Catechism of the Catholic Church

889

Glossary

a turn away from God. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present: grave matter, full knowledge of the evil of the act, and full consent of the will (1855, 1857). MOSES: The leader chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of their exile in Egypt. To him God revealed the divine name (Yahweh) and the law on Mount Sinai (including the Decalogue), by which he sealed the covenant with his people Israel (62, 204). As lawgiver, Moses was a type of Christ, the lawgiver of the New Law. MYSTAGOGY: A liturgical catechesis which aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ. In a more specific sense, the catechetical period following immediately after the reception of Baptism by adults (1075). -N NATURE: The created order (341). Human nature, though wounded and weakened by the effects of original sin, continues to participate in the goodness of God’s creative work (405). Through the Incarnation the second Person of the Trinity assumed our human nature, taking flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary (456). The divine nature refers to the one divine substance or essence; each of the three distinct Persons of the Trinity is entirely God, who is one by the divine nature (253). NEW COVENANT: The new “dispensation,” order or Covenant, established by God in Jesus Christ, to succeed and perfect the Old Covenant (cf. 612, 839). The New Law or Law of the

Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed; this law of the New Covenant is called a law of love, grace, and freedom (1965-1972). See Covenant; Gospel, Law of the. NEW TESTAMENT: The twenty seven books of the Bible written by the sacred authors in apostolic times, which have Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God—his life, teachings, Passion and glorification, and the beginnings of his Church—as their central theme. The promises and mighty deeds of God in the old alliance or covenant, reported in the Old Testament, prefigure and are fulfilled in the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ, reported in the sacred writings of the New Testament (124, 128). See Bible; Covenant. NICENE CREED: The profession of faith, common to the churches of East and West, which came from the first two ecumenical councils (Nicaea and Constantinople: 325 and 381 a.d.) (195-196). See Creed. NUPTIAL BLESSING: Prayers for the blessing of a couple being married, especially of the bride (1624). OBEDIENCE: (1) The submission to the authority of God which requires everyone to obey the divine law. Obedience to the Church is required in those things which pertain to our salvation; and obedience is due to legitimate civil authority, which has its origin in God for the sake of the common good and the order of society (1897). The fourth commandment obliges children to obey their -O