United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

510 • Conclusion and Appendices

women who followed Jesus and were taught by him while he was alive, and who, following Jesus’ death, Resurrection, and Ascension, formed the Church with the Apostles and helped spread the Good News, or Gospel message. Contemporary members of the Church, as followers of Jesus, can also be referred to as disciples. DIVINE FILIATION: An effect of Baptism and Confirmation: becom ing adopted sons and daughters of God, participating in God’s life and love. DIVINE PERSON: The term used to describe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their relation to and distinction from one another within the unity of the Trinity. Each of the three divine Persons is God in one divine nature. DIVINE PROVIDENCE: God’s lov ing care and concern for all he has made; he continues to watch over creation, sustaining its existence and presiding over its development and destiny. DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: A person from any era in Church history whose sanctity and writings have had a profound influence on theological and spiritual thought.

A person is declared a Doctor by the Pope.

DOCTRINE/DOGMA: The name given to divinely revealed truths proclaimed or taught by the Church’s Magisterium; the faithful are obliged to believe these truths. DOMESTIC CHURCH: “The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclama tion of the faith. For this reason the family is rightly called ‘the domestic church,’ a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity” (CCC, no. 1666). DOXOLOGY: The name given to a prayer of Trinitarian adoration in which the three Persons of the Trinity are invoked.

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EASTER: The annual celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.

EASTERN CHURCHES AND WESTERN CHURCHES: The Eastern Churches originated in that region of the world that was at one time part of the Eastern Roman Empire. These churches possess their own distinctive traditions that may be seen in their liturgy, theology, and law. The Western