The free gift of adoption requires on our part continual conversion and new life. Praying to our Father should develop in us two fundamental dispositions: First, the desire to become like him: though Created in his Image, we are restored to his likeness by grace; and we must respond to this grace.

Nevertheless, the order of Creation persists, though seriously disturbed. To heal the wounds of Sin, man and Woman need the Help of the grace that God in his infinite mercy never refuses them. 99 Without his help man and woman cannot achieve the union of their lives for which God Created them "in the beginning."

Holy Scripture affirms that man and Woman were Created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be Alone." 92 The woman, "flesh of his flesh," i.e., his counterpart, his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a "Helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom Comes our help. 93 "Therefore a man leaves his Father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." 94 The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been "in the beginning": "So they are no longer two, but one flesh." 95

God who Created man out of Love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the Image and likeness of God who is himself love. 90 Since God created him man and Woman, their mutual love beComes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. and this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over Creation: "and God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" 91

The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal Sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." 615 The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom Alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was Created and for which he longs.

Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was Created for the sake of the Church." 153 God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church. the Church is the goal of all things, 154 and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels' fall and man's Sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the Love he wanted to give the world:

"The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his Wisdom and Goodness, Created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life," 150 to which he calls all men in his Son. "The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ." 151 This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvellous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Advance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time." 152

The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" Comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by Reason of the merits of her Son". 136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other Created person "in Christ with every spiritual blesSing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in Love". 137

In that Sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Created in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully "divinized" by God in Glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to "be like God", but "without God, before God, and not in accordance with God". 279

God Created man in his Image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. the prohibition against eating "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" spells this out: "for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die." 276 The "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" 277 symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must Freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of Creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom.

Scripture speaks of a Sin of these angels. 269 This "fall" consists in the free choice of these Created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God." 270 The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the Father of lies". 271

Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. 266 Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". 267 The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed Created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing." 268

Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of Sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in the knowledge of God's plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to Created perSons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another.

The first man was not only Created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the Creation around him, in a state that would be surpassed only by the Glory of the new creation in Christ.

"Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his Love, makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation." 2 It is in Christ, "the Image of the invisible God," 3 that man has been Created "in the image and likeness" of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first Sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God. 4

God Created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a perSon who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and Freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him." 26

Before we make our own this first exclamation of the Lord's Prayer, we must humbly cleanse our hearts of certain false Images drawn "from this world." Humility makes us recognize that "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him," that is, "to little children." 30 The purification of our hearts has to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural history, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the categories of the Created world. To impose our own ideas in this area "upon him" would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down. To pray to the Father is to enter into his mystery as he is and as the Son has revealed him to us.

Created "in the Image of God," 293 man also expresses the Truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living Creatures, art is a Freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. AriSing from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical Wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, 294 to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and Love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man. 295

The practice of Goodness is accompanied by spontaneous spiritual joy and moral beauty. Likewise, Truth carries with it the joy and splendor of spiritual beauty. Truth is beautiful in itself. Truth in words, the rational expression of the knowledge of Created and uncreated reality, is necessary to man, who is endowed with intellect. But truth can also find other complementary forms of human expression, above all when it is a matter of evoking what is beyond words: the depths of the human heart, the exaltations of the soul, the mystery of God. Even before revealing himself to man in words of truth, God reveals himself to him through the universal language of Creation, the work of his Word, of his Wisdom: the order and harmony of the cosmos - which both the child and the scientist discover - "from the greatness and beauty of created things Comes a corresponding perception of their Creator," "for the author of beauty created them." 289

Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, Created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." 273 By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and inSincerity and envy and all slander." 274

Human work proceeds directly from perSons Created in the Image of God and called to prolong the work of Creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. 209 Hence work is a duty: "If any one will not work, let him not eat." 210 Work honors the Creator's gifts and the talents received from him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work 211 in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. 212 Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.

God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he Created in his own Image. 197 Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to Help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice, if it remains within Reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

"In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and Woman an equal perSonal dignity." 118 "Man is a person, man and woman equally so, Since both were Created in the Image and likeness of the personal God." 119

God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God has Created man in his Image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and Love him. the soul only enters Freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man a longing for Truth and Goodness that only he can satisfy. the promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:

Created in the Image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.

Venial Sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for Created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not set us in direct opposition to the will and friendship of God; it does not break the covenant with God. With God's grace it is humanly reparable. "Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness." 134

"God Created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us." 116 To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have no Sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 117

Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of Created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. the temperate perSon directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart." 72 Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites." 73 In the New Testament it is called "moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober, upright, and Godly lives in this world." 74

Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human perSon, Created in the Image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. the right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order. 32

Man and Woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he Created them to be a communion of perSons, in which each can be "Helpmate" to the other, for they are equal as persons ("bone of my bones. . .") and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that, by forming "one flesh", 245 they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." 246 By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents co-operate in a unique way in the Creator's work. 247

God Created man and Woman together and willed each for the other. the Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be Alone. I will make him a Helper fit for him." 242 None of the animals can be man's partner. 243 The woman God "fashions" from the man's rib and brings to him elicits on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of Love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." 244 Man discovers woman as another "I", sharing the same humanity.

Man and Woman have been Created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human perSons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which Comes to them immediately from God their Creator. 240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the Image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's Wisdom and Goodness.

"In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth": 128 three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he Alone is Creator (the verb "create" - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject). the totality of what exists (expressed by the formula "the heavens and the earth") depends on the One who gives it being.

The Truth about Creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, 124 God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by chooSing Israel Created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who Alone "made heaven and earth". 125

Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. the existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of human Reason, 122 even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith Comes to confirm and enlighten reaSon in the correct understanding of this Truth: "By faith we understand that the world was Created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear." 123

Creation is the foundation of "all God's saving plans," the "beginning of the history of salvation" 117 that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery of creation and reveals the end for which "in the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth": from the beginning, God envisaged the Glory of the new creation in Christ. 118

"In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth." 116 Holy Scripture begins with these solemn words. the profession of faith takes them up when it confesses that God the Father almighty is "Creator of heaven and earth" (Apostles' Creed), "of all that is, seen and unseen" (Nicene Creed). We shall speak first of the Creator, then of Creation and finally of the fall into Sin from which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to raise us up again.

of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who Created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it "is made perfect in weakness". 103

It means making good use of Created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you. 51

God's Truth is his Wisdom, which commands the whole Created order and governs the world. 33 God, who Alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself. 34

"God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in Created realities. and furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation - he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning." 6 He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and justice.

God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he Freely Created, in order to adopt them as his Sons in his only-begotten Son. 3 By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.

All Creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, Created in the Image and likeness of God. the manifold perfections of creatures - their Truth, their Goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures" perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things Comes a corresponding perception of their Creator". 15

"Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the Created world by the natural light of human Reason." 11 Without this capacity, man would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the Image of God". 12

Created in God's Image and called to know and Love him, the perSon who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the Truth. These "ways" of approaching God from Creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is Created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the Truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

The third part of the Catechism deals with the final end of man Created in the Image of God: beatitude, and the ways of reaching it - through right conduct Freely chosen, with the Help of God's law and grace (Section One), and through conduct that fulfils the twofold commandment of charity, specified in God's Ten Commandments (Section Two).

"In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." 129 The New Testament reveals that God Created everything by the eternal Word, his beLoved Son. In him "all things were created, in heaven and on earth.. . all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." 130 The Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit" (Veni, Creator Spiritus), the "source of every good". 131

Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental Truth: "The world was made for the Glory of God." 134 St. Bonaventure explains that God Created all things "not to increase his glory, but to show it Forth and to communicate it", 135 for God has no other Reason for creating than his Love and Goodness: "Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand." 136 The First Vatican Council explains:

The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is Created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection. 235

The human perSon, Created in the Image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. the biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." 229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.

God Created everything for man, 222 but man in turn was created to serve and Love God and to offer all Creation back to him: What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other Creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand. 223

Of all visible Creatures only man is "able to know and Love his Creator". 219 He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for himself", 220 and he Alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was Created, and this is the fundamental Reason for his dignity: What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good. 221

"God Created man in his own Image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." 218 Man occupies a unique place in Creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship.

The beauty of the universe: the order and harmony of the Created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call Forth the admiration of scholars. the beauty of Creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will.

God himself Created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day. 204 On the subject of Creation, the sacred text teaches the Truths revealed by God for our salvation, 205 permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God." 206

Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man Comes in his Glory, and all the angels with him. . " 191 They belong to him because they were Created through and for him: "for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created through him and for him." 192 They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent Forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" 193

We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God "face to face", 184 will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of evil and Sin - God has guided his Creation to that definitive sabbath rest 185 for which he Created heaven and earth.

Creation has its own Goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring Forth complete from the hands of the Creator. the universe was Created "in a state of journeying" (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call "divine providence" the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection:

Because God creates through Wisdom, his Creation is ordered: "You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight." 151 The universe, Created in and by the eternal Word, the "Image of the invisible God", is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the "image of God" and called to a perSonal relationship with God. 152 Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work. 153 Because creation Comes Forth from God's Goodness, it shares in that goodness - "and God saw that it was good. . . very good" 154 - for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world. 155

We believe that God Created the world according to his Wisdom. 141 It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his Creatures share in his being, wisdom and Goodness: "For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." 142 Therefore the Psalmist exclaims: "O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all"; and "The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made." 143 God creates "out of nothing"

The Glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his Goodness, for which the world was Created. God made us "to be his Sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace", 138 for "the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through Creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God." 139 The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the Creator of all things may at last become "all in all", thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude." 140

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer Goodness Freely Created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this Reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to Love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by Sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.