The evangelical counsels manifest the living fullness of Charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its vitality and call forth our spiritual readiness. the perfection of the New Law consists essentially in the precepts of Love of God and Neighbor. the counsels point out the more direct ways, the readier means, and are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each:

The Ten Commandments state what is required in the Love of God and love of Neighbor. the first three concern love of God, and the other seven love of neighbor.

Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." 1 This immediately echoes the solemn call: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD." 2 God has Loved us first. the love of the One God is recalled in the first of the "ten words." the commandments then make explicit the response of love that man is called to give to his God.

"The first commandment embraces Faith, hope, and Charity. When we say 'God' we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, Faithful and just, without any Evil. It follows that we must necessarily accept his words and have complete faith in him and acknowledge his authority. He is almighty, merciful, and infinitely beneficent. Who could not place all hope in him? Who could not Love him when contemplating the treasures of goodness and love he has poured out on us? Hence the formula God employs in the Scripture at the beginning and end of his commandments: 'I am the Lord.'" 8

Our moral life has its source in Faith in God who reveals his Love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith" 9 as our first obligation. He shows that "ignorance of God" is the principle and exPlanation of all moral deviations. 10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.

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.

Faith in God's Love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with Sincere love to divine Charity. the first commandment enjoins us to love God above everything and all creatures for him and because of him. 12

One can Sin against God's Love in various ways: - indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine Charity; it fails to consider its prevenient goodness and denies its power. - ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity and to return him love for love. - lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love; it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity. - acedia or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness. - hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies, and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids Sins and inflicts punishments.

Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy. 13

By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, "a kingdom of justice, Love, and peace." 91 They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; Faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and love.

The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. the obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the Faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of Prayer and moral effort, in the growth in Love of God and Neighbor:

"We know that in everything God works for good with those who Love him . . . For those whom he fore knew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. and those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." 64

Justification detaches man from Sin which contradicts the Love of God, and purifies his Heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.

Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through Faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine Love. With justification, faith, hope, and Charity are poured into our Hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.

Justification is the most excellent work of God's Love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the Salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away." 43 He holds also that the justification of Sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.

Sanctifying Grace is an habitual Gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his Love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

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:

Filial adoption, in making us partakers by Grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God's gratuitous justice. This is our right by grace, the full right of Love, making us "co-heirs" with Christ and worthy of obtaining "the promised inheritance of eternal life." 60 The merits of our good works are Gifts of the divine goodness. 61 "Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due.... Our merits are God's gifts." 62

The Charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active Love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men. the saints have always had a lively awareness that their merits were pure grace.

Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." 17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the Heart or not coupled with Love of Neighbor. 18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." 19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our Salvation. 20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

In many circumstances, the Christian is called to make promises to God. Baptism and Confirmation, Matrimony and Holy Orders always entail promises. Out of perSonal devotion, the Christian may also promise to God this action, that Prayer, this alms-giving, that pilgrimage, and so forth. Fidelity to promises made to God is a sign of the respect owed to the divine majesty and of Love for a Faithful God.

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

It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of Truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. the Love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of Charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill," 62 and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to Love their enemies. 63 He did not defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath. 64

Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just Love of self. It likewise offends love of Neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.

The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a Love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.

Deliberate hatred is contrary to Charity. Hatred of the Neighbor is a Sin when one deliberately wishes him Evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be Sons of your Father who is in heaven." 96

"God is Love and in himself he lives a Mystery of perSonal loving Communion. Creating the human race in his own image . . .. God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion." 114

The fecundity of conjugal Love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. "The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute." 29 The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. 30

Respect for parents (filial piety) derives from gratitude toward those who, by the Gift of life, their Love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and Grace. "With all your Heart honor your Father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?" 19

The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in Love and in the Gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.

"All men are bound to seek the Truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." 26 This duty derives from "the very dignity of the human perSon." 27 It does not contradict a "Sincere respect" for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men," 28 nor the requirement of Charity, which urges Christians "to treat with Love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the Faith." 29

The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ." 30 By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them "to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live." 31 The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the Love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. 32 Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies. 33

Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act. 49 Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." 50 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his Love, his providence, and his power. 51

"A parish is a definite community of the Christian Faithful established on a stable basis within a particular Church; the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop." 115 It is the place where all the Faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. the parish initiates the Christian people into the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this celebration; it teaches Christ's saving doctrine; it practices the Charity of the Lord in good works and brotherly Love:

In response to the question about the first of the commandments, Jesus says: "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' the second is this, 'You shall love your Neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 2 The apostle St. Paul reminds us of this: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 3

The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the spouses. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. the Love of the spouses and the begetting of children create among members of the same family perSonal relationships and primordial responsibilities.

Sexuality affects all aspects of the human perSon in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to Love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of Communion with others.

"To Love is to will the good of another." 41 All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human Heart toward the good. Only the good can be Loved. 42 Passions "are Evil if love is evil and good if it is good." 43

"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to Love and to do what is good and to avoid Evil, sounds in his Heart at the right moment.... For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.... His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." 47

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is Lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." 62 A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the perSon not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. the virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.

Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reaSon and Faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. the virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for Communion with divine Love.

Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. "If anyone Loves righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage." 64 These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.

It is not easy for man, wounded by Sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's Gift of Salvation offers us the Grace necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the virtues. Everyone should always ask for this grace of light and strength, frequent the sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his calls to Love what is good and shun Evil.

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.

There are many passions. the most fundamental passion is Love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed. the apprehension of Evil causes hatred, aversion, and fear of the impending evil; this movement ends in sadness at some present evil, or in the anger that resists it.

In contrast to the object, the intention resides in the acting subject. Because it lies at the voluntary source of an action and determines it by its end, intention is an element essential to the moral evaluation of an action. the end is the first goal of the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action. the intention is a movement of the will toward the end: it is concerned with the goal of the activity. It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken. Intention is not limited to directing individual actions, but can guide several actions toward one and the same purpose; it can orient one's whole life toward its ultimate end. For example, a service done with the end of helping one's Neighbor can at the same time be inspired by the Love of God as the ultimate end of all our actions. One and the same action can also be inspired by several intentions, such as performing a service in order to obtain a favor or to boast about it.

Freedom and Sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's Plan of Love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. This first alienation engendered a multitude of others. From its outset, human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human Heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom.

Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are "dead to Sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord. 8 Following Christ and united with him, 9 Christians can strive to be "imitators of God as beLoved children, and walk in Love" 10 by conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the "mind . . . which is yours in Christ Jesus," 11 and by following his example. 12

The first and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is "the way, and the Truth, and the life." 24 It is by looking to him in Faith that Christ's Faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his promises in them, and that, by loving him with the same Love with which he has Loved them, they may perform works in keeping with their dignity:

"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

By his reaSon, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is Evil." 9 Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the Love of God and of Neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person.

God put us in the world to know, to Love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us "partakers of the divine nature" and of eternal life. 21 With beatitude, man enters into the Glory of Christ 22 and into the joy of the Trinitarian life.

The beatitude we are promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our Hearts of bad instincts and to seek the Love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love:

We can therefore hope in the Glory of heaven promised by God to those who Love him and do his will. 92 In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the Grace of God, to persevere "to the end" 93 and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." 94 She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:

Charity is the theological virtue by which we Love God above all things for his own sake, and our Neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine perSons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in Truth and Love. 1 Love of Neighbor is inseparable from love for God.

Without the help of Grace, men would not know how "to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to Evil, and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse." 13 This is the path of Charity, that is, of the Love of God and of Neighbor. Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice, and it alone makes us capable of it. Charity inspires a life of self-giving: "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." 14

The common good is always oriented towards the progress of perSons: "The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and not the other way around." 30 This order is founded on Truth, built up in justice, and animated by Love.

This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. the teaching of Christ goes so far as to require the forgiveness of offenses. He extends the commandment of Love, which is that of the New Law, to all enemies. 39 Liberation in the spirit of the Gospel is incompatible with hatred of one's enemy as a perSon, but not with hatred of the Evil that he does as an enemy.

The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as Fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of Evil which turn him away from God and his Love. It is at once firm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love.

The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments. the precepts of the Decalogue lay the foundations for the vocation of man fashioned in the image of God; they prohibit what is contrary to the Love of God and Neighbor and prescribe what is essential to it. the Decalogue is a light offered to the conscience of every man to make God's call and ways known to him and to protect him against Evil:

The Law of the Gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between "the two ways" and to put into practice the words of the Lord. 26 It is summed up in the Golden Rule, "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; this is the law and the prophets." 27 The entire Law of the Gospel is contained in the "new commandment" of Jesus, to Love one another as he has Loved us. 28

To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, such as Romans 12-15, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Colossians 3-4, Ephesians 4-5, etc. This doctrine hands on the Lord's teaching with the authority of the apostles, particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from Faith in Christ and are animated by Charity, the principal Gift of the Holy Spirit. "Let charity be genuine.... Love one another with brotherly affection.... Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in Prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality." 29 This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the Church. 30

Mortal Sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is Love itself. It results in the loss of Charity and the privation of sanctifying Grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of perSons to the justice and mercy of God.

Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is Evil in your sight." 122 Sin sets itself against God's Love for us and turns our Hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods," 123 knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God." 124 In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our Salvation. 125

Sin is an offense against reaSon, Truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine Love for God and Neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law." 121

Jesus makes Charity the new commandment. 96 By loving his own "to the end," 97 he makes manifest the Father's Love which he receives. By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has Loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." and again: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." 98

Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, Charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my Love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." 99

Christ died out of Love for us, while we were still "enemies." 100 The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the Neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself. 101

The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by Charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; 105 it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to Love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.

The practice of the moral life animated by Charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a Son responding to the Love of him who "first Loved us": 106

The fruits of Charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains diSinterested and generous; it is friendship and Communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest. 108

The New Law is called a law of Love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of Grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of Faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of Charity and, finally, lets us pass from the condition of a servant who "does not know what his master is doing" to that of a friend of Christ - "For all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" - or even to the status of Son and heir. 31

The chaste perSon maintains the integrity of the powers of life and Love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech. 124

Praise is the form of Prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him Glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of Heart who Love God in Faith before seeing him in glory. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, 121 testifying to the only Son in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal: the "one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist." 122

Contemplative Prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in (our) Hearts through Faith" and we may be "grounded in Love." 10

Contemplation is a gaze of Faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy cure about his Prayer before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our Heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his Truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to Love him and follow him. 11

Contemplative Prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" 12 or "silent Love." 13 Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.

Contemplative Prayer is a Communion of Love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of Faith. the Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb - the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with (him) one hour." 14

We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of "this present world" can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant. For example, some would have it that only that is true which can be verified by reaSon and science; yet Prayer is a Mystery that overflows both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize production and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and the beautiful; whereas prayer, the "Love of beauty" (philokalia), is caught up in the Glory of the living and true God. Finally, some see prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against activism; but in fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life.

The habitual difficulty in Prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or perSonal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our Heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential Love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve. 16

The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of Faith. It expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When we begin to pray, a thousand labors or cares thought to be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the moment of Truth for the Heart: what is its real Love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an ally, but our heart remains presumptuous. In each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a humble heart: "Apart from me, you can do nothing." 20

Contemplative Prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven Sinner who agrees to welcome the Love by which he is Loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more. 8 But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his Heart, for everything is Grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.

Entering into contemplative Prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the Heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our Faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our Hearts back to the Lord who Loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed.

What is contemplative Prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know Loves us." 6 Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves." 7 It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure Faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.

"Hope does not disappoint us, because God's Love has been poured into our Hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." 10 Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are Loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the Cure of Ars:

The Prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all the liturgical traditions forms of prayer addressed to Christ. Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our Hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Savior, Lamb of God, King, BeLoved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind....

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: Jesus. the divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus," "YHWH saves." 16 The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and Salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who Loved him and who gave himself up for him. 17

The Prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of Love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our Sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps. the stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.

Mary is the perfect Orans (Prayer), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the Plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beLoved disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes, 39 for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. the prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope. 40

In the Communion of saints, many and varied spiritualities have been developed throughout the history of the Churches. the perSonal charism of some witnesses to God's Love for men has been handed on, like "the spirit" of Elijah to Elisha and John the Baptist, so that their followers may have a share in this spirit. 43 A distinct spirituality can also arise at the point of convergence of liturgical and theological currents, bearing witness to the integration of the Faith into a particular human environment and its history. the different schools of Christian spirituality share in the living tradition of Prayer and are essential guides for the Faithful. In their rich diversity they are refractions of the one pure light of the Holy Spirit.

Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of Faith, prompt the conversion of our Heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian Prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the Love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." 26 If we ask with a divided Heart, we are "adulterers"; 27 God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?'" 28 That our God is "jealous" for us is the sign of how true his Love is. If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.

The revelation of Prayer in the economy of Salvation teaches us that Faith rests on God's action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by his supreme act: the Passion and Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer is cooperation with his providence, his Plan of Love for men.

By the three first petitions, we are strengthened in Faith, filled with hope, and set aflame by Charity. Being creatures and still Sinners, we have to petition for us, for that "us" bound by the world and history, which we offer to the boundless Love of God. For through the name of his Christ and the reign of his Holy Spirit, our Father accomplishes his Plan of Salvation, for us and for the whole world.

The term "to hallow" is to be understood here not primarily in its causative sense (only God hallows, makes holy), but above all in an evaluative sense: to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way. and so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as praise and thanksgiving. 66 But this petition is here taught to us by Jesus as an optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and man are involved. Beginning with this first petition to our Father, we are immersed in the innermost Mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the Salvation of our humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws us into his Plan of loving kindness for the fullness of time, "according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ," that we might "be holy and blameless before him in Love." 67

Our Father "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth." 95 He "is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish." 96 His commandment is "that you Love one another; even as I have Loved you, that you also love one another." 97 This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will.

"Our" bread is the "one" loaf for the "many." In the Beatitudes "poverty" is the virtue of sharing: it calls us to communicate and share both material and spiritual goods, not by coercion but out of Love, so that the abundance of some may remedy the needs of others. 120

Now - and this is daunting - this outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our Hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. 136 In refuSing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our Hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father's merciful love; but in confessing our Sins, our hearts are opened to his Grace.

This "as" is not unique in Jesus' teaching: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"; "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"; "A new commandment I give to you, that you Love one another, even as I have Loved you, that you also love one another." 139 It is impossible to keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the Heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make "ours" the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. 140 Then the unity of forgiveness becomes possible and we find ourselves "forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave" us. 141

Thus the Lord's words on forgiveness, the Love that loves to the end, 142 become a living reality. the parable of the merciless servant, which crowns the Lord's teaching on ecclesial Communion, ends with these words: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your Heart." 143 It is there, in fact, "in the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed. It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession.

Christian Prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, 144 transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of Christian prayer; only Hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the Gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, Love is stronger than Sin. the martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Jesus. Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another. 145

The first series of petitions carries us toward him, for his own sake: thy name, thy kingdom, thy will! It is characteristic of Love to think first of the one whom we love. In none of the three petitions do we mention ourselves; the burning desire, even anguish, of the beLoved Son for his Father's Glory seizes us: 64 "hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done...." These three supplications were already answered in the saving sacrifice of Christ, but they are henceforth directed in hope toward their final fulfillment, for God is not yet all in all. 65

After we have placed ourselves in the presence of God our Father to adore and to Love and to bless him, the Spirit of adoption stirs up in our Hearts seven petitions, seven blesSings. the first three, more theological, draw us toward the Glory of the Father; the last four, as ways toward him, commend our wretchedness to his Grace. "Deep calls to deep." 63

When we say "Our" Father, we are invoking the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, Communion with the Holy Trinity, and the divine Love which spreads through the Church to encompass the world.

For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the Prayer of the Spirit in us and on the Faithful Love of the Father who has given us his only Son. 31 Transformation of the praying Heart is the first response to our petition.

"Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." 33 St. Paul adds, "Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all Prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints." 34 For "we have not been commanded to work, to keep watch and to fast constantly, but it has been laid down that we are to pray without ceaSing." 35 This tireless fervor can come only from Love. Against our dullness and laziness, the battle of prayer is that of humble, trusting, and persevering love. This love opens our Hearts to three enlightening and life-giving facts of Faith about prayer.

Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same Love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and loving conformity with the Father's Plan of love; the same transforming union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us more and more to Christ Jesus; the same love for all men, the love with which Jesus has Loved us. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he [will] give it to you. This I command you, to love one another." 41

In this Paschal and sacrificial Prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ: 45 God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; the Love that hands itself over and the Sin that betrays it; the disciples present and those who will believe in him by their word; humiliation and Glory. It is the prayer of unity.

This power of the Spirit who introduces us to the Lord's Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East and of West by the beautiful, characteristically Christian expression: parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being Loved. 29

When we say "our" Father, we recognize first that all his promises of Love announced by the prophets are fulfilled in the new and eternal Covenant in his Christ: we have become "his" people and he is henceforth "our" God. This new relationship is the purely gratuitous Gift of belonging to each other: we are to respond to "Grace and Truth" given us in Jesus Christ with love and Faithfulness. 45

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

The baptized cannot pray to "our" Father without bringing before him all those for whom he gave his beLoved Son. God's Love has no bounds, neither should our Prayer. 52 Praying "our" Father opens to us the dimensions of his love revealed in Christ: praying with and for all who do not yet know him, so that Christ may "gather into one the children of God." 53 God's care for all men and for the whole of creation has inspired all the great practitioners of prayer; it should extend our prayer to the full breadth of love whenever we dare to say "our" Father.

There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine forgiveness, 146 whether one speaks of "Sins" as in Luke ( ⇒ 11:4), "debts" as in Matthew ( ⇒ 6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one anything, except to Love one another." 147 The Communion of the Holy Trinity is the source and criterion of Truth in every relation ship. It is lived out in Prayer, above all in the Eucharist. 148

Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by Sin. "Man . . . day by day builds himself up through his many free decisions; and so he knows, Loves, and accomplishes moral good by stages of growth." 129

Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, "the fact is that such liaiSons can scarcely ensure mutual Sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires or whim." 183 Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established. Human Love does not tolerate "trial marriages." It demands a total and definitive Gift of persons to one another. 184

The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reaSon - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian - lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity. It is a Sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beLoved brother, . . . both in the flesh and in the Lord." 193

It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can Love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to perSons.

"The Church's Love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. 234 Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need." 235 It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty. 236

Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:

"In its various forms - material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death - human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for Salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of original Sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential Love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation through numerous works of Charity which remain indispensable always and everywhere." 247

The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal life, is understandable. However polygamy is not in accord with the moral law." [Conjugal] Communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the Plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal perSonal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a Love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive." 179 The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave duty in justice to honor the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children.

A child is not something owed to one, but is a Gift. the "supreme gift of marriage" is a human perSon. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged "right to a child" would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right "to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal Love of his parents," and "the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception." 169

"By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual Love and its orientation toward man's exalted vocation to parenthood." 156

Those who are engaged to marry are called to live chastity in continence. They should see in this time of testing a discovery of mutual respect, an apprenticeship in fidelity, and the hope of receiving one another from God. They should reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to married Love. They will help each other grow in chastity.

By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the Faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." 137 "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reaSon, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true Love is achieved." 138 To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that lessen or even extenuate moral culpability.

Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal Love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual Communion. Marriage bonds between baptized perSons are sanctified by the sacrament.

"Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human perSon as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the Love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death." 142

The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple's spiritual life and compromiSing the goods of marriage and the future of the family. The conjugal Love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity.

The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and Love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal Covenant, that is, in their irrevocable perSonal consent." 146 Both give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. the covenant they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. 147 "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 148

Fecundity is a Gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal Love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very Heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment. So the Church, which "is on the side of life" 150 teaches that "each and every marriage act must remain open 'per se' to the transmission of life." 151 "This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act." 152

Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and Fatherhood of God. 153 "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the Love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility." 154

In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's Truth has been made manifest. "Full of Grace and truth," he came as the "light of the world," he is the Truth. 256 "Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." 257 The disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know "the truth [that] will make you free" and that sanctifies. 258 To follow Jesus is to live in "the Spirit of truth," whom the Father sends in his name and who leads "into all the truth." 259 To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional Love of truth: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No.'" 260

The right to the communication of the Truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal Love. This requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.

Certain constant characteristics appear throughout the Psalms: simplicity and spontaneity of Prayer; the desire for God himself through and with all that is good in his creation; the distraught situation of the believer who, in his preferential Love for the Lord, is exposed to a host of enemies and temptations, but who waits upon what the Faithful God will do, in the certitude of his love and in submission to his will. the prayer of the psalms is always sustained by praise; that is why the title of this collection as handed down to us is so fitting: "The Praises." Collected for the assembly's worship, the Psalter both sounds the call to prayer and Sings the response to that call: Hallelu-Yah! (“Alleluia"), "Praise the Lord!"

The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of Prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's Plan of Love by his Passion. 43 He also prays before the decisive moments involving the mission of his apostles: at his election and call of the Twelve, before Peter's confession of him as "the Christ of God," and again that the Faith of the chief of the Apostles may not fail when tempted. 44 Jesus' prayer before the events of Salvation that the Father has asked him to fulfill is a humble and trusting commitment of his human will to the loving will of the Father.

When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father's Plan of Love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial Prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba . . . not my will, but yours."), 53 but even in his last words on the Cross, where prayer and the Gift of self are but one: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", 54 "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise", 55 "Woman, behold your Son" - "Behold your mother", 56 "I thirst."; 57 "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 58 "It is finished"; 59 "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" 60 until the "loud cry" as he expires, giving up his spirit. 61

From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of Heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, Love of enemies, and Prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else. 64 This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father.

Once committed to conversion, the Heart learns to pray in Faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beLoved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock," Since he himself is the door and the way. 65

When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the Mystery of Prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be, once he has returned to the Father in his glorified humanity. What is new is to "ask in his name." 78 Faith in the Son introduces the disciples into the knowledge of the Father, because Jesus is "the way, and the Truth, and the life." 79 Faith bears its fruit in Love: it means keeping the word and the commandments of Jesus, it means abiding with him in the Father who, in him, so loves us that he abides with us. In this new Covenant the certitude that our petitions will be heard is founded on the prayer of Jesus. 80

Even more, what the Father gives us when our Prayer is united with that of Jesus is "another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth." 81 This new dimension of prayer and of its circumstances is displayed throughout the farewell discourse. 82 In the Holy Spirit, Christian prayer is a Communion of Love with the Father, not only through Christ but also in him: "Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." 83

Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us 99 and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from Evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the "King of Glory," 100 respectful silence in the presence of the "ever greater" God. 101 Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of Love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications.

From this intimacy with the Faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast Love, 23 Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession. He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own. Moses already intercedes for them during the battle with the Amalekites and prays to obtain healing for Miriam. 24 But it is chiefly after their apostasy that Moses "stands in the breach" before God in order to save the people. 25 The arguments of his Prayer - for intercession is also a mysterious battle - will inspire the boldness of the great intercessors among the Jewish people and in the Church: God is love; he is therefore righteous and Faithful; he cannot contradict himself; he must remember his marvellous deeds, Since his Glory is at stake, and he cannot forsake this people that bears his name.

As a final stage in the purification of his Faith, Abraham, "who had received the promises," 13 is asked to sacrifice the Son God had given him. Abraham's faith does not weaken (“God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering."), for he "considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead." 14 and so the Father of believers is conformed to the likeness of the Father who will not spare his own Son but wiLl deliver him up for us all. 15 Prayer restores man to God's likeness and enables him to share in the power of God's Love that saves the multitude. 16

God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each perSon to that mysterious encounter known as Prayer. In prayer, the Faithful God's initiative of Love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a Covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the Heart. It unfolds throughout the whole history of Salvation.

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

Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in Faith and adoration, the transcendent Mystery of God - the surpasSing invisible beauty of Truth and Love visible in Christ, who "reflects the Glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature," in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." 296 This spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God, the angels, and saints. Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration, to Prayer, and to the love of God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and Sanctifier.

The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in Heart, for they shall see God." 306 "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness, chiefly in three areas: Charity; 307 chastity or sexual rectitude; 308 Love of Truth and orthodoxy of Faith. 309 There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith:

Baptism confers on its recipient the Grace of purification from all Sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires. With God's grace he will prevail - by the virtue and Gift of chastity, for chastity lets us Love with upright and undivided Heart; - by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with simplicity of vision, the baptized perSon seeks to find and to fulfill God's will in everything; 312 - by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and imagination; by refuSing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses yearning in fools"; 313 - by Prayer:

Modesty protects the Mystery of perSons and their Love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. 340 "Let the proud seek and Love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." 341 Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow. 342 Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God.

"You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 9 Paradoxically our Prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!" 10 Prayer is the response of Faith to the free promise of Salvation and also a response of Love to the thirst of the only Son of God. 11

In the New Covenant, Prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The Grace of the Kingdom is "the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit." 12 Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in Communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. 13 Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's Love. 14

When we share in God's saving Love, we understand that every need can become the object of petition. Christ, who assumed all things in order to redeem all things, is glorified by what we ask the Father in his name. 110 It is with this confidence that St. James and St. Paul exhort us to pray at all times. 111

The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature - to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great Mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who Love him." 275

Jesus is Mary's only Son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the Faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's Love." 160

Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" 177 Because our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's Love. . . among us". 178

Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. 228 John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of Sins". 229 A crowd of Sinners 230 - tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to be baptized by him. "Then Jesus appears." the Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beLoved Son." 231 This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.

The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among Sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". 232 Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death. 233 Already he is coming to "fulfil all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of Love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our Sins. 234 The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. 235 The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him". 236 Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened" 237 - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.

Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must enter into this Mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beLoved Son in the Son and "walk in newness of life": 238

The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained Faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the dEvil's conqueror: he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder. 243 Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial Love for the Father.

The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble Hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; 253 he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 254 To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. 255 Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. 256 Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active Love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom. 257

Jesus invites Sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 258 He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents". 259 The supreme proof of his Love will be the sacrifice of his own life "for the forgiveness of Sins". 260

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

Jesus knew and Loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . Loved me and gave himself for me." 116 He has loved us all with a human Heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our Sins and for our Salvation, 117 "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception. 118

At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus "we see our God made visible and so are caught up in Love of the God we cannot see." 114 The individual characteristics of Christ's body express the divine perSon of God's Son. He has made the features of his human body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy image, for the believer "who venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted". 115

'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

"At the Heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a PerSon, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for us and who now, after riSing, is living with us forever." 13 To catechize is "to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God's eternal design reaching fulfilment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ's actions and words and of the signs worked by him." 14 Catechesis aims at putting "people . . . in Communion . . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the Love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity." 15

The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beLoved Son". 53 Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God", and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence. 54 He asks for Faith in "the name of the only Son of God". 55 In the centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, "Truly this man was the Son of God", 56 that Christian confession is already heard. Only in the Paschal Mystery can the believer give the title "Son of God" its full meaning.

Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as "Lord". This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing. 62 At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, "Lord" expresses the recognition of the divine Mystery of Jesus. 63 In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration: "My Lord and my God!" It thus takes on a connotation of Love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition: "It is the Lord!" 64

The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "Loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our Sins": "the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world", and "he was revealed to take away Sins": 70

The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's Love: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." 72 "For God so Loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." 73

The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the way, and the Truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." 74 On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: "Listen to him!" 75 Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: "Love one another as I have Loved you." 76 This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example. 77

Many of Jesus' deeds and words constituted a "sign of contradiction", 321 but more so for the religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the Gospel according to John often calls simply "the Jews", 322 than for the ordinary People of God. 323 To be sure, Christ's relations with the Pharisees were not exclusively polemical. Some Pharisees warn him of the danger he was courting; 324 Jesus praises some of them, like the scribe of Mark 12:34, and dines several times at their homes. 325 Jesus endorses some of the teachings imparted by this religious elite of God's people: the resurrection of the dead, 326 certain forms of piety (almsgiving, fasting and Prayer), 327 The custom of addresSing God as Father, and the centrality of the commandment to Love God and neighbour. 328

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." 492 The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb. In itself it is not a direct proof of Resurrection; the absence of Christ's body from the tomb could be explained otherwise. 493 Nonetheless the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all. Its discovery by the disciples was the first step toward recognizing the very fact of the Resurrection. This was the case, first with the holy women, and then with Peter. 494 The disciple "whom Jesus Loved" affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered "the linen cloths lying there", "he saw and believed". 495 This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's condition that the absence of Jesus' body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus. 496

Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel 561 which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, Love and peace. 562 According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of Evil which does not spare the Church 563 and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching. 564

Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching. 581 Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of Hearts be brought to light. 582 Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's Grace as nothing be condemned. 583 Our attitude to our neighbour will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine Love. 584 On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." 585

Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and Hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "acquired" this right by his cross. the Father has given "all judgement to the Son". 586 Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. 587 By rejecting Grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of Love. 588

The One whom the Father has sent into our Hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. 10 Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them, in both the inner life of the Trinity and his Gift of Love for the world. In adoring the Holy Trinity, life-giving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's Faith also professes the distinction of persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.

Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of Faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. 68 In Abraham's progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself, 69 in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." 70 God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beLoved Son and "the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." 71

The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the Heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of "Love and fidelity." 85 St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. 86 According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew the Hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.

It is Love "to the end" 446 that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and Loved us all when he offered his life. 447 Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." 448 No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the Sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. the existence in Christ of the divine perSon of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.

This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. 441 First, it is a Gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to Sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and Love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. 442

Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of Prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. 353 He drove merchants out of it because of jealous Love for his Father: "You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" 354 After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple. 355

Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had Sinned. 405 But in the redeeming Love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 406 Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God "did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all", so that we might be "reconciled to God by the death of his Son". 407

By giving up his own Son for our Sins, God manifests that his Plan for us is one of benevolent Love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we Loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our Sins." 408 God "shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 409

At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's Love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." 410 He affirms that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many"; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique perSon of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. 411 The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a Single human being for whom Christ did not suffer." 412

The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)", 413 said on coming into the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." 414 From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's Plan of divine Salvation in his redemptive mission: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work." 415 The sacrifice of Jesus "for the Sins of the whole world" 416 expresses his loving Communion with the Father. "The Father Loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord, "(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." 417

The desire to embrace his Father's Plan of redeeming Love inspired Jesus' whole life, 418 for his redemptive passion was the very reaSon for his Incarnation. and so he asked, "and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour." 419 and again, "Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?" 420 From the cross, just before "It is finished", he said, "I thirst." 421

By embracing in his human Heart the Father's Love for men, Jesus "Loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 425 In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the Salvation of men. 426 Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." 427 Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. 428

Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful Love, 107 into Communion with Christ. and the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples.

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.

Faith is a perSonal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. the believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our Love for Jesus and for our neighbour impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one LORD; and you shall Love the LORD your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." 4 Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.. . To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 'Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength.'" 5

Jesus himself affirms that God is "the one Lord" whom you must Love "with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength". 6 At the same time Jesus gives us to understand that he himself is "the Lord". 7 To confess that Jesus is Lord is distinctive of Christian Faith. This is not contrary to belief in the One God. Nor does believing in the Holy Spirit as "Lord and giver of life" introduce any division into the One God:

After Israel's Sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' Prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unFaithful people, thus demonstrating his Love. 18 When Moses asks to see his Glory, God responds "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name "the Lord" [YHWH]." 19 Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and Faithfulness"; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God. 20

The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's Faithfulness: despite the Faithlessness of men's Sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast Love for thousands". 21 By going so far as to give up his own Son for us, God reveals that he is "rich in mercy". 22 By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that "I AM"." 23

God, "HE WHO IS", revealed himself to Israel as the one "abounding in steadfast Love and Faithfulness". 27 These two terms express summarily the riches of the divine name. In all his works God displays, not only his kindness, goodness, Grace and steadfast love, but also his trustworthiness, constancy, Faithfulness and Truth. "I give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness." 28 He is the Truth, for "God is light and in him there is no darkness"; "God is love", as the apostle John teaches. 29

In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reaSon to reveal himself to them, a Single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous Love. 38 and thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unFaithfulness and Sins. 39

God's Love for Israel is compared to a Father's love for his Son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother's for her children. God loves his people more than a bridegroom his beLoved; his love will be victorious over even the worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious Gift: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." 40

To be human, "man's response to God by Faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. the act of faith is of its very nature a free act." 39 "God calls men to serve him in spirit and in Truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced. . . This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus." 40 Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. "For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the Love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself." 41

"Faith seeks understanding": 33 it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increaSingly set afire by Love. the Grace of faith opens "the eyes of your Hearts" 34 to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's Plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed Mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his Gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood." 35 In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe." 36

For a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his "beLoved Son", in whom the Father is "well pleased"; God tells us to listen to him. 18 The Lord himself said to his disciples: "Believe in God, believe also in me." 19 We can believe in Jesus Christ because he is himself God, the Word made flesh: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known." 20 Because he "has seen the Father", Jesus Christ is the only one who knows him and can reveal him. 21

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

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.

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.

The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beLoved Son. and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full Truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness." 39

Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately SO oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men." 93 "Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional, 94 The books of the OldTestament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving Love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of Prayers; in them, too, the Mystery of our Salvation is present in a hidden way." 95

By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his Love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company." 1 The adequate response to this invitation is Faith.

God's Love is "everlasting": 41 "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you." 42 Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, "I have Loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my Faithfulness to you." 43

But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is Love": 44 God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: 45 God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.

The hierarchy of creatures is expressed by the order of the "six days", from the less perfect to the more perfect. God Loves all his creatures 209 and takes care of each one, even the sparrow. Nevertheless, Jesus said: "You are of more value than many sparrows", or again: "of how much more value is a man than a sheep!" 210

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

Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a perSon, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into Communion with other persons. and he is called by Grace to a Covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of Faith and Love that no other creature can give in his stead.

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

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.

In God's Plan man and woman have the vocation of "subduing" the earth 248 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator "who Loves everything that exists", 249 to share in his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.

"We know that in everything God works for good for those who Love him." 180 The constant witness of the saints confirms this Truth:

Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential Love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have Sinned. Thus has moral Evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil. 176 He permits it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it:

If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does Evil exist? To this question, as presSing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian Faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient Love of God who comes to meet man by his Covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his Gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible Mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.

From the beginning, the revealed Truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living Faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis and Prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: "The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 81

"O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!" 93 God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is Love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the Glory of his blessed life. Such is the "Plan of his loving kindness", conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beLoved Son: "He destined us in love to be his sons" and "to be conformed to the image of his Son", through "the spirit of sonship". 94 This plan is a "Grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began", stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. 95 It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of Salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church. 96

The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. 100 But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: "If a man Loves me", says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him": 101

Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the Covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful Love. 126 and so, the Truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigour in the message of the prophets, the Prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People. 127

"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:

God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the Evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? "I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution", said St. Augustine, 257 and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For "the Mystery of lawlessness" is clarified only in the light of the "mystery of our religion". 258 The revelation of divine Love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of Grace. 259 We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our Faith on him who alone is its conqueror. 260

"God is Love" 124 and love is his first Gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our Hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." 125

The Lord, having Loved those who were his own, Loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. 161 In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; "thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament." 162

When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal Son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. the priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful Love for the Sinner.

The confessor is not the master of God's forgiveness, but its servant. the minister of this sacrament should unite himself to the intention and Charity of Christ. 71 He should have a proven knowledge of Christian behavior, experience of human affairs, respect and sensitivity toward the one who has fallen; he must Love the Truth, be Faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and lead the penitent with patience toward healing and full maturity. He must pray and do penance for his penitent, entrusting him to the Lord's mercy.

Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people" 103 and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive Sins; 104 he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of. 105 His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me." 106 His preferential Love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.

This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service." 28 It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the Communion of the Church. the sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a "sacred power" which is none other than that of Christ. the exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by Love made himself the least and the servant of all. 29 "The Lord said clearly that concern for his flock was proof of love for him." 30

"The priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, together with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college (presbyterium) dedicated, it is, true to a variety of distinct duties. In each local assembly of the Faithful they represent, in a certain sense, the bishop, with whom they are associated in all trust and generosity; in part they take upon themselves his duties and solicitude and in their daily toils discharge them." 51 priests can exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in Communion with him. the promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that the bishop considers them his co-workers, his Sons, his brothers and his friends, and that they in return owe him Love and obedience.

For the bishop, this is first of all a Grace of strength (“the governing spirit": Prayer of Episcopal Consecration in the Latin rite): 78 The grace to guide and defend his Church with strength and prudence as a Father and pastor, with gratuitous Love for all and a preferential love for the poor, the sick, and the needy. This grace impels him to proclaim the Gospel to all, to be the model for his flock, to go before it on the way of sanctification by identifying himself in the Eucharist with Christ the priest and victim, not fearing to give his life for his sheep:

When it arises from a Love by which God is Loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of Charity). Such contrition remits venial Sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal Sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible. 51

The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal Son, the center of which is the merciful Father: 37 The fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father's house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy - all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. the beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life - pure worthy, and joyful - of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the Heart of Christ Who knows the depths of his Father's Love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.

The human Heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. 25 Conversion is first of all a work of the Grace of God who makes our Hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored!" 26 God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God's Love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of Sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. the human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our Sins have pierced: 27

The Eucharist, the sacrament of our Salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation Loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.

It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the Love with which he Loved us "to the end," 207 even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, 208 and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our Charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial Sins. 228 By giving himself to us Christ revives our Love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him:

The Eastern Churches that are not in full Communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great Love. "These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, "given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged." 235

It is called the sacrament of confession, Since the disclosure or confession of Sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace." 6 It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the Love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." 7 He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother." 8

Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, "clasping Sinners to her bosom, (is) at once holy and always in need of purification, (and) follows constantly the path of penance and renewal." 18 This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a "contrite Heart," drawn and moved by Grace to respond to the merciful Love of God who Loved us first. 19

St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a threefold affirmation of Love for him. 20 The second conversion also has a communitarian dimension, as is clear in the Lord's call to a whole Church: "Repent!" 21

"The intimate community of life and Love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws.... God himself is the author of marriage." 87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, 88 some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual perSon and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life." 89

The Love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of perSons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh." 151 They "are called to grow continually in their Communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving." 152 This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives of the common Faith and by the Eucharist received together.

"The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal perSonal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection." 153 Polygamy is contrary to conjugal Love which is undivided and exclusive. 154

By its very nature conjugal Love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the Gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement "until further notice." the "intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two perSons, and the good of the children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between them." 155

It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind oneself for life to another human being. This makes it all the more important to proclaim the Good News that God Loves us with a definitive and irrevocable love, that married couples share in this love, that it supports and sustains them, and that by their own Faithfulness they can be witnesses to God's Faithful love. Spouses who with God's Grace give this witness, often in very difficult conditions, deserve the gratitude and support of the ecclesial community. 156

"By its very nature the institution of marriage and married Love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning Glory." 160

The fruitfulness of conjugal Love extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual, and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children by education. Parents are the principal and first educators of their children. 162 In this sense the fundamental task of marriage and family is to be at the service of life. 163

It is here that the Father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, Prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active Charity." 168 Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment." 169 Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal Love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.

"Conjugal Love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the perSon enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one Heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and Faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values." 150

Christ is the source of this Grace. "Just as of old God encountered his people with a Covenant of Love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of Matrimony." 147 Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," 148 and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb:

"By reaSon of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special Gifts in the People of God." 145 This Grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple's Love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children." 146

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

Seeing God's Covenant with Israel in the image of exclusive and Faithful married Love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People's conscience for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility of marriage. 102 The books of Ruth and Tobit bear moving witness to an elevated sense of marriage and to the fidelity and tenderness of spouses. Tradition has always seen in the Song of Solomon a unique expression of human love, a pure reflection of God's love - a love "strong as death" that "many waters cannot quench." 103

This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, Love your wives, as Christ Loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her," adding at once: "'For this reaSon a man shall leave his Father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great Mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church." 110

The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal Love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial Mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath 111 which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the Covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates Grace, marriage between baptized perSons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant. 112

In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic Faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the Paschal Mystery of Christ. 120 In the Eucharist the memorial of the New Covenant is realized, the New Covenant in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beLoved bride for whom he gave himself up. 121 It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood of Christ, they may form but "one body" in Christ. 122

The various liturgies abound in Prayers of blesSing and epiclesis asking God's Grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride. In the epiclesis of this sacrament the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as the Communion of Love of Christ and the Church. 124 The Holy Spirit is the seal of their Covenant, the ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity.

In marriages with disparity of cult the Catholic spouse has a particular task: "For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband." 138 It is a great joy for the Christian spouse and for the Church if this "consecration" should lead to the free conversion of the other spouse to the Christian Faith. 139 Sincere married Love, the humble and patient practice of the family virtues, and perseverance in Prayer can prepare the non-believing spouse to accept the Grace of conversion.

The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. 141 From their Covenant arises "an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of society." 142 The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married Love is caught up into divine love." 143

Because we are dead or at least wounded through Sin, the first effect of the Gift of Love is the forgiveness of our Sins. the Communion of the Holy Spirit 126 in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.

The origin and purpose of mission. the Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal Love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on earth is by her nature missionary Since, according to the Plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit." 341 The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the Communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love. 342

Missionary motivation. It is from God's Love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ urges us on." 343 Indeed, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth"; 344 that is, God wills the Salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal Plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.

The Church is ultimately one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that "the Kingdom of heaven," the "Reign of God," 380 already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time. the kingdom has come in the perSon of Christ and grows mysteriously in the Hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made "holy and blameless before him in Love," 381 will be gathered together as the one People of God, the "Bride of the Lamb," 382 "the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the Glory of God." 383 For "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." 384

The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. 455 In the consecrated life, Christ's Faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is Loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of Charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the Glory of the world to come. 456

"Virgins who, committed to the holy Plan of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church." 462 By this solemn rite (Consecratio virginum), the virgin is "constituted . . . a sacred person, a transcendent sign of the Church's Love for Christ, and an eschatological image of this heavenly Bride of Christ and of the life to come." 463

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

In the one family of God. "For if we continue to Love one another and to join in praiSing the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are Sons of God and form one family in Christ - we will be Faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church." 499

"The Church . . . is held, as a matter of Faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as 'alone holy,' Loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the Gift of the Holy Spirit for the Glory of God." 289 The Church, then, is "the holy People of God," 290 and her members are called "saints." 291

Concern for achieving unity "involves the whole Church, Faithful and clergy alike." 287 But we must realize "that this holy objective - the reconciliation of all Christians in the unity of the one and only Church of Christ - transcends human powers and Gifts." That is why we place all our hope "in the Prayer of Christ for the Church, in the Love of the Father for us, and in the power of the Holy Spirit." 288

He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to Love as "God (has) Loved us." 127 This love (the "Charity" of 1 Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received "power" from the Holy Spirit. 128

By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." 129 "We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit." 130

"The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'Loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes.'" 149

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:

In the Church this Communion of men with God, in the "Love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this pasSing world. 192 "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. and holiness is measured according to the 'great Mystery' in which the Bride responds with the Gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom." 193 Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle." 194 This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine." 195

As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the Salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of salvation," by which Christ is "at once manifesting and actualizing the Mystery of God's Love for men." 199 The Church "is the visible Plan of God's love for humanity," because God desires "that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit." 200

The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history: - It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." 202 - One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and the Spirit," 203 that is, by Faith in Christ, and Baptism. - This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this is "the messianic people." - "The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the Sons of God, in whose Hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple." - "Its law is the new commandment to Love as Christ Loved us." 204 This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit. 205 - Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. 206 This people is "a most sure seed of unity, hope, and Salvation for the whole human race." -Its destiny, finally, "is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time." 207

The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a perSonal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. the theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. 234 The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." 235 The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the Faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. 236 The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. 237 "Christ Loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." 238 He has joined her with himself in an everlasting Covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body: 239

In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ. " 577 He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and Love towards the Father, after the example of Christ: 578

"Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. the Church is his beLoved Bride who calls to her Lord and through him offers worship to the eternal Father." 12

The epiclesis is also a Prayer for the full effect of the assembly's Communion with the Mystery of Christ. "The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" 28 have to remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. the Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the Faithful a living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation into the image of Christ, by concern for the Church's unity, and by taking part in her mission through the witness and service of Charity.

The sacraments are "of the Church" in the double sense that they are "by her" and "for her." They are "by the Church," for she is the sacrament of Christ's action at work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit. They are "for the Church" in the sense that "the sacraments make the Church," 35 Since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the Mystery of Communion with the God who is Love, One in three perSons.

The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they accomplish what they signify. When the Holy Spirit awakens Faith, he not only gives an understanding of the Word of God, but through the sacraments also makes present the "wonders" of God which it proclaims. the Spirit makes present and communicates the Father's work, fulfilled by the beLoved Son.

"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

Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for Sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." 19 Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. 20 The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his "beLoved Son." 21

Catechumens "are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and are quite frequently already living a life of Faith, hope, and Charity." 48 "With Love and solicitude mother Church already embraces them as her own." 49

The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying Grace, the grace of justification: - enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to Love him through the theological virtues; - giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; - allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues. Thus the whole organism of the Christian's supernatural life has its roots in Baptism.

The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of Faith and Love to the spiritual blesSings the Father bestows on us is thus evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and "in the Holy Spirit," 5 blesses the Father "for his inexpressible Gift 6 in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. On the other hand, until the consummation of God's Plan, the Church never ceases to present to the Father the offering of his own gifts and to beg him to send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the Faithful, and upon the whole world, so that through Communion in the death and resurrection of Christ the Priest, and by the power of the Spirit, these divine blessings will bring forth the fruits of life "to the praise of his glorious Grace." 7

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blesSing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us before him in Love to be his Sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious Grace which he freely bestowed on us in the BeLoved." 3

The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own Prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal. Through the liturgy the inner man is rooted and grounded in "the great Love with which [the Father] Loved us" in his beloved Son. 11 It is the same "marvelous work of God" that is lived and internalized by all prayer, "at all times in the Spirit." 12

This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this Communion of life and Love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

This Mystery of blessed Communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the Heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who Love him." 601

We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to Love him. But we cannot love God if we Sin gravely against him, against our Neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." 610 Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. 611 To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from Communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in Glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of Salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. the Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's Love is stronger than death. 626

For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has been "in the nature of sacrament." 634 Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city" of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 635 She will not be wounded any longer by Sin, stains, self-Love, that destroy or wound the earthly community. 636 The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual Communion.

Thus the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the "Amen" of infinite Love and perfect Faithfulness. the Christian's everyday life will then be the "Amen" to the "I believe" of our baptismal profession of Faith:

Jesus Christ himself is the "Amen." 648 He is the definitive "Amen" of the Father's Love for us. He takes up and completes our "Amen" to the Father: "For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the Glory of God": 649

In the Symbol of the Faith the Church confesses the Mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the Plan of God's "good pleasure" for all creation: the Father accomplishes the "mystery of his will" by giving his beLoved Son and his Holy Spirit for the Salvation of the world and for the Glory of his name. 1

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beLoved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of Love, a sign of unity, a bond of Charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with Grace, and a pledge of future Glory is given to us.'" 133