Rabbi – the Hebrew word for ‘teacher.’ Jesus was called Rabbi.

Reconciliation – Imagine you have fallen out with your friend. If you make up and sort the problems out and become friends again, you are reconciled! We are reconciled to God through Jesus. In other words, even though we do bad things, our friendship with God is made better through all that Jesus has done for us. Reconciliation is also a word used to describe Confession or The Ministry of Absolution

Redemption – through the death and resurrection of Jesus we have been delivered or saved from sin and death. This is redemption

Reformation, the – In the sixteenth century, many people were unhappy about some aspects of the Roman Catholic Church. So they set about to reform it. However, many people broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and set up their own Churches. This period in history is called The Reformation.

Religious Orders – communities where people live together according to a rule of life, and usually taking the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty. A male member of a Religious Order is called a Monk. A female member is called a Nun. There are Religious Orders in both the Roman Catholic and Anglican Church.

Repentance – sorrow for our sins

Reserved Sacrament – in many churches the Bread of the Eucharist (the Body of Christ) is reserved in church so that it can be taken to people who are ill or housebound.

Responsorial Psalm – The Psalms are often sung or said by the people repeating a phrase from the psalm between each verse or group of verses. The verses are sung by a cantor.

Resurrection of Christ – the whole of our Faith hangs on the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. By being raised Jesus from the dead, God has shown us that he is victorious over sin and death….

Resurrection of the Body – this means that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we believe that the whole of our being will be raised to share in the life of God forever.

Roman Catholic Church – the Catholic church that is in communion with the Pope i.e. who looks to the Pope as its leader.

Rome – An early tradition is that St Peter reached Rome in AD 42 and by the time that the Letter to the Romans was written there was a large Christian Community there. Rome soon became a very important city in the life of the Church. Both St Peter and St Paul were martyred in Rome.

Rosary – this is a bead of prayers arranged in five groups of ten beads (known as a ‘decade’). Each decade relates to a Mystery on which the individual meditates. There are 20 mysteries, divided into four: The Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Glorious Mysteries, and the Mysteries of Light (introduced by Pope John Paul II). The prayers for the beads include: Our Father… Hail Mary… and Glory be….