In His goodness, He did more than redeem us; He gave us also the means of redeeming ourselves in case we should ever have the misfortune of falling again into the slavery of the devil—­into sin.  He left us the Sacrament of Penance to which we can go as to a bank, and draw out enough of Our Lord’s grace—­merited for us and deposited in the power of His Church—­to purchase our redemption from sin.

60 Q. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?  A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man’s sin and reopen to him the gates of Heaven.

“Abandon” means to leave to one’s self.  Adam and his posterity were slaves, but God took pity on them.  He did not leave them to themselves, but promised to help them.

“Gates of Heaven.”  Heaven has no gates, because it is not built of material—­of stone, or iron, or wood.  It is only our way of speaking; just as we say “hand of God,” although He has no hands.  Heaven is the magnificent home God has prepared for us, and its gates are His power by which He keeps us out or lets us in as He pleases.  Our Lord, therefore, obtained admittance for us.

61 Q. Who is the Redeemer?  A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.

62 Q. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?  A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man.

“True God.”  He was true God equal to His Father from all eternity.  He became man when He came upon the earth about 2,000 years ago, and was born on Christmas Day.  Now He is in Heaven as God and man.  Therefore, He was God always, but man only from the time of His Incarnation.

63 Q. Why is Jesus Christ true God?  A. Jesus Christ is true God because He is the true and only Son of God the Father.

God the Father, first Person of the Blessed Trinity, is His real Father, and St. Joseph was His foster-father, selected by the Heavenly Father to take care of Our Lord and watch over Him while on earth.  A foster-father is not the same as a stepfather.  A stepfather is a second father that one gets when his real father dies.  A foster-father is one who takes a person, whether a relative or a stranger, and adopts him as his son.  It was a very great honor for St. Joseph to be selected from among all men to take care of the Son of God; to carry in his arms the great One of whom the prophets spoke; the One for whom the whole world longed during so many thousand years; so that next to our Blessed Mother St. Joseph deserves our greatest honor.

64 Q. Why is Jesus Christ true man?  A. Jesus Christ is true man because He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and has a body and soul like ours.