Suffering and Anticipatory Faith: Catechism Part VI

I am back with a delayed Part VI of the Catechism Takeaways series!  This week's section was CCC 595-701, pages 153-185 in the big green edition.

Topics covered in this section included:

• Christ's Death on the Cross
• Christ's Descent into Hell
• Christ's Resurrection
• Christ's Ascension
• The Second Coming
• The Holy Spirit

Here is a summary of my three takeaways from this section.  You can hear the full takeaways in the above video!

Christ Died for Every Single Person

"The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: 'There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.'" CCC 605

There's really nothing left to say.  Just remember, when others act like the Church needs a social justice lesson, it's because they do not realize that the Church has always taught the equal worth of every single human, even if her followers do not always uphold this teaching.

Christ Calls Us to Share His Suffering

The Catechism talks about Christ's suffering on the cross and explains that Christ reserves the sharing in His suffering for His closest followers: think the apostles, the majority called to martyrdom, and think Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, pierced in the heart with the sword of suffering.

Being perfect did not bring Christ relief from pain and difficulty.  Instead, it brought Christ the greatest pains.  If we are following Him perfectly and bad things happen, it can feel like we must be doing something wrong, when in reality, we may be doing something very right.

Anticipating the End and Christ's Return

The Catechism marks Christ's Ascension as the beginning of the end (CCC 670).  The end of the world has been happening ever since, and the Apostles and first century Christians lived like they believed Christ could come at any moment.  But, as time passed, many Christians became lax in this anticipation.

It can be hard to think about the end too much, especially for those of us blessed with so many we love in our lives.  The idea of this life with our families, spouses, siblings, friends, children ending is hard.  But we have to learn to keep Christ in the absolute forefront at all times.

As the Catechism states in 675: "Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers."

We have to stay awake and be ready, as the children's hymn states!  We do not know when the end will be, so Heaven must always be in our sights as the main goal.

I hope these takeaways help you understand the Church's teachings a bit better.  This was last week's section, so this week's section will be shared this weekend to catch us up before next week.

The next section is 702-810, pages 186-213 in the big green edition!  I hope you'll join me this weekend for another round of takeaways.  God bless!