United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

Appendix A. Glossary • 507

CHRISMATION: The name for Confirmation in the Eastern Churches.

COMMON GOOD: By the “common good is to be under- -stood, ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily’” (CCC, no. 1906, citing GS, no. 26, §1).

CHRIST: The title given to Jesus meaning “The Anointed One”; it comes from the Latin word Christus , which in its Greek root is the word for Messiah .

COMMUNION, HOLY: See “Eucharist.”

CHRISTMAS: The annual celebra tion of Jesus’ Nativity or birth.

COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS: This refers to members of the Church through all time—those presently now in the Church and those members who have already gone before us and are either in Purgatory or heaven. CONCUPISCENCE: The disorder in our human appetites and desires as the result of Original Sin. These effects remain even after Baptism and produce an inclination to sin.

CHURCH: This term refers to the whole Catholic community of believers throughout the world. The term can also be used in the sense of a diocese or a particular parish. CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY: Citizens should work with civil authority to build a society of truth, justice, soli darity, and freedom. In conscience, citizens may not obey civil laws that are contrary to the moral order. COLLEGE OF BISHOPS (COLLEGIALITY): All bishops, with the Pope as their head, form a single college, which succeeds in every generation the college of the Twelve Apostles, with Peter at their head. Christ instituted this college as the foundation of the Church. The college of bishops, together with—but never without—the pope, has the supreme and full author ity over the universal Church.

CONFIRMATION, SACRAMENT OF: This is a Sacrament of

Initiation in which the bishop or a delegated priest confers

Confirmation through the anoint ing with chrism on the recipient’s forehead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, while saying, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism by a special outpouring of the gifts of the Holy