Catechism of the Catholic Church

888

Glossary

MEDITATION: An exercise and a form of prayer in which we try to understand God’s revelation of the truths of faith and the purpose of the Christian life, and how it should be lived, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking (2705). MERCY: The loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends (e.g., the mercy of God to us sinners) (1422, 1829). See Works of Mercy. MERIT: The reward which God promises and gives to those who love him and by his grace perform good works. One cannot “merit” justification or eternal life, which are the free gift of God; the source of any merit we have before God is due to the grace of Christ in us (2006). MESSIAH: A Hebrew word meaning “anointed” (436). See Christ; Jesus Christ. MINISTRY: The service or work of sanctification performed by the preaching of the word and the celebration of the sacraments by those in Holy Orders (893, 1536), or in determined circumstances, by laity (903). The New Testament speaks of a variety of ministries in the Church; Christ himself is the source of ministry in the Church (873-874). Bishops, priests, and deacons are ordained ministers in the Church (1548). MIRACLE: A sign or wonder, such as a healing or the control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power. The miracles of Jesus were messianic signs of the presence of God’s kingdom (547).

MISSION: (1) Trinitarian missions : To accomplish the divine plan of the triune God for the redemption of humanity, the Son and the Holy Spirit were “sent” into the world: hence the Trinitarian “missions” (Latin missus means “sent”) (257, 689). (2) Apostolic mission : Just as he was sent by the Father, Jesus sent his Apostles into the world to continue his own saving mission (858). (3) Church as mission : Thus the Church is missionary by its very nature, continuing the mission or work of Christ through the Holy Spirit, according to the plan of God. This apostolic mission of the Church is fulfilled according to their different states of life by the clergy, laity, and religious (849, 863, 913). Missionary activity is sometimes given in a more specific sense as the work of initial evangelization and establishment of the Church in non-Christian lands. MONASTIC LIFE: Consecrated life marked by the public profession of religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and by a stable community life (in a monastery) with the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours in choir (cf. 927). MORALITY: Referring to the goodness or evil of human acts. Human freedom makes a person a “moral subject” or agent, able to judge the morality (goodness or evil) of the acts which are chosen. The morality of human acts depends on the object (or nature) of the action, the intention or end foreseen, and the circumstances of the action (1749; cf. 407). MORTAL SIN: A grave infraction of the law of God that destroys the divine life in the soul of the sinner (sanctifying grace), constituting