TX001312_1-Background-Paschal

Living in Christ Series Document #: TX001312

The Paschal Mystery

The Paschal Mystery is a core doctrine of the Church, one of the essential beliefs of all Christians. Though

all doctrines are important, it can also be said that some doctrines define the very heart of the Christian

faith. The Paschal Mystery is one of those doctrines, making it similar to the doctrines of the Incarnation

and the Trinity. Thus when we help students to understand the meaning of the Paschal Mystery, we give

them an essential foundation for their faith.

This is the definition of Paschal Mystery in the glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Christ’s work of redemption accomplished principally by his Passion, death, Resurrection,

and glorious Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life”

(1067; cf. 654). The paschal mystery is celebrated and made present in the liturgy of the

Church, and its saving effects are communicated through the sacraments (1076), especially

the Eucharist, which renews the paschal sacrifice of Christ as the sacrifice offered by the

Church (571, 1362–1372). (P. 891)

This short background article expands on this definition, explores the “how” of the Paschal Mystery, and

considers the ways believers participate in it.

Exploring the Etymology

A simple consideration of the linguistic background for the terms paschal and mystery reveals many things

about this doctrine. Paschal is the English adjectival form of the Greek word pascha, which is derived from

the Hebrew word pesah (or pesach), which means “passover.” The Pesach or Passover is the Jewish

Feast celebrating the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt (see Exodus, chapter 12), focusing on

the Tenth Plague and its results. In the Tenth Plague, the angel of death struck down the firstborn males of

the Egyptians (humans and animals) but “passed over” the homes of the Israelites, sparing their firstborn.

This led to the Israelites’ release from their Egyptian captivity, beginning a major new chapter in the story

of salvation history. The angel of death recognized the homes of the Israelites because they were marked

by the blood of a sacrificial lamb (also called the paschal lamb).

The Passover is an important foreshadowing in God’s plan of salvation. There are many parallels

between the Passover and Christ’s saving work. In both cases the people are under foreign domination:

Egyptian and Roman. In both cases God raises up a savior to lead them to freedom: Moses and Jesus

Christ. In both cases the people are given a new code of life: the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.

In both cases they are saved by the shedding of innocent blood: the Paschal Lamb’s and Christ’s. In both

cases the savior leads the people from one state to another: from being slaves in Egypt to being free in the

Promised Land and from being slaves to sin to being free from sin.

There is one important difference between the Passover and the Paschal Mystery: In the Passover

salvation is incomplete and limited to the Israelites, but in the Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension

of Christ, salvation is fully accomplished and universal, for all people and all time. By calling Christ’s saving

work the Paschal Mystery, we are reminded that God’s plan of salvation has long been at work, and

though hidden and incomplete in the events of the Old Testament, it has been fully revealed and

accomplished through Jesus Christ.

As a theological concept, mystery is often misunderstood. For many people the word mystery calls to

mind something that is secret, irrational, or fictional. This understanding of mystery is consistent with the

second definition of mystery in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. But the mysteries of faith—for

example the Incarnation, the Trinity, and the Paschal Mystery—are not secrets, irrational, or beyond

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explanation. A correct understanding of the mysteries of faith is consistent with Webster’s first definition of

mystery: “A religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand” (p. 822).

Correctly understood then, the mysteries of faith share several characteristics. First, they are

mysterious in the sense that we cannot discover them through human reasoning or scientific exploration.

But this does not mean that they cannot be known or understood—God has revealed these truths to us,

particularly through the Scriptures and Tradition. They must be accepted in faith, and once accepted, their

meaning and purpose is understood by the believer. Second, they are mysterious precisely because they

are religious truths. Religious or spiritual truths are not limited by or contained solely within the physical

world so they cannot be proven or disproven through scientific experimentation. Words cannot precisely

describe these truths, so we must use the language of metaphor and symbol when talking about them.

Third, they are mysterious in the sense that we know them incompletely in this life. Their meaning is so

rich that their full understanding is beyond the capability of the human person. By calling Christ’s saving

work the Paschal Mystery, we are reminded that it has been revealed by God (not by human beings) and

that although we can know a great deal about it, we will not fully know understand the Paschal Mystery in

this earthly life.

Describing the Effects of the Paschal Mystery

Simply stated, the Paschal Mystery is the doctrinal teaching that God saves us from the consequences of

sin—both Original Sin and our personal sins—through the saving work of Jesus Christ. However, this

simple definition leads to numerous valid and complementary descriptions of the Paschal Mystery. This is

one reason the Paschal Mystery can be confusing to students. Let’s look at the most common of these

complementary descriptions.

One common description starts by considering the consequences of sin. The Scriptures and Tradition

reveal that the primary consequences of sin are death (see Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23) and eternal

separation from God (see Matthew 25:41). Thus one way of describing the Paschal Mystery is the process

through which Christ’s work saves us from death and from eternal separation from the Holy Trinity. Or, to

describe it in positive terms, the Paschal Mystery is the process through which Christ’s work makes

everlasting life possible for all people and brings us into full and eternal union with the Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit.

Another way of describing the Paschal Mystery is centered on the theological concepts of Heaven

and hell. Because hell can be defined as “the state of being eternally separated from God” and Heaven

can be defined as “the state of being in complete, eternal union with God,” a popular description of the

Paschal Mystery is that it is the process through which Christ saves us from the “fires of hell” so that we

might enjoy the glories of Heaven.

A third way of describing the Paschal Mystery focuses on the “what” of the Paschal Mystery—that is,

the four events commonly used to describe it: the Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension. The

Paschal Mystery reveals that Christ’s Passion and death, in loving obedience to his Father’s will, were

necessary to bring to fruition God’s plan of salvation, his Resurrection is proof and affirmation that God’s

saving plan has been fulfilled, and his Ascension enables the Church to continue to make salvation

available to all people through the power of the Holy Spirit. So the Paschal Mystery is often simply

described as Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension, a kind of theological shorthand. (There

are variations of this formula; for example, the Catechism also refers to the Paschal Mystery as Christ’s

“suffering, death, and Resurrection” or even just as his “death and Resurrection.”)

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In the broadest sense, Christ’s entire life is salvific—that is, all his words and actions reveal his

Father’s will and contribute to our salvation, and Christians strive to follow all his teachings. But the events

of his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension most clearly reveal and affirm his saving work. This is

why the earliest creeds and proclamations of faith focus on these events. For example, see Peter’s early

speeches recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (2:22–24, 3:13–15, 4:10) and Paul’s frequent references to

Christ’s Crucifixion (1 Corinthians 1:23, 2:2; Galatians 2:19, 3:1) and Resurrection (Romans 6:4–10, 1

Corinthians 15:12–24, Philippians 3:8–11). Paul poignantly states why the focus of the Paschal Mystery is

on Christ’s death and Resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching;

empty, too, your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

There are other ways to describe nuances of the Paschal Mystery, but these three concepts are

central to understanding this mystery of faith: first, that through Christ’s saving work we are saved from

death and eternal separation from God; second, that through Christ’s saving work we will share in his

resurrected life and the glories of Heaven; and third, the essential core of the Paschal Mystery is found in

Jesus’ Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

How Does the Paschal Mystery Work?

The question, “How does the Paschal Mystery work?” is an innocent question that a teacher might expect

to hear in the classroom. Modern minds, formed with an emphasis on the scientific process, expect that a

teaching of faith as basic as this should have some kind of logical, verifiable, and observable answer. But

as was mentioned previously, we are not dealing with a scientific truth; we are dealing with a spiritual truth.

We can explain it through metaphor only. We can verify it through a life of faith only. We can observe it in

the lives of the saints only. This doesn’t mean that the Paschal Mystery is any less real than the law of

relativity. (In fact, I would argue that it is more real!) But we must not expect to understand how it works as

we could a math problem or a scientific proof. What follows is a very basic answer to the question, “How

does the Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ save us from sin and death?”

Please keep in mind that there is much more that could be said on this topic.

The Scriptures and Tradition often use three metaphors in explaining how the Paschal Mystery

accomplishes our salvation: redemption, justification, and adoption. These metaphors build upon Old

Testament themes and reflect the cultural realities of the first Christians. The Apostles and Church Fathers

used these cultural metaphors to explain to the people of their time their experience of Christ’s saving

power in their lives. We are somewhat removed from these cultural experiences, which is why they require

some background explanation.

The metaphor of redemption is referred to in the Catechism’s glossary definition at the beginning of

this article, and it has to do with the cultural practice of slavery. Slavery was an essential part of the

Roman Empire’s economic system. Many slaves were people captured during wartime, but many slaves

were people who sold themselves into slavery in order to pay off debts or just to survive. To “redeem” such

a slave, one had to pay the price of that slave’s debt to the slave owner and then the slave would be set

free.

You can see how this practice can be seen as a metaphor for how Christ saves us. We have become

enslaved to the world (or as Paul says “slaves to sin”) through Original Sin and our personal sin. This is a

debt that we cannot repay on our own power. But Jesus Christ takes our debt upon himself. Through his

perfect obedience to his Father’s will, he “redeems” us―that is, he pays off the debt incurred by Adam and

Eve’s (and our) disobedience to God. Redeemed by Christ we are now free from slavery to the world and

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slaves to Christ (or as Paul says, “slaves of righteousness”). See Romans 6:15–23 for an example of this

metaphor.

The metaphor of justification is also frequently used in the Catechism and is commonly associated

with the cultural practice of blood sacrifice. The reasoning goes like this. By definition only a just person

can be in intimate relationship with God―that is, in perfect communion with him. A person in a state of

injustice (sinfulness) cannot be in intimate relationship with God; God’s perfect holiness simply doesn’t

allow for such a relationship. Because we have all sinned (see Romans 3:23), in order to restore our right

relationship with God, we must regain our “just” state. Many cultures, including the ancient Israelites,

believed that this required a sacrifice to their god, and that sacrifice was usually the life of an unblemished

animal (see Leviticus, chapters 4 and 5; the Israelites also practiced animal sacrifice for other reasons).

This cultural practice helps us to understand the metaphor of justification. Sin—again both Original

Sin and our personal sin—damages our “just” state and thus ruptures our communion with God. A sacrifice

is required to restore us to that “just” state. But every sacrifice we offer on our own behalf is inadequate

because our sin makes us impure and thus our sacrifices are impure (or “blemished”). To get us out of this

catch-22 situation, God the Father sends his Son who, because of his sinlessness, is the pure and perfect

sacrifice necessary for restoring our just state. Jesus Christ is both perfect priest and victim as he offers

himself to his Father on our behalf. His Passion and death justify us and restore us to full communion with

the Holy Trinity. See Romans 3:21–26 and Hebrews, chapters 5, 9, and 10, to see how two biblical authors

addressed the metaphor of justification.

The metaphor of adoption is used in the New Testament letters by Paul and less frequently in

modern theology. This is probably because our cultural understanding of adoption is different from the first-

century cultural understanding. We think of adoption as adult parents going through a legal process to

bring unrelated children into their family. But as far as we know, this type of adoption did not exist in

Jewish or Roman culture—orphan children were simply brought into the care of extended families. But

there was a legal process in Roman culture for the adoption of adults. Sometimes a childless couple would

adopt an adult relative—a nephew or grandson, for example—and thus ensure the continuance of the

family name and fortune. Adult slaves were also sometimes adopted. Keep in mind that many slaves were

valuable members of the household and were treated like family. So some slaves chose to be adopted into

their owners’ families if the owner was agreeable and the slave had no natural family to return to after his

or her service was fulfilled.

Knowing this cultural practice can help one to understand how the adoption metaphor works with the

redemption metaphor. Paul weaves these two metaphors together in Romans, chapters 6 through 8. First,

he tells how Christ’s death has redeemed us so that we are no longer slaves to sin: “We know that our old

self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in

slavery to sin” (6:6). Now Christ is our new “owner” and we “have become slaves of righteousness” (6:18).

But this is not the end of the process. Being a slave to the household of God is such a wonderful

experience that we want to remain in this household forever. And so we accept God’s invitation to be part

of his family, moving from slave to adopted son or daughter: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to

fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit

itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and

joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (8:15–17).

The thing common to all these metaphors is that human beings cannot and do not save themselves.

It is Christ who saves us through his Passion, death, and Resurrection. He has redeemed us from our

slavery to sin and restored our original justice so that we might live in full communion with the Trinity as

adopted sons and daughters of God. But this does not happen automatically, nor is it simply a passive

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experience on our part. We must choose to participate in the Paschal Mystery and avail ourselves of

Christ’s saving work.

Participating in the Paschal Mystery

The Paschal Mystery is not just about our own salvation; it calls us to continue Christ’s mission, inviting

other people to know God’s saving power. Consider the Ascension, the final event in Paschal Mystery

definition. Christ’s Ascension marks the beginning of the mission of the Church. At his Ascension, Christ

gives the Apostles their mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have

commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). Soon

after this, the Apostles receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, empowering them for this mission and thus

the saving work of Christ continues through the Church. Individual Christians participate in the Paschal

Mystery through their own sacrifices and through the sacramental life of the Church.

Christ himself set the foundation for uniting our sacrifices with his for the sake of our salvation and for

the salvation of others. He instructs his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,

take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life

for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25). But after we have been redeemed through our Baptism, we

want to share the Gospel with others, even though doing so often requires some form of sacrifice. We

might need to sacrifice comfort, popularity, or personal freedom. Or our sacrifice might be the pain of being

rejected, misunderstood, or even tortured for speaking the truth and acting on it. The Church holds martyrs

as exemplars of the Paschal Mystery because of the high price they paid in following Christ. We endure

these sacrifices not on our own power, but by seeing it as an extension of Christ’s Passion. In prayer we

consciously unite our sacrifices—even the suffering we do not choose, such as the suffering caused by

illness or accidents—with Christ’s Passion and death.

There is a fine distinction to be made here. Taking up our cross does not mean that we earn our own

salvation; that work is Christ’s alone. But our willingness to endure suffering and even death to continue

Christ’s mission does earn us merit in the sight of God. We avoid egoism and give God his rightful glory by

remembering that we can take up our cross only because God first reaches out to us and gives us the

needed strength to do so.

The sacramental life of the Church is the superlative source for experiencing God’s saving power and

receiving the grace necessary to continue Christ’s mission. In Baptism we are redeemed from our slavery

to sin, and our original justice is restored. In Confirmation we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit to

continue Christ’s saving mission. In the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, we are again freed

from slavery to sin when sin has reentered our lives. In the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders, we

receive the graces needed to continue Christ’s mission of salvation in family life or as an ordained minister

of the Church. And in the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, we receive God’s healing power and the

grace to unite our suffering with Christ’s Passion.

The Sacrament of the Eucharist has a special place in our participation in the Paschal Mystery. In the

Eucharist we receive Christ’s Body and Blood, the same body and blood that was broken and poured out

to redeem us. We receive the same Christ who was raised as the promise of our own eternal life with God.

Our hearing of the Word of God and our reception of the Eucharist is both the sign and the reality of our full

communion with God. The Eucharist makes Christ’s Paschal Sacrifice present to us, so that we truly and

actively participate in its saving power.

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(The definition of Paschal Mystery is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United

Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications

Vaticana.

The definition of mystery is from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, eleventh edition

[Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003], page 822.

The Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised

may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.)