Glossary

Terms starting with H — browse A–Z or jump to the blog.

Terms — H

23 terms

Glossary
Happiness

Happiness is a significant concept in Catholic theology or moral teaching.
Glossary
Heaven

Heaven is the state of supreme and definitive happiness, the perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity and all the blessed.
Glossary
Heaven

Heaven is eternal life with God — the Beatific Vision, perfect communion with the Trinity and all the saints — the supreme happiness for which every human being was made.
Glossary
Hell

Hell is the state of eternal separation from God — freely chosen by those who finally and definitively refuse his love to the end of their lives.
Glossary
Hell

Hell is the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse to repent of mortal sin.
Glossary
Heresy

Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith.
Glossary
Heresy

Heresy is the obstinate denial of a Catholic dogma by a baptized person — a deliberate rejection of a truth God has revealed and the Church has defined.
Glossary
Hinduism

A diverse Indian religion contemplating the divine mystery.
Glossary
Historical Reliability of the Resurrection

The historical reliability of the Resurrection refers to the evidence that Jesus' rising from the dead is a real historical event.
Glossary
Holy Days of Obligation

Holy Days of Obligation are feast days on which the faithful are required to participate in the Mass.
Glossary
Holy Orders

Holy Orders is the sacrament by which men are ordained as bishops, priests, or deacons to continue Christ's apostolic ministry in the Church.
Glossary
Holy Orders

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His apostles continues to be exercised in the Church.
Glossary
Holy Water

Holy water is water that has been blessed by a priest to serve as a sacramental of protection and purification.
Glossary
Holy Week

Holy Week is the final week of Lent — the most sacred week of the liturgical year — reliving Christ's Passion and death from Palm Sunday through the Easter Triduum.
Glossary
Holy Week

Holy Week is the final week of Lent, beginning with Palm Sunday, that commemorates the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.
Glossary
Homily

A homily is the preaching by an ordained minister within the liturgy — expounding the Scripture readings and applying them to the faithful's lives, an integral part of the liturgical action itself.
Glossary
Homily

A homily is a liturgical sermon that explains the Word of God and helps the faithful apply it to their lives.
Glossary
Homosexuality

Homosexuality is a significant concept in Catholic theology or moral teaching.
Glossary
Hope

Hope is the theological virtue of confident expectation of eternal life — a firm trust in God's faithfulness, not wishful thinking, anchored in Christ's promises.
Glossary
Human Dignity

Human dignity is the inherent worth of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God and called to share in His divine life.
Glossary
Human Dignity

Human dignity is the inherent and inalienable worth of every human being as created in the image and likeness of God — the foundation of all Catholic social teaching.
Glossary
Humility

Humility is the virtue of recognizing one's true place before God — that everything good is received, not self-generated — the foundation of all virtue, all prayer, and the direct opposite of pride.
Glossary
Hymn

A hymn is a song of praise or prayer addressed to God, used in the liturgy and private devotion.