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Gabriel, Angel - (Hebrew: God is my hero, my warrior) One of the three named angels in the Old Testament (Dt 8:16; 9:21), the others being Michael and Raphael. In the Lucan infancy narrative of the New Testament, Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah (Lk 1:19) and the birth of Jesus to Mary (Lk 1:26); since he appears elsewhere only in the apocalyptic visions of Daniel (Dn 8:16-26; 9:21-27), Gabriel’s announcement of these New Testament births brings a strong sense of eschatological fulfillment. One of the seven archangels, used on a number of occasions by God as a messenger (Deuteronomy 8:15-27). He appeared to Daniel and explained a vision to him about future events, telling him, “You are a man specially chosen” (Deuteronomy 9:20-27). In the New Testament he appeared to Zechariah to announce that Elizabeth, his wife, would bear a son and he must name the child John (Luke 1:11-20). Likewise, it was Gabriel who appeared to Mary and told her that she would conceive and bear a Son whom she must name Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Galatians,
The letter to the - Letter to
St. Paul to the Churches in Galatia, warning them against the
Judaizers who wanted the Christians to be circumcised. The faithful
were being told that Paul was just another disciple, so he defended
his apostleship, directly from Christ. He further explained that
salvation is through Christ alone, that Christ’s followers are no
longer under the yoke of the Old Law, that they must seek only the
glory of God and avoid all self-indulgence, and that true glory is
found only in the cross of Christ. St. Paul signed at least the last
few lines with his own hand.
Gaudete Sunday - The third Sunday of Advent; so called from the first word of the Latin Introit text, which is translated "rejoice." Rose Vestments and flowers are often used on this Sunday to express the joyful expectation of the coming of redemption. Even the penitential seasons of the Church have the theme of joy running through them.
© Fireside New American Bible
Genesis,
The book of. - This first book of the
Old Testament sketches the Jewish view of the origin of the world,
of mankind, and of the Jewish people. Traditionally thought to be
the work of Moses, it is today considered to be a compilation made
by a redactor who formed a patchwork of four different sources, all
of whom lived some centuries after Moses. Of the fifty chapters,
the first eleven are devoted to what is called primeval history. In
(Ch.1), the creation of the world is artistically presented as
having been accomplished on the six working days of the Jewish
week. Light is created on the first day, the sky on the second, the
dry land and the plants on the third. On the fourth day, the sun,
moon, and stars are made, on the fifth the animals in the sea and
the sky, and on the sixth day the earth is commanded to bring forth
the animals that inhabit it, and God makes man in His own image.
(Ch.2) presents a more detailed description of the making of man and
woman and their primitive happy state. It was their disobedience
that brought the origin of evil and the fall of our race, depicted
in (Ch. 3) Adam is shown (Ch. 4 and 5) to have ten generations of
offspring before the Flood, eight of them in his own lifetime; only
Noah and Shem (who survived the Flood) were born after Adam died.
This flood is shown to have covered the entire land and to have
exterminated all life, except that saved by Noah in the Arc. After
the flood , there are eight generations leading to Abraham, from
whom the Jewish nation took its origin. (Chs. 11-25) cover the life
of Abraham. Born in southern Mesopotamia, he is called by God with
the promise that he will be the founder of a great nation in which
all the nations of the earth will be blessed. His was a seminomadic
life, taking him north from Ur to Haran, then southward through the
Holy Land to Egypt and back to Hebron. In (Ch. 14), we find him in
Jerusalem, in significant contact with the mysterious priest
Melchizedek. In (Ch. 17), the promise is repeated, and the rite of
circumcision is mandated. Since his wife Sarah was barren,
Abraham's first son was by her maid, Hagar. But when Isaac was born
(Ch.21), Sarah's jealousy brought the expulsion of Hagar and her son
Ishmael.
The great testing of Abraham's faith came when God asked
him (Ch. 22) to sacrifice Isaac, but then mercifully accepted a
substitution. The significant events in the life of Isaac and his
son Jacob are told in (Chs. 24-26). Isaac is a mild, figure, who
returned to Mesopotamia to take a wife, Rebekah, but whom he had the
twin sons Esau and Jacob. When Isaac was old, by a ruse (Ch. 27)
Jacob obtained the blessing intended for the firstborn. As his
father had done, Jacob also went back to Mesopotamia to take a bride
(Ch. 29), but first deceived into taking Leah, the elder sister of
his intended, Rachel. God renewed the great promise to Jacob and it
was he, renamed Israel, who fathered the men who were the ancestors
of the twelve tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan,
Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. The
final fourteen chapters (Chs.37-50) focus on Joseph. Envied and
sold by his brothers, he yet attained high position in Egypt. When
a famine came, Jacob and his remaining sons had to go to Egypt for
food. There Joseph magnanimously welcomed them, and during his
lifetime they prospered. It was in Egypt that they multiplied in to
clans and tribes, and although they became slaves of the Egyptians
for many centuries, the children of Abraham did indeed become a
great nation.
Gifts of
the Holy Spirit -
The seven forms of supernatural initiative conferred with the
reception of sanctifying grace. They are in the nature of
supernatural reflexes, or reactive instincts, that spontaneously
answer to the divine impulses of grace almost without reflection but
always with full consent. The gifts are wisdom (sapientia),
understanding (intellectus), knowledge (scientia),
fortitude or courage (fortitudo), counsel (consilium),
piety or love (pietas), and fear of the Lord (timor Domini).
Glorified Body - The human body after its resurrection from the dead and reunion with the soul, which beholds the vision of God. This vision is the source of the body’s glorification, described by St. Paul (I Corinthians 15:42-44). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Gluttony - One of the seven capital sins, gluttony is the unrestrained indulgence in food or drink. Eating or drinking excessively for the sole purpose of one's own pleasure. Gluttony usually is a venial sin; however, if it resulted in complete drunkenness or injury to one's health it would be a mortal sin.
© Fireside New American Bible
God
- "The one absolutely and infinitely perfect Spirit Who is
the Creator of all" is the definition of God given by the Fourth
Lateran Council and the Vatican Council. God owes His existence to
no other. He always was and always will be. Infinitely perfect, He
has created all things and is the Ruler of the entire universe.
There are three persons in One God, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. God the Father is the First person of the Blessed
Trinity; God the Son, is the Second; and God the Holy Spirit, is the
Third. St. Thomas, in his Summa, set forth five arguments from
reason which prove the existence of a Supreme Being. Briefly, his
reasoning in the fifth argument is as follows: In the mechanism of
created things there are clear marks which prove their creation by a
most intelligent being who has immense power as well as the highest
degree of wisdom. Obviously, this intelligence is not a part of the
things themselves, because a thing cannot be its own cause and
effect. Therefore, one must conclude that "things that are" were
created by a superior Being, God.
The one absolutely and infinitely
perfect spirit who is the Creator of all. In the definition of the
First Vatican Council, fifteen internal attributes of God are
affirmed, besides his role as Creator of the universe: “The holy,
Catholic, apostolic Roman Church believes and professes that there
is one true, living God, the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth.
He is almighty, eternal, beyond measure, incomprehensible, and
infinite in intellect, will and in every perfection. Since He is one
unique spiritual substance, entirely simple and unchangeable, He
must be declared really and essentially distinct from the world,
perfectly happy in Himself and by his very nature, and inexpressibly
exalted over all things that exist or can be conceived other than
Himself” (Denzinger 3001).
Reflecting on
the nature of God, theology has variously identified what may be
called his metaphysical essence, i.e., what is God. It is
commonly said to be his self-subsistence. God is Being Itself. In
God essence and existence coincide. He is the Being who cannot not
exist. God alone must be. All other beings exist only because of the
will of God.
God the Father - First person of the Trinity, who is unbegotten but who eternally begets the Son; from whom and from the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed creation. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
God the Holy Spirit - The third person of the Trinity, who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son and is really distinct from them yet coequal with them as God. To him are attributed all the works of the Trinity that pertain to the sanctification of the human race. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
God the Son - The second person of the Trinity, who is eternally the only-begotten of the Father. He is really distinct from the Father and coeternal with the Father, from both of whom proceeds the Holy Spirit. Through him all things were made. He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and is known as Jesus Christ. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Good Friday - Friday in Holy Week, anniversary of Christ’s death on the Cross, and a day of fast and abstinence from the earliest Christian times. Black vestments were worn by the priest and Mass was not offered, except what was called the Mass of the Presanctified. A host consecrated the day before was consumed by the priest alone, although viaticum was permitted to the faithful. In the new liturgy, since the Second Vatican Council, the ceremonies consist of a reading of the Gospel according to St. John, special prayers for the Church and the people of all classes of society, the veneration of the Cross, and a Communion service at which all may receive the Eucharist. The Solemn Liturgical Action is to take place between noon and 9 p.m. Good Friday remains the only day in the year on which Mass is not celebrated in the Roman Rite. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Good Shepherd - The image that Jesus used to describe Himself in Jn 10: 11-18. He "lays down His life for his sheep" (v.11) and knows them intimately (vv. 14 and 15). The Old Testament also uses the imagery of a shepherd and sheep. God is the kind Shepherd who ever cares for His flock (Gn. 49:24; Ps 23:1-4; Ps 80:1) - in marked contrast to false shepherds who worry only about their own gain (Ez 34).
Goodness of God - The perfect conformity of God’s will with his nature (ontological goodness), and the perfect identity of God’s will with the supreme norm, which is the divine essence (moral goodness).
God is absolute ontological
goodness in himself and in relation to others. In himself, he is
infinitely perfect and therefore his will is perfectly and
infinitely happy in loving and enjoying himself as the supreme good,
the summum bonum. He needs no one and nothing outside himself
for his beatitude. God is also absolute ontological goodness in
relation to others. He communicates his goodness to creatures, as
the exemplary, efficient, and final cause of all created things. God is absolute moral goodness or holiness. He is holy because he is exempt from all profaneness. He is the wholly Other whose will is not dependent on any creature. He is also holy because he is free from sin and, indeed, cannot commit sin. He is finally holy because his goodness is the norm of holiness for his creatures. They are as holy as they are like him. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Gospel - (Anglo-Saxon god-spel, translating the Greek evangelion: good news) 1. The message of salvation in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations about God's sovereign salvific actions in history, 2. Communication of the message which came to mean each of the accounts of the four Evangelists who recorded the life, passion, death, resurrection and words of Jesus Christ, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
© Fireside New American Bible
One of the
four authentic accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus, which the Church teaches have been divinely inspired. They
are the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Several
stages in the use of the term “Gospel” may be distinguished. In the
Old Testament are predictions of the Messianic “Good News of
Salvation” (Isaiah 40:9, 41:27, 61:1). The Gospels themselves speak
of the “Good News” from the angelic message at Bethlehem (Luke 2:10)
to the final commission to the Apostles (Mark 16:15). Beyond the
four narratives of the Evangelists the entire New Testament speaks
at length, in detail, and with a variety of nuances of the “Gospel
of Jesus Christ.” Prior to the original, inspired Gospels there was
an “Oral Gospel,” or tradition, on which the written narratives were
based. And after the canonical Gospels were produced, numerous
counterfeit Gospels were also written. There is record of twenty-one
such apocryphal Gospels.
Gospels, Apocryphal - Spurious narratives of the life of Christ, written between the first and third centuries. Many of these exist, and new manuscripts of some of them have been discovered in the twentieth century. These apocrypha are of different types. Some may embody at least a few trustworthy oral traditions, e.g., the Gospel of Peter, and According to the Hebrews. Others are openly heretical and sought to expound erroneous, especially Gnostic views, e.g., the Gospels of Thomas, Marcion, the Twelve Apostles, and Philip. A third group of writings are pious tales, composed to satisfy popular curiosity, and deal mainly with the childhood of Christ; such as the Childhood gospel of Thomas, the History of Joseph the Carpenter, and the Departure of Mary. There is record of twenty-one apocryphal Gospels, some available in their full narrative text. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Greed - Avarice or cupidity. It implies a controlling passion for wealth or possessions and suggests not so much a strong as an inordinate desire and is commonly associated with the lust for power. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Guadalupe
-
A shrine of the Blessed Virgin in central Mexico, suburb of
Mexico City. One of the principal shrines of Christendom. Scene of
the apparition of Our Lady, in December 1531, to a native Aztec
peasant, fifty-one-year-old Juan Diego. He and his wife had been
recent converts to Christianity. Mary appeared on a hillside near
the Aztec shrine of Tepeyac and told Juan that she wanted a church
built there. When Bishop Zumarraga demanded a sign, Juan was
directed by Mary to pick some roses (not in bloom then), which he
took to the bishop and found that his cloak had miraculously painted
on it a portrait of the Mother of God.
Guardian angel - A celestial spirit assigned by God to watch over each individual during life. This general doctrine of an angel’s care for each person is part of the Church’s constant tradition, based on Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Fathers of the Church. The role of the guardian spirit is both to guide and to guard; to guide as a messenger of God’s will to our minds, and to guard as an instrument of God’s goodness in protecting us from evil. This protection from evil is mainly from the evil of sin and the malice of the devil. But it is also protection from physical evil insofar as this is useful or necessary to guard the soul from spiritual harm. A feast honoring the guardian angels has been celebrated in October, throughout the universal Church, since the seventeenth century. It now occurs on October 2. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Guilt - A condition of a person who has done moral wrong, who is therefore more or less estranged from the one he offended, and who is liable for punishment before he has been pardoned and has made atonement © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
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