|
|
|
|
|
2017 The grace of the Holy Spirit confers upon us the righteousness of God. Uniting us by faith and Baptism to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, the Spirit makes us sharers in his ljfe. 2018 Like conversion, just jflcation has two
aspects. Moved by grace, man turns towards God and away from
sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on
high. 2019 Just jflcation includes the remission of
sins, sanctjflcation and the renewal of the inner man. 2020 Just jflcation has been merited for us by the
Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It
conforms us to the righteousness of God, who just jfles us.
It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the
gjft of eternal ljfe. It is the most excellent work of
God’s mercy. 2021 Grace is the help God gives us to respond to
our vocation of becoming his adopted sons. It introduces us
into the intimacy of the Trinitarian ljfe. 2022 The divine initiative in the work ofgrace
precedes, prepares and elicits the free response of man.
Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human freedom,
calls freedom to co-operate with it and perfects
freedom. 2023 Sanctjfying grace is the gratuitous gjft of
his ljfe that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy
Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctjfy it. 2024 Sanctjfying grace makes us ‘pleasing to
God’. Charisms, specialgraces of the Holy Spirit, are
oriented to sanct jfying grace and are intended for the
common good of the Church. God also acts through many actual
graces, to be distinguished from habitual grace which is
permanent in us. 2025 We can have merit in God’s sight only
because of God’s free plan to associate man with the
work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first
place to the grace of God, and secondly to man’s
collaboration. Man’s merit is due to God. 2026 The grace of the Holy Spirit can confer true
merit on us, by virtue of our adoptive filiation, and in
accordance with God’s gratuitous justice. Charity is
the principal source of merit in us before God. 2027 No one can merit the initial grace which is
at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we
can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed
to attain eternal l~fe, as well as necessary temporal
goods. 2028 ‘All Christians. .. are called to
the fullness of Christian ljfe and to the perfection of
charity’ (LG 40 §2). ‘Christian
perfection has but one limit, that of having none’ (St
Gregory of Nyssa, De vita Mos.: PG 44, 3ooD). 2029 ‘Ifany man would come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mt
16:24).
|
|
|
|
|
|