ARK Vocabulary

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ARK Glossary: Grade 6

ADVENT:

The season that begins the liturgical year. It is a time when we reflect on the Incarnation, and prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our King, on Christmas Day. We also prepare for His Second Coming at the end of time. This season is represented by the color violet, or purple, which represents penance and humility.

APOSTLE:

A person who is sent out as a representative of someone else. Jesus chose twelve men to be His Apostles. They preached Jesus’ message of salvation and worked miracles in His name. Jesus gave the Apostles special authority and made them the first leaders (bishops) of the Church.

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION:

The handing on of apostolic preaching and authority from the Apostles to their successors the bishops through the laying on of hands, as a permanent office in the Church. The fourth mark of the Church is that the Church is apostolic, which means that the Church is built on the lasting foundation of the Apostles.

ASCENSION:

Forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus went up to, or ascended into, Heaven in His glorified body. There He is seated at the right hand of the Father in all His glory.

BAPTISM:

The first Sacrament we receive. Baptism makes us members of the Church, forgives our sins, and gives us new life in Christ. It is necessary for salvation. The celebration of Baptism involves being immersed in water or having water poured over one’s head in the name of the Holy Trinity.

CARDINAL VIRTUES:

Virtues acquired by human effort. They are the key moral virtues which all other moral virtues are grouped around. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts and help prepare the powers of human beings for communion with God’s love. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY:

Jesus taught us that we must love our neighbor by performing Corporal (and Spiritual) Works of Mercy. Corporal means “body.” The corporal works of mercy help us meet a person’s physical needs. They are: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, ransom the captive, and bury the dead.

HOLY COMMUNION:

A title for the Eucharist. When we receive the Eucharist we are united to Jesus Himself. All who receive the Eucharist participate in the one bread and one cup, which makes us one People of God, united to Christ and each other. The Church teaches that we should receive Holy Communion frequently and while in a state of grace.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION:

Also called the Sacrament of Confession or Penance. A Sacrament that gives us a chance to confess our sins when we are truly sorry and receive forgiveness from God through a priest. This Sacrament reunites us with God and His Church when we seek forgiveness for our sins.

CONFIRMATION:

The Sacrament of Initiation that strengthens the outpouring of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism. Confirmation also gives us special strength to spread and protect our Catholic Faith. The celebration of Confirmation involves the bishop laying his hands upon the person and praying for God’s blessing. The bishop will also anoint the person with holy oil as a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

EUCHARIST:

The Sacrament in which we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life. It is spiritual food for the soul. It is not merely a symbol, but is Jesus’ true flesh and blood.

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, fortitude, piety, fear of the Lord, counsel. The anointing in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are a sign of receiving these gifts.

GREAT COMMANDMENTS:

Jesus’ teaching that “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These two commandments are a summary of all Ten Commandments.

INCARNATION:

The Christian belief that the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, assumed a human nature and became man in the Person of Jesus Christ.

LAST SUPPER:

The final meal Jesus shared with His Apostles. It was a Passover meal. Jesus, the Lamb of God, transformed the sacred meal into the Passover of the New Covenant by giving us His Body and Blood to eat in the Eucharist.

LORD’S PRAYER:

The prayer that Jesus gave to His apostles during the Sermon on the Mount. It contains seven petitions asking for the coming of God’s Kingdom and our physical and spiritual needs.

MAGISTERIUM:

The teaching authority of the Church and those who exercise that authority, the pope and all of the world’s bishops in union with the pope. The Magisterium of the Church authentically teaches and interprets the Word of God so that the faithful might be saved.

MASS:

The liturgical celebration and memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and Resurrection from the dead. At every Mass, the priest changes the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. The Mass is divided into two sections: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

MORTAL SIN:

Serious sin that we choose to commit even though we know it is wrong. Mortal sin breaks our friendship with God and completely rejects His love for us. We can restore our friendship with God by turning away from sin and receiving the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.

MOSES:

The man God called to be His prophet and to whom He revealed His name. God gave Moses the mission of leading His people out of slavery in Egypt. God delivered the Ten Commandments and the whole of the Law to Moses to teach the Israelites how to love Him and how to love their neighbor.

HOLY ORDERS:

The Sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His Apostles continues to be carried out in the Church until the end of time. This Sacrament ordains men to the priesthood of the Catholic Church and bestows upon them the power to administer the Sacraments.

PENTECOST:

The day when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles and the Church was born. 50 days after Jesus’ Resurrection (10 days after His Ascension into Heaven), Mary and the Apostles had gathered in the upper room and were filled with the Holy Spirit, who came in a rush of wind and appeared as tongues of fire over their heads.

PRAISE:

A type of prayer in which we tell God that He is good and great for His own sake, not because of what He has done, but because of who He is. We recognize that God is God and we are His children.

PRIEST:

In the Old Testament, the primary task of a priest was to offer sacrifice to God on behalf of the people for their sins. Jesus fulfills this role by offering Himself as a sacrifice on the Cross for the sins of all.

PRUDENCE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us to have right reason and put it into action. It helps us to make the right decision at the right time and to find the best way to achieve a good outcome.

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST:

The bodily rising of Jesus from the dead on the third day after his death on the cross and burial in the tomb. The resurrection of Christ is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ (638).

SACRAMENT:

A sign of God’s grace that gives the grace that it signifies. Jesus founded seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Holy Matrimony.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT:

The central teaching of Christ’s public ministry. During this teaching on a wide variety of topics, Jesus delivers the Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer. He also spends time talking about the teachings of the Old Law (the law of the Old Testament, or the Law of Moses). While He makes it clear that the Old Law is still in effect, He delivers new teachings or laws that deepen the requirements of His followers and challenge us to go beyond just what the law tells us not to do.

SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY:

Jesus taught us that we must love our neighbor by performing Spiritual (and Corporal) Works of Mercy. The spiritual works of mercy help us meet a person’s spiritual needs. They are: instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and the dead.

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES:

Virtues infused directly into the human soul by God that help human beings relate to God. They are the foundation of Christian moral activity by animating it and giving it its special character. They inform and give life to all other virtues. They are faith, hope, and love (charity).

TRANSFIGURATION

The Gospel event in which Christ brought three of His disciples to a mountain top where He was revealed in all His divine glory while speaking with Moses and Elijah.