Religion

• Revelation

  God communicates God's-self to humankind in stages: through creation itself, through covenants (for example, God's covenant with Moses) and through the prophets. God's self-revelation is complete in Jesus. This revelation is passed on to all generations through the sacred Scriptures and apostolic tradition.
• Prophet

  Prophets were holy persons in Israel who were spokespersons for God. Because they were close to God through their prayer, they could communicate God's word through oracles, visions, judgments and symbolic actions. There were many kinds of prophets. But essentially, they were messengers of God amid the Chosen People.
• Torah

  "Torah" is usually translated as "law." Here, "law" does not mean "legal rules," as we usually understand it, but "instruction." The Torah is God's instruction about the covenant: how to live in the mutually agreed-upon relationship with God. The Ten Words (Ten Commandments) are at the heart of the Torah. They are the code of the covenant with God.
• Moses

  • Moses is portrayed as a prophet who receives the Ten Commandments from Yahweh/God. He is responsible for leading the Israelites out of slavery and parting the Red Sea to let them escape from the Egyptians.
• Exodus story

  1. Enslavement of the Israelites and the plagues of Egypt

  2. Ten plagues (Water to blood, frogs, lice, flies, dead livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the first born son)

  3. Pharoah released the Israelites after his son was killed

  4. Only way to be avoided was to put lambs blood over the doorway of your home

  5. Moses got the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai
• Order of the Exodus story

  • Abraham would be at the beginning
  • Slaves in Egypt Exodus
  • The birth and youth of Moses Exodus
  • Moses flees to Midian Exodus
  • The Lord called Moses Exodus
  • The Passover Exodus
  • The Crossing of the red sea Exodus
  • The Lord speaks to the people Exodus
  • Mt. Sinai and the 10 Commandments Exodus
  • The Hebrews saw the God of Israel Exodus
  • Would be the birth of Christ
• Name of God revealed to Moses

  The Name is so sacred that the Hebrew Bible gives us only its four consonants (YHWH). And in Jewish services the Holy Name is never pronounced because of the danger of misusing it. It is replaced with "Adonai" (the LORD) or with "Blessed is He!" or simply with "the Name." In our own Christian tradition, it is important to continue to respect this reverence for the Holy Name of God.
• Covenant

  A covenant - an agreement between two people and involves promises on the part of each to the other. The covenant between God and humans is a sacred relationship that can only be broken by death.
• Terms of the Israelite's covenant with God

  If the Israelites follow God's commandments, they will be treasured.
• Kingdom of God

  A symbol used by Jesus to speak about God's actions among us in the present
• Parable

  A story that compares things we don't know with something we do know. Contains a crisis, comparison, is a story, tell us about the kingdom of God, and has an ending.
• Metaphor

  A figure of speech said poetically
• New Covenant

  The new covenant established by Jesus
• The veil in the Gospel of John is symbolic, showing the barrier between man and God and that man could not play with the holiness of God
• Grace

  God's kind, merciful and absolutely generous love for us. It's God's gift of self to us. This self-gift of love/God touches us at our very core and transforms us. It is the source of our ability to love God and become like God.
• Ways in which Christ is present in our culture

  • Jesus acts through people
  • Jesus acts through people who freely choose to be in communion with him
  • Jesus acts through the word of the Scripture
  • Jesus acts in the liturgy
  • Jesus acts in the witness of people
• Jesus acts through people
• Jesus acts through people who freely choose to be in communion with him
• Jesus acts through the word of the Scripture
• Jesus acts in the liturgy
• Jesus acts in the witness of people
• God is love - He is near us when we love one another
• Mary Magdalene


  • First witness of Jesus' crucifixion and burial, first person to see the resurrection of Christ, travelled with Jesus and was one of his followers
• We see Jesus' presence and activity through the way that the Holy Spirit works in us
• St. Teresa of Avila: 'Christ has no body now but yours, No hands but yours, No feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.'