It
means that the Risen Christ ascended to heaven to take his place at the right
hand of the Father.
The
Ascension is a salvific event for us since Christ’s return to the Father was
necessary for sending the Spirit among us, and for Christ’s continued mediating
on our behalf as well as for grounding our hope in our own future resurrection.
671. What
does Christ’s being “lifted up” refer to?
In
John’s Gospel Christ speaks of being “lifted up” in referring to his
Crucifixion, his Resurrection, and his Ascension to heaven.
672. Why
will Christ “come again”?
The
Risen Christ will come again at the Parousia to judge the living and the
dead.
Biblical
accounts of Christ’s Second Coming are written in the apocalyptic genre and
must be interpreted accordingly.
673. When will Christ’s Second Coming
or “Parousia” take place?
Christ clearly affirmed that no one knows this, except
the Father. It is useless, therefore, to speculate on this “when.”
Chapter 13
Living as Disciples of Christ
“What I just did was to give you an example: as I have
done, so you must do.”
(Jn 13:15)
But only God, who
created man to His own image and ransomed him from sin, provides a fully
adequate answer to [man’s basic] questions. . . revealed in Christ His Son who
became man. Whoever follows after Christ, the perfect man, becomes himself more
of a man.
(GS 41)
OPENING
674. For
Christians, moral living is simply “following Christ.”
Yet when “morality” is mentioned, the first thing we often think about is laws,
commandments, a series of don’ts, and dire punishments if we fail. But Christian
Faith is more than a set of truths to be believed; it is the way of
Christ which leads to life (cf. CCC 1696). It is the Gospel of
Christ believed and lived which will decide our destiny as Christians. Fullness
of life here on earth means that, in all the innumerable actions, events and
problems of daily life, we walk with Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, who is “the Way, the
Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6).
675. Christian
moral life, then, is about the Gospel. It is about growing in love and
holiness. It is the process of becoming authentically human (cf.
RH 14). The Christian moral person is one who experiences the liberating
and transforming presence of Christ, through the grace of his Spirit (cf. 2
Cor 3:17; Jn 8:32). From this experience, Christians commit themselves, in
their moral attitudes, decisions, and acts, to the ongoing process of
liberating and transforming men and women into disciples of Christ. For Christ
is he “from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our journey
leads us” (LG 3). Thus “the world may be filled with the spirit of
Christ and may more effectively attain its destiny in justice, in love and in
peace” (LG 36). This is developed in the PCP II in terms of
“social transformation” (cf. PCP II 256-74, 435-38).
676. But we soon find that this “following
of Christ” is not easy __ life is full of challenges.
“From the very dawn of history human beings, enticed by the evil one, abused
their freedom. They set themselves against God and sought to find fulfillment
apart from God. . . . Their senseless minds were darkened and they served the
creature rather than the Creator” (GS 13; cf. CCC 1707).
677. Left to ourselves, we have no power to
fulfill Christ’s command: “Be perfect, just
as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). Yet God strengthens us by
letting us share the life of Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit received in
Baptism (cf. Rom 6:4). This Spirit, in uniting us to Christ, our risen
Savior, as members of his Body, the Church, liberates and empowers us with new
life to respond in our daily words and deeds to God’s love (cf. CCC 1742).
Thus, as disciples of Christ, mutually supporting one another through the grace
of the Holy Spirit, we come to exercise responsible freedom
according to God’s loving design, as grasped by our gradually formed Christian conscience.
678. This chapter proposes the constitutive
elements of personal Christian moral living: the moral agent, human
persons; our basic dignity in freedom and in personal
moral responsibility; governed by our conscience,
the inner guide for moral growth in virtue, through the example of Christ, the
grace of the Spirit, and the Father’s loving mercy (cf. CCC 1700-9).
CONTEXT
679. We,
Catholic Filipinos, constituting more than 82% of our
population, are rightly proud of our Christian faith. We are especially fond of
religious processions, novenas and numerous devotions to
Christ our Savior, to Mary and the other Saints. Our churches are crowded on
Sundays and special fiestas. Moreover, recent religious movements in our
country such as the Cursillo, the Charismatic renewal, the Focolare,
and the like, have clearly shown a widespread yearning for closer union with
Christ. A great number of Filipinos are seeking ways to draw closer to Christ
their Lord.
680. Yet this yearning for spiritual intimacy
with Jesus often does not seem to touch the daily words and actions of some
devotees. Their piety frequently fails to produce acts of loving
service, forgiveness and sacrifice. How can many pious Church-members continue
to act as abusive landlords, usurers, oppressive employers, or unreliable
employees? Why do many graduates of our best Catholic schools turn out to be
corrupt government officials, unfaithful husbands and wives, or cheating
businessmen? There seems to be a serious gap between external ritual
expression of Christian Faith, and authentic discipleship:
following Christ in action.
681. Genuine
Christian piety, of course, inspires true Christian witness and service. But in the Philippines today, the challenge of authentic
Christian witness demands two things: a) interiorly, that Filipino
Catholics break through external ritualism and social conformism to interiorize
their devotional prayer and sacramental worship deeply into their
very selves (kalooban); b) exteriorly, to commit themselves
to Jesus Christ and to all he stands for, in daily practice of the
faith according to Catholic moral principles and the guidance of the
teaching Church.
EXPOSITION
I. Moral Agent: The Human Person
682. Christian moral life is simply the call to
become loving persons, in the fullness of life-with-others-in-community before
God, in imitation of Jesus Christ. The key to moral life, then, is the human
person, considered in the light of both reason and faith.
All human rights, personal and social, all moral duties and responsibilities,
all virtues and moral character __ all depend directly on the
answers we give to the questions: who am I as a person in community? as a
disciple of Jesus Christ, in his Church? In the words of PCP II: “How to
live as Filipino Christians in our situation of lights and shadows”? (PCP II
35)
683. This “sense of the dignity of the
human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the
consciousness of contemporary man” (DH 1). “The inviolable dignity of
every human person. . . is the most precious possession of an
individual, [whose] value comes not from what a person ‘has’ as much as
from what a person ‘is’ ” (CL 37). “Hence the pivotal point of our total
presentation will be the human person, whole and entire, body and soul, heart
and conscience, mind and will” (GS 3). But just who or what IS the human
person according to reason and Christian Faith?
684. Persons in Christ. For Christians, the answer can only
be grounded on Jesus Christ himself. “In Christ and through Christ, we have
acquired full awareness of our dignity, of the heights to which we are raised,
of the surpassing worth of our own humanity, and of the meaning of our
existence” (RH 11). “For by his incarnation, the Son of God has united
himself in some fashion with every person” (GS 22).
685. Christ reveals how the essential dignity
of all persons is grounded directly on their origin, meaning and destiny.
We believe all persons are created by God in His image and
likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) through our Lord Jesus Christ, “through whom
everything was made and through whom we live” (1 Cor 8:6). We believe
all are redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), and are
sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor
6:19). We believe all persons are called to be children of God
(cf. 1 Jn 3:1), destined for eternal life of
blessed communion with the Father, His Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy
Spirit (cf. CCC 1692).
686. But, despite their firm belief in these
basic truths of the Christian Faith, many Catholics do not realize how these
truths touch their day-to-day moral attitudes, acts and choices. Only if these
credal truths are linked directly with the Filipinos’ experience of
themselves as persons, will they influence their moral living. Hence, we have
to relate these Christian truths to the
common experience of “being a Filipino person.” Although we tend to take
these characteristics of our own person for granted,
we nevertheless need to become more conscious of them to gain a true
knowledge of self and of our relationships to others and to God.
II. Persons in Experience
687. Persons
are open and relational by nature. No man is an
island; we grow into our full selves as persons only in relating to others. We
Filipinos are outstanding in this regard: it is said “Filipinos are never
alone.” We realize being a person means being by others (our conception,
birth, upbringing), being with others (our family, friends, neighbors,
business associates), and being for others (love, service). This is how
we have been created by God __ as social
beings. This is how we have been redeemed by Christ __
as a people. This is how the Holy Spirit works not only within but among
us as the people of God, journeying toward our common destiny in
God.
688. Persons
are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts.
We possess this self-awareness through our knowing and free willing (cf. CCC
1704-7; GS 14-17). Thus we “image” in our small way the Creator’s infinite
knowing and loving. This is the basis for our moral life.
689. Persons
are embodied spirits. This stresses the unity between our
“body and soul.” Our bodies are an essential part of our being human, not
merely an “instrument” we “use” according to our whims. Contrary to those who
look down on the body, and make it the source of all evil, Christian Faith
regards the body as “good and honorable since God has created it and
will raise it up on the last day” (GS 14). Moreover, God the Son further
dignified the body through his Incarnation __ “The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). And St. Paul admonishes us: “You must know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within __ the
Spirit you have received from God. . . . So, glorify God in your body” (1
Cor 6:19-20). All our relationships with others and with God are expressed
through our bodies, which are the “natural sacrament” of our spiritual depth.
690. Persons
are historical realities. We are pilgrims on-the-way, who
gradually, through time, become our full selves. In exercising freedom, we
decide for ourselves and form ourselves; in this sense we are our own cause. We
develop as persons in discernible stages, described in great detail by
modern psychology. Salvation history narrated in the Bible shows the dynamic
interplay between good and evil, success and failure, within the lives of the
great biblical figures. It recounts how God progressively brought His Chosen
People to a clearer understanding, and higher moral vision, of their own being
and of God Himself.
691. Persons
are unique, yet fundamentally equal. Despite
physical differences as well as differing intellectual and moral powers, we instinctively realize that as persons, in
some basic way, we are all equal. This is what our Faith
explains: “All men are endowed with a rational
soul and are created in God’s image; they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy
the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality
between all men” (GS 29). Yet, each
of us is called to “image” God in a unique way __ no
one can “take our place,” as it were. To each of us Christ says: “Fear
not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine” (Is
43:1). Thus, within the fundamental equality of all persons, we recognize
the unique identity of each person.
692. This fundamental equality of all individual
persons also grounds the participation and solidarity of all peoples.
“Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all people, we are all
called to be brothers. Therefore, if we have been summoned by the same destiny,
which is both human and divine, we can and should work together to build up the
world in genuine peace” (GS 92).
III. Human Freedom
693. Throughout the world today there is an unprecedented
drive for freedom, for breaking out of all the old structures of
political oppression, racial prejudice, economic injustice, and constricting
cultural mores. “The demand is increasingly made that men should act on their
own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by
coercion but motivated by a sense of duty” (DH 1). Since “the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is a message of freedom and a force for liberation” (ITL),
we recognize here “an authentic sign of God’s presence and purpose . . .
for authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man” (GS
11, 17).
694. But it is so easy to confuse human freedom
with simply “doing what I want.” Authentic freedom is not
“the right to say and do anything,” but to “do the good” (cf.
CCC 1740). It is not my own individual private possession, but a shared
freedom with others in community. It is not found in prejudice,
deceit, or ignorance, but in truth. Christ’s words, “the truth will set
you free” (Jn 8:32), set truth as both the condition for authentic
freedom and a warning against “every kind of illusory freedom, every
superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the
whole truth about man and the world” (RH 12). “Lovers of true freedom
[are those] who come to decisions on their own judgment and in the light of
truth, and govern their activities with a sense of responsibility, striving
after what is true and right” (DH 8). The pillars of this freedom
are “the truth about Jesus the Savior, the truths about the
Church, and the truth about man and his dignity” (ITL,
XI, 5).
695. Freedom from Authentic human
freedom has many aspects. Ordinarily we become sharply aware of the value of
our freedom only when we are forced to do something against our will.
Then we realize how much we long to be free from things imposed on
us. But this “freedom from” all restraints can often result in
following selfish inclinations or blind prejudices rather than seeking what is
truly good. So St. Paul
warns us:
It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand
firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time! My
brothers, remember that you have been called to live in freedom—but not a
freedom that gives free rein to the flesh. Out of love, place yourselves at one
another’s service. My point is that you should live in accord with the spirit and you will not yield to the
cravings of the flesh (Gal 5:1,13,16).
And St. Peter adds: “Live as free men, but do not use
your freedom as a cloak for vice. In a word, live as servants of God” (1 Pt
2:16).
696. Authentic freedom, therefore, involves
first of all freedom from everything that opposes
our true self-becoming with others in community. Such, for example, are interior
obstacles like ignorance, or our disordered passions, fears, personality
defects, bad habits, prejudices or psychological
disturbances, and exterior forces, such as violent force or even
the threat of violence. These impediments to authentic freedom are commonly
traced to three sources: biological, which include inherited handicaps
and defects as well as external substances like drugs; psychological, or
interior compulsions, including those originating in the unconscious; and social
pressures such as the many economic, political, and cultural
obstacles which impede the right to freedom (cf. ccc 1740)
All these
factors diminish our freedom and thus moral imputability and our responsibility
(cf. CCC 1735). But the greatest single obstacle to authentic
freedom is SIN. Liberation to true freedom means “first
and foremost liberation from the radical slavery of sin” (Instr. on
Christian Freedom and Liberation 23).
697. Freedom for. But this freedom from
is obviously directed towards a second freedom, the more important “freedom
for.” Beyond being liberated from all the obstacles to
authentic freedom is the freedom for growing as full persons and children
of God, sharing in the life of Christ our Liberator through his Spirit.
It is the freedom found in authentic love. Of this
many-sided freedom we treat only of the personal dimension here; its
social dimensions are explained in the next chapter.
Two
levels of the individual person’s “freedom for” stand out: 1) the freedom
of choice by which I direct my moral acts, and 2) the fundamental
freedom of my very self. In the first level, we have the
freedom to choose to act in this or that way, to do good or evil. But by
consistently choosing to do the good, we gradually become free loving
persons, the second level (cf. VS 65-68). This shows how our
personal “freedom for” is both a process and a task.
Through our free choices, striving to overcome the obstacles from within and
without (task), we gradually grow (process) towards authentic, mature
fundamental (self) freedom.
698. Freedom of the Children of God.
The goal of this process and task of personal freedom is “to be set free from
slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God”
(Rom 8:21). Christ has freed us by giving to everyone the power to
conquer sin and to recover the meaning of our freedom and so attain the good
and accomplish our calling as children of God (cf. CCC 1741). Freedom
“to attain the good” simply means to “act as Jesus did” __ to
“mirror in life the Fatherhood of God as the Father’s adopted sons and
daughters in Jesus, the Son, and through Jesus’ indwelling Spirit.
Promised by Christ, the Holy Spirit is within us creating space for our
freedom and making us alive. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom” (2 Cor 3:17; cf. CCC 1742).
699. Thus it is the power of Christ’s Spirit
within us that liberates us from sin, the law and death (cf.
Rom, chap. 5), for a life of loving service of
our fellowmen, wherein we find our true selves by imitating Christ Jesus, our
Lord. For “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22f).
700. Exercise of Responsible Freedom.
But how do we learn to exercise our freedom responsibly? As Christians, we come
to know what is moral good in the light of the Gospel and human
experience. “For faith throws a new light on everything and manifests God’s
design for our total vocation, and thus directs the mind to solutions that are
fully human” (GS 11). This “new light” regarding our moral life works
through our conscience, “the most secret core and sanctuary of a
man, where he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths” (GS 16).
Moral conscience is the expression of the divine law, defining what is
good and what is evil. It impels us to do the good and to avoid evil.
It judges our behavior, approving what is good, condemning what is evil” (cf.
Rom 1:32; CCC 1778). Thus, it is our conscience that indicates for us how,
in our daily thoughts, words and deeds, we are to love God and our neighbor.
IV. Conscience
701. For most Filipinos, conscience is
understood as a kind of inner voice (tinig ng budhi) which guides us in
our moral life. This can mean our basic tendency toward the good, the “voice
always summoning us to love the good and avoid evil.” More concretely it refers
to applying objective moral norms to our particular acts: “the voice of
conscience can, when necessary, speak to our hearts more specifically: do this,
shun that.” As such, conscience acts as “the proximate norm of personal
morality” (VS 60) for discerning good and evil (cf. CCC 1796).
On our part, we perceive and acknowledge the
imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all our
activity we are bound to follow our conscience faithfully, in order to come to
God, for whom we were created (DH 3).
To obey conscience is “our
very dignity; according to it we will be judged” (GS 16; cf Rom 21:15f).
702. A common misunderstanding arises here. How
can I be free if I am “bound,” morally obliged, to follow the moral law and
dictates of conscience? This complaint is based directly on the misconception
of freedom as “doing what I want.” Our built-in tendency toward
self-centered use of freedom is so deep that only the liberating grace of God
can help us work against this abiding inner effect of original sin (cf. GS
17).
703. The truth is that freedom of
conscience carries with it a corresponding duty to respect
the same freedom in others. Each person has the right, original in
human nature, to be recognized and respected as a free and responsible being
(cf. CCC 1931; GS 27). Moral obligation, then, far from destroying
authentic freedom, pertains only to our free thoughts, words and
deeds, and guides them toward true, genuine freedom. Whenever we try to free
ourselves from the moral law and become independent of God, far from gaining
genuine freedom, we destroy it.
Vatican II
admirably captures this apparent paradox of freedom and moral obligation
co-existing: “God calls us to serve Him in Spirit and in truth. Hence we are bound
in conscience but stand under no compulsion .
. . we are to be guided by our own judgment and to enjoy freedom”
(DH 11).
704. Formation of Conscience.
But our conscience is not something “automatic.” It is gradually
shaped through all the many and complex factors that enter into our
growth to Christian maturity. Family upbringing, basic education and catechesis in the Faith, our cultural attitudes
and values, the friends we grow with in school, and the larger social
environment of the community __ all influence the development
of conscience. Crucial to correct understanding of our conscience is its
essential relational dimension. Our ongoing moral experiences,
within which our consciences gradually take shape, are never isolated,
but rather always involve countless interactions with parents, guardians,
relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, religious and priests, within the
social groupings of family, school, parish and community.
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