Catechism of the Catholic Church

884

Glossary

INSPIRATION: See Biblical Inspiration. INSTITUTE, RELIGIOUS: A society whose members, in accord with Church law, live a life consecrated to Christ and shared with one another by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience (925). See Consecrated Life. INSTITUTE, SECULAR: A form of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within (928). INTERCESSION: A form of prayer of petition on behalf of others. The prayer of intercession leads us to pray as Christ, our unique Intercessor, prayed (2634). INTERCOMMUNION: Participation or sharing in the reception of the Eucharist or Holy Communion by Christians who are not fully united to or in full communion with the Catholic Church (1398). IRRELIGION: A vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion. Irreligion directs us away from rendering to God what we as creatures owe him in justice (2095, 2110). ISRAEL: The Jewish people, chosen by God to be his people and named after Israel (Jacob), from whose twelve sons the tribes of Israel descend. God formed Israel into his priestly people in their exodus from the slavery of Egypt, when he made the first or

Old Covenant with them and gave them his Law through Moses (62).

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JESUS CHRIST: The eternal Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered crucifixion and death, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. “Jesus,” which means “God saves” in Hebrew, was the name given to him at the Annunciation; “Christ” is a title which comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah and means “anointed” (184 f.; 430, 436; cf. 727). JOHN THE BAPTIST: The immediate precursor or herald of Jesus. John identified Jesus as the Messianic Lamb of God and baptized him in the Jordan River. With prophetic power, John gave witness to Jesus by his preaching, by the baptism of conversion he announced, and finally by his martyrdom (523, 720). JUDGMENT: The eternal retribution received by each soul at the moment of death, in accordance with that person’s faith and works (“the particular judgment”) (1021-1022). The “Last Judgment” is God’s triumph over the revolt of evil, after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world. Preceded by the resurrection of the dead, it will coincide with the second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time, disclose good and evil, and reveal the meaning of salvation history and the providence of God by which justice has triumphed over evil (677-679, 1021, 1038).