1: To say God’s revelation is ‘economic’ means that God chose to reveal Himself over time, in human history.
2: Revelation means God making Himself and His divine plan for salvation known to His children. Revelation is the foundation of our Christian faith, because if God did not reveal Himself we would not be able to know and have faith in Him.
3: The Catholic Church continues to interpret the Word of God in both written form (scripture) and Tradition (church teaching).
4: Faith is both a personal relationship with God and a free assent to the truth God has revealed.
5: We as the Church profess our faith together and to the world.
6: Two natural ways to come to know God are through creation (seeing evidence of God in the world) and through the human person (hearing God’s call in our own hearts) .
7: The central mystery of the Christian faith is the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
8: The Trinity is a complete unity, while at the same time being composed of three distinct Persons.
9: The Catholic faith is one and the same everywhere, while being expressed through different cultures.
10: Belief in the resurrection of all the dead is essential to Christianity.
11: The Communion of Saints is all the faithful in Christ, both living and dead.
12: God’s revelation in scripture unfolds in first the Old and then the New Testaments.
13: Divine Inspiration means God (the Primary Author) somehow told the human secondary authors of the Bible what to write in the Bible. The Bible contains what God wanted us to know for our salvation.
14: There are 73 books in the Bible: 46 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament.
15: Jesus gave the Church the authority to teach and interpret the Bible.
16: The Gospels in the New Testament are 4 ancient biographies of the life of Christ. They are the most important books in the Bible.
17: Three of the Gospels are called synoptic, meaning ‘same eye’. These three are Matthew, Mark, and Luke (not John).
18: The infancy narratives are the accounts in the Gospels about Christ’s birth and the surrounding events. They are found in Matthew and Luke.
19: Matthew and Luke tell their infancy narratives from different perspectives, and mention different people and events, but they are both true.
20: Major themes in the Gospel of Luke are: salvation is a joyful surprise, salvation is meant for all, Jesus had special concern for the poor and needy, and Mary was the first Christian disciple.
21: The Gospel of Luke shows the message of salvation starting with the Jews and extending to the Gentiles.
22: Gentile=non-Jew.
23: Women play an important role in the Gospel of Luke.
24: Christians participate in the priesthood of Christ, especially in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.
25: Confirmation is a sacrament of initiation that completes the work of Baptism in the receiver.
26: During Confirmation the bishop lays hands on the receiver, and anoints the recipient’s head with Chrism.
27: Chrism is a mixture of olive oil and a fragrance called balsam which is blessed by the bishop.
28: To call a sacrament valid means the celebration of the sacrament had all the parts necessary to conform to Church law.
29: The sacrament of Matrimony (marriage) is only valid if: the people getting married are a baptized man and woman, freely consenting to the marriage, and intending to fulfill the ‘marriage contract.’
30: The marriage contract means for the good of the two spouses, and open to the possibility of children.
31: The ministers of Matrimony are the man and the woman getting married, and they give the sacrament to each other using the wedding vows.
32: The sacrament of Holy Orders is only valid if: the man to be ordained is baptized, educated in the seminary, and called by the bishop to be ordained.
33: Holy Orders has 3 levels: Diaconate (deacon), Presbyterate (priest), and Episcopate (bishop).
34: The priesthood is an apostolic call that has its origins in Christ calling the apostles to continue His work on earth.
35: The Mass is only valid if the bishop or his authorized representative the priest presides over it.
36: Catholics have the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and all Holy Days of Obligation because Christ commanded us to do so.
37: The funeral Mass is a special liturgy of blessing and farewell for the Christian who has died.
38: Dignity means that, because each human being is made in God’s image, our lives are sacred and priceless.
39: Morality means knowing what is right and wrong, good and bad.
40: Human dignity is the foundation for Christian morality, because people made in God’s image must be treated with respect and love as God has commanded.
41: The best example of lived Christian morality is the life and teaching of Jesus.
42: Original sin is the sin of Adam and Eve that broke humanity’s relationship with God. It affects each human being by giving each person concupiscence.
43: Personal sin is sin a person actually commits (venial or mortal).
44: Social sin happens when a society develops a habit of sinful acts due to repeated, widespread personal sin. An example of this is abortion, or racism.
45: The Theological virtues are Faith, Hope, and Love (charity)
46: The Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude (‘Peanut butter and Jelly Together Forever’)
47: The Beatitudes are the 8 ‘Blessed Are’ statements made by Christ that show us what kind of living is truly good.
48: The Beatitudes provide a foundation for understanding Christ’s moral teaching.
49: Christian discipleship means following Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
50: The Incarnation is God the Son acquiring human nature.
51: The Incarnation is a key to help us understand our dignity: because Christ became one of us and gave His own life to save us, our value becomes priceless.
52: Christians should take an active role in public life and promote the common good.
53: Catholic social teaching includes the sanctity of human life, the dignity of human work, and the importance of caring for God’s creation (stewardship).
54: World peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity (love).
55: Christ taught us to carry our crosses (burdens) with His grace, and live a life of service to others.
56: Worship belongs to God alone.
57: The Catholic community’s central act of worship is the Eucharistic Liturgy (the Mass).
58: The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) and the Hail Mary both come from scripture (the Gospels).
59: The Lord’s Prayer is structured with 7 petitions (parts).
60: Lectio Divina means praying with scripture. It involves putting yourself in God’s presence mentally, careful reading of the text, and asking God what He would teach you through what you read.
61: The church is missionary by nature. This means God calls His church to go out into the world and tell people the good news of salvation.
62: The church has a special mission to the poor.
63: The Nicene Creed, which we recite at Sunday Mass, proclaims the church as holy and catholic (meaning universal, for everyone).
64: The Church recognizes Mary as Mother of the whole Church.
65: Jesus gave the Catholic Church power to forgive sins through the sacraments.
66: The Protestant Reformation was a movement begun in the 16th century during which certain groups of people left the Catholic Church to form their own churches. These groups include the Methodists, Lutheran, and Baptist churches.
67: The pope is the leader of the Catholic church throughout the world, and is the successor of St. Peter, the first pope.
68: Catholics are called to work toward Christian unity because Christ prayed that we would all be one.
69: Our respect for other Christians and other faiths does not mean we deny the fullness of truth in the Catholic Church.
70: The Eastern Rite Catholic church calls its sacraments ‘mysteries’, and they call Confirmation ‘Chrismation’.
71: Human rights are based on equality, which is based on human dignity.
72: Human sexuality is a gift from God, meant to be expressed in married love between a man and a woman.
73: Human sexuality means all that makes someone a man or a woman.
74: Abstinence means refraining from sexual activity. Celibacy typically means a vow priests and religious take to not get married/have sexual relations. Chastity means right use of sexuality. All the baptised, married and unmarried, are called to a life of chastity.
75: Sexual attraction is part of God’s plan to continue in married life.
76: Human life must be respected in all its stages, from conception on.
77: Religious life has two forms: active (serving in the world), and contemplative (live a life of prayer apart from the world).
78: Christian life requires a preferential love for the poor.
79: Abortion is a serious sin requiring reconciliation and healing.
80: The Catholic Church has a special relationship with Jewish people. The Second Vatican Council declared that the Jewish people remain “most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He gives.”
81: The Jews express their faith in God through following His commands, reading scripture, and worship in the synagogue. The rabbi is the Jewish religious teacher.
82: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are monotheistic faiths, believing in one God.
