23:44-46

Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 8, SubSection 4, Heading 3

730 At last Jesus' hour arrives: 117 he commends his spirit into the Father's hands 118 at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father," 119 he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by "breathing" on his disciples. 120 From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 121

Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 11, SubSection 2, Heading 2

1011 In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ. " 579 He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ: 580

My earthly desire has been crucified; . . . there is living water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father. 581

I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die. 582

I am not dying; I am entering life. 583

Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 3, Article 3, SubSection 3

2045 Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, 89 Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. The Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful, until "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 90

Return