The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." 247 He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in Charity: 248 by God's Word "which is able to build you up"; 249 by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; 250 by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the Grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts"; 251 by the Virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the Faithful "fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church." 252

Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the Virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. the root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man." 128 But in the heart also resides Charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.

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

Vices can be classified according to the Virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. 138 They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.

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

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

The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching, with the help of the works of theologians and spiritual authors. Thus from generation to generation, under the aegis and vigilance of the pastors, the "deposit" of Christian moral teaching has been handed on, a deposit composed of a characteristic body of rules, commandments, and Virtues proceeding from Faith in Christ and animated by Charity. Alongside the Creed and the Our Father, the basis for this catechesis has traditionally been the Decalogue which sets out the principles of moral life valid for all men.

The theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity inform and give life to the moral virtues. Thus charity leads us to render to God what we as creatures owe him in all justice. the virtue of religion disposes us to have this attitude.

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. the home is well suited for education in the Virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." 31 Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:

Whoever wants to remain Faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, Practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God's commandments, exercise of the moral Virtues, and fidelity to Prayer. "Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity." 127

Charity is the form of all the Virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered to the gift of self. Chastity leads him who Practices it to become a witness to his neighbor of God's fidelity and loving kindness.

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.

Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the Virtues of justice and Charity.

The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the Virtues of justice and Charity.

The catechumenate, or formation of catechumens, aims at bringing their conversion and Faith to maturity, in response to the divine initiative and in union with an ecclesial community. the catechumenate is to be "a formation in the whole Christian life . . . during which the disciples will be joined to Christ their teacher. the catechumens should be properly initiated into the mystery of salvation and the Practice of the evangelical Virtues, and they should be introduced into the life of faith, liturgy, and Charity of the People of God by successive sacred rites." 47

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.

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.

Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of Christ. 22 Catechesis for the "newness of life" 23 in him should be: -a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and strengthens this life; -a catechesis of Grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life; -a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the human heart longs; -a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this truth; -a catechesis of the human Virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and attraction of right dispositions towards goodness; -a catechesis of the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, generously inspired by the example of the saints; -a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity set forth in the Decalogue; -an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of "spiritual goods" in the "communion of saints" that Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.

Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in which the moral life is expressed. Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case. the upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the Virtues or perverted by the vices.

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.

Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going." 65 "Keep sane and sober for your Prayers." 66 Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. 67 It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the Virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. the prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.

Human Virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine Grace. With God's help, they forge character and give facility in the Practice of the good. the virtuous man is happy to practice them.

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 human Virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature: 76 for the theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.

The theological Virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the Faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, Hope, and Charity. 77

"If I . . . have not Charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." 103 Charity is superior to all the Virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So Faith, Hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity." 104

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 seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. 109 They complete and perfect the Virtues of those who receive them. They make the Faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.