"He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ . . . to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will." 98 We ask insistently for this loving plan to be Fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven.

The Church who, as Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's end, in order to surrender him "into the Father's hands." She offers to the Father, in Christ, the child of his grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body that will rise in Glory. 184 This offering is Fully celebrated in the Eucharistic sacrifice; the blessings before and after Mass are sacramentals.

According to Faith the disorder we notice so painFully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but from sin. As a break with God, the first sin had for its first consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman. Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations; 96 their mutual attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of domination and lust; 97 and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of childbirth and the toil of work. 98

Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects salvation through the ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from acting. 76 St. Augustine states this forceFully:

Forgiveness of sins brings reconciliation with God, but also with the Church. Since ancient times the bishop, visible head of a particular Church, has thus rightFully been considered to be the one who principally has the power and ministry of reconciliation: he is the moderator of the penitential discipline. 66 Priests, his collaborators, exercise it to the extent that they have received the commission either from their bishop (or religious superior) or the Pope, according to the law of the Church. 67

According to the Church's command, "after having attained the age of discretion, each of the Faithful is bound by an obligation faithFully to confess serious sins at least once a year." 56 Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reaSon for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession. 57 Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time. 58

What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderFully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit," 226 preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum.

Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, "the tinder for sin" (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manFully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ." 66 Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." 67

The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "Faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawFully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way." 69

"In celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, with a special love. She is inseparably linked with the saving work of her Son. In her the Church admires and exalts the most excellent fruit of redemption and joyFully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and hopes wholly to be." 44

A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and Fully Revealed in the perSon and work of Christ.

But "the members do not all have the same function." 12 Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the community. These servants are chosen and consecrated by the sacrament of Holy Orders, by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the perSon of Christ the head, for the service of all the members of the Church. 13 The ordained minister is, as it were, an "icon" of Christ the priest. Since it is in the Eucharist that the sacrament of the Church is made Fully visible, it is in his presiding at the Eucharist that the bishop's ministry is most evident, as well as, in communion with him, the ministry of priests and deacons.

In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is Fully Revealed and communicated. the Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.

In the Glory of heaven the blessed continue joyFully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever." 603

God Revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively. Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead established itself as a consequence intrinsic to Faith in God as creator of the whole man, soul and body. the creator of heaven and earth is also the one who faithFully maintains his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. It was in this double perspective that faith in the resurrection came to be expressed. In their trials, the Maccabean martyrs confessed:

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly Glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more Fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." 506 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

"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

Threats to freedom. the exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, "the subject of this freedom," is "an individual who is Fully self-sufficient and whose finality is the satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods." 33 Moreover, the economic, social, political, and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise of freedom are too often disregarded or violated. Such situations of blindness and injustice injure the moral life and involve the strong as well as the weak in the temptation to sin against charity. By deviating from the moral law man violates his own freedom, becomes impriSoned within himself, disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth.

Finally, if we pray the Our Father sincerely, we leave individualism behind, because the love that we receive frees us from it. the "our" at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, like the "us" of the last four petitions, excludes no one. If we are to say it truthFully, our divisions and oppositions have to be overcome. 51

Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer Faith clinging faithFully to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much fruit." 18 If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion. 19

To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and Faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthFully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

The Church "forceFully and specially exhorts all the Christian Faithful . . . to learn 'the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ' ( ⇒ Phil 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.... Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For 'we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles."' 4

Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more Fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his Glory. the thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head.

The drama of prayer is Fully Revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek to understand his prayer through what his witnesses proclaim to us in the Gospel is to approach the holy Lord Jesus as Moses approached the burning bush: first to contemplate him in prayer, then to hear how he teaches us to pray, in order to know how he hears our prayer.

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reaSon and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it Fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.

Jesus came to restore creation to the purity of its origins. In the Sermon on the Mount, he interprets God's plan strictly: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustFully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." 122 What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. 123 The tradition of the Church has understood the sixth commandment as encompassing the whole of human sexuality.

Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life grateFully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forceFully. Parents should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it. They must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus: "He who loves Father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves Son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." 39

When God reveals Himself and calls him, man cannot Fully respond to the divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacity to love Him in return and to act in conformity with the commandments of charity. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God's love and of incurring punishment.

By common good is to be understood "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more Fully and more easily." 26 The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements:

The gift of Faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. 80 But "faith apart from works is dead": 81 when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not Fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

Conscience is a judgment of reaSon whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow FaithFully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law:

Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the perSon who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church. By this state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderFully in her. and so the first mission of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work, in accord with the character of the institute." 474

"As with other forms of consecrated life," the order of virgins establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in prayer, penance, service of her brethren, and apostolic activity, according to the state of life and spiritual gifts given to her. 464 Consecrated virgins can form themselves into associations to observe their commitment more FaithFully. 465

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.

To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of "subduing" the earth and having dominion over it. 168 God thus enables men to be intelligent and free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony for their own good and that of their neighbours. Though often unconscious collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings. 169 They then Fully become "God's fellow workers" and co-workers for his kingdom. 170

The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. the sacred books powerFully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." 162 and so it is with Christ, "who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens". 163 As the book of Proverbs states: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established." 164

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

It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderFully expresses this trust:

The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", FaithFully guards "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". She guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith. 57 As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.

The Church "forceFully and specifically exhorts all the Christian Faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. 112

We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 1. the life and teaching of Jesus. the Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, FaithFully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up." 99 2. the oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed." 100 3. the written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus." 101

The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, FaithFully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures." 72

"By this appreciation of the Faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . the People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more Fully in daily life." 56

"Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it FaithFully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely Revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith." 48

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" Revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of Faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more Fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

By natural reaSon man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. 1 Through an utterly free decision, God has Revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has Fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

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

How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? the whole human race is in Adam "as one body of one man". 293 By this "unity of the human race" all men are implicated in Adam's sin, as all are implicated in Christ's justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot Fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a perSonal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. 294 It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. and that is why original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" - a state and not an act.

The Faithful should "distinguish careFully between the rights and the duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as members of the human society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously, remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a Christian conscience, since no human activity, even of the temporal order, can be withdrawn from God's dominion." 451

Since, like all the Faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be Fully effective without it. 433 The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office

"Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of Faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'" 321

Particular Churches are Fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity." 315 "For with this church, by reaSon of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the Faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord." 316 Indeed, "from the incarnate Word's descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior's promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her." 317

Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the perSon who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderFully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms. 253

So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her." 177 "Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and FaithFully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom." 178

The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is Fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head. 168 Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem. 169 The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot. 170 By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.

On that day, the Holy Trinity is Fully Revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility of the flesh and in Faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the "last days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated.

Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit Fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world. 110 He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus, 111 to the Samaritan woman, 112 and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles. 113 To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer 114 and with the witness they will have to bear. 115

From the beginning until "the fullness of time," 60 The joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is Fully Revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reaSon, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets," wants to tell us about Christ. 61

Anointing. the symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, 30 to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew "messiah") means the one "anointed" by God's Spirit. There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, pre-eminently King David. 31 But Jesus is God's Anointed in a unique way: the humanity the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit. the Holy Spirit established him as "Christ." 32 The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth, and prompted Simeon to come to the temple to see the Christ of the Lord. 33 The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and of saving. 34 Finally, it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. 35 Now, Fully established as "Christ" in his humanity victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until "the saints" constitute - in their union with the humanity of the Son of God - that perfect man "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ": 36 "the whole Christ," in St. Augustine's expression.

As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. 551 Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus Fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. the redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom". 552

The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. 526 It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." 527 We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was Fully Revealed in his Resurrection.

The perfect fulfilment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the perSon of the Son. 337 In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes "a covenant to the people", because he will "FaithFully bring forth justice". 338 Jesus fulfils the Law to the point of taking upon himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not "abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them", for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the first covenant". 339

Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithFully handed on by the Gospels 316 and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the Redemption.

Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Saviour God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that Fully manifests the supreme power of the "name which is above every name". 27 The evil spirits fear his name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in this name. 28

'But when the time had Fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.' 1 This is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God': 2 God has visited his people. He has fulfilled the promise he made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation - he has sent his own 'beloved Son'. 3

Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been FaithFully guarded by their successors. All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer. 6