Catechism Research – Section R
Section R
RACISM: Unjust discrimination on the basis of a person’s race; a violation of human dignity, and a sin against justice (1935).
REAL PRESENCE: The unique, true presence of Christ in the Eucharist under the species or appearances of bread and wine. The Church invites the faithful to deepen their faith in the real presence of Christ through adoration and communion at the Eucharistic liturgy, and through adoration outside its celebration (1378-1379).
RECONCILIATION, SACRAMENT OF: The sacramental celebration in which, through God’s mercy and forgiveness, the sinner is reconciled with God and also with the Church, Christ’s Body, which is wounded by sin (1422, 1442-1445, 1468). See Penance.
REDEEMER/REDEMPTION: Jesus Christ, redeemer of mankind. Christ paid the price of his own sacrificial death on the cross to ransom us, to set us free from the slavery of sin, thus achieving our redemption. (571, 601; cf. 517, 1372).
RELIGION: A set of beliefs and practices followed by those committed to the service and worship of God. The first commandment requires us to believe in God, to worship and serve him, as the first duty of the virtue of religion (2084, 2135).
RELIGIOUS LIFE: See Consecrated Life.
REMISSION OF SINS: The forgiveness of sins, which is accomplished in us through faith and Baptism, as the fruit of the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on the cross (976, 1263). Christ gave the power to remit sins to his Apostles, and through them to the ministers of the Church (981). The remission of sins committed after Baptism is effected sacramentally through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (1446).
REPARATION: Making amends for a wrong done or for an offense, especially for sin, which is an offense against God. By his death on the cross, the Son of God offered his life out of love for the Father to make reparation for our sinful disobedience (614). We are obliged to make reparation for personal sins against justice and truth, either through restitution of stolen goods or correcting the harm done to the other’s good name. (2412, 2487). See Satisfaction (for sin).
REPENTANCE: See Contrition; Penance.
RESTITUTION: The return of what has been unjustly taken from another (2409, 2412).
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST: The bodily rising of Jesus from the dead on the third day after his death on the cross and burial in the tomb. The resurrection of Christ is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ (638).
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD: The raising of the righteous, who will live forever with the risen Christ, on the last day. The eleventh article of the Christian creed states, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” The resurrection of the body means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our “mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11) will come to life again (988).
REVELATION: God’s communication of himself, by which he makes known the mystery of his divine plan, a gift of self-communication which is realized by deeds and words over time, and most fully by sending us his own divine Son, Jesus Christ (50).
RITES: The diverse liturgical traditions in which the one catholic and apostolic faith has come to be expressed and celebrated in various cultures and lands; for example, in the West, the Roman and Ambrosian (Latin) rites; in the East, the Byzantine, Coptic (Alexandrian), Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean rites (1201-1203). “Rite” and “ritual” are sometimes interchanged, as in “the sacramental rite” or “the sacramental ritual.”
ROSARY: A prayer in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which repeats the privileged Marian prayer Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, in “decades” of ten prayers, each preceded by the Pater Noster (“Our Father”) and concluded by the Gloria Patri (Glory Be to the Father), accompanied by meditation on the mysteries of Christ’s life. The rosary was developed by medieval piety in the Latin church as a popular substitute for the liturgical prayer of the Hours (2678, 2708; cf. 1674).