Tit 3, 12-15 To devote themselves to good works

(Tit 3, 12-15) To devote themselves to good works

[12] When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, try to join me at Nicopolis, where I have decided to spend the winter. [13] Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey soon, and see to it that they have everything they need. [14] But let our people, too, learn to devote themselves to good works to supply urgent needs, so that they may not be unproductive. [15] All who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.

(CCC 1955) The "divine and natural" law (GS 89 § 1) shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one's equal. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue. This law is called "natural," not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature: Where then are these rules written, if not in the book of that light we call the truth? In it is written every just law; from it the law passes into the heart of the man who does justice, not that it migrates into it, but that it places its imprint on it, like a seal on a ring that passes onto wax, without leaving the ring (St. Augustine, De Trin. 14, 15, 21: PL 42,1052). The natural law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God; through it we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God has given this light or law at the creation (St. Thomas Aquinas, Dec. praec. I). (CCC 1959) The natural law, the Creator's very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices. It also provides the indispensable moral foundation for building the human community. Finally, it provides the necessary basis for the civil law with which it is connected, whether by a reflection that draws conclusions from its principles, or by additions of a positive and juridical nature. (CCC 1958) The natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history (Cf. GS 10) it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. The rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies: Theft is surely punished by your law, O Lord, and by the law that is written in the human heart, the law that iniquity itself does not efface (St. Augustine, Conf. 2, 4, 9: PL 32, 678).