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Real
Presence - The manner of
Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist. In its definition on the
subject, the Council of Trent in 1551 declared that "in the
sacrament of the most holy Holy Eucharist is contained truly,
really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul
and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole
Christ" (Denzinger 1636, 1640). Hence Christ is present truly or
actually and not only symbolically. He is present really, that is
objectively in the Eucharist and not only subjectively in the mind
of the believer. And he is present substantially, that is with all
that makes Christ Christ and not only spiritually in imparting
blessings on those who receive the sacrament. The one who is present
is the whole Christ (totus Christus), with all the attributes
of his divinity and all the physical parts and properties of his
humanity.
The Constitution on the Liturgy (Sacrosanctum
Concilium) of Vatican II
lists five modes of Christ’s presence. He is present in the person
of the minister, through His power in the sacraments, in the Word as
recorded in Scripture, in the praying community and especially under
the Eucharistic species of bread and wine. This last presence is
Real Presence. The other modes of presence are real, but the
Eucharistic Presence is real in a completely unique way. Christ is
substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine.
Reconciliation
- The act or state of
re-establishing friendship between God and a human being, or between
two persons. Reconciliation with God is necessary after a person has
lost the divine friendship through grievous sin. It requires
repentance on the part of the sinner and forgiveness on the part of
God. The willingness to be reconciled with another person is a
necessary condition for obtaining God's mercy.
Redemption - The salvation of humanity by Jesus Christ. Literally, to redeem means to free or buy back. Humanity was held captive in that it was enslaved by sin. Since the devil overcame human beings by inducing them to sin, they were said to be in bondage to the devil. Moreover, the human race was held captive as to a debt of punishment, to the payment of which it was bound by divine justice. On all these counts, the
Passion of Christ was sufficient and superabundant satisfaction for
human guilt and the consequent debt of punishment. His Passion was a
kind of price or ransom that paid the cost of freeing humanity from
both obligations. Christ rendered satisfaction, not by giving money,
but by spending what was of the highest value. He gave himself, and
therefore his Passion is called humanity's Redemption.
Reformation
- A religious, social, and
political upheaval (1517-1648) that divided Western Christendom and
created world Protestantism. Its causes were manifold: weakening of
papal authority through long residence in France and the worldliness
of some popes; disloyalty to Rome of many bishops who were really
temporal rulers; excessive reservation of ecclesiastical
appointments to the Roman Curia; intellectual and moral unfitness of
many priests; wealth of some of the monasteries and dissension in
their ranks; superstition and ignorance among the laity; social
unrest brought on by the disintegration of the feudal system;
support given by political power to dissenters in the Church; unrest
and secularism brought on by the new geographical discoveries; and
the use of the printing press to propagate the new views. The
effects of the Reformation have been far-reaching: Christian unity
was shattered, personal liberty in religion affected every sphere of
human activity, with the rise of the modern secular state, of
capitalism as rugged individualism, and with the loss of the
cultural solidarity, founded on a common faith, that had shaped
Western civilization for almost a millennium.
Relics
- An object connected with a
saint, e.g., part of the body or clothing or something the person
had used or touched. Authentic relics are venerated with the
Church's warm approbation. They may not be bought or sold. Those of
a martyr are placed in the altar stone at the consecration of an
altar. Relics are of three classes: the first is part of the saint's
body and is the type placed in the altar stone; the second is part
of the clothing or anything used during the saint's life; and the
third is any other object, such as a piece of cloth, that has been
touched to a first-class relic.
Religion
- The moral virtue by which a
person is disposed to render to God the worship and service he
deserves. It is sometimes identified with the virtue of justice
toward God, whose rights are rooted in his complete dominion over
all creation. Religion is also a composite of all the virtues that
arise from a human being's relationship to God as the author of his
or her being, even as love is a cluster of all the virtues arising
from human response to God as the destiny of his or her being.
Religion thus corresponds to the practice of piety toward God as
Creator of the universe.
Religious State
- According to ecclesiastical
tradition, a fixed or stable manner of life that people of the same
sex live in common, and in which they observe the evangelical
counsels by means of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Remission of Sin
- The true and actual forgiveness
of sin. When mortal sin is remitted, this includes pardon of the
eternal punishment due to it, but temporal penalty may still remain.
When venial sin is remitted, the guilt is removed and as much of the
temporal punishment as the person's dispositions warrant from the
grace of God.
Renewal
- Renovation in the sense of
restoring a practice, custom, or institution to its original meaning
or purpose. Used by the Second Vatican Council especially of the
spiritual renewal of religious communities, by a return to their
Gospel foundations, the charisms of their founders, and the sacred
traditions of their history.
Renouncing Satan
- Profession of allegiance to
Christ and renunciation of the devil as the enemy of Christ, made at
baptism by the person being baptized or by the sponsor. It implies
the resolution to resist the devil's attempts to seduce the
followers of Christ, to live in humility (contrary to Satan's
pride), in obedience (contrary to Satan's disobedience), and in
holiness (contrary to Satan's total estrangement from God).
Responsorial Psalm
- Antiphonal psalm that is said or
read before the Gospel at Mass. Normally the psalm is taken from the
lectionary and has some bearing on the particular text from
Scripture. After the second reading and before the Gospel the
Alleluia is either sung or read, followed by its appropriate verse.
If the Alleluia or the verse before the Gospel is not sung, it may
be omitted. Except on Easter Sunday and Whitsunday, the sequences
(special festive hymns) are optional.
Resurrection of Christ - The rising from the dead of Christ on the third day after his death and burial. Christ's Resurrection is a basic truth of Christianity, which is expressed in all the Creeds and in all rules of faith of the ancient Church. He rose through his own power. The source of his Resurrection was the hypostatic union. The principal cause was the Word of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit; the instrumental cause was the parts of Christ's humanity, soul, and body, which were hypostatically united with the Godhead. When Scripture asserts (Acts 2:24; Galatians 1:1) that Christ was raised by God or by the Father, these statements are to be understood as referring to his humanity. All forms of rationalism in ancient and modern times – deceit hypothesis, apparent death hypothesis, vision hypothesis, symbolism hypothesis – deny Christ's Resurrection. Yet nothing is more central in the faith as attested by Peter's sermon on Pentecost and as defended ever since by the Church's most solemn teaching authority. The body of the risen Christ was in a state of glory, as is evident from circumstances of the appearances recorded in the Gospels and Acts, and from Christ's supremacy over the limitations of space and time. The risen Christ retained the wounds in his transfigured body as tokens of his triumph over death (John 20:27). Theologically the
Resurrection, unlike the death of Christ, is not the meritorious
cause of human redemption. It is the victorious completion of
redemption. It belongs to the perfection of redemption and is
therefore associated in the Scriptures with Christ's death on the
Cross as one complete whole. It is the model and, in the person of
the risen Christ, the channel of grace for our spiritual redemption
from sin and for our bodily resurrection on the Last Day.
Revelation Private
- Supernatural manifestations made to a
particular person since apostolic times. They are distinct from
visions and apparitions, properly so called, in which objects are
seen but not necessarily understood. When what is seen is also
understood, it becomes a revelation, although revelations can be
received directly in the mind without sensory images of any kind.
When the Church approves certain private revelations, as those of
St. Margaret Mary (1647-90) or St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-79),
they are to be accepted on the Church's judgment, but the are not
part of divine faith.
Revelation Public
- Public revelation is that contained in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, and
through Tradition. Since man’s knowledge of God is imperfect, it
follows that supernatural revelation must assist man in his quest
for this knowledge. Christ said that unless human teachers are
supernaturally enlightened, they can speak only of earthly truths.
The divine revelations of the Old Testament were given to the
individual prophets by dreams, visions or direct instructions by
God, and they explained them to others. Christ and his Apostles then
brought the Old Testament revelation to completion through the
assistance of the Holy Spirit. Christ made known to the Apostles
everything that he had heard from His Father, even truths previously
undnown. Public revelation came to an end with the death of the last
Apostle, but those carrying on the faith were promised the
assistance of the Holy Spirit to guide them and protect the faith
that they had learned.
Revelation,
The Book of. -
This, the last book of the New
Testament, has also been called by its Greek name, Apocalypse. The
earliest Christian writers considered it to be the work of St. John
the Apostle. Modern scholars, noting differences in style and
vocabulary, are skeptical of this attribution. The book is composed
of two unequal parts. The first three chapters are spent on pastoral
letters for the benefit of seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus,
Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Each
letter, while sent tot the bishop of the respective Church, is
clearly addressed through him (the message-deliverer) to the
congregation. The message is one of encouragement and rebuke; when
criticism is called for, it is expressed in such strong words as
could have come only from one of high standing and authority. A
comparative study of four topics (Christ, Satan, the Holy Spirit,
the Jews) will show that these letters reflect the outlook of the
Fourth Gospel. The remaining nineteen chapters are less pastoral in
tone, and less concerned with existing religious problems. They
contain a number of vivid visions, symbolic of tribulations coming
upon believers from a political source. These visions are organized
in the same highly structured way as the seven initial letters and
the seven miracles of the Fourth Gospel: seven seals, seven
trumpets, seven plagues, seven bowls. The city on the seven hills,
called “Babylon,” is indubitably Rome, and the number refers without
doubt to Nero. He had shed the blood of St. Paul, St. Peter, and
many others who were dear to St. John; he had declared war on the
Jewish freedom-fighters; his Roman troops had already overrun
Galilee and were besieging Jerusalem, if indeed they had not already
taken it. The reference to the “new Jerusalem” can best be
understood if the destruction of the old Jerusalem had passed or was
at least obviously imminent. The Jewish apocalyptic tries to view
events as God sees them, simultaneously, without the historian’s
respect for time. This example, explains the montage that is
frequently encountered in such writings. The woman of the
Apocalypse, for example, can be understood by Jews as Israel and by
Christians both as the Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Mother Church.
The woman in the heavens is crowned with twelve stars (Israel and
the tribes, or the Apostles on Pentecost); she brings forth her Son
(the Messiah), destined to shepherd the nations. The devil tries in
vain to devour her Son, and He ascends into heaven. The sufferings
of Jesus had been experienced by Israel and are relived by the
Church as she strives to bring forth other Christs; her efforts are
also resisted by the devil, incarnate in the Roman persecutors, but
he will not prevail.
Reverence
- The virtue that inclines a
person to show honor and respect for persons who possess some
dignity. There are four forms of reverence, corresponding to four
forms of dignity: 1. familial reverence toward one's parents or
those who take the place of parents; 2. civil reverence toward
persons holding civil authority; 3. ecclesiastical reverence toward
the Pope, bishops, priests, and others in the service of the Church;
4. religious reverence toward any person, place, or object related
to God.
Rite
of Christian Initiation of Adults
(RCIA) – RCIA,
the full Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is the process by
which adult converts are received into full communion with the
Catholic Church. It takes place in four stages: (1) Pre-Catechumenate
or Inquiry phase. Normally, it starts in September and gathers
information, answers questions and corrects misunderstandings; (2)
Catechumenate phase, which is a process of spiritual formation and
introduction to Catholic parish life; (3) Election phase, meaning
that the candidate is fit for the sacraments of Initiation at
Easter. This Rite starts on the first Sunday of Lent and includes
scrutinies, presentations and anointing; (4) Final Initiation phase
takes place at the Easter Vigil, when the catechumens are baptized,
confirmed and receive their First Holy Communion.
Romans,
Letter to the -
Written by St. Paul at Corinth about A.D. 58,
when he was about to leave for Jerusalem at the end of his third
missionary journey. He was on his way to Rome. It is the only
Pauline letter addressed to a church that the apostle had not
personally founded, preparing the people for his visit to them. He
dwells on the justification of humankind through faith in Jesus
Christ, the sinfulness of the world, the meaning and fruits of
justification, what faith is, and that its fruits are humility,
obedience, unity, and charity. Christ, the second Adam, has more
than compensated for the sin of the first Adam.
Rome
- The diocese of the Pope, also
called the See of Peter, the Apostolic See, the Holy See, and the
Eternal City. According to ancient tradition, St. Peter first came
to Rome in A.D. 42; St. Paul arrived about A.D. 60. Both were
martyred here under Nero, most probably in 64. The history of the
city from that time to the present can be divided into several
periods: 1. the age of persecution, to the Edict of Milan in 313; 2.
freedom recognized by the empire and the building of the first
churches, to the fall, in 476, of the Roman Empire in the West; 3.
growing power of political rulers, in conflict with the papacy, to
the coronation in 800 of Charlemagne as emperor by Pope Leo III; 4.
consolidation of the Papal States, irreparably damaged by the
Avignon residence of the popes, 1309-77; 5. after the Western Schism
to the Reformation; 6. from the Reformation to the loss of the Papal
States in 1870, until the Lateran Treaty in 1929; and 7. since the
settling of the Roman Question to the present, when the Communist
presence in Italy and Rome poses new challenges to the spiritual
autonomy of the Holy See.
Rosary
- A devotional prayer, mental and
vocal, honoring the Blessed Mother of God. It is said on a string of
beads made up of five sets each of one large and ten smaller beads,
called decades. On the large beads the Pater Noster is said; on the
small ones, the Hail Mary. The usual devotion is the fifteen
decades, on the joyous, sorrowful, or glorious aspects of Our Lord
and Our Lady's life. It is the most popular of all nonliturgical
Catholic devotions and has been highly recommended by many popes.
This is the standard Rosary. But there are other Rosaries also
approved by the Church, notably of the Holy Trinity, Seven Dolors,
Precious Blood, St. Bridget, St. Joseph, and the Rosary of the Lord.
Ruth,
The book of -
One of the protocanonical writings of the Old
Testament, narrating the story of a Bethlehem family in the time of
the Judges. Its heroine is Ruth, daughter-in-law of Naomi. Although
Ruth is a Moabite, she marries Boaz, a Jew, and becomes the
great-grandmother of King David, of whose family Christ was born.
The purpose of the book was twofold: to preserve the edifying story
of David's ancestry, and to witness to the practice of extraordinary
filial piety, rewarded by God.
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