Sin is a Personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the Sins committed by others when we cooperate in them: - by participating directly and voluntarily in them; - by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them; - by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so; - by protecting evil-doers.

The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and responsibility by all. Those in authority should practice distributive justice wisely, taking account of the needs and contribution of each, with a view to harmony and peace. They should take care that the regulations and measures they adopt are not a source of temptation by setting Personal interest against that of the community. 42

"One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival." 82 "It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material." 83 "Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the Personal Dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" 84 which are unique and unrepeatable.

"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

"In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal Personal Dignity." 118 "Man is a perSon, man and woman equally so, Since both were created in the image and likeness of the personal God." 119

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the perSon and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes Personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.

Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. the alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. 125 "Man's Dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a Personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely chooSing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end." 126

Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life. 128 The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the Personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence.

Chastity represents an eminently Personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is "an interdependence between perSonal betterment and the improvement of society." 130 Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

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

The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our couSins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human perSon, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called "our Father." In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as Personal in character. the neighbor is not a "unit" in the human collective; he is "someone" who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.

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.

"If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the Faithful take part in the Liturgy of the Word if it is celebrated in the parish Church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in Prayer for an appropriate amount of time Personally or in a Family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families." 120

Thus Sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness. "Structures of sin" are the expression and effect of Personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a "social sin." 144

The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son. This vocation takes a Personal form Since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole.

Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten Personal freedom and initiative. the teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good." 7

Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate Personal and collective defence.

Participation is achieved first of all by taking charge of the areas for which one assumes Personal responsibility: by the care taken for the education of his Family, by conscientious work, and so forth, man participates in the good of others and of society. 31

Ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the Church, in the name of the Lord. 81 At the same time the conscience of each perSon should avoid confining itself to individualistic considerations in its moral judgments of the person's own acts. As far as possible conscience should take account of the good of all, as expressed in the moral law, natural and revealed, and consequently in the law of the Church and in the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium on moral questions. Personal conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the Magisterium of the Church.

The first commandment is also concerned with Sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair, man ceases to hope for his Personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his Sins. Despair is contrary to God's goodness, to his justice - for the Lord is Faithful to his promises - and to his mercy.

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.

Among all the words of Revelation, there is one which is unique: the revealed name of God. God confides his name to those who believe in him; he reveals himself to them in his Personal mystery. the gift of a name belongs to the order of trust and intimacy. "The Lord's name is holy." For this reaSon man must not abuse it. He must keep it in mind in silent, loving adoration. He will not introduce it into his own speech except to bless, praise, and glorify it. 74

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.

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

The Lord leads all perSons by paths and in ways pleaSing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the Personal expressions of his Prayer. However, Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer: vocal meditative, and contemplative. They have one basic trait in common: composure of heart. This vigilance in keeping the Word and dwelling in the presence of God makes these three expressions intense times in the life of prayer.

Vocal Prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father. He not only prayed aloud the Liturgical prayers of the synagogue but, as the Gospels show, he raised his voice to express his Personal prayer, from exultant blesSing of the Father to the agony of Gesthemani. 3

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

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

We can invoke God as "Father" because he is revealed to us by his Son become man and because his Spirit makes him known to us. the Personal relation of the Son to the Father is something that man cannot conceive of nor the angelic powers even dimly see: and yet, the Spirit of the Son grants a participation in that very relation to us who believe that Jesus is the Christ and that we are born of God. 32

When we pray to "our" Father, we Personally address the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so we do not divide the Godhead, Since the Father is its "source and origin," but rather confess that the Son is eternally begotten by him and the Holy Spirit proceeds from him. We are not confusing the persons, for we confess that our Communion is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, in their one Holy Spirit. the Holy Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him together with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition. the drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray Sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their Personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human Family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment. 118

As leaven in the dough, the newness of the kingdom should make the earth "rise" by the Spirit of Christ. 119 This must be shown by the establishment of justice in Personal and social, economic and international relations, without ever forgetting that there are no just structures without people who want to be just.

The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus' Prayer: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one." 163 It touches each of us Personally, but it is always "we" who pray, in Communion with the whole Church, for the deliverance of the whole human Family. the Lord's Prayer continually opens us to the range of God's economy of salvation. Our interdependence in the drama of Sin and death is turned into solidarity in the Body of Christ, the "communion of saints." 164

The Church, the house of God, is the proper place for the Liturgical Prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. the choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true prayer. - For Personal prayer, this can be a "prayer corner" with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father. 48 In a Christian Family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer in common. - In regions where monasteries exist, the vocation of these communities is to further the participation of the Faithful in the Liturgy of the Hours and to provide necessary solitude for more intense perSonal prayer. 49 - Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. For pilgrims seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of Christian prayer "in Church."

The catechesis of children, young people, and adults aims at teaching them to meditate on the Word of God in Personal Prayer, practicing it in Liturgical prayer, and internalizing it at all times in order to bear Fruit in a new life. Catechesis is also a time for the discernment and education of popular piety. 46 The memorization of basic prayers offers an essential support to the life of prayer, but it is important to help learners savor their meaning.

Recourse to a strike is morally legitimate when it cannot be avoided, or at least when it is necessary to obtain a proportionate benefit. It becomes morally unacceptable when accompanied by violence, or when objectives are included that are not directly linked to working conditions or are contrary to the common good. 2436 Unemployment almost always wounds its victim's Dignity and threatens the equilibrium of his life. Besides the harm done to him Personally, it entails many risks for his Family. 222

For this reaSon bishops, Personally or through delegates, should see to the promotion of sacred art, old and new, in all its forms and, with the same religious care, remove from the liturgy and from places of worship everything which is not in conformity with the truth of Faith and the authentic beauty of sacred art. 297

The heart is the seat of moral Personality: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication...." 304 The struggle against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance:

The Psalms both nourished and expressed the Prayer of the People of God gathered during the great feasts at Jerusalem and each Sabbath in the synagogues. Their prayer is inseparably Personal and communal; it concerns both those who are praying and all men. the Psalms arose from the communities of the Holy Land and the Diaspora, but embrace all creation. Their prayer recalls the saving events of the past, yet extends into the future, even to the end of history; it commemorates the promises God has already kept, and awaits the Messiah who will fulfill them definitively. Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the Psalms remain essential to the prayer of the Church. 38

The first movement of the Prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: "God, be merciful to me a Sinner!" 105 It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into the light of Communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another, so that "we receive from him whatever we ask." 106 Asking forgiveness is the prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and Personal prayer.

The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us - to pray in hope. Conversely, the Prayer of the Church and Personal prayer nourish hope in us. the psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry." 8 As St. Paul prayed: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." 9

There is no other way of Christian Prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or Personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray "in the name" of Jesus. the sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.

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.

The Catechism emphasizes the exposition of doctrine. It seeks to help deepen understanding of Faith. In this way it is oriented towards the maturing of that Faith, its putting down roots in Personal life, and its shining forth in perSonal conduct. 17

Although it is proper to each individual, 295 original Sin does not have the character of a Personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's Grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

The consequences of original Sin and of all men's Personal Sins put the world as a whole in the sinful condition aptly described in St. John's expression, "the sin of the world". 300 This expression can also refer to the negative influence exerted on people by communal situations and social structures that are the Fruit of men's sins. 301

From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his Personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not "the Lord". 67 "The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master." 68

After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ's human nature a kind of Personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that "there is but one hypostasis [or perSon], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity." 93 Thus everything in Christ's human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death: "He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity." 94

The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of Sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". 138 By the Grace of God Mary remained free of every Personal sin her whole life long. "Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the Personal Sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost. 385 Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept "the ignorance" of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. 386 Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the crowd's cry: "His blood be on us and on our children!", a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence. 387 As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: . . .

"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." 1 "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' 2 This knowledge of Faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles Faith in us. By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and Personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son.

Water. the symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, Since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." 27 Thus the Spirit is also Personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified 28 as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. 29

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

Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam's Sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the "death of the soul". 291 Because of this certainty of Faith, the Church baptizes for the remission of Sins even tiny infants who have not committed Personal sin. 292

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

Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a Personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the Grace of being able to welcome this revelation in Faith.(so) the proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to Faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reaSon.

Faith is first of all a Personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As perSonal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian Faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature. 17

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.

"I believe" (Apostles' Creed) is the Faith of the Church professed Personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. "We believe" (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the Faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the Liturgical assembly of believers. "I believe" is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both "I believe" and "We believe".

God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a perSon's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed Personally.

The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine perSons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle." 97 However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique Personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are". 98 It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

Being a work at once common and Personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine perSons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a Communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. 99

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

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

Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a Personal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in Communion with one another, they also always act in a perSonal way. Each one is called personally: "You, follow me" 397 in order to be a personal witness within the common mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."; "I absolve you...."

Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a Personal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bonds between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St. Peter, and in the relationship between the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church.

The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent's Personal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the Sins committed. It can consist of Prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our Sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, "provided we suffer with him." 63

The sacrament of Penance can also take place in the framework of a communal celebration in which we prepare ourselves together for confession and give thanks together for the forgiveness received. Here, the Personal confession of Sins and individual absolution are inserted into a liturgy of the word of God with readings and a homily, an examination of conscience conducted in common, a communal request for forgiveness, the Our Father and a thanksgiving in common. This communal celebration expresses more clearly the ecclesial character of penance. However, regardless of its manner of celebration the sacrament of Penance is always, by its very nature, a Liturgical action, and therefore an ecclesial and public action. 90

"Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the Faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession." 94 There are profound reaSons for this. Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He Personally addresses every Sinner: "My son, your Sins are forgiven." 95 He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them. 96 He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal Communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church.

Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to Personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God.

"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

"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

The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual Personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in Faith.

Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as Personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters." 53

This ignorance can often be imputed to Personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing Sin." 59 In such cases, the perSon is culpable for the evil he commits.

It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father 5 from whom one has strayed by Sin. It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's Personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

By this anointing the confirmand receives the "mark," the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a perSon, a sign of Personal authority, or ownership of an object. 105 Hence soldiers were marked with their leader's seal and slaves with their master's. A seal authenticates a juridical act or document and occasionally makes it secret. 106

The bishop is "the steward of the Grace of the supreme priesthood," 423 especially in the Eucharist which he offers Personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. the Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. the bishop and priests sanctify the Church by their Prayer and work, by their ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock." 424 Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life." 425

"The power which they exercise Personally in the name of Christ, is proper, ordinary, and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately controlled by the supreme authority of the Church." 427 But the bishops should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope. His ordinary and immediate authority over the whole Church does not annul, but on the contrary confirms and defends that of the bishops. Their authority must be exercised in Communion with the whole Church under the guidance of the Pope.

They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, Personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.

This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation 49 that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God." 50 From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the Personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the Fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a Single act encapsulating the preparatory stages of Christian initiation in a very abridged way. By its very nature infant Baptism requires a post-baptismal catechumenate. Not only is there a need for instruction after Baptism, but also for the necessary flowering of baptismal Grace in Personal growth. the catechism has its proper place here.

By Baptism all Sins are forgiven, original Sin and all Personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. 65 In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor perSonal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.

Mortal Sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a Personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart 133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.