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Appendix A. Glossary • 523
visible sign of an invisible act
of God.
PASSOVER:
The name of the
Jewish feast that celebrates the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt
and from the Angel of Death who
passed over their doors marked
by the blood of sacrificed lamb.
Jesus Christ inaugurated the new
Passover by delivering all people
from death and sin through his
own blood shed on the Cross.
The celebration of the Eucharist
is the Passover feast of the
New Covenant.
PENANCE, SACRAMENT
OF:
Also called the Sacrament
of Confession, Reconciliation,
Conversion, and Forgiveness, this is
the Sacrament in which sins com-
mitted after Baptism are forgiven.
It results in reconciliation with God
and the Church.
PENTECOST:
Celebrated each year
fifty days after Easter, Pentecost
marks the day when the Holy Spirit
came upon the Apostles and dis-
ciples. The first Pentecost is some-
times referred to as the birthday
of the Church because it was on
this day that the Apostles, inspired
by the Holy Spirit, first publicly
preached the Good News to others.
PEOPLE OF GOD:
God calls the
Church into existence as his people
centered in Christ and sustained by
the Holy Spirit. The visible struc-
ture of the People of God as the
Church is the means intended by
Christ to help guarantee the life of
grace for the whole.
PERPETUAL VIRGINITY:
Mary
was a virgin in conceiving Jesus, in
giving birth to him, and in remain-
ing always a virgin ever after.
PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE:
This is suicide performed with the
aid of a doctor. The emergence of
physician-assisted suicide, popular-
ized by the right-to-die movement,
seeks to legalize what is a gravely
immoral act forbidden by God in
the Fifth Commandment.
POPE:
The successor to St. Peter
who serves as the Bishop of Rome
and as the visible and juridical head
of the Catholic Church.
PRAGMATISM:
A philosophy
that asserts that acts have value
only in terms of their usefulness
and practicality.
PRAYER:
The raising of one’s mind
and heart to God in thanksgiving
and in praise of his glory. It can
also include the requesting of good
things from God. It is an act by