, 76 would be the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according to the Spirit.

The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the Covenant end in death: it is the Exile, apparently the failure of the Promises, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit. the People of God had to suffer this purification. 77 In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.

The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the Promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity." 85 St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. 86 According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.

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

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.

Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus Promise the coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill the promise made to the fathers. 116 The Spirit of truth, the other Paraclete, will be given by the Father in answer to Jesus' Prayer; he will be sent by the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send him from the Father's side, since he comes from the Father. the Holy Spirit will come and we shall know him; he will be with us for ever; he will remain with us. the Spirit will teach us everything, remind us of all that Christ said to us and bear witness to him. the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and will glorify Christ. He will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and Promises that he will become the father of a great people. 157 Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God. By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of All nations. 158 But the prophets accuse Israel of breaking the Covenant and behaving like a prostitute. They announce a new and eternal covenant. "Christ instituted this New Covenant." 159

It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of Salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. 160 "The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, Promised over the ages in the scriptures." 161 To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. the Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery." 162

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