St. Francis Preparatory
Religious Education Exam
CORE REVIEW
CORE REVIEW
CORE REVIEW
CORE REVIEW
THE CHURCH

Catholic: Universal "Universal or General" the Catholic Church is the Christian
Community that is One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, open to all people everywhere
at all times, and that preaches the fullness of God's Revelation in Jesus Christ.

Magisterium: the official teaching authority of the Catholic Church. (The Pope
and Bishops)

The Pope: the leader of the Catholic Church and Magisterium

Bishop: the head of a Diocese

Pastor: Priest who leads a parish in worship, prayer and teaching

Priest: the ordained who celebrate the mass

Nuns: take vows but not in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church

Deacons: ordained minister ranking below Priest, who can perform all functions
of a Priest but cannot say Mass.
THE CHURCH
 The Laity: The body of the faithful, outside of the ranks of
the clergy
 Conclave: The closed room specially set aside and prepared
for the cardinals when electing a pope.
 Ecumenical Councils: meetings of the Magisterium which make
decisions regarding doctrine, creed and mass
 Marks of the Catholic Church: One Holy Catholic Apostolic
 Creed: formal statement of beliefs; Apostles Creed and
Nicene Creed
The Liturgical Year
 Liturgical Year: begins with Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time,
Lent, Easter, Ordinary Time
 Advent: the season that prepares for Christmas, the birth of
Christ
 Christmas: the celebration of the Incarnation; the birth of
Jesus
 Lent: the season that prepares for Easter (40 days in
remembrance of Jesus in the Desert)
 Paschal Mystery: the saving love of God most fully revealed in
the life and especially the Passion, Death, Resurrection and
glorious Ascension of his Son, Jesus Christ. (celebrated and
remembered through the seasons of Lent and Easter)
Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday
 Easter: the feast and season that celebrates Christ's
Resurrection from the dead; the core belief of Christianity
RELIGION
 The Bible: a library of books (73)
 Canon: the Church’s official list of inspired books in the Bible
 Biblical Truths: the promise of God’s love and salvation
 Contextualism: Christian’s interpretation of Scripture
Fundamentalism: interpret scripture literally
 Polytheism: belief in many gods
 Monotheism: belief in one supreme God
THE BIBLE
 Hebrew Scriptures-Old Testament: the 46 books of the Bible that
contain the covenant of Moses
 Pentateuch, Torah: the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures
 Old Covenant: the promise between God and God’s people
 Genesis: "origins"; Creation stories; humankind is created in God’s image
and all creation is good
 Exodus: Moses and the 10 Commandments
 The 10 Commandments: the law that Moses gave the Israelites on Mt
Sinai; the love and respect for God and others
 Yahweh: I AM
 Passover: the feast commemorating the miraculous way God saved the
Jews from death and slavery in ancient Egypt
 Religions with Origins to Abraham as The Patriarch: Judaism,
Christianity, Islam
THE BIBLE
 Christianity: developed from Judaism (remember Jesus was
Jewish)
 Sects of Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant
 Immaculate Conception: the belief that Mary, the mother of
Jesus was conceived without Original Sin; celebrated on
December 8th.
 Christian Scriptures-New Testament: the 27 books of the
Bible that contain the life and teachings of Jesus
 Gospel: "good news"; the 4 books of the Christian Scriptures
about the life and teachings of Jesus
 Synoptic Gospels: "one eye"; similar portraits of Jesus (Mark,
Matthew, Luke)
THE GOSPELS
 Evangelists: Gospel writers who arranged their stories of the
life, death, resurrection of Jesus to best serve the needs of
their audience.
 Matthew is the bridge connecting the old and new testaments
of the Bible emphasizing Jesus and the fulfillment of the
Jewish Prophesies
 Mark: the earliest and shortest Gospel written; focuses on
the humanity and suffering of Jesus
 Luke: written by a Gentile author for a gentile audience
focuses on Jesus as the universal savior of the world
 John: the last Gospel written; focuses on the divinity of
Jesus as the Word of God
JESUS
 Jesus: ‘God saves" Jesus is fully human and fully divine
 Christ: messiah; divine nature of Jesus, anointed one, post
resurrectional term
 Infancy Narratives: accounts of the birth of Jesus;
(Matthew and Luke)
 Incarnation: God becoming human in Jesus; God's eternal Son
assumed a human nature and became human in Jesus Christ to
save us from our sins; "taking on human flesh"
 Revelation: God making himself known to us
JESUS
 Apostles: specifically chosen by Jesus by name to represent
the 12 tribes of Israel
 Peter: the Apostle Jesus chose to take on the leadership role
after His ascension
 Miracles: the saving works of Jesus, reveal God’s love and
power, presence and goodness, often lead to increase the
faith of others
 Kingdom of God: the rule or reign of God over the hearts of
people and a new order of love and service
 Parables: the stories Jesus used to reveal the love and
message of God to challenge listeners to reflect on their own
lives and love of God
JESUS

Abba: was shocking to the contemporaries of Jesus when he used this term to address God; ‘my dear
daddy’ in Aramaic

New Commandment: love one another

Paschal Mystery: the suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus

Passion: the suffering and death of Jesus because of his deep profound, unconditional and eternal
love for us

Crucifixion: the sentence of death imposed by Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor

Resurrection: the core belief of Christianity

Ascension: Jesus' passage from humanity into divine glory in God's heavenly domain forty days after
his Resurrection.

Pentecost: 50 days after Jesus' Resurrection when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and
gave them the power to preach with conviction the message that Jesus is Risen and is Lord!!

The Trinity: the central mystery of Christianity that there are three persons in One God; Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit

Communion of Saints: unity in Christ of all those He has redeemed in the Church in heaven and earth

Evangelization: the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ and the love of God with others
SACRAMENTS

Sacrament: a visible sign of an invisible grace that brings about the spiritual reality it represents.
Jesus is the great sign of God's love; the Church for God's presence in the world and the Seven
Sacraments.

The Seven Sacraments: Effective Signs given to us by Jesus Christ through which we share in God’s
life.

Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation

Baptism: we are welcomed into the Church

Eucharist: commemorates the Last Supper, at which Jesus gave his Body and Blood in the form of
bread and wine, the consecrated body and blood of Christ is shared in the community

Eucharist: Real Presence: Jesus Christ in the bread and wine; Eucharist: "thanksgiving"

Confirmation: "the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit"

Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation, Anointing the sick

Reconciliation and Penance: Christ extends his forgiveness to sinners through the absolution
conferred by a Priest; we reconcile our sins with God, ourselves, and others

Anointing the Sick: administered by a Priest in which the Lord extends his loving, healing touch
through the Church to those who are elderly, facing, surgery, seriously ill, or dying

Sacraments of Service: Marriage, Holy Orders

Matrimony: Christ binds a man and a woman into a permanent covenant of love

Holy Orders: ordained into the priesthood
THE LITURGICAL MASS
 The Mass: Liturgy of the Word; Offertory procession; Liturgy of the
Eucharist
 Transubstantiation: the consecration of the bread and wine at Mass,
where the entire substance is turned into the Body and Blood of Christ.
The Eucharistic "Real Presence" of Christ
 Real Presence: Jesus Christ is fully present in the consecrated bread and
wine
 Revelation: the way God communicates knowledge of himself to
humankind, a self-communication realized by his actions and words over
time, most fully by sending his divine Son, Jesus Christ!
 Doctrine: official teaching of the Church
 Dogma: a central truth of Revelation that Catholics are obligated to
accept and cannot be changed.
 Canonization: a process that recognizes the particular example of a
Christian who has led a good and holy life and died a death faithful to
Jesus and that declares the person to be a saint.
MORALITY
 Soul: the eternal, innermost, spiritual part of a person; the invisible and
spiritual reality that makes us human and eternal
 Natural Law: God’s plan for human living that is written in the nature of
creation
 Conscience: the ability to know the difference between right and wrong,
good and evil
 Virtues: good habits which help lead a moral life
 Vices: bad habits that turn us from good and make it easy to commit evil
 Original Sin: the fallen state of human nature into which all generations
are born. Jesus came to save us from Original Sin.
 Mortal Sin: serious sin where through full consent of our will when we
turn completely away from God with full knowledge; full consent of the
grave matter
 Venial Sin: a sin that weakens and wounds, but does not destroy our
relationship with God
MORALITY
 Free will: God's gift to humanity to choose from among
alternatives; to perform deliberate actions on one's own
responsibility.
 Grace: God's favor to us, Grace is a participation in the life of
God
 Catholic Social teaching: respecting life; the needs of the poor,
care for creation, human dignity and human rights
 Conversion: returning to God after committing sin, is an ongoing
process of deepening and maturing one’s faith commitment.
 Tradition: the living transmission of the Church’s Gospel message
found in the Church’s teaching, life, and worship, faithfully
preserved, handed on, and interpreted by the Magisterium
 Prayer: communication with God; personal, communal, can help us
make healthy decisions