357. How is the Christian moral life bound up with faith and the sacraments? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 357 repetition) What the symbol of faith professes, the sacraments communicate. Indeed,
through them the faithful receive the grace of Christ and the gifts of the Holy
Spirit which give them the capability of living a new life as children of God
in Christ whom they have received in faith.
“O Christian, recognize your dignity.” (Saint Leo the Great).
“In brief”
(CCC 1696) The way of Christ "leads to life"; a
contrary way "leads to destruction" (Mt 7:13; cf. Deut 30: 15-20).
The Gospel parable of the two ways
remains ever present in the catechesis of the Church; it shows the importance
of moral decisions for our salvation: "There are two ways, the one of
life, the other of death; but between the two, there is a great
difference" (Didache 1, 1: SCh
248, 140).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1697) Catechesis
has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of Christ (Cf.
John Paul II, CT 29). Catechesis for the "newness of life" (Rom 6:4)
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.
Reflection
(CCC 1698) The first and last point of reference of this
catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is "the way, and the
truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). It is by looking to him in faith that
Christ's faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his promises in them, and
that, by loving him with the same love with which he has loved them, they may
perform works in keeping with their dignity: I ask you to consider that our
Lord Jesus Christ is your true head, and that you are one of his members. He
belongs to you as the head belongs to its members; all that is his is yours:
his spirit, his heart, his body and soul, and all his faculties. You must make
use of all these as of your own, to serve, praise, love, and glorify God. You
belong to him, as members belong to their head. And so he longs for you to use
all that is in you, as if it were his own, for the service and glory of the
Father (St. John Eudes, Tract. De
admirabili corde Jesu, 1, 5). For to me, to live is Christ (Phil 1:21). [END]
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