[20] Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
(CCC 290) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1): three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he alone is Creator (the verb "create" - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject). The totality of what exists (expressed by the formula "the heavens and the earth") depends on the One who gives it being. (CCC 2082) What God commands he makes possible by his grace. (CCC 1727) The beatitude of eternal life is a gratuitous gift of God. It is supernatural, as is the grace that leads us there. (CCC 1729) The beatitude of heaven sets the standards for discernment in the use of earthly goods in keeping with the law of God. (CCC 1725) The Beatitudes take up and fulfill God's promises from Abraham on by ordering them to the Kingdom of heaven. They respond to the desire for happiness that God has placed in the human heart. (CCC 1726) The Beatitudes teach us the final end to which God calls us: the Kingdom, the vision of God, participation in the divine nature, eternal life, filiation, rest in God. (CCC 1728) The Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods; they purify our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things.
No comments:
Post a Comment