Apostle's Creed

CATHOLIC REFRESHER for CCD PARENTS

Opening Prayer Come, Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. R. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit, You have taught the hearts of Your faithful. In the same Spirit help us to know what is truly right and always to rejoice in Your consolation. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

First Joyful Mystery The Annunciation

The Second Joyful Mystery—The Visitation And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Luke 1:41-43

The Twelve Articles of Faith 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. 7. From thence He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 9. The Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, 10. The forgiveness of sins, 11. The resurrection of the body 12. And life everlasting. Amen.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth "I believe in God": The whole Creed speaks of God. The other articles of the Creed all depend on the first. CCC 199 To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." CCC 201 Jesus himself affirms that God is "the one Lord" whom you must love "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." CCC 202

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal, infinite (immensus) and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty, and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple. Lateran Council The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. CCC 234

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." CCC 422 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son… is the divine name that alone brings salvation... there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved CCC 432 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ." CCC 435

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name ‘Christ' implies ‘he who anointed.' CCC 438 In the Old Testament, "son of God" is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings. CCC 441 Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God," for Jesus responds solemnly: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." CCC 442 By attributing to Jesus the divine title "Lord,"... the Church's faith affirm[s] from the beginning that the power, honor, and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus CCC 449

Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" CCC 457 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love CCC 458 Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." CCC 463

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was Crucified, Died and Was Buried

The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" CCC 572

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was Crucified, Died and Was Buried In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that the divine Redeemer endured." CCC 598 The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant” CCC 601 Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. By sending his own Son in the form of a slave...God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." CCC 602 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. CCC 603

He Descended into Hell; the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell"—Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek—because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. CCC 633 "The gospel was preached even to the dead.” The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, CCC 634

He Ascended into Heaven, and Sits at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty The veiled character of the glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." This indicates a difference in manifestation between the glory of the risen Christ and that of the Christ exalted to the Father's right hand, a transition marked by the historical and transcendent event of the Ascension. CCC 660

From Thence He Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the king's return to earth. CCC 671 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching. Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. CCC 678 Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love. CCC 679 ...

I believe in the Holy Spirit

The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them...In adoring the Holy Trinity, lifegiving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's faith also professes the distinction of persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him. CCC 689

The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints The article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning Christ Jesus. The Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun. CCC 748 The Church is, in a phrase used by the Fathers, the place "where the Spirit flourishes." CCC 749

The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints In the Apostles' Creed we profess "one Holy Church" (Credo . . . Ecclesiam), and not to believe in the Church, so as not to confuse God with his works CCC 750 "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?"

CCC 946

"Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others . . . We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. . . . Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments." ”As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund.” CCC 947

The Forgiveness of Sins

The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the communion of saints. It was when he gave the Holy Spirit to his apostles that the risen Christ conferred on them his own divine power to forgive sins. CCC 976 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism

CCC 978

It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church CCC 980 There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. CCC 982 We do not believe in “substitutionary atonement”

CCC 1472-7

The Resurrection of the Body We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day CCC 989 What is "rising"? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus' Resurrection. CCC 997 All the dead will rise, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." CCC 998

And Life Everlasting Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but... each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. CCC 1021 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven—through a purification or immediately,—or to immediate and everlasting damnation. CCC 1022