Second Sunday after Easter

Baltimore track

Baltimore Catechism No. 3

Lesson 8 — On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

Q. 389.What was the "Ark of the Covenant"?

A.The Ark of the Covenant was a precious box in which were kept the tablets of stone bearing the written Commandments of God, the rod which Aaron changed into a serpent before King Pharao, and a portion of the manna with which the Israelites were miraculously fed in the desert. The Ark of the Covenant was a figure of the Tabernacle in which we keep the Holy Eucharist.

Q. 390.Why was the veil of the Temple torn asunder at the death of Christ?

A.The veil of the Temple was torn asunder at the death of Christ because at His death the Jewish religion ceased to be the true religion, and God no longer manifested His presence in the Temple.

Q. 391.Why did the Jewish religion, which up to the death of Christ had been the true religion, cease at that time to be the true religion?

A.The Jewish religion, which, up to the death of Christ, had been the true religion, ceased at that time to be the true religion, because it was only a promise of the redemption and figure of the Christian religion, and when the redemption was accomplished and the Christian religion established by the death of Christ, the promise and the figure were no longer necessary.

Q. 392.Were all the laws of the Jewish religion abolished by the establishment of Christianity?

A.The moral laws of the Jewish religion were not abolished by the establishment of Christianity, for Christ came not to destroy these laws, but to make them more perfect. Its ceremonial laws were abolished when the Temple of Jerusalem ceased to be the House of God.