J

J: symbol of "Javist" or the "document" in the Pentateuch using "Yaweh" as God's name.

Jacobite Church: Christian church of Syria, Iraq, and India, recognizing the Syrian Orthodox patriarch of Antioch as its spiritual head, regarded by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as heretical. It was founded (6th cent.) as a Monophysite church in Syria by Jacob Baradaeus

Jansenism: (from C.O.Jansens, bishop of Ypres, † 1638) A theological and spiritual movement, characterized by rigidity and pessimism about human condition.

Jehovah: The English equivalent of the Hebrew Adonai (“my Lord”) used out of fear and reverence for the Holy Name of Yahweh. “Jehovah” uses the consonants YHWH and the vowels of Adonai (a, o, a). This name was created during the Renaissance.

Jesus: The name of Jesus, meaning “God saves,” expressing the identity and mission of the second Person of the Trinity become man; derived from the Aramaic and Hebrew Yeshua and Joshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation.

Jesus Prayer: A prayer of Eastern origin, dating back to the fifth century: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me (a sinner).”

Jocist: Jeunesse Ouvriere Chrétienne, members of the Youth Catholic Workers

Judgment: (1) Last or final judgment: Final judgment by Christ, at the end of the world and the general resurrection. (2) Particular judgment: The judgment that takes place immediately after a person’s death, followed by entrance into heaven, hell or purgatory.

Julian calendar: Calendar promulgated by Julius Caesar in 46 before Christ  

Jurisdiction: Right, power, authority to rule. Jurisdiction in the Church is of divine institution; has pastoral service for its purpose; includes legislative, judicial and executive authority; can be exercised only by persons with the power of orders. (1) Ordinary jurisdiction is attached to ecclesiastical offices by law; the officeholders, called Ordinaries, have authority over those who are subject to them. (2) Delegated jurisdiction is that which is granted to persons rather than attached to offices. Its extent depends on the terms of the delegation.

Justice: One of the four cardinal virtues by which a person gives to others what is due to them as a matter of right. (See Cardinal Virtues.)

Justification: The act by which God makes a person just, and the consequent change in the spiritual status of a person, from sin to grace; the remission of sin and the infusion of sanctifying grace through the merits of Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit.

K

Kataphatic: "affirmative" theology is positive and rational, as contrasted with "apophatic" or negative theology or mystic.

Kenosis: A term from the Greek for “emptying” that denotes Christ’s emptying of Himself in his free renunciation of his right to divine status, by reason of the Incarnation, particularly as celebrated in the kenotic hymn (Phil 2:6-11), where it is said that Christ “emptied himself,” taking the form of a slave, born in the likeness of man totally integrated with his divinity.

Kerygma: Proclaiming the word of God, in the manner of the Apostles, as here and now effective for salvation. This method of preaching or instruction, centered on Christ and geared to the facts and themes of salvation history, is designed to dispose people to faith in Christ and/or to intensify the experience and practice of that faith in those who have it.

Keys, Power of the: Spiritual authority and jurisdiction in the Church, symbolized by the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Christ promised the keys to St. Peter, as head-to-be of the Church (Mt.  16:19), and commissioned him with full pastoral responsibility to feed his lambs and sheep (Jn. 21:15-17), The pope, as the successor of St. Peter, has this power in a primary and supreme manner. The bishops of the Church also have the power, in union with and subordinate to the pope. Priests share in it through holy orders and the delegation of authority. Examples of the application of the Power of the Keys are the exercise of teaching and pastoral authority by the pope and bishops, the absolving of sins in the sacrament of penance, the granting of indulgences, the imposing of spiritual penalties on persons who commit certain serious sins.

Kind: the elements of the Eucharist. Communion ‘under one kind’ means only bread or wine alone; ‘under both kinds’ means receiving both.

Kingdom of God: God’s sovereign lordship or rule over salvation history, leading to the eschatological goal of eternal life with God.

Koinonia: A term from the Greek word for “community, fellowship, or association” that was used by St. Luke for the fellowship of believers who worshipped together and held all their possessions in common (Acts 2:42-47); it is also used of fellowship with God (1 Jn. 1:3, 6), with the Son (1 Cor. 1:9), and with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13; Phil. 2:1). St. Paul used koinonia to denote the intimate union of the believer with Christ and the community that exists among all the faithful themselves (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 6:14).

Kyrie. Eleison (“Lord have mercy”), Triple prayer for mercy addressed to Christ the Lord, in the Latin Mass, before the Gloria. In the Oriental liturgies, it is often repeated as a people’s response.

L

Lacuna: A blank space; a missing part; a gap.

Laicization: The process by which a man ordained to holy orders is relieved of the obligations of orders and the ministry and is returned to the status of a lay person.

Laity: “People”, the baptized Christians without Orders.

Languages of the Church: The languages in which the Church’s liturgy is celebrated. These include Ge’ez, Syriac, Greek, Arabic, and Old Slavonic in the Eastern Churches. In the West, there is, of course, Latin and the various vernaculars. The Eastern Rites have always had the vernacular. The first language in church use, for divine worship and the conduct of ecclesiastical affairs, was Aramaic, the language of the first Christians in and around Jerusalem. As the Church spread westward, Greek was adopted and prevailed until the third century when it was supplanted by Latin for official use in the West. In the Western Church, Latin prevailed as the general official language until the promulgation on Dec. 4, 1963, of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) by the second session of the Second Vatican Council. Since that time, vernacular languages have come into use in the Mass, administration of the sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours. Latin, however, remains the official language for documents of the Holy See, administrative and procedural matters.

Latria: Greek-rooted Latin term that refers to that form of praise due to God alone.

Lauds: “Praise”, the old Morning Prayer in the Breviary, as recited in the cathedral services.

Law: An ordinance or rule governing the activity of things. (1) Natural law: Moral norms corresponding to man’s nature by which he orders his conduct toward God, neighbor, society and himself. This law, which is rooted in human nature, is of divine origin, can be known by the use of reason, and binds all persons having the use of reason. The Ten Commandments are declarations and amplifications of natural law. The primary precepts of natural law, to do good and to avoid evil, are universally recognized, despite differences with respect to understanding and application resulting from different philosophies of good and evil. (2) Divine positive law: That which has been revealed by God.  Among its essentials are the twin precepts of love of God and love of neighbor, and the Ten Commandments. (3) Ecclesiastical law: That which is established by the Church for the spiritual welfare of the faithful and the orderly conduct of ecclesiastical affairs. (See Canon Law.) (4) Civil law: That which is established by a socio-political community for the common good.

Laxism: A “slackness” in moral discipline, easily excusing from obligations.

Lectern: A desk or stand to hold the book for public reading.

Lectionary: A liturgical book with the official readings for liturgy.

Lector: “Reader”, in eastern churches a minor order, in the Latin church, since 1972, a “ministry” to read Scripture in liturgy, except for the gospel.

Leitmotiv: German word: recurring musical (or conceptual) theme with definite association with a person, idea, event, etc. Theme, phrase, formula or idea which appears often or regularly in a work.

Lesson: A passage chosen to be read in the liturgical services; in the Eucharist, from the Bible, in the Divine Office, also from ecclesiastical writers.

Liberalism: A multiphased trend of thought and movement favoring liberty, independence and progress in moral, intellectual, religious, social, economic and political life. Traceable to the Renaissance, it developed through the Enlightenment, the rationalism of the 19^th century, and modernist- and existentialist-related theories of the 20^th century. Evaluations of various kinds of liberalism depend on the validity of their underlying principles. Extremist positions — regarding subjectivism, libertinarianism, naturalist denials of the supernatural, and the alienation of individuals and society from God and the Church —were condemned by Gregory XVI in the 1830s, Pius IX in 1864, Leo XIII in 1899, and St. Pius X in 1907. There is, however, nothing objectionable about forms of liberalism patterned according to sound principles of Christian doctrine.

Liberation Theology: Deals with the relevance of Christian faith and salvation — and, therefore, of the mission of the Church — to efforts for the promotion of human rights, social justice and human development. It originated in the religious, social, political and economic environment of Latin America, with its contemporary need for a theory and corresponding action by the Church, in the pattern of its overall mission, for human rights and integral personal and social development. Some versions of liberation theology are at variance with the body of church teaching because of their ideological concept of Christ as liberator, and also because they play down the primary spiritual nature and mission of the Church. Instructions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — “On Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation” (Sept.  3, 1984) and “On Christian Freedom and Liberation” (Apr. 5, 1986) contain warnings against translating sociology into theology and advocating violence in social activism.

Life in Outer Space: Whether rational life exists on other bodies in the universe besides earth, is a question for scientific investigation to settle. The possibility can be granted, without prejudice to the body of revealed truth.

Light of Glory: “light” needed in heaven to see God in the beatific vision, since created mind is not capable of apprehending the divinity.

Limbo: The limbo of the fathers was the state of rest and natural happiness after death enjoyed by the just of pre-Christian times until they were admitted to heaven following the Ascension of Christ.

Litany: A prayer in the form of responsive petition; e.g., St. Joseph, pray for us, etc. Examples are the litanies of Loreto (Litany of the Blessed Mother), the Holy Name, All Saints, the Sacred Heart, the Precious Blood, St. Joseph, Litany for the Dying.

Liturgy: The body of services of a church; a particular order of service; the Eucharist.

Liturgy of the Hours: The official prayer of the Church, comprising the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer (Lauds), Daytime Prayer (Little Hours), Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Compline.

Locus theologicus: Source of theological knowledge.Melchor Cano, OP (died 1560) applied the term loci theologici to a treatise on the fundamental principles or sources of theological science. Such "sources" are the Scripture, the Church, Liturgy, the poor (for Liberation Theology), etc.

Logos: A Greek term for “word, speech, or reason.” It is most commonly identified with the title given to Jesus in John’s Gospel, though not exclusive to that Gospel; In the N.T., however, the term reflects more the influence of Hellenistic philosophy: St. Paul uses logos as interchangeable with sophia, wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24). The Logos is the Wisdom of God made manifest in the Son. As a name for the Second Person of the Trinity, the Incarnate Word, the term receives new meaning in the light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Loreto, House of: A Marian shrine in Loreto, Italy, consisting of the home of the Holy Family which, according to an old tradition, was transported in a miraculous manner from Nazareth to Dalmatia and finally to Loreto between 1291 and 1294.  Investigations conducted shortly after the appearance of the structure in Loreto revealed that its dimensions matched those of the house of the Holy Family missing from its place of enshrinement in a basilica at Nazareth. Among the many popes who regarded it with high honor was John XXIII, who went there on pilgrimage Oct. 4, 1962. The house of the Holy Family is enshrined in the Basilica of Our Lady.

Love: A devotion to a person or object that has been categorized by Greek philosophy into four types: storge (one loves persons and things close to him); philia (the love of friends); eros (sexual love and that of a spiritual nature); agape (a self-giving to one in need). Christian charity is love, but not all love is true charity.

Lust: A disorderly desire for sexual pleasure; one of the seven capital sins.

LXX: The Septuagint is the most ancient translation of the Old Testament, between the third and second centuries B.C.