Glossary

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

Terms — R

10 terms

Glossary
Rash Judgment

Rash Judgment is a significant concept in Catholic theology or moral teaching.
Glossary
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the true, substantial presence of Jesus Christ — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — in the Eucharist. It is not symbolic: Christ is truly there.
Glossary
Reconciliation

Reconciliation (Confession) is the sacrament by which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven and the soul is restored to friendship with God through the ministry of a priest.
Glossary
Redemption

Redemption is Christ's act of ransoming humanity from the slavery of sin through his sacrificial death on the cross — restoring our friendship with God.
Glossary
Redemptive Suffering

Redemptive suffering is the teaching that human suffering, when freely united to Christ's Passion, participates in his redemptive work and can benefit the one suffering and others.
Glossary
Relics

Relics are the physical remains or personal effects of saints — venerated by the Church as signs of God's power working through his servants and a share in the continuing life of the saints in Christ.
Glossary
Repentance

Repentance is the turning away from sin and back to God — sorrow for having offended God, a firm resolve not to sin again, and the intention to make amends.
Glossary
Righteousness

Righteousness is the quality of being morally right before God — conformity with his law and will — applied both to God's own perfect justice and to the human life of faithful covenant living.
Glossary
Rites

Rites are the diverse liturgical, theological, and canonical traditions within the one Catholic Church.
Glossary
Ruth

Ruth is the Moabite woman who embraced Israel's God and became an ancestor of David and Jesus — a type of the Gentile Church grafted into the covenant of Israel through faith and love.