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F

There are 569 entries in the glossary.
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Term Definition
FaithBoth a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed. It is this revelation of God which the Church proposes for our belief, and which we profess in the Creed, celebrate in the sacraments, live by right conduct that fulfills the twofold commandment of charity (as specified in the ten commandments), and respond to in our prayer of faith. Faith is both a theological virtue given by God as grace, and an obligation which flows from the first commandment of God (26, 142, 150, 1814, 2087).
 
Faithful, The ChristianThose who have been incorporated into Christ in Baptism and constituted as the people of God, the Church (871). The term ""lay faithful"" refers to the laity, all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church (897).
 
Fall(1) Biblical revelation about the reality of sin in human history. The Biblical story begins with the original sin freely committed by the first human beings. This primeval event is narrated in figurative language in the Book of Genesis, which describes this sin as a ""fall"" from God's friendship and grace, which they had received from God not only for themselves but for the whole human race (388, 390). (2) In the ""fall"" of angels, Scripture and Church tradition see the emergence of Satan and the ""devil""; the ""fall"" of these angelic spirits was due to their freely chosen rejection of God and His reign (391-392).
 
FastingRefraining from food and drink as an expression of interior penance, in imitation of the fast of Jesus for forty days in the desert. Fasting is an ascetical practice recommended in Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers; it is sometimes prescribed by a precept of the Church, especially during the liturgical season of Lent (538, 1434, 2043).
 
Father, God, TheGod, the first Person of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus revealed that God is Father in a unique way: not only as Creator, the origin of all things, but also as eternal Father in his relationship to his only Son, who is eternally begotten of the Father and consubstantial with the Father (240, 242).
 
Fathers Of The ChurchChurch teachers and writers of the early centuries whose teachings are a witness to the Tradition of the Church (78, 688).
 
Fear Of The LordOne of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which ensures our awe and reverence before God (1831).
 
Feast DaysThe annual cycle of liturgical celebrations commemorating the saving mysteries of Christ's life, as a participation in the Paschal Mystery, which is celebrated annually at Easter, the ""Feast of feasts."" Feast days commemorating Mary, the Mother of God, and the saints are also celebrated, providing the faithful with examples of those who have been glorified with Christ (1169, 1173).
 
FilioqueA word meaning ""and (from) the Son,"" added to the Latin version of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, by which the Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Holy Spirit ""proceeds from the Father and the Son"" (246).
 
FocolareA lay movement started in Trent, Italy by Chiara Lubich in 1943, now claiming more than a million followers. Its aim is world unity though the living witness of Christian love and holiness in the family and in small communities.
 
FornicationSexual intercourse between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. Fornication is a serious violation of the sixth commandment of God (2353).
 
FortitudeOne of the four cardinal moral virtues which ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in doing the good (1808). Fortitude (sometimes called strength, courage, or might) is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (1299; cf. 712).
 
Free WillThe faculty or capability of making a reasonable choice from among several alternatives.
 
Friara member of a mendicant community, such as Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites. They live a rule of communal poverty, living primarily from the freewill offerings of the faithful, engage in various forms of pastoral ministry, and belong to a religious order that is a wider community beyond the local house, in contrast to a monastery, which is self-contained, even if in federation with others.
 
Fruits Of The Holy SpiritThe perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the ""first fruits"" of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church identifies twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit (1832).
 


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