From the COMPENDIUM of the Catechism of the Catholic Church © Copyright 2005

As a means to offer our parishioners additional education on the tenets of the Catholic faith, we will be adding one page of the COMPENDIUM of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Compendium, which I now present to the Universal Church, is a faithful and sure synthesis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It contains, in concise form, all the essential and fundamental elements of the Church’s faith, thus constituting, as my Predecessor had wished, a kind of vademecum which allows believers and non-believers alike to behold the entire panorama of the Catholic faith.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 2005

Read the entire COMPENDIUM here.

Part Four - Christian Prayer Section Two The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”

02-11-2024Compendium

The Summary of the Whole Gospel

594. Why do we say “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”?

By asking God the Father to pardon us, we acknowledge before him that we are sinners. At the same time we proclaim his mercy because in his Son and through the sacraments “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). Still our petition will be answered only if we for our part have forgiven first.

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Part Four - Christian Prayer, Section Two, The Lord's Prayer:

02-04-2024Compendium

The Summary of the Whole Gospel

589. How is the Name of God made holy in us and in the world?

To make holy the Name of God, who calls us “to holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7) is to desire that our baptismal consecration animate our whole life. In addition, it is to ask –with our lives and our prayers – that the Name of God be known and blessed by every man.

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Part Four - Christian Prayer Section Two The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”

01-28-2024Compendium

The Summary of the Whole Gospel

584. Why do we say “our” Father?

“Our” expresses a totally new relationship with God. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him with the Son and the Holy Spirit. In Christ we are “his” people and he is “our” God now and for eternity. In fact, we also say “our” Father because the Church of Christ is the communion of a multitude of brothers and sisters who have but “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32).

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Part Four - Christian Prayer Section Two The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”

01-21-2024Compendium

“The Summary of the Whole Gospel"

579. What is the place of the Our Father in the Scriptures?

The Our Father is the “summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian), “the perfect prayer” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), it presents in the form of prayer the essential content of the Gospel.

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Part Four - Christian Prayer Section Two The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”

01-14-2024Compendium

Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

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Part Four - Christian Prayer, Section One: Prayer in the Christian Life, Chapter Three: The Life of Prayer

01-07-2024Compendium

The Battle of Prayer

572. Why is prayer a “battle”?

Prayer is a gift of grace but it always presupposes a determined response on our part because those who pray “battle” against themselves, their surroundings, and especially the Tempter who does all he can to turn them away from prayer. The battle of prayer is inseparable from progress in the spiritual life. We pray as we live because we live as we pray.

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