On this way of Perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them 344 to perfect communion with God:

The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the Perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed. It is the work of Christ and is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. It is also the work of the Holy Spirit and through him it becomes the interior law of Charity: "I will establish a New Covenant with the house of Israel. . . . I will put my laws into their hands, and write them on their Hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 19

The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in person the way of Perfection. He is the end of the law, for only he teaches and bestows the justice of God: "For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified." 4

The fruits of the Spirit are Perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, Goodness, generosity, gentleness, Faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity." 112

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.

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.

Moral Perfection consists in man's being moved to the good not by his will alone, but also by his sensitive appetite, as in the words of the psalm: "My Heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God." 46

In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will. Passions are said to be voluntary, "either because they are commanded by the will or because the will does not place obstacles in their way." 44 It belongs to the Perfection of the moral or human good that the passions be governed by reason. 45

The Law of the Gospel "fulfills," refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its Perfection. 21 In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine promises by elevating and orienting them Toward the "Kingdom of heaven." It is addressed to those open to accepting this new hope with faith - the poor, the humble, the afflicted, the pure of Heart, those persecuted on account of Christ and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.

The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire divine and human truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the Heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure, 22 where faith, hope, and Charity are formed and with them the other virtues. the Gospel thus brings the Law to its fullness through imitation of the Perfection of the heavenly Father, through forgiveness of enemies and prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine generosity. 23

Besides its precepts, the New Law also includes the evangelical counsels. the traditional distinction between God's commandments and the evangelical counsels is drawn in relation to Charity, the Perfection of Christian life. the precepts are intended to remove whatever is incompatible with charity. the aim of the counsels is to remove whatever might hinder the development of charity, even if it is not contrary to it. 32

Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. the act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that "entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children." 167 "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper Perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses' union .... Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person." 168

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner Freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian Perfection.

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

If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it's sake, to idolize physical Perfection and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.

Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God. 63 Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to Perfection in God...." 64 "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human Heart." 65

The way of Perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. 68 Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:

"All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the Perfection of Charity." 65 All are called to holiness: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." 66

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:

As long as Freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in Perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.

Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and Goodness; it attains its Perfection when directed Toward God, our beatitude.

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

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 Church . . . will receive its Perfection only in the glory of heaven," 179 at the time of Christ's glorious return. Until that day, "the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this world's persecutions and God's consolations." 180 Here below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full coming of the Kingdom, when she will "be united in glory with her king." 181 The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will "all the just from the time of Adam, 'from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,' . . . be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father's presence." 182

In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective "Perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband. 241

Each creature possesses its own particular Goodness and Perfection. For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "and God saw that it was good." "By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws." 208 Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.

As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in Perfection all visible creatures, as the splendour of their glory bears witness. 190

But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But with infinite wisdom and Goodness God freely willed to create a world "in a state of journeying" Towards its ultimate Perfection. In God's plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection. 175

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

The revelation of the ineffable name "I AM WHO AM" contains then the truth that God alone IS. the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church's Tradition, understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every Perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is.

"The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect." 295 In her members perfect holiness is something yet to be acquired: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the Faithful, whatever their condition or state - though each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that Perfection of sanctity by which the Father himself is perfect." 296

"But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that Perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the Faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness. and so they turn their eyes to Mary": 306 in her, the Church is already the "all-holy."

Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. the Perfection of Charity, to which all the Faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God. 454

He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ. It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good. In union with his Savior, the disciple attains the Perfection of Charity which is holiness. Having matured in grace, the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven.

The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself Toward his true good. He finds his Perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good." 7

The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article 7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal son 1 to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they attain to the Perfection of Charity.

The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the Perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." 199 In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." 200 "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present." 201

The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then, sometimes in procession, the bread and wine are brought to the altar; they will be offered by the priest in the name of Christ in the Eucharistic sacrifice in which they will become his body and blood. It is the very action of Christ at the Last Supper - "taking the bread and a cup." "The Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, when she offers what comes forth from his creation with thanksgiving." 175 The presentation of the offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creator's gifts into the hands of Christ who, in his sacrifice, brings to Perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices.

The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. the Faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance Toward the Perfection of Charity." 3

Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of their society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the Perfection of Charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical counsels" according to their constitutions. 473

"A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian Faithful living in the world strive for the Perfection of Charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within." 470

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

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