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Habakkuk - The author of the eighth book of the Minor Prophets, written about 600 B.C. It is a short, philosophic book of three chapters in which he complains of the injustices of life. Evil always triumphs, as evidenced m the ruthlessness of the Chaldeans in trampling on the rights of other peoples (Habakkuk 1:6). One is startled by the insight he shows when he describes them as "A people feared and dreaded; from their might proceeds their right, their greatness" (Habakkuk 1:7). The prophet is comforted, however, by Yahweh's assurance that, in time, goodness will triumph. He concludes, "Calmly I await the day of anguish which is dawning on the people now attacking us" (Habakkuk 3:16). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Habit, Religious - The distinctive garb of a man or woman religious, its use dating back to the beginnings of monasticism. The habit was prescribed for religious by the Second Vatican Council: "The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same time becoming. In addition, it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved" (Perfectae Caritatis, 17). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hagar - An Egyptian handmaid whom Sara gave to her husband, Abraham, so that he might have an heir. From this union was born Ishmael, who God promised would be the founder of a mighty people. Later, when Sara became the mother of Isaac she persuaded Abraham to repudiate Agar and her child and drive them out into the desert. However, God protected them in the desert of Bersabee, and as predicted, the sons of Hagar, that is, the Ismaelites, were said to excel all other men in wisdom.
Haggai, The Book of - Also called Aggeus, the tenth among the Minor Prophets. About 520 B.C. he appeared among the Jews to rebuke them for apathy in building the second Temple. The book of Haggai contains four utterances: urging the rebuilding of the Temple, foretelling the glory of the new house of the Lord, threatening the Jews with misfortune until the Temple is rebuilt, and promising God's blessings on the people through Zorobabel, the representative of the royal house of David © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hail Mary - The first words of the most popular prayer to our Blessed Mother. It also is called the Angelic Salutation or, in Latin, the Ave Maria. The Hail Mary consists of three parts: the first two are taken from the New Testament, and the third was added by the Church. According to St. Luke: 1, 28, when the Angel Gabriel came to tell Mary she was to become the mother of God, he greeted her thusly, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you,” Luke 1:42 tells St. Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary when she came to visit her “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” The Catholic Church added the final petition, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Heart - A symbol of love, showing Christ's enduring love in spite of man's ingratitude. Images representing the heart alone are to be used for private devotion only. Generally the Sacred Heart is pictured as Christ, with his heart more or less exposed, sometimes held in his hands. The love of Christ exhibited in his Passion is often represented as a flaming heart surrounded by a crown of thorns. Mary's heart, pierced by a sword, is usually shown encircled by roses. A number of saints have a heart as their emblem, e.g., St. Augustine, to symbolize his great love for God; St. Theresa of Avila, a pierced heart recalling the wound of the seraph that she received in ecstasy; St. Margaret Mary, because of the role she played in extending the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the modern world. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Heaven - The place and condition of perfect supernatural happiness. This happiness consists essentially in the immediate vision and love of God, and secondarily in the knowledge, love, and enjoyment of creatures. Until the final resurrection, except for Christ and his Mother, only the souls of the just are in heaven. After the last day, the just will be in heaven in body and soul. Although the same God will be seen by all and enjoyed by all, not everyone will have the same degree of happiness. The depth of beatitude will depend on the measure of God's grace with which a person dies, and this in turn will be greatly conditioned by the merits that one earns during life on earth. Heaven is eternal because it will never cease. It is continuous because its joys never stop. It is communal because the happiness is shared with the angels and saints and the company of those who were known and loved on earth. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hebrews, The Letter to the - The letter “to the Hebrews” is “a word of exortation” (13:22), most likely addressed to Christian converts from Judaism. The recipients of the letter are not recent converts (5:12) and have undergone some persecution (10:32-44), which has not ceased (12:3-13, 13:3). Scholars do not agree as to the exact purpose of the letter. The believers are encouraged and exhorted to hold fast to their confession of faith (4:14-16), not to “drift away” from the message of salvation (2:1), and not to avoid community worship (10:25). They are urged to push on and not lose their enthusiasm for the faith (10:23-25, 32-39). Much of the teaching illustrates how superior and potent is the work of salvation effected by Christ, the High Priest, which is contrasted to what was revealed in the past. Jesus, the exalted One (1:3), is the culmination of God’s prophetic Word the humanity (1:1 ff.). Christ, Son of God and High Priest (3:1), has passed into heaven (4:14) and is far superior to the angels and event the greatest High Priest of old-Melchizedek (7:3). He, therefore, is supreme ruler of the House of God (3:6), the Author of salvation (2:10), the Great Shepherd (13:20). Christ proclaims and brings salvation (2:3) and is the cause of salvation for those who obey Him (5:9), which salvation He will dispense at His Second Coming (9:28). He saves from sins by cleansing (11:3) and bringing about the remission of sins (8:12, 9:14, 10:18), which renews and sanctifies the soul (2:11). The Church in Alexandria, from the second century on, accepted Hebrews as an authentic letter from Paul. Origen and a few others had serious doubts about its Pauline origins. In the Latin West, Tertullian and others doubted its Pauline authorship from the beginning. Bu the fourth century and on through to the Reformation, both East and West accepted the letter as being from Paul. Names which have been proposed as alternatives include Apollos, Barnabas, Prisca, Aquila, Silas and Jude. The latest date for the letter is A.D. 95/6, the traditional dating of 1 Clement, which mentions Hebrews in Ch. 36.
Hell - This term was used in the Old Testament to designate the world of the dead generally, and the word carried with it all the sad and painful associations of the unknown into which the living pass at death. It is the rendering of the Hebrew word ‘sheol’ and of the Greek word ‘hades’, although each of these words is sometimes rendered ‘grave’. Another Greek word appearing in the New Testament which is also translated ‘hell’ is ‘gehenna’. It more clearly implies a future place of punishment.
The place and state of eternal punishment for the fallen angels and human beings who die deliberately estranged from the love of God. There is a twofold punishment in hell: the pain of loss, which consists in the deprivation of the vision of God, and the pain of sense, which consists in the suffering caused by outside material things. The punishment of hell is eternal, as declared by Christ in his prediction of the last day (Matthew 25:46), and as defined by the Fourth Lateran Council, stating that the wicked will "receive a perpetual punishment with the devil" (Denzinger 801). The existence of hell is consistent with divine justice, since God respects human freedom and those who are lost actually condemn themselves by their resistance to the grace of God. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Heresy - Commonly refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of an established system of thought. Theologically it means an opinion at variance with the authorized teachings of any church, notably the Christian, and especially when this promotes separation from the main body of faithful believers.
In the Roman Catholic Church, heresy has a very specific meaning. Anyone who, after receiving baptism, while remaining nominally a Christian, pertinaciously denies or doubts any of the truths that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith is considered a heretic. Accordingly four elements must be verified to constitute formal heresy; previous valid baptism, which need not have been in the Catholic Church; external profession of still being a Christian, otherwise a person becomes an apostate; outright denial or positive doubt regarding a truth that the Catholic Church has actually proposed as revealed by God; and the disbelief must be morally culpable, where a nominal Christian refuses to accept what he knows is a doctrinal imperative.
Objectively, therefore, to become a heretic in the strict canonical sense and be excommunicated from the faithful, one must deny or question a truth that is taught not merely on the authority of the Church but on the word of God revealed in the Scriptures or sacred tradition. Subjectively a person must recognize his obligation to believe. If he acts in good faith, as with most persons brought up in non-Catholic surroundings, the heresy is only material and implies neither guilt nor sin against faith. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hermit - (Greek eremites: one who dwells in the desert). A religious ascetic who lives a solitary life for the contemplation of God through silence, penance and prayer.
Heroic Virtue - The performance of extraordinary virtuous actions with readiness and over a period of time. The moral virtues are exercised with ease, while faith, hope, and charity are practiced to an eminent degree. The presence of such virtues is required by the Church as the first step toward canonization. The person who has practiced heroic virtue is declared to be Venerable, and is called a "Servant of God." © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hierarchy - The orderly graduation of the Catholic clergy according to their rank or grade of power. There is both a hierarchy of jurisdiction and a hierarchy of orders. In the hierarchy of jurisdiction the primacy of the Holy See and the power of the bishops is considered to be of divine origin. The Supreme Pontiff, bu divine right, has jurisdiction over the entire Catholic Church. Diocesan bishops have complete authority in their own diocese. The other members of the clergy receive their power and authority according to the positions they hold; thus theirs is considered to be of ecclesiastical origin rather than divine. The hierarchy of orders pertains to the graded priestly functions of bishops, priests and deacons are by virtue of the divinely conferred orders. The other ministries within the Church (reader and acolyte) are of ecclesiastical origin. Popularly, the term hierarchy refers to the bishops of a country or the world as a group.
Holiness - In the Old Testament the Hebrew Kadosch (holy) meant being separated from the secular or profane, or dedication to God's service, as Israel was said to be holy because it was the people of God. The holiness of God identified his separation from all evil. And among creatures they are holy by their relation to him. Holiness in creatures is either subjective or objective or both. It is subjective essentially by the possession of divine grace and morally by the practice of virtue. Objective holiness in creatures denotes their exclusive consecration to the service of God: priests by their ordination, religious by their vows, sacred places, vessels, and vestments by the blessing they receive and the sacred purpose for which they are reserved. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Holy Communion - The Eucharist is the sacrament that preserves the soul's union with God and fosters that union by making a person more holy especially in the practice of the supernatural virtue of charity. As a sacrament of the living, to obtain the graces intended, a person must be in the state of God's friendship when receiving, otherwise the reception becomes a sacrilege (I Corinthians 11:27-29). The union of the communicant with Christ in the Eucharist is effective in the moral order. Though physically present in the communicant, Christ is not physically united with him. Only the consecrated species, since they alone can come in contact with material things, are physically united with the communicant.
Communion aims specifically at producing a likeness to Christ in the communicants. Their acts of mind and will, as a result of Communion, are to become more conformable to the acts of Christ's mind and will. Their body, too, is to become more like Christ's sacred body. This is the primary purpose of the sacrament, a special union of the soul with Christ. What is special about this union is that the Eucharist is extraordinarily powerful in conferring actual graces that prompt a person to make acts of love for God and one's neighbor. Moreover, these graces inspire one to live for Christ habitually, even under great difficulties, as shown by the readiness to love the unlovable, and to promote loving community in spite of great natural diversity.
The secondary purpose of Communion is to assimilate the body of the communicant to the body of Christ in two ways: it curbs or mitigates all disordered passions, especially those against chastity, and it confers a new title to the final resurrection of the body in heavenly glory. A final effect of Communion is to remove the personal guilt of venial sins, and the temporal punishment due to forgiven sins, whether venial or mortal. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Holy
Days of Obligation
- Days on which
Catholics are obliged under pain of mortal sin to attend Mass and to
abstain from all unnecessary servile work. Every Sunday in the year
is a Holy Day of Obligation. In addition, Church law has declared
certain other great feast days as holy days. These may vary between
countries according to the rulings of the Holy See. In the United
States the Holy Days of Obligation are as follows: Mary, Mother of God……………January 1 Ascension………………………..Forty days after Easter Assumption………………………August 15 All Saints…………………………November 1 Immaculate Conception………..December 8 Christmas………………………..December 25 Canada’s holy days of obligation are: Mary, Mother of God……………January 1 Epiphany…………………………January 6 Ascension………………………..Forty days after Easter All Saints…………………………November 1 Immaculate Conception………..December 8
Christmas………………………..December 25 Permission to fulfill mass obligations on the eve of holy days (including Sunday) has been given more frequently in recent times and is a return of the ancient Hebrew custom of reckoning time from sundown to sundown (one day) instead of midnight to midnight.
Holy Saturday - The Saturday of Holy Week. The Roman Missal notes that according to a most ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated on this day (with the exception of Penance and emergency ministrations of Anointing or Viaticum). The Church keeps vigil at the tomb of the Lord, reflecting on His saving death and looking forward to His life-giving resurrection. This does not mean, however, that the Church does not gather for prayer on this day. In the cathedral certainly, and in parish churches most fittingly, the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer are celebrated (perhaps at the time usually reserved for the celebration of the Eucharist from which the Church fasts on this day “when her Bridegroom is taken away from her”). Midday Prayer and Vespers are also celbrated, since the Easter Vigil cannot begin until after sundown. In preparation for Christian Initiation at the vigil, preparatory rites may be celebrated with the catechumens. Whenever possible the paschal fast (not the universally disciplinary fast of Lent, which ends on Holy Thursday, but the anticipatory fast which is observed universally on Good Friday) is prolonged until the vigil.
Holy Spirit - The third person of the Holy Trinity, who is distinct from the Father and the Son but one in being, coequal, and coeternal with them, because, like them, he is in the fullest sense God. The Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father but also from the Son as from a single principle, through what is called a single spiration. He is the personal infinite term of the eternal act of mutual love of the Father and the Son; hence his name of Spirit, as the issue or term of God's eternal love or act of will. He is also called the Spirit of Truth, the Creator Spirit, the Sanctifier, as the gifts of revelation, of creation (and re-creation), and of sanctification are the outpourings of God's love, and therefore appropriated to the Spirit of Love, though whatever God does outside the Trinity (in the world of creatures) belongs to the common or united action of the three divine persons. He is called Dove, because it was in this form that he descended visibly upon Christ in the Jordan (Mark 1:10). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Holy Thursday - Also called Maundy Thursday, the anniversary of the Last Supper, when Christ instituted the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the sacrament of the priesthood. On Holy Thursday, since the early Church, the blessing of the holy oils has taken place. The Church's emphasis in the revised liturgy for Holy Thursday is on the institution of the priesthood. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Holy Water - A sacramental of the Church. This water is ordinarily blessed during the Easter Vigil Service for the purpose of Baptism during that liturgy itself. However, the faithful often take this water to their homes and use it as a reminder of their own Baptism. Water is a symbol of growth and life which are celebrated in Baptism and continue throughout one’s life; holy water reminds a person of this growth and life. Holy water may not be interpreted as magic or as containing any magical powers; rather it symbolizes the growth and cleansing from sin which come from God.
Holy week - The week preceding Easter, from Passion (Palm) Sunday through Holy Saturday inclusive. During this week the Church commemorates the Passion of Christ, and all the ceremonies reflect this attitude of sorrow, yet joined with gratitude for God's mercy in becoming man in order to suffer and die for a sinful mankind. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Homily - A sermon or informal discourse on some part of the Sacred Scriptures. It aims to explain in an instructive commentary the literal meaning of the chosen text or subject and from this develop a practical application for the moral or spiritual life. The oldest extant homily is the sermon of Peter on Pentecost Sunday. Since the Second Vatican Council the homily has become an integral part of every Mass, always the Sunday Mass, but also whenever a number of the faithful are present or the occasion calls for an exposition of the Scriptures. The methods of giving a homily include: treating separately one or more parts of the biblical reading; combining the Scripture texts into a single idea; concentrating on some virtue or vice suggested by the Gospel text; paraphrasing a Bible passage as a basis for an exhortation to the people. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Homosexuality - In general, some form of sexual relationship among members of the same sex. From a moral standpoint, three levels are to be distinguished: tendency, attraction, and activity. Homosexual tendencies in any person are within the normal range of human nature, whose fallen condition includes every conceivable kind of impulse that with sincere effort and divine grace can be controlled. Sexual attraction for members of the same sex may be partly due to the peculiar make-up of certain individuals or, more often, the result of indiscretion or seduction and presents a graver problem; yet this, too, is not by itself sinful and may in fact be an occasion for great supernatural merit. When the condition is pathological, it requires therapy. Active homosexuality is morally indefensible and has been many times forbidden in revelation and the teaching of the Church. The most extensive declaration on the subject was by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Paul VI on November 7, 1975. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hope
- The confident desire of obtaining a future good that is
difficult to attain. It is therefore a desire, which implies seeking
and pursuing; some future good that is not yet possessed but wanted,
unlike fear that shrinks from a future evil. This future good draws
out a person's volition. Hope is confident that what is desired will
certainly be attained. It is the opposite of despair. Yet it
recognizes that the object wanted is not easily obtained and that it
requires effort to overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way.
Hope, Act of - An act of confident expectation of possessing God in heaven and of obtaining the necessary grace to reach this destiny. Acts of hope are required in times of temptation to discouragement or despair, and are implicit in every supernaturally good work. A simple and highly authorized act of hope says: "My God, I hope in You, for grace and for glory, because of Your promises, Your mercy and Your power. Amen." © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Hosea - One of the Minor Prophets, who carried on his ministry sometime between 783 and 715 B.C. in the kingdom of Israel, which seceded from Judah after the death of Solomon. The book of Hosea consists of fourteen chapters and may be divided into three parts. The first part (1-3) portrays Israel as the faithless bride, whose divine Lover remains true to her in spite of her infidelities and urges her to repent. The second part (4-9:9) is a divine reproach and a cry for vengeance. The third part (9:10-14:10) recalls God's blessings on his people, repeats the exhortation to repentance, and promises salvation. Hosea is frequently quoted in the New Testament, and twice by Christ personally (Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6; Luke 23:30; Hosea 10:8). © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
Humility - The moral virtue that keeps a person from reaching beyond himself. It is the virtue that restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness and leads people to an orderly love of themselves based on a true appreciation of their position with respect to God and their neighbors. Religious humility recognizes one's total dependence on God; moral humility recognizes one's creaturely equality with others. Yet humility is not only opposed to pride; it is also opposed to immoderate self-abjection, which would fail to recognize God's gifts and use them according to his will. © Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications
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