Glossary

E

EASTER: The greatest and oldest Christian feast, which celebrates Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. Easter is the “feast of feasts,” the solemnity of solemnities, the “Great Sunday.” Christians prepare for it during Lent and Holy Week, and catechumens usually receive the Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil (1169; cf. 647).

EASTERN CHURCHES: Churches of the East in union with Rome (the Western Church), but not of Roman rite, with their own liturgical, theological, and administrative traditions, such as those of the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean rites. The variety of particular churches with distinctive traditions witnesses to the catholicity of the one Church of Christ, which takes root in distinct cultures (1202-1203; cf. 835).

ECCLESIASTIC/ECCLESIASTICAL: Pertaining to or of the Church (Greek/Latin: ecclesia). Hence ecclesiastical government is church government (857); an ecclesiastical province is a grouping of church jurisdictions or dioceses (887); an ecclesiastic is a church official.

ECONOMY: The structure and organization of productive work or activity in a society, forming the basis for financial support and stability of individuals, families, and society. The morality of economic activity is judged according to the seventh commandment; economic activity is one of the principal points addressed by the Church’s social doctrine (2426, 2430).

ECONOMY OF SALVATION (DIVINE ECONOMY): From a Greek word (oikonomia, literally “management of a household” or “stewardship”) which refers to God’s revelation and communication of himself to the world in time for the sake of the salvation of all humanity; hence, the economy of salvation (258, 1066). The Fathers of the Church distinguished oikonomia from theologia; the latter term refers to the mystery of the internal life of the Trinity (236). The economy of salvation, on the other hand, refers to God’s activity in creating and governing the world, particularly with regard to his plan for the salvation of the world in the person and work of Jesus Christ, a plan which is being accomplished through his Body the Church, in its life and sacraments; hence, the “sacramental economy” (1076, 1093).

ECUMENICAL COUNCIL: See Council, Ecumenical.

ECUMENISM: Promotion of the restoration of unity among all Christians, the unity which is a gift of Christ and to which the Church is called by the Holy Spirit. For the Catholic Church, the Decree on Ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council provides a charter for ecumenical efforts (816, 820-822).

ENCYCLICAL: A pastoral letter written by the Pope and sent to the whole Church and even to the whole world, to express Church teaching on some important matter. Encyclicals are expressions of the ordinary papal magisterium (cf. 892).

ENVY: Resentment or sadness at another’s good fortune, and the desire to have it for oneself. One of the seven capital sins, envy is contrary to the tenth commandment (2539).

EPARCHY: See Diocese.

EPICLESIS: The prayer petitioning God to send the Holy Spirit so that the offerings at the Eucharist may become the Body and Blood of Christ and thus the faithful, by receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God. In every sacrament, the prayer asking for the sanctifying power of God’s Holy Spirit is an “epiclesis” (1105, 1127).

EPIPHANY: The feast which celebrates the manifestation to the world of the newborn Christ as Messiah, Son of God, and Savior of the world. The feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee (528; cf. 535).

EPISCOPAL/EPISCOPATE: Pertaining to the office of bishop (Greek: episkopos), hence episcopal consecration, the episcopal college, episcopal conferences (883, 887, 1557). “Episcopate” is a collective noun referring to all those who have received sacramental ordination as bishops.

EREMITICAL LIFE: The life of a hermit, separate from the world in praise of God and for the salvation of the world, in the silence of solitude, assiduous prayer, and penance (920).

ESCHATOLOGY: From the Greek word eschaton, meaning “last.” Eschatology refers to the area of Christian faith which is concerned about “the last things,” and the coming of Jesus on “the last day”: our human destiny, death, judgment, resurrection of the body, heaven, purgatory, and hell—all of which are contained in the final articles of the Creed (1001, 1020-1050; cf. 2771).

ETERNAL LIFE: Living forever with God in the happiness of heaven, entered after death by the souls of those who die in the grace and friendship of God (988, 1020). In preaching the kingdom of heaven, Jesus called all people to eternal life, which is anticipated in the grace of union with Christ: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3).

EUCHARIST: The ritual, sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which constitutes the principal Christian liturgical celebration of and communion in the paschal mystery of Christ. The liturgical action called the Eucharist is also traditionally known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is one of the seven sacraments of the Church; the Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation (1322 ff.). The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life (2177). See Mass.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: See Canon of the Mass.

EUTHANASIA: An action or an omission which, of itself or by intention, causes the death of handicapped, sick, or dying persons—sometimes with an attempt to justify the act as a means of eliminating suffering. Euthanasia violates the fifth commandment of the law of God (2277).

EVANGELICAL COUNSELS: In general, the teachings of the New Law proposed by Jesus to his disciples which lead to the perfection of Christian life. In the New Law, the precepts are intended to remove whatever is incompatible with charity; the evangelical counsels are to remove whatever might hinder the development of charity, even if not contrary to it (1973). The public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience is a constitutive element of state of consecrated life in the Church (915).

EVANGELIST: One of the four authors to whom is ascribed the writing of the Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (125, 120). The term is also used for one who works actively to spread and promote the Christian faith.

EVANGELIZATION: The proclamation of Christ and his Gospel (Greek: evangelion) by word and the testimony of life, in fulfillment of Christ’s command (905; cf. 861).

EVE: According to the creation story in Genesis, the first woman; wife of Adam. God did not create man a solitary being; from the beginning, “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:29) (369, 375). Because she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, Jesus Christ the “new Adam,” Mary is called the “new Eve,” the “mother of the living” in the order of grace (511). See Adam.

EVIL: The opposite or absence of good. One form of evil, physical evil, is a result of the “state of journeying” toward its ultimate perfection in which God created the world, involving the existence of the less perfect alongside the more perfect, the constructive and the destructive forces of nature, the appearance and disappearance of certain beings (310). Moral evil, however, results from the free choice to sin which angels and men have; it is permitted by God, who knows how to derive good from it, in order to respect the freedom of his creatures (311). The entire revelation of God’s goodness in Christ is a response to the existence of evil (309, 385, 1707). The devil is called the Evil One. See Devil/Demon.

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE: Prayerful self-reflection on our words and deeds in the light of the Gospel to determine how we may have sinned against God. The reception of the Sacrament of Penance ought to be prepared for by such an examination of conscience (1454).

EXCOMMUNICATION: A severe ecclesiastical penalty, resulting from grave crimes against the Catholic religion, imposed by ecclesiastical authority or incurred as a direct result of the commission of an offense. Excommunication excludes the offender from taking part in the Eucharist or other sacraments and from the exercise of any ecclesiastical office, ministry, or function (1463).

EXODUS: God’s saving intervention in history by which he liberated the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, made a covenant with them, and brought them into the Promised Land. The Book of Exodus, the second of the Old Testament, narrates this saving history (62). The exodus is commemorated by the Jewish people at Passover, which for Christians is a foreshadowing of the “passover” of Jesus Christ from death to life and is celebrated in the memorial of the Eucharist (1363).

EXORCISM: The public and authoritative act of the Church to protect or liberate a person or object from the power of the devil (e.g., demonic possession) in the name of Christ (1673). A simple exorcism prayer in preparation for Baptism invokes God’s help in overcoming the power of Satan and the spirit of evil (1237).

EXPIATION: The act of redemption and atonement for sin which Christ won for us by the pouring out of his blood on the cross, by his obedient love “even to the end” (Jn 13:1) (433, 616, 1475). The expiation of sins continues in the mystical Body of Christ and the communion of saints by joining our human acts of atonement to the redemptive action of Christ, both in this life and in Purgatory.

EXTREME UNCTION: See Anointing of the Sick.