Thursday, January 17, 2013

Read the Catechism in a Year: Day 99

It's Read the Catechism: Day 99; today's reading examines the clause "He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father" from the Nicene Creed; it's also a summary of the themes celebrated at the Feast of the Ascension - and how they apply to Christian faith itself.

I am thinking of beginning a project - a book, perhaps? - that focuses on the Great Church Year, and how the Feasts and Fasts address various aspects of the human condition and psyche.  It would be a look, IOW, at how the Calendar actually operates to our benefit in a myriad of different ways:  psychologically, emotionally, and mystagogically, for three.  (This is so right up my alley that I'm surprised it hasn't occurred to me before this!  It will, though, be quite a bit of work, now that I think of it....)

Anyway, here's today's Catechism selection.
Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)
Section2:The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)
Chapter2:I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God (422 - 682)
Article6:"He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father" (659 - 667)

665     Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf. Acts 1:11); this humanity in the meantime hides him from the eyes of men (cf. Col 3:3).

666     Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him for ever.

667     Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
They've started to include each day a link to a pretty interesting website that has as its title "The Catechism API."  It cross-references and links every line in the reading to its Biblical, Patristic, or other source - and to other similar catechism pages, I think, too.  Good going, there!  (There are also supposed to be daily mass readings, but that function doesn't seem to work yet.)

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