Youcat Definitions
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Liturgy
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In tradition, the people of God celebrate in the work of God. Chief liturgy is the Eucharist, also includes other sacraments
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Blessing
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Something good that comes from God.
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Initiation
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The introduction and integration of an outsider into a pre-existing community of fellowship.
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Sacrament
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Holy, visible signs instituted by Christ of an invisible reality, in which Christians can experience healing, forgiveness etc.
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Catechumenate
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Three stage preparation for adult baptism in which they were instructed in the faith and gradually allowed to participate in the liturgy of the word.
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Confirmation
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One of the three sacraments of initiation, constitutes the Holy Spirit's descension onto every baptized person.
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Chrism
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An ointment made of olive oil and balsam. A bishop consecrates it on Holy Thursday, can be used for Baptism, Confirmation, other sacraments.
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Eucharist
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At first, the prayer of thanksgiving that precedes communion. Later applied to the whole celebration of mass.
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Consecration
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A solemn act of making something holy. Bread and wine are consecrate, Bishops, Deacons, Church buildings, alters etc. can all be consecrated.
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Communion
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Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, during mass.
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Kryie Eleison
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An ancient cry of homage to gods and rulers and applied also to Christ
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Gloria
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A joyful song sung by the angels on Christmas night. Now, a hymn in which the praise of God is sung solemnly.
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Alleluia
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An exclamation meaning "praise the Lord!" used in Mass as an acclamation greeting the Word of the Lord in the Gospel
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Homily
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Another word for the sermon
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Sanctus
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most ancient part of mass (8th century); song composed of the cry of angels in Isaiah and a greeting in psalm applied to the presence of Chris
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Transsubstantiation
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The term used to describe Jesus' presence in the process of communion
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Agnus Dei
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Means Lamb of God; in Mass, begins a litany-like prayer.
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Tabernacle
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Originally the tent where God's presence dwelt. In Catholicism an ornamental, prominent place for preserving Christ's body.
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Monstrance
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A sacred object used to display Christ in the form of consecrated bread.
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Doxology
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A solemn, formula-like conclusion of a prayer.
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Absolution
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A priest's sacramental forgiveness of sins after the penitent's confession.
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Excommunication
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The exclusion of a Catholic Christian from the sacraments
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Deacon
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the first degree in the sacrament of Holy Orders; participates in charitable work normally, also teaches, assists during the liturgy. Ordination includes the authority to baptize, to preach at Mass, and to preside at the sacrament of Matrimony
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Celibacy
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the personal commitment of a person to live unmarried "for the sake of the kingdom."
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Monogamy, Polygamy
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Marriage to one person or marriage to several people at once; polygamy is prohibited Christianity and the state
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Dispensation
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An exemption from a Church law
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Exorcism
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A prayer by which a person is protected or delivered from the evil one
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Relics
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The remnants of bodies of saints of objects that the saints used in their lifetime
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Catholic Social Teaching
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The Church's teaching about society and individual and social justice; personhood; common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity
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The common good
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The good shared by all in common. the sum total of social conditions which allow people to reach their fulfilment
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Principle of Solidarity
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Catholic social teaching that aims at strengthening community and love.
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Natural moral law
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ethical convergence as an expression of the one human nature.
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Justification
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The restoration of the right relationship between God and man. we are only justified through Jesus.
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Hypocrisy
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Implies a double standard in the morality that one practices publicly or implicitly.
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Religion
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A relationship to what is divine, someone's acknowledgement that something has created the world, oneself and one is dependent on that thing.
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Revelation
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God's opening and showing of himself, God's speaking to the world voluntarily
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Incarnation
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God's act of becoming man in Jesus Christ.
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Mission
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The essence of the Church and Jesus' mandate to all Christians to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed.
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Apostle
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initially the term for the twelve men called by Jesus to be his closest collaborators. Paul too was privileged to consider himself an apostle called by Christ
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Magisterium
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mandate of the Catholic Church to present the faith, to interpret it with the aid of the Holy Spirit, and to protect it from falsifications.
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Inspiration
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God's influence on the human writers of the Bible, so that God can be regarded as the author of the sacred scriptures
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Canon
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the authoritative collection of Sacred Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
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Bible
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what Jews and Christians call a collection of Sacred Scriptures that came into being over a period of more than a thousand years.
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Old Testament
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The first part of the complete Bible.
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New Testament
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The second part of the complete Bible.
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Creed
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The named for the various formulas of the Church's profession of faith, in which the essential contents of the faith are authoritatively summarized.
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Trinity
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God is only one, but exists in three person. The Trinity is in many ways still a mystery.
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Evolution
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The growth of the final form of organisms over millions of years. Viewed from a Christian perspective, evolution takes place as God's continuous creation in natural processes
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Creationism
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the idea that God, by her direct action created all the world at once, as if the book of Genesis were an eyewitness account.
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Genesis
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The first book of the Bible which describes, among other things, the creation of the world and of humans
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Ichthys
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an ancient Christian secret sign that was a profession of faith in Christ.
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Mystery
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a reality or aspect of a reality that in principle eludes rational knowledge
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Passion
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term designation Christ's suffering
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Parousia
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Christ's second coming at the Last Judgement
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Charism
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the gratuitous gifts of the Holy Spirit
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Pentecost
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a feast on which Israel celebrated the establishment of the covenant with God on Mount Sinai. Through the Pentecost event in Jerusalem, it became for Christians the feast of the Holy Spirit
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Fruits of the Holy Spirit
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Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
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The Words of the Flesh
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include immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, etc.
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Church
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consists of those called together from all nations who through baptism belong to the Body of Christ.
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Churches and Ecclesial Communities
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Christian communities who have not preserved all the sacraments
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Ecumenism
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efforts to unify divided Christians
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Holiness
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what is divine, pure, and set apart from profane, everyday things. God is totally Other, the Holy One of God.
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Religious Freedom
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The right of every person to follow his conscience in choosing and practicing his religion. Acknowledgement of religious freedom is not saying that all religions are equal or equally true.
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Twelve Apostles
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The original twelve men called by Jesus
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Apostolic Succession
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the unbroken series of bishops since the apostles, their successors in the episcopal ministry. As Jesus conferred his authority on his apostles, so it is passed on since then from bishop to bishop through the imposition of hands and prayer.
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Laity
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the common state of life in the Church: baptized, non-ordained Christians who belong to the people of God
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Clergy
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The state of ordained men in the Church
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Hierarchy
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the gradated structure of the Church under Christ, from whom all power and authority proceeds
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Pope
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successor of Peter, Bishop of Rome. Presides over the college of bishops, is the supreme pastor, priest, and teacher of the Church
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Bishop
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successor of the apostles; leader of a diocese; as a member of the college of bishops, under the leadership of the Pope, the bishop has a share in the responsibility for the Universal Church.
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Priest
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Co-worker with the Bishop in proclaiming the Gospel and administering the sacraments. He carries out his ministry in communion with the other priests, under the leadership of the bishop.
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Rome
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"The greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.
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Ecumenical Council
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Assembly of the Catholic Bishops from all over the world; not to be confused with ecumenism in the sense of efforts to bring about unity among all Christians
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Dogma
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an article of faith proclaimed by a Council or the Pope as divine revelation contained in Scripture and Tradition
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Ex Cathedra
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This technical expressions designates the special case of an infallible magisterial decision of the Pope.
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Evangelical counsels
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Poverty, unmarried chastity, and obedience are the counsels given in the Gospel for imitating Jesus.
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Amen
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Often used in the sense of "so be it" to reaffirm one's desire for God to act or to join in the praise of God. Commonly the affirmative concluding word of a prayer. Jesus uses it as an unusual introduction to a speech.
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Decalogue
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The Ten Commandments, central summary of human rules of behavior in the Old Testament
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Proselytism
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the exploitation of the intellectual or physical poverty of others to draw them over to one's own faith.
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Sacrilege
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the theft, profanation, or desecration of something sacred.
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Superstition
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The irrational assumption that certain sayings, actions, events, and objects contain or produce magical effects
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Esotericism
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Since 19th century, term for spiritual teachings and practices where man is led to "true knowledge" which is already in him; OR, way God manifests himself to man from outside...is something contradictory to esoteric thought
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Pantheism
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the world view that nothing exists except God; accordingly, everything that exists is God, and God is everything that exists. This doctrine is incompatible with the Christian faith.
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Occulism
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teachings and practices through which humanity supposedly acquires power over its destiny, matter, and surrounding. (Ouija boards, astrology, clairvoyance)
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Atheism
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The view that God does not exist. A general term for various forms of denying God's existence.
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Agnosticism
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The view that God cannot be known. A position that leaves open the question about God's existence
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Transcendent
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surpassing sensory experience; other-worldly
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Icon
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Sacred image in the Eastern Church that is painted by an artist who is praying and fasting; supposed to produce a mystical union between the observer and what is depicted.
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Sabbath
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The Jewish day of rest commemorating the seventh day of creation and the exodus from Egypt. It begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday Evening.
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Masturbation
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the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure.
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Responsible Parenthood
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The Church affirms and defends a married couple's right, within the context of natural family planning, to determine by themselves the number of their children and the distance between the births
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Natural Family Planning (NFP)
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A general term for methods of regulating conception that use the signs of the woman's fertility cycle and knowledge about the fertility of the man and woman together as to achieve or avoid pregnancy.
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Plagiarism
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the unauthorized and concealed appropriation of someone else's intellectual property, which is made out to be one's own intellectual achievement.
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Martyr
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A person who is ready to suffer violence or even be killed for Christ, who is the truth, or for a conscientious decision made on the basis of faith.
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Perjury
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Reaffirming a false statement, whereby God is intentionally called to witness an intruth
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Discretion
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the ability to determine what one can say to whom and when.
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Social Means of Communication
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Those media that are aimed not at individuals but at human society as a whole and influence it: the press, film, radio, television, internet, and so on.
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Contemplation
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interior, spiritual life and taking action b/c of it are two sides of devotion to God; inseperable
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Rosary
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The name of a set of prayer beads and named of a devotional prayer that originated in the twelfth century by those who did not participate in the Liturgy of the Hours.
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Spirituality
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Forms of piety in the church, developed out of Spirit-filled way of life of saints; Benedictine, Franciscan, Dominican spirituality
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Meditation
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A spiritual exercise practice in various religion and cultures in which on is supposed to find one's way to oneself (and God). Christianity recognizes and treasures a variety of meditative practices, but rejects those practices that promise union with God or the divine.
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Embolism
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A clause added to Our Father when it is recited at Mass
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Ave Maria/Hail Mary
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1ST part of important and popular prayer after the Our Father is taken from the Bible. Second part, "now and at the hour of our death," is an addition from the 16th century.
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Chastity
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virtue; person capable of passion deliberately reserves his erotic desires and love and resists temptation to find lewd images in media for his own satisfaction
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Monotheism
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Teaching that God is absolute, unique, personal being; ultimate ground of everything; Judaism, Christianity, Islam
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monstrance
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Sacred object used to display Christ in form of consecrated bread on special occasions for adoration by faithful
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YAHWEH/YHWH
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Most important name of God in OT, "I am who I am;" designates one God of the whole creator, preserver, covenant partner, liberator from slavery in Egypt, judge, savior
