The way of Christ "leads to life"; a contrary way "leads to destruction." 20 The Gospel parable of the two ways remains ever present in the catechesis of the Church; it shows the importance of moral decisions for our Salvation: "There are two ways, the one of life, the other of death; but between the two, there is a great difference." 21

The Eucharist, the sacrament of our Salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of Creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of Creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.

In the communion, preceded by the Lord's Prayer and the breaking of the bread, the Faithful receive "the bread of heaven" and "the cup of Salvation," the body and blood of Christ who offered himself "for the life of the world": 179

Holy Mass (Missa), because the Liturgy in which the Mystery of Salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the Faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.

Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the perSon baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No Sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of Salvation. 82 Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.

As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," 63 allow us to hope that there is a way of Salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.

For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their Sins, and charity, assures them the Salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the Sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, 3 has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and Salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." 16 In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by Faith in the Gospel and by Baptism 17 that one renounces evil and gains Salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all Sins and the gift of new life.

The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, Prayer, and almsgiving, 31 which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of Sins: effort at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the Salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity "which covers a multitude of Sins." 32

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

Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects Salvation through the ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from acting. 76 St. Augustine states this forcefully:

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

Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and Prayer, 9 this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about Salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish. 10

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.

From ancient times in the liturgical traditions of both East and West, we have testimonies to the practice of anointings of the sick with blessed oil. Over the centuries the Anointing of the Sick was conferred more and more exclusively on those at the point of death. Because of this it received the name "Extreme Unction." Notwithstanding this evolution the Liturgy has never failed to beg the Lord that the sick perSon may recover his health if it would be conducive to his Salvation. 125

"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

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all Sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their Baptismal Grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. the Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second Plank [of Salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace." 47

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 ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also the deacon. 57 In case of necessity, any perSon, even someone not baptized, can baptize, if he has the required intention. the intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes, and to apply the Trinitarian Baptismal formula. the Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will of God and the necessity of Baptism for Salvation. 58

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by Original Sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. 50 The sheer gratuitousness of the Grace of Salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. the Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. 51

The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for Salvation. 51 "Sacramental Grace" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. the Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. the fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the Faithful partakers in the divine nature 52 by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.

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

The Word of God. the Holy Spirit first recalls the meaning of the Salvation event to the liturgical assembly by giving life to the Word of God, which is proclaimed so that it may be received and lived:

The Spirit and the Church cooperate to manifest Christ and his work of Salvation in the Liturgy. Primarily in the Eucharist, and by analogy in the other sacraments, the liturgy is the memorial of the Mystery of salvation. the Holy Spirit is the Church's living memory. 19

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

It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built, 15 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the Mystery of Christ. It is called "typological" because it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled. 16 Thus the flood and Noah's ark prefigured Salvation by Baptism, 17 as did the cloud and the crosSing of the Red Sea. Water from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven." 18

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

"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

It is in this eternal Liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to participate whenever we celebrate the Mystery of Salvation in the sacraments.

A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of Salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of Creation and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the perSon and work of Christ.

Sacramental signs. Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his Church that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of sanctification. the sacraments of the Church do not abolish but purify and integrate all the richness of the signs and symbols of the cosmos and of social life. Further, they fulfill the types and figures of the Old Covenant, signify and make actively present the Salvation wrought by Christ, and prefigure and anticipate the glory of heaven. Words and actions

The catechumenate, or formation of catechumens, aims at bringing their conversion and Faith to maturity, in response to the divine initiative and in union with an ecclesial community. the catechumenate is to be "a formation in the whole Christian life . . . during which the disciples will be joined to Christ their teacher. the catechumens should be properly initiated into the Mystery of Salvation and the practice of the evangelical virtues, and they should be introduced into the life of faith, Liturgy, and charity of the People of God by successive sacred rites." 47

The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of Salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight perSons, were saved through water": 14

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

The 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

In the liturgical year the various aspects of the one Paschal Mystery unfold. This is also the case with the cycle of feasts surrounding the mystery of the Incarnation (Annunciation, Christmas, Epiphany). They commemorate the beginning of our Salvation and communicate to us the first fruits of the Paschal mystery.

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

All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. They make manifest the "cloud of witnesses" 29 who continue to participate in the Salvation of the world and to whom we are united, above all in sacramental celebrations. Through their icons, it is man "in the image of God," finally transfigured "into his likeness," 30 who is revealed to our Faith. So too are the angels, who also are recapitulated in Christ:

"Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might preach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his death and resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan and from death and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that the work of Salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves." 9

Life in the Holy Spirit fulfills the vocation of man (chapter one). This life is made up of divine charity and human solidarity (chapter two). It is graciously offered as Salvation (chapter three).

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

The tradition of Christian Prayer is one of the ways in which the tradition of Faith takes shape and grows, especially through the contemplation and study of believers who treasure in their hearts the events and words of the economy of Salvation, and through their profound grasp of the spiritual realities they experience. 2

"[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual Songs, Singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." 124 Like the inspired writers of the New Testament, the first Christian communities read the Book of Psalms in a new way, singing in it the Mystery of Christ. In the newness of the Spirit, they also composed hymns and canticles in the light of the unheard - of event that God accomplished in his Son: his Incarnation, his death which conquered death, his Resurrection, and Ascension to the right hand of the Father. 125 Doxology, the praise of God, arises from this "marvelous work" of the whole economy of Salvation. 126

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

The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. 116 Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the Gospel 117 but also intercedes for them. 118 The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: "for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions," for persecutors, for the Salvation of those who reject the Gospel. 119

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."

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

The 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.

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his Incarnation: Jesus. the Divine Name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus," "YHWH saves." 16 The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of Creation and Salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the Name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. 17

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

When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father. 43 His Prayer, the longest transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of Creation and Salvation, as well as his death and Resurrection. the prayer of the Hour of Jesus always remains his own, just as his Passover "once for all" remains ever present in the Liturgy of his Church.

The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the first three petitions to our Father: the glorification of his name, the coming of his reign, and the power of his saving will. But these Prayers are now proclaimed as adoration and thanksgiving, as in the Liturgy of heaven. 176 The ruler of this world has mendaciously attributed to himself the three titles of kingship, power, and glory. 177 Christ, the Lord, restores them to his Father and our Father, until he hands over the kingdom to him when the Mystery of Salvation will be brought to its completion and God will be all in all. 178

In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a perSon, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. the devil (dia-bolos) is the one who "throws himself across" God's Plan and his work of Salvation accomplished in Christ.

The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus' Prayer: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one." 163 It touches each of us perSonally, but it is always "we" who pray, in communion with the whole Church, for the deliverance of the whole human family. the Lord's Prayer continually opens us to the range of God's economy of Salvation. Our interdependence in the drama of Sin and death is turned into solidarity in the Body of Christ, the "communion of saints." 164

"Although he was a Son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered." 104 How much more reason have we Sinful creatures to learn obedience - we who in him have become children of adoption. We ask our Father to unite our will to his Son's, in order to fulfill his will, his Plan of Salvation for the life of the world. We are radically incapable of this, but united with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit, we can surrender our will to him and decide to choose what his Son has always chosen: to do what is pleasing to the Father. 105

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

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

In the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of "the end-time," the time of Salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord's return. the petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the Mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen.

By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from within, the Prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer fulfills, from within, the great petitions of the Lord's Prayer: concern for the Father's name; 47 passionate zeal for his kingdom (Glory); 48 The accomplishment of the will of the Father, of his Plan of Salvation; 49 and deliverance from evil. 50

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.

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

"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

The Church, the "pillar and bulwark of the truth," "has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth." 74 "To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human perSon or the Salvation of souls." 75

Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the Salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." 53 Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church. 54

Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the Creation of heaven and earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the Salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away." 43 He holds also that the justification of Sinners surpasses the Creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.

God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose Israel for himself to be his people and revealed his Law to them, thus preparing for the coming of Christ. the Law of Moses expresses many truths naturally accessible to reaSon. These are stated and authenticated within the covenant of Salvation.

Called to beatitude but wounded by Sin, man stands in need of Salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him and the Grace that sustains him:

"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal Sin." 136 There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his Sins and the Salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. 137 Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.

Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." 122 Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods," 123 knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God." 124 In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our Salvation. 125

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.

The disciple of Christ must not only keep the Faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." 82 Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for Salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." 83

It is not easy for man, wounded by Sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's gift of Salvation offers us the Grace necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the virtues. Everyone should always ask for this grace of light and strength, frequent the sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his calls to love what is good and shun evil.

The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for Salvation. In recalling the prescriptions of the natural law, the Magisterium of the Church exercises an essential part of its prophetic office of proclaiming to men what they truly are and reminding them of what they should be before God. 78

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 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 its various forms - material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death - human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for Salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of Original Sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, Since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation through numerous works of charity which remain indispensable always and everywhere." 247

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.

Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of Salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:

We should not despair of the eternal Salvation of perSons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. the Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.

Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the Salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

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

Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being Faithful to Christ and to his Church. the faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God's holiness and their hope of Salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward Salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim. 69

Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." 17 The Prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. 18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." 19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our Salvation. 20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

Liberation and Salvation. By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the Sin that held them in bondage. "For freedom Christ has set us free." 34 In him we have communion with the "truth that makes us free." 35 The Holy Spirit has been given to us and, as the Apostle teaches, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 36 Already we glory in the "liberty of the children of God." 37

Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic Faith in the divine Plan of Salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your Fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake." 402 Man's Sins, following on Original Sin, are punishable by death. 403 By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of Sin, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 404

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

Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me." 116 He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our Sins and for our Salvation, 117 "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception. 118

Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but co-operate in such a way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our Salvation. 110 Christ's human will "does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will." 111

The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceaSing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother: "What he was, he remained and what he was not, he assumed", sings the Roman Liturgy. 95 and the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims and sings: "O only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal being, you who deigned for our Salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, you who without change became man and were crucified, O Christ our God, you who by your death have crushed death, you who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!" 96

The Monophysites affirmed that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine perSon of God's Son assumed it. Faced with this heresy, the fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, confessed: Following the holy Fathers, we unanimously teach and confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as to his humanity; "like us in all things but Sin". He was begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for us and for our Salvation, was born as to his humanity of the virgin Mary, the Mother of God. 91

Taking up St. John's expression, "The Word became flesh", 82 The Church calls "Incarnation" the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our Salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church Sings the Mystery of the Incarnation:

With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confesSing: "For us men and for our Salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man."

The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the perSon of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from Sins. It is the Divine Name that alone brings Salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, 23 so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 24

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

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.

At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of Faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." 139 Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. EspouSing the divine will for Salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the Mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's Grace: 140

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 Scriptures had foretold this divine Plan of Salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a Mystery of universal redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of Sin. 397 Citing a confession of Faith that he himself had "received", St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our Sins in accordance with the scriptures." 398 In particular Jesus' redemptive death fulfils Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant. 399 Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God's suffering Servant. 400 After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles. 401

To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal Plan of "predestination", he includes in it each perSon's free response to his Grace: "In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." 395 For the sake of accomplishing his plan of Salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness. 396 "He died for our Sins in accordance with the Scriptures"

Jesus scandalized the Pharisees by eating with tax collectors and Sinners as familiarly as with themselves. 364 Against those among them "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others", Jesus affirmed: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 365 He went further by proclaiming before the Pharisees that, since sin is universal, those who pretend not to need Salvation are blind to themselves. 366

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

How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of "his Father David". 308 Acclaimed as Son of David, as the one who brings Salvation (Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters his City "riding on an ass". 309 Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. 310 and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. 311 Their acclamation, "Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord", 312 is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic Liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover.

The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. 216 With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Saviour - the name given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the "light to the nations" and the "glory of Israel", but also "a sign that is spoken against". the sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique oblation on the cross that will impart the Salvation God had "prepared in the presence of all peoples".

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").

All Christ's riches "are for every individual and are everybody's property." 187 Christ did not live his life for himself but for us, from his Incarnation "for us men and for our Salvation" to his death "for our Sins" and Resurrection "for our justification". 188 He is still "our advocate with the Father", who "always lives to make intercession" for us. 189 He remains ever "in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing before him all that he lived and suffered for us." 190

All men are implicated in Adam's Sin, as St. Paul affirms: "By one man's disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners": "sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned." 289 The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of Salvation in Christ. "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men." 290

The doctrine of Original Sin is, so to speak, the "reverse side" of the Good News that Jesus is the Saviour of all men, that all need Salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ. the Church, which has the mind of Christ, 263 knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original Sin without undermining the Mystery of Christ.

God created everything for man, 222 but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all Creation back to him: What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of Creation exist. God attached so much importance to his Salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand. 223

"The Word of God, which is the power of God for Salvation to everyone who has Faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament" 96 which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance. 97

Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately SO oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men." 93 "Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional, 94 The books of the OldTestament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of Prayers; in them, too, the Mystery of our Salvation is present in a hidden way." 95

The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, Faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our Salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures." 72

"It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the Salvation of souls." 62

In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways: - orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit"; 33 - in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of Salvation to writing". 34

Through the Prophets, God forms his people in the hope of Salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. 22 The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. 23 Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel's salvation. the purest figure among them is Mary. 24

This revelation was not broken off by our first parents' Sin. "After the fall, (God) buoyed them up with the hope of Salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing." 7

"God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. and furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly Salvation - he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning." 6 He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent Grace and justice.

We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 1. the life and teaching of Jesus. the Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, Faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal Salvation, until the day when he was taken up." 99 2. the oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed." 100 3. the written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus." 101

Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our Salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. 42 "Since "without Faith it is impossible to please (God) " and to attain to the fellowship of his Sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'But he who endures to the end.'"]

God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day. 204 On the subject of Creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our Salvation, 205 permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of Creation to the praise of God." 206

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

Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. . " 191 They belong to him because they were created through and for him: "for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created through him and for him." 192 They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving Plan: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain Salvation?" 193

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.

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

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

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

"For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. the Churches established in Germany have no other Faith or Tradition, nor do those of the Iberians, nor those of the Celts, nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, nor those established at the centre of the world. . ." 60 The Church's message "is true and solid, in which one and the same way of Salvation appears throughout the whole world." 61

Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of Faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation." 55 Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.

The second part of the Catechism explains how God's Salvation, accomplished once for all through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is made present in the sacred actions of the Church's Liturgy (Section One), especially in the seven sacraments (Section Two).

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

In the Church's Liturgy the divine blesSing is fully revealed and communicated. the Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of Creation and Salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.

Without always profesSing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and Salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous Prayer and penance." 460

Since, like all the Faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of Salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it. 433 The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office

On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted." 348 Only by taking the "way of penance and renewal," the "narrow way of the cross," can the People of God extend Christ's reign. 349 For "just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of Salvation to men." 350

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.

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

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

To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by Sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. the Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and Salvation. the Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood. 334

The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The Plan of Salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the Faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." 330

"Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possesSing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of Salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of Faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'" 321

Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of Salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; 502 it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

"This motherhood of Mary in the order of Grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal Salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." 510

"In the forgiveness of Sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of Salvation, wills to use in order to efface our Sins and give us the Grace of justification" (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).

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

From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blesSing. From the liturgical poem of the first Creation to the canticles of the heavenly Jerusalem, the inspired authors proclaim the Plan of Salvation as one vast divine blessing.

The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 1 The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the Mystery" the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of Salvation

In the Symbol of the Faith the Church confesses the Mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the Plan of God's "good pleasure" for all Creation: the Father accomplishes the "mystery of his will" by giving his beloved Son and his Holy Spirit for the Salvation of the world and for the glory of his name. 1

The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of Salvation." 627 It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the "blessed hope" of the Lord's return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all who have believed." 628

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

All who die in God's Grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal Salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

"All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God.... and to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic Faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God's Grace to Salvation." 320

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

"Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of Sin, but came only to expiate the Sins of the people. the Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal." 299 All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. 300 In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time. 301 Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's Salvation but still on the way to holiness:

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."

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.

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

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

"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.

"By the Grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". 459 In his Plan of Salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our Sins" 460 but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. the state of the dead Christ is the Mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, 461 reveals God's great sabbath rest 462 after the fulfilment 463 of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe. 464

The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the source of eternal Salvation" 449 and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us." 450 and the Church venerates his cross as she Sings: "Hail, O Cross, our only hope." 451

Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed". 429 On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the Salvation of men: "This is my body which is given for you." "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of Sins." 430

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:

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

The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our Salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus." 171 "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" 172 As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. 173

"The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect." 295 In her members perfect holiness is something yet to be acquired: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of Salvation, all the Faithful, whatever their condition or state - though each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father himself is perfect." 296

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

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

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

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

As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the Salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of salvation," by which Christ is "at once manifesting and actualizing the Mystery of God's love for men." 199 The Church "is the visible Plan of God's love for humanity," because God desires "that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit." 200

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

"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

By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 425 In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the Salvation of men. 426 Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." 427 Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. 428