Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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God’s Truth From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church – cont.
IN BRIEF
68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the
definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and
purpose of his life.
69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in
words.
70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our
first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered
them his covenant.
71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will
remain in force as long as the world lasts.
72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God
formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared
them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.
73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his
covenant for ever. The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation
after him.
III. GOD'S SPIRIT AND WORD IN THE TIME OF THE PROMISES
702 From the beginning until "the fullness of time,"
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the joint mission of the Father's Word and
Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is
fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their
manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there
for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets," wants to tell us about Christ.
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By "prophets" the faith of the Church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in
living proclamation and the composition of the sacred books, both of the Old and the New
Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law (the five first books or
Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and prophetic books) and finally the
Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms).
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Expectation of the Messiah and his Spirit
711 "Behold, I am doing a new thing."
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Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the
expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge
in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in hope the "consolation of Israel" and "the
redemption of Jerusalem."
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We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning himself. We limit ourselves here
to those in which the relationship of the Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.
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