sem 1 theo vocab

angels

Spiritual creatures, created by God with intelligence and will, who surpass humans in perfection. They are personal and immortal creatures.

common good

The “sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily”.

concupiscence

Disordered human desires resulting from Original Sin that produce an inclination to sin, also expressed as “the rebelling of the ‘flesh’ against the ‘spirit’”; remains after Baptism.

free will

“The power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility”.

nihilism

A philosophy that denies there is any meaning in existence or religious beliefs. A nihilist maintains that the only thing that comes after life is annihilation and nothingness.

original holiness and original justice

The original state of human beings in their relationship with God before sin entered the world. Original holiness is the state of Ada and Eve in which they shared in the divine life. Original justice is their state of inner harmony between the first couple and all creation.

Original Sin

The personal sin of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, by which they disobeyed God’s commandment and chose their own will over God’s will. They lost the grace of original holiness and original justice, became subject to death, and sin entered the world. Also describes the fallen state of human nature, which affects every person and from which Christ came to redeem the world.

Paschal Mystery

The saving love of God most fully revealed in the life and especially the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and glorious Ascension of his Son, Jesus Christ.

sin

“An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience”. Its basic cause is love for self over love for God. It wounds human nature and the solidarity of the human race and was most intense at Christ’s Passion, as witnessed by the hatred of Jesus’ enemies for the Son of God. Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross opened the way for God’s forgiveness and mercy.

solidarity

The Christian virtue of social charity and friendship.

soul

The name for the innermost spiritual principle of human beings. The soul and body together form one unique human nature; is created immediately by God and is immortal.

subsidiarity

The principle of Catholic social teaching that holds that a higher unit of society should not do what a lower unit can do as well or better.

theological virtues

Three important virtues bestowed on a person at Baptism that help the person relate to God. Faith is belief in and personal knowledge of God. Hope is trust in God’s salvation and in His gift of the graces needed to attain it. Charity is love of God and love of neighbor.

Theology of the Body

Pope John Paul II’s integrated vision of the human person - body, soul, and spirit - which he expressed in a series of 129 Wednesday audiences from 1979 to 1984. It is drawn mostly from scripture; taught that the body is a true gift from God; highlights how sexuality is a beautiful gift from God intended to be a means for self-giving love.

abortion

The deliberate killing of unborn human life by means of medical or surgical procedure. Direct abortion is gravely wrong because it is an unjustified attack on human life.

cardinal virtues

The four pivotal virtues that support moral living. Prudence is “right reason in action”, justice is giving each person his or her due by right, fortitude is courage to persist in living a Christian life, and temperance is moderation controlling desires for physical pleasure.

discernment

A decision-making process that attends to the implication and consequences of an action or choice. The Holy Spirit aids you in distinguishing between trials (which are necessary for your inner growth in virtue) and temptations (which lead to sin and death).

infallibility

A gift of the Holy Spirit whereby “the pope and bishops in union with him can definitively proclaim a doctrine of faith or morals for the belief of the faithful”. The word itself refers to “something that is preserved without error”.

Magisterium

The bishops, in union with the pope (the successor of St. Peter), who are the living and teaching office of the Church. The Magisterium is entrusted with guarding and handing on the Deposit of Faith and with authentically interpreting God’s Revelation in the forms of both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

prudence

The moral virtue that inclines you to discern a good, ethical, and moral life and to choose the means to accommodate.

canon law

The official body of rules (canons) that provides for good order in the Catholic Church.

grace

The free and undeserved help that God gives you to respond to His supernatural call to become his adoptive son or daughter, a partaker of the divine nature and of eternal life. Grace is a participation in the intimacy of God’s own Trinitarian life, offered from the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.

justification

The grace of the Holy Spirit to justify you- that is, to cleanse you from your sins and to communicate to you the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ and through Baptism.

moral relativism

Any doctrine or belief that denies the existence of absolute, universal moral truths.

norm

A guidance or law that can help regulate human freedom toward what is true and good, and therefore, toward God.

precepts of the Church

The five positive laws that bind Catholics to the Church and help them grow in holiness and charity.