Paschal mystery

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The Paschal Mystery refers to the suffering (sometimes called the passion), death, Resurrection, and Glorification of Jesus Christ. People of Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths celebrate this mystery in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The Eucharist represents the Christ's body and makes present the Paschal Mystery. It is shown to be the climax of Mark's Gospel. Christians believe this mystery to show God's love to his people, representing Jesus' suffering resulting in eternal life.

The "Paschal Mystery" as a phrase can be separated and examined to more fully understand the concept it represents. If you look at the first word, "Paschal" you can break that down to the root word "pasch". This word means lamb. The second word, mystery, describes a truth not yet understood, a truth that is still unfolding. To put these two words together, the phrase describes a truth not understood that is still unfolding about the lamb. This is talking about the truth that unfolds about Christ in our lives, the truth about passing from the slavery of sin to the freedom in the love of God.