Ona Chapter 5 Flashcards
Descent of the Holy Spirit
Fifty days after Passover, the Apostles, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other disciples were gathered in the Upper Room during the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, which celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and was given to the Church. This event is considered the “birthday” of the Church.
Ascension
Forty days after his Resurrection, the entry of Christ’s humanity into divine glory.
Church
The assembly of people God has called together from the ends of the earth. This word has three meanings: the people God gathers together, the local church (diocese), and the liturgical assembly. It is also the name given to a building used for public Christian worship.
The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is based on union with Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit. This kingdom, which is spiritual, begins here on earth and is perfected at the end of time. It is a kingdom of peace, love, and justice.
Pilgrim Church
Term for the Church on earth, whose members are on a journey, the destination of which has not yet been reached. Although people face difficulties and temptations, they are already united—albeit imperfectly—with Christ in Heaven.
Bride of Christ
Christ described himself as the bridegroom and the Church as his bride. This symbolism represents the intimate union between Christ and the members of his Mystical Body, the Church.
Heaven
The dwelling of God. In Heaven, the elect enjoy eternal friendship and communion with God and with the angels and saints. Those in Heaven enjoy perfect happiness and see God face-to-face, i.e., the Beatific Vision.
Mystical Body of Christ
Taught in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, believers are united to Christ in the way the individual parts of the body, each with its own function, are united to the head.
Purgatory
A state of final purification after death but before entrance into Heaven for those who have died in God’s friendship but are only imperfectly purified.
Invincible Ignorance
Ignorance that cannot be overcome by ordinary diligence. The guilt of a sin committed under invincible ignorance is not imputed to the sinner. This ignorance can be caused by a lack of knowledge, either of fact or of law, by a scarcity of evidence, by insufficient time or talent in the person, or by some other factor.
EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS
Latin for outside the Church there is no salvation. This doctrine teaches all salvation comes from Jesus Christ through his Church.
Apostolic Succesion
The bishops of the Church, through their ordination, form an uninterrupted, unbroken chain of succession, historically traceable to the Twelve Apostles.
Marks of the Church
Four characteristics identified in the early Church by which one can distinguish whether an ecclesial body is part of the Church established by Christ. The marks are listed in the Nicene Creed: “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.”
“Ex cathedra”
Latin for from the chair (of St. Peter). It indicates a solemn and infallible definition by a pope of a doctrine concerning matters of Faith or morals to be held by the faithful.
Infallibility
Immunity from error and any possibility of error. The pope enjoys this charism by virtue of his office when, “as supreme pastor and teacher of the faithful . . . he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals” (CCC 891). The college of bishops is also infallible when, in union with the pope and above all in an Ecumenical Council, it definitively proclaims a doctrine pertaining to Faith and morals to be held by the universal Church.
