Octave Day of the Solemnity of St. Joseph

The Catechism teaches that faith in the forgiveness of sins is closely joined to faith in the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the communion of saints. The risen Christ gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles and entrusted them with the power to forgive sins. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness: it unites us with Christ, cleanses us from sin, and calls us to walk in newness of life. Yet Baptism does not remove every weakness or the ongoing struggle against the inclination toward evil. Through the sacrament of Penance, the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church. No offense is beyond the Church’s power to forgive when repentance is honest, for Christ desires the gates of forgiveness to remain open to all who turn away from sin.

The Catechism teaches that the resurrection of the dead is an essential part of Christian faith and that the Creed culminates in this proclamation and in life everlasting. As we reflect together, we can hold firmly to the hope that Christ is truly risen and lives forever, and that the righteous will live with him after death. The resurrection of the flesh means that not only does the immortal soul live on after death, but our mortal bodies will also come to life again. This hope rests on faith in God, the Creator of the whole human person, soul and body, and in Jesus, who says, “I am the Resurrection and the life.” Christ himself will raise up on the last day those who believe in him, and to witness to Christ is to witness to his Resurrection. Even when this faith is questioned or opposed, Christians confess with confidence that Christ has been raised from the dead and that we shall rise like him, with him, and through him.