ENCYCLICAL LETTER VERITATIS SPLENDOR
ADDRESSED BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF
POPE JOHN PAUL II TO ALL THE BISHOPS OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH REGARDING CERTAIN FUNDAMENTAL
QUESTIONS OF THE CHURCH'S MORAL TEACHING
August 6, 1993
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, Health and the Apostolic
Blessing!
THE
SPLENDOUR OF TRUTH shines forth in all the works of the Creator
and, in a special way, in man, created in the image and likeness
of God (cf. Gen 1:26). Truth enlightens man's intelligence and
shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord. Hence
the Psalmist prays: "Let the light of your face shine on us, O
Lord" (Ps 4:6).
INTRODUCTION
Jesus Christ, The True Light that Enlightens Everyone
1.
Called to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ "the true
light that enlightens everyone" (Jn 1:9), people become "light
in the Lord" and "children of light" (Eph 5:8), and are made
holy by "obedience to the truth" (1 Pet 1:22).
This
obedience is not always easy. As a result of that mysterious
original sin, committed at the prompting of Satan, the one who
is "a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44), man is constantly
tempted to turn his gaze away from the living and true God in
order to direct it towards idols (cf. 1 Thes 1:9), exchanging
"the truth about God for a lie" (Rom 1:25). Man's capacity to
know the truth is also darkened, and his will to submit to it is
weakened. Thus, giving himself over to relativism and scepticism
(cf. Jn 18:38), he goes off in search of an illusory freedom
apart from truth itself.
But
no darkness of error or of sin can totally take away from man
the light of God the Creator. In the depths of his heart there
always remains a yearning for absolute truth and a thirst to
attain full knowledge of it. This is eloquently proved by man's
tireless search for knowledge in all fields. It is proved even
more by his search for the meaning of life. The
development of science and technology, this splendid testimony
of the human capacity for understanding and for perseverance,
does not free humanity from the obligation to ask the ultimate
religious questions. Rather, it spurs us on to face the most
painful and decisive of struggles, those of the heart and of the
moral conscience.
2.
No one can escape from the fundamental questions: What must I
do? How do I distinguish good from evil? The answer is only
possible thanks to the splendour of the truth which shines forth
deep within the human spirit, as the Psalmist bears witness:
"There are many who say: 'O that we might see some good! Let the
light of your face shine on us, O Lord’" (Ps 4:6).
The
light of God's face shines in all its beauty on the countenance
of Jesus Christ, "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15),
the "reflection of God's glory" (Heb 1:3), "full of grace and
truth" (Jn 1:14). Christ is "the way, and the truth, and the
life" (Jn 14:6). Consequently the decisive answer to every one
of man's questions, his religious and moral questions in
particular, is given by Jesus Christ, or rather is Jesus Christ
himself, as the Second Vatican Council recalls: "In fact, it
is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that light is shed
on the mystery of man. For Adam, the first man, was a figure
of the future man, namely, of Christ the Lord. It is Christ, the
last Adam, who fully discloses man to himself and unfolds his
noble calling by revealing the mystery of the Father and the
Father's love".[1]
Jesus Christ, the "light of the nations", shines upon the face
of his Church, which he sends forth to the whole world to
proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).[2] Hence
the Church, as the People of God among the nations,[3] while
attentive to the new challenges of history and to mankind's
efforts to discover the meaning of life, offers to everyone the
answer which comes from the truth about Jesus Christ and his
Gospel. The Church remains deeply conscious of her "duty in
every age of examining the signs of the times and interpreting
them in the light of the Gospel, so that she can offer in a
manner appropriate to each generation replies to the continual
human questionings on the meaning of this life and the life to
come and on how they are related".[4]
3.
The Church's Pastors, in communion with the Successor of Peter,
are close to the faithful in this effort; they guide and
accompany them by their authoritative teaching, finding ever new
ways of speaking with love and mercy not only to believers but
to all people of good will. The Second Vatican Council remains
an extraordinary witness of this attitude on the part of the
Church which, as an "expert in humanity",[5] places herself at
the service of every individual and of the whole world.[6]
The
Church knows that the issue of morality is one which deeply
touches every person; it involves all people, even those who do
not know Christ and his Gospel or God himself. She knows that it
is precisely on the path of the moral life that the way of
salvation is open to all. The Second Vatican Council clearly
recalled this when it stated that "those who without any fault
do not know anything about Christ or his Church, yet who search
for God with a sincere heart and under the influence of grace,
try to put into effect the will of God as known to them through
the dictate of conscience... can obtain eternal salvation". The
Council added: "Nor does divine Providence deny the helps that
are necessary for salvation to those who, through no fault of
their own have not yet attained to the express recognition of
God, yet who strive, not without divine grace, to lead an
upright life. For whatever goodness and truth is found in them
is considered by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel and
bestowed by him who enlightens everyone that they may in the end
have life".[7]
The
Purpose of the Present Encyclical
4.
At all times, but particularly in the last two centuries, the
Popes, whether individually or together with the College of
Bishops, have developed and proposed a moral teaching regarding
the many different spheres of human life. In Christ's
name and with his authority they have exhorted, passed judgment
and explained. In their efforts on behalf of humanity, in
fidelity to their mission, they have confirmed, supported and
consoled. With the guarantee of assistance from the Spirit of
truth they have contributed to a better understanding of moral
demands in the areas of human sexuality, the family, and social,
economic and political life. In the tradition of the Church and
in the history of humanity, their teaching represents a constant
deepening of knowledge with regard to morality.[8]
Today, however, it seems necessary to reflect on the whole of
the Church's moral teaching, with the precise goal of
recalling certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which,
in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or denied. In
fact, a new situation has come about within the Christian
community itself, which has experienced the spread of
numerous doubts and objections of a human and psychological,
social and cultural, religious and even properly theological
nature, with regard to the Church's moral teachings. It is no
longer a matter of limited and occasional dissent, but of an
overall and systematic calling into question of traditional
moral doctrine, on the basis of certain anthropological and
ethical presuppositions. At the root of these presuppositions is
the more or less obvious influence of currents of thought which
end by detaching human freedom from its essential and
constitutive relationship to truth. Thus the traditional
doctrine regarding the natural law, and the universality and the
permanent validity of its precepts, is rejected; certain of the
Church's moral teachings are found simply unacceptable; and the
Magisterium itself is considered capable of intervening in
matters of morality only in order to "exhort consciences" and to
"propose values", in the light of which each individual will
independently make his or her decisions and life choices.
In
particular, note should be taken of the lack of harmony
between the traditional response of the Church and certain
theological positions, encountered even in Seminaries and in
Faculties of Theology, with regard to questions of the
greatest importance for the Church and for the life of faith
of Christians, as well as for the life of society itself. In
particular, the question is asked: do the commandments of God,
which are written on the human heart and are part of the
Covenant, really have the capacity to clarify the daily
decisions of individuals and entire societies? Is it possible to
obey God and thus love God and neighbour, without respecting
these commandments in all circumstances? Also, an opinion is
frequently heard which questions the intrinsic and unbreakable
bond between faith and morality, as if membership in the Church
and her internal unity were to be decided on the basis of faith
alone, while in the sphere of morality a pluralism of opinions
and of kinds of behaviour could be tolerated, these being left
to the judgment of the individual subjective conscience or to
the diversity of social and cultural contexts.
5.
Given these circumstances, which still exist, I came to the
decision—as I announced in my Apostolic Letter Spiritus
Domini issued on 1 August 1987 on the second centenary of
the death of Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori--to write an
Encyclical with the aim of treating "more fully and more deeply
the issues regarding the very foundations of moral theology",[9]
foundations which are being undermined by certain present day
tendencies.
I
address myself to you, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, who
share with me the responsibility of safeguarding "sound
teaching" (2 Tim 4:3), with the intention of clearly setting
forth certain aspects of doctrine which are of crucial
importance in facing what is certainly a genuine crisis,
since the difficulties which it engenders have most serious
implications for the moral life of the faithful and for
communion in the Church, as well as for a just and fraternal
social life.
If
this Encyclical, so long awaited, is being published only now,
one of the reasons is that it seemed fitting for it to be
preceded by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which
contains a complete and systematic exposition of Christian moral
teaching. The Catechism presents the moral life of believers in
its fundamental elements and in its many aspects as the life of
the "children of God": "Recognizing in the faith their new
dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life 'worthy
of the Gospel of Christ' (Phil 1:27). Through the sacraments and
prayer they receive the grace of Christ and the gifts of his
Spirit which make them capable of such a life".[10]
Consequently, while referring back to the Catechism "as a sure
and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic
doctrine",[11] the Encyclical will limit itself to dealing with
certain fundamental questions regarding the Church's moral
teaching, taking the form of a necessary discernment about
issues being debated by ethicists and moral theologians. The
specific purpose of the present Encyclical is this: to set
forth, with regard to the problems being discussed, the
principles of a moral teaching based upon Sacred Scripture and
the living Apostolic Tradition,[12] and at the same time to shed
light on the presuppositions and consequences of the dissent
which that teaching has met.
Chapter I
"Teacher, What Good Must I Do...?"
(Mt 19:16).
Christ and the Answer to the Question About Morality
Someone came to him... (Mt 19:16)
6.
The dialogue of Jesus with the rich young man, related in
the nineteenth chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel, can serve as a
useful guide for listening once more in a lively and
direct way to his moral teaching: "Then someone came to him and
said, 'Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?' And
he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is
only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the
commandments.' He said to him, 'Which ones?' And Jesus said,
'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall
not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father
and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these; what do I
still lack?' Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me'" (Mt
19:16-21).[13]
7. "Then
someone came to him. . .". In the young man, whom Matthew's
Gospel does not name, we can recognize every person who,
consciously or not, approaches Christ the Redeemer of man and
questions him about morality. For the young man, the
"question" is not so much about rules to be followed, but
about the full meaning of life. This is in fact the
aspiration at the heart of every human decision and action, the
quiet searching and interior prompting which sets freedom in
motion. This question is ultimately an appeal to the absolute
Good which attracts us and beckons us; it is the echo of a call
from God who is the origin and goal of man's life. Precisely in
this perspective the Second Vatican Council called for a renewal
of moral theology, so that its teaching would display the lofty
vocation which the faithful have received in Christ,[14] the
only response fully capable of satisfying the desire of the
human heart.
In
order to make this "encounter" with Christ possible, God willed
his Church.
Indeed, the Church "wishes to serve this single end: that each
person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk
with each person the path of life."[15]
Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?
(Mt 19:16)
8.
The question which the rich young man puts to Jesus of Nazareth
is one which rises from the depths of his heart. It is an
essential and unavoidable question for the life of every man,
for it is about the moral good which must be done, and about
eternal life. The young man senses that there is a connection
between moral good and the fulfilment of his own destiny. He is
a devout Israelite, raised as it were in the shadow of the Law
of the Lord. If he asks Jesus this question, we can presume that
it is not because he is ignorant of the answer contained in the
Law. It is more likely that the attractiveness of the person of
Jesus had prompted within him new questions about moral good. He
feels the need to draw near to the One who had begun his
preaching with this new and decisive proclamation: "The time is
fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and
believe in the Gospel" (Mk 1:15).
People today need to turn to Christ once again in order to
receive from him the answer to their questions about what is
good and what is evil.
Christ is the Teacher, the Risen One who has life in himself and
who is always present in his Church and in the world. It is he
who opens up to the faithful the book of the Scriptures and, by
fully revealing the Father's will, teaches the truth about moral
action. At the source and summit of the economy of salvation, as
the Alpha and the Omega of human history (cf. Rev 1:8; 21:6;
22:13), Christ sheds light on man's condition and his integral
vocation. Consequently, "the man who wishes to understand
himself thoroughly--and not just in accordance with immediate,
partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and
measures of his being—must with his unrest, uncertainty and even
his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near
to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter him with all his own
self; he must 'appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the
reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find
himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he
then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deeper
wonder at himself".[16]
If
we therefore wish to go to the heart of the Gospel's moral
teaching and grasp its profound and unchanging content, we must
carefully inquire into the meaning of the question asked by the
rich young man in the Gospel and, even more, the meaning of
Jesus' reply, allowing ourselves to be guided by him. Jesus, as
a patient and sensitive teacher, answers the young man by taking
him, as it were, by the hand, and leading him step by step to
the full truth.
There is only one who is good
(Mt 19:17)
9.
Jesus says: "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only
one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the
commandments" (Mt 19:17). In the versions of the Evangelists
Mark and Luke the question is phrased in this way: "Why do you
call me good? No one is good but God alone" (Mk 10:18; cf. Lk
18:19).
Before answering the question, Jesus wishes the young man to
have a clear idea of why he asked his question. The "Good
Teacher" points out to him--and to all of us--that the answer to
the question, "What good must I do to have eternal life?" can
only be found by turning one's mind and heart to the "One" who
is good: "No one is good but God alone" (Mk 10:18; cf. Lk
18:19). Only God can answer the question about what is good,
because he is the Good itself.
To
ask about the good,
in fact, ultimately means to turn towards God, the
fullness of goodness. Jesus shows that the young man's question
is really a religious question, and that the goodness
that attracts and at the same time obliges man has its source in
God, and indeed is God himself. God alone is worthy of being
loved "with all one's heart, and with all one's soul, and with
all one's mind" (Mt 22:37). He is the source of man's happiness.
Jesus brings the question about morally good action back to its
religious foundations, to the acknowledgment of God, who alone
is goodness, fullness of life, the final end of human activity,
and perfect happiness.
10.
The Church, instructed by the Teacher's words, believes that
man, made in the image of the Creator, redeemed by the Blood of
Christ and made holy by the presence of the Holy Spirit, has as
the ultimate purpose of his life to live "for the
praise of God's glory" (cf. Eph 1:12), striving to make each
of his actions reflect the splendour of that glory. "Know, then,
O beautiful soul, that you are the image of God", writes
Saint Ambrose. "Know that you are the glory of God (1 Cor
11:7). Hear how you are his glory. The Prophet says: Your
knowledge has become too wonderful for me (cf. Ps. 138:6,
Vulg.). That is to say, in my work your majesty has become more
wonderful; in the counsels of men your wisdom is exalted. When I
consider myself, such as I am known to you in my secret thoughts
and deepest emotions, the mysteries of your knowledge are
disclosed to me. Know then, O man, your greatness, and be
vigilant".[17]
What
man is and what he must do becomes clear as soon as God reveals
himself.
The Decalogue is based on these words: "I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage" (Ex 20:2-3). In the "ten words" of the Covenant with
Israel, and in the whole Law, God makes himself known and
acknowledged as the One who "alone is good"; the One who despite
man's sin remains the "model" for moral action, in accordance
with his command, "You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am
holy" (Lev 19:2); as the One who, faithful to his love for man,
gives him his Law (cf. Ex 19:9-24 and 20:18-21) in order to
restore man's original and peaceful harmony with the Creator and
with all creation, and, what is more, to draw him into his
divine love: "I will walk among you, and will be your God, and
you shall be my people" (Lev 26:12).
The
moral life presents itself as the response
due to the many gratuitous initiatives taken by God out of love
for man. It is a response of love, according to the statement
made in Deuteronomy about the fundamental commandment: "Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your might. And these words which I command you this
day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them
diligently to your children" (Dt 6:4-7). Thus the moral life,
caught up in the gratuitousness of God's love, is called to
reflect his glory: "For the one who loves God it is enough to be
pleasing to the One whom he loves: for no greater reward should
be sought than that love itself; charity in fact is of God in
such a way that God himself is charity".[18]
11.
The statement that "There is only one who is good" thus brings
us back to the "first tablet" of the commandments, which calls
us to acknowledge God as the one Lord of all and to worship him
alone for his infinite holiness (cf. Ex 20:2-11). The good is
belonging to God, obeying him, walking humbly with him in
doing justice and in loving kindness (cf. Mic 6:8).
Acknowledging the Lord as God is the very core, the heart of the
Law, from which the particular precepts flow and towards
which they are ordered. In the morality of the commandments the
fact that the people of Israel belongs to the Lord is made
evident, because God alone is the One who is good. Such is the
witness of Sacred Scripture, imbued in every one of its pages
with a lively perception of God's absolute holiness: "Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts" (Is 6:3).
But
if God alone is the Good, no human effort, not even the most
rigorous observance of the commandments, succeeds in
"fulfilling" the Law, that is, acknowledging the Lord as God and
rendering him the worship due to him alone (cf. Mt 4:10).
This "fulfilment" can come only from a gift of God: the
offer of a share in the divine Goodness revealed and
communicated in Jesus, the one whom the rich young man addresses
with the words "Good Teacher" (Mk 10:17; Lk 18:18). What the
young man now perhaps only dimly perceives will in the end be
fully revealed by Jesus himself in the invitation: "Come, follow
me" (Mt 19:21).
If
you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments
(Mt 19:17)
12.
Only God can answer the question about the good, because he is
the Good. But God has already given an answer to this question:
he did so by creating man and ordering him with wisdom
and love to his final end, through the law which is inscribed in
his heart (cf. Rom 2:15), the "natural law". The latter "is
nothing other than the light of understanding infused in us by
God, whereby we understand what must be done and what must be
avoided. God gave this light and this law to man at
creation".[19] He also did so in the history of Israel,
particularly in the "ten words", the commandments of Sinai,
whereby he brought into existence the people of the Covenant
(cf. Ex 24) and called them to be his "own possession among all
peoples", "a holy nation" (Ex 19:5-6), which would radiate his
holiness to all peoples (cf. Wis 18:4; Ez 20:41). The gift of
the Decalogue was a promise and sign of the New Covenant,
in which the law would be written in a new and definitive way
upon the human heart (cf. Jer 31:31-34), replacing the law of
sin which had disfigured that heart (cf. Jer 17:1). In those
days, "a new heart" would be given, for in it would dwell "a new
spirit", the Spirit of God (cf. Ez 36:24-28).[20]
Consequently, after making the important clarification: "There
is only one who is good", Jesus tells the young man: "If you
wish to enter into life, keep the commandments" (Mt 19:17). In
this way, a close connection is made between eternal life and
obedience to God's commandments: God's commandments show man
the path of life and they lead to it. From the very lips of
Jesus, the new Moses, man is once again given the commandments
of the Decalogue. Jesus himself definitively confirms them and
proposes them to us as the way and condition of salvation.
The commandments are linked to a promise. In the Old
Covenant the object of the promise was the possession of a land
where the people would be able to live in freedom and in
accordance with righteousness (cf. Dt 6:20-25). In the New
Covenant the object of the promise is the "Kingdom of Heaven",
as Jesus declares at the beginning of the "Sermon on the
Mount"--a sermon which contains the fullest and most complete
formulation of the New Law (cf. Mt 5-7), clearly linked to the
Decalogue entrusted by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. This same
reality of the Kingdom is referred to in the expression "eternal
life", which is a participation in the very life of God. It is
attained in its perfection only after death, but in faith it is
even now a light of truth, a source of meaning for life, an
inchoate share in the full following of Christ. Indeed, Jesus
says to his disciples after speaking to the rich young man:
"Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive
a hundredfold and inherit eternal life" (Mt 19:29).
13.
Jesus' answer is not enough for the young man, who continues by
asking the Teacher about the commandments which must be kept:
"He said to him, 'Which ones?'" (Mt 19:18). He asks what he must
do in life in order to show that he acknowledges God's holiness.
After directing the young man's gaze towards God, Jesus reminds
him of the commandments of the Decalogue regarding one's
neighbour: "Jesus said: 'You shall not murder; You shall not
commit adultery; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your
father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as
yourself " (Mt 19:18-19).
From
the context of the conversation, and especially from a
comparison of Matthew's text with the parallel passages in Mark
and Luke, it is clear that Jesus does not intend to list each
and every one of the commandments required in order to "enter
into life", but rather wishes to draw the young man's attention
to the "centrality" of the Decalogue with regard to every
other precept, inasmuch as it is the interpretation of what the
words "I am the Lord your God" mean for man. Nevertheless we
cannot fail to notice which commandments of the Law the Lord
recalls to the young man. They are some of the commandments
belonging to the so-called "second tablet" of the Decalogue, the
summary (cf. Rom 13:8-10) and foundation of which is the
commandment of love of neighbour: "You shall love your
neighbour as yourself" (Mt 19:19; cf. Mk 12:31). In this
commandment we find a precise expression of the singular
dignity of the human person, "the only creature that God has
wanted for its own sake".[21] The different commandments of the
Decalogue are really only so many reflections of the one
commandment about the good of the person, at the level of the
many different goods which characterize his identity as a
spiritual and bodily being in relationship with God, with his
neighbour and with the material world. As we read in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, "the Ten Commandments are
part of God's Revelation. At the same time, they teach us man's
true humanity. They shed light on the essential duties, and so
indirectly on the fundamental rights, inherent in the nature of
the human person".[22]
The
commandments of which Jesus reminds the young man are meant to
safeguard the good of the person, the image of God, by
protecting his goods. "You shall not murder; You shall
not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear
false witness" are moral rules formulated in terms of
prohibitions. These negative precepts express with particular
force the ever urgent need to protect human life, the communion
of persons in marriage, private property, truthfulness and
people's good name.
The
commandments thus represent the basic condition for love of
neighbour; at the same time they are the proof of that love.
They are the first necessary step on the journey towards
freedom, its starting-point. "The beginning of freedom",
Saint Augustine writes, "is to be free from crimes... such as
murder, adultery, fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege and so
forth. When once one is without these crimes (and every
Christian should be without them), one begins to lift up one's
head towards freedom. But this is only the beginning of freedom,
not perfect freedom...".[23]
14.
This certainly does not mean that Christ wishes to put the love
of neighbour higher than, or even to set it apart from, the love
of God. This is evident from his conversation with the teacher
of the Law, who asked him a question very much like the one
asked by the young man. Jesus refers him to the two
commandments of love of God and love of neighbour (cf. Lk
10:25-27), and reminds him that only by observing them will he
have eternal life: "Do this, and you will live" (Lk 10:28).
Nonetheless it is significant that it is precisely the second of
these commandments which arouses the curiosity of the teacher of
the Law, who asks him: "And who is my neighbour?" (Lk 10:29).
The Teacher replies with the parable of the Good Samaritan,
which is critical for fully understanding the commandment of
love of neighbour (cf. Lk 10:30-37).
These two commandments, on which "depend all the Law and the
Prophets" (Mt 22:40), are profoundly connected and mutually
related. Their inseparable unity is attested to by Christ
in his words and by his very life: his mission culminates in the
Cross of our Redemption (cf. Jn 3:14-15), the sign of his
indivisible love for the Father and for humanity (cf. Jn 13:1).
Both
the Old and the New Testaments explicitly affirm that without
love of neighbour, made concrete in keeping the
commandments, genuine love for God is not possible. Saint
John makes the point with extraordinary forcefulness: "If anyone
says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he
who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God
whom he has not seen" (1 Jn 4:20). The Evangelist echoes the
moral preaching of Christ, expressed in a wonderful and
unambiguous way in the parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk
10:30-37) and in his words about the final judgment (cf. Mt
25:31-46).
15.
In the "Sermon on the Mount", the magna charta of Gospel
morality,[24] Jesus says: "Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have come not to abolish
them but to fulfil them" (Mt 5:17). Christ is the key to the
Scriptures: "You search the Scriptures...; and it is they that
bear witness to me" (Jn 5:39). Christ is the centre of the
economy of salvation, the recapitulation of the Old and New
Testaments, of the promises of the Law and of their fulfilment
in the Gospel; he is the living and eternal link between the Old
and the New Covenants. Commenting on Paul's statement that
"Christ is the end of the law" (Rom 10:4), Saint Ambrose writes:
"end not in the sense of a deficiency, but in the sense of the
fullness of the Law: a fullness which is achieved in Christ (plenitudo
legis in Christo est), since he came not to abolish the Law
but to bring it to fulfilment. In the same way that there is an
Old Testament, but all truth is in the New Testament, so it is
for the Law: what was given through Moses is a figure of the
true law. Therefore, the Mosaic Law is an image of the
truth".[25]
Jesus brings God's commandments to fulfilment,
particularly the commandment of love of neighbour, by
interiorizing their demands and by bringing out their fullest
meaning. Love of neighbour springs from a loving heart
which, precisely because it loves, is ready to live out the
loftiest challenges. Jesus shows that the commandments must
not be understood as a minimum limit not to be gone beyond, but
rather as a path involving a moral and spiritual journey towards
perfection, at the heart of which is love (cf. Col 3:14). Thus
the commandment "You shall not murder" becomes a call to an
attentive love which protects and promotes the life of one's
neighbour. The precept prohibiting adultery becomes an
invitation to a pure way of looking at others, capable of
respecting the spousal meaning of the body: "You have heard that
it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and
whoever kills shall be liable to judgment'. But I say to you
that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to
judgment...You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not
commit adultery'. But I say to you that every one who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his
heart" (Mt 5:21-22,27-28). Jesus himself is the living
"fulfilment" of the Law inasmuch as he fulfils its authentic
meaning by the total gift of himself: he himself becomes a
living and personal Law, who invites people to follow him;
through the Spirit, he gives the grace to share his own life and
love and provides the strength to bear witness to that love in
personal choices and actions (cf. Jn 13:34-35).
If
you wish to be perfect
(Mt 19:21)
16.
The answer he receives about the commandments does not satisfy
the young man, who asks Jesus a further question. "I have kept
all these; what do I still lack?" (Mt 19:20). It is not
easy to say with a clear conscience "I have kept all these", if
one has any understanding of the real meaning of the demands
contained in God's Law. And yet, even though heis able to make
this reply, even though he has followed the moral ideal
seriously and generously from childhood, the rich young man
knows that he is still far from the goal: before the person of
Jesus he realizes that he is still lacking something. It is his
awareness of this insufficiency that Jesus addresses in his
final answer. Conscious of the young man's yearning for
something greater, which would transcend a legalistic
interpretation of the commandments, the Good Teacher invites
him to enter upon the path of perfection: "If you wish to be
perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow
me" (Mt 19:21).
Like
the earlier part of Jesus' answer, this part too must be read
and interpreted in the context of the whole moral message of the
Gospel, and in particular in the context of the Sermon on the
Mount, the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:3-12), the first of which is
precisely the Beatitude of the poor, the "poor in spirit" as
Saint Matthew makes clear (Mt 5:3), the humble. In this sense it
can be said that the Beatitudes are also relevant to the answer
given by Jesus to the young man's question: "What good must I do
to have eternal life?". Indeed, each of the Beatitudes promises,
from a particular viewpoint, that very "good" which opens man up
to eternal life, and indeed is eternal life.
The
Beatitudes
are not specifically concerned with certain particular rules of
behaviour. Rather, they speak of basic attitudes and
dispositions in life and therefore they do not coincide
exactly with the commandments. On the other hand, there
is no separation or opposition between the Beatitudes and
the commandments: both refer to the good, to eternal life. The
Sermon on the Mount begins with the proclamation of the
Beatitudes, but also refers to the commandments (cf. Mt
5:20-48). At the same time, the Sermon on the Mount demonstrates
the openness of the commandments and their orientation towards
the horizon of the perfection proper to the Beatitudes. These
latter are above all promises, from which there also
indirectly flow normative indications for the moral life.
In their originality and profundity they are a sort of
self-portrait of Christ, and for this very reason are
invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ.[26]
17.
We do not know how clearly the young man in the Gospel
understood the profound and challenging import of Jesus' first
reply: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments".
But it is certain that the young man's commitment to respect all
the moral demands of the commandments represents the absolutely
essential ground in which the desire for perfection can take
root and mature, the desire, that is, for the meaning of the
commandments to be completely fulfilled in following Christ.
Jesus' conversation with the young man helps us to grasp the
conditions for the moral growth of man, who has been called to
perfection: the young man, having observed all the
commandments, shows that he is incapable of taking the next step
by himself alone. To do so requires mature human freedom ("If
you wish to be perfect") and God's gift of grace ("Come, follow
me").
Perfection demands that maturity in self-giving to which human
freedom is called.
Jesus points out to the young man that the commandments are the
first and indispensable condition for having eternal life; on
the other hand, for the young man to give up all he possesses
and to follow the Lord is presented as an invitation: "If you
wish...". These words of Jesus reveal the particular dynamic of
freedom's growth towards maturity, and at the same time they
bear witness to the fundamental relationship between freedom and
divine law. Human freedom and God's law are not in
opposition; on the contrary, they appeal one to the other. The
follower of Christ knows that his vocation is to freedom. "You
were called to freedom, brethren" (Gal 5:13), proclaims the
Apostle Paul with joy and pride. But he immediately adds: "only
do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but
through love be servants of one another" (ibid.). The
firmness with which the Apostle opposes those who believe that
they are justified by the Law has nothing to do with man's
"liberation" from precepts. On the contrary, the latter are at
the service of the practice of love: "For he who loves his
neighbour has fulfilled the Law. The commandments, You shall
not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal;
You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed
up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbour as
yourself " (Rom 13:8-9). Saint Augustine, after speaking of
the observance of the commandments as being a kind of incipient,
imperfect freedom, goes on to say: "Why, someone will ask, is it
law of my reason' ... In part freedom, in part slavery: not yet
complete freedom, not yet pure, not yet whole, because we are
not yet in eternity. In part we retain our weakness and in part
we have attained freedom. All our sins were destroyed in
Baptism, but does it follow that no weakness remained after
iniquity was destroyed? Had none remained, we would live without
sin in this life. But who would dare to say this except someone
who is proud, someone unworthy of the mercy of our deliverer?...
Therefore, since some weakness has remained in us, I dare to say
that to the extent to which we serve God we are free, while to
the extent that we follow the law of sin, we are still
slaves".[27]
18.
Those who live "by the flesh" experience God's law as a burden,
and indeed as a denial or at least a restriction of their own
freedom. On the other hand, those who are impelled by love and
"walk by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16), and who desire to serve others,
find in God's Law the fundamental and necessary way in which to
practise love as something freely chosen and freely lived out.
Indeed, they feel an interior urge--a genuine "necessity" and no
longer a form of coercion--not to stop at the minimum demands of
the Law, but to live them in their "fullness". This is a still
uncertain and fragile journey as long as we are on earth, but it
is one made possible by grace, which enables us to possess the
full freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21) and thus to
live our moral life in a way worthy of our sublime vocation as
"sons in the Son".
This
vocation to perfect love is not restricted to a small group of
individuals. The invitation, "go, sell your possessions
and give the money to the poor", and the promise "you will have
treasure in heaven", are meant for everyone, because they
bring out the full meaning of the commandment of love for
neighbour, just as the invitation which follows, "Come, follow
me", is the new, specific form of the commandment of love of
God. Both the commandments and Jesus' invitation to the rich
young man stand at the service of a single and indivisible
charity, which spontaneously tends towards that perfection whose
measure is God alone: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48). In the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus makes even clearer the meaning of this perfection: "Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36).
"Come, follow me" (Mt 19:2 1)
19.
The way and at the same time the content of this perfection
consist in the following of Jesus, sequela Christi, once
one has given up one's own wealth and very self. This is
precisely the conclusion of Jesus' conversation with the young
man: "Come, follow me" (Mt 19:21). It is an invitation the
marvellous grandeur of which will be fully perceived by the
disciples after Christ's Resurrection, when the Holy Spirit
leads them to all truth (cf. Jn 16:13).
It
is Jesus himself who takes the initiative and calls people to
follow him. His call is addressed first to those to whom he
entrusts a particular mission, beginning with the Twelve; but it
is also clear that every believer is called to be a follower of
Christ (cf. Acts 6:1). Following Christ is thus the essential
and primordial foundation of Christian morality: just as the
people of Israel followed God who led them through the desert
towards the Promised Land (cf. Ex 13:21), so every disciple must
follow Jesus, towards whom he is drawn by the Father himself
(cf. Jn 6:44).
This
is not a matter only of disposing oneself to hear a teaching and
obediently accepting a commandment. More radically, it involves
holding fast to the very person of Jesus, partaking of
his life and his destiny, sharing in his free and loving
obedience to the will of the Father. By responding in faith and
following the one who is Incarnate Wisdom, the disciple of Jesus
truly becomes a disciple of God (cf. Jn 6:45). Jesus is
indeed the light of the world, the light of life (cf. Jn 8:12).
He is the shepherd who leads his sheep and feeds them (cf. Jn
10:11-16); he is the way, and the truth, and the life (cf. Jn
14:6). It is Jesus who leads to the Father, so much so that to
see him, the Son, is to see the Father (cf. Jn 14:6-10). And
thus to imitate the Son, "the image of the invisible God" (Col
1:15), means to imitate the Father.
20.
Jesus asks us to follow him and to imitate him along the path
of love, a love which gives itself completely to the brethren
out of love for God: "This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12). The word "as"
requires imitation of Jesus and of his love, of which the
washing of feet is a sign: "If I then, your Lord and Teacher,
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I
have done to you" (Jn 13:14-15). Jesus' way of acting and his
words, his deeds and his precepts constitute the moral rule of
Christian life. Indeed, his actions, and in particular his
Passion and Death on the Cross, are the living revelation of his
love for the Father and for others. This is exactly the love
that Jesus wishes to be imitated by all who follow him. It is
the "new" commandment: "A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you
also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:34-35).
The
word "as" also indicates the degree of Jesus' love, and
of the love with which his disciples are called to love one
another. After saying: "This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12), Jesus continues
with words which indicate the sacrificial gift of his life on
the Cross, as the witness to a love "to the end" (Jn 13:1):
"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends" (Jn 15:13).
As
he calls the young man to follow him along the way of
perfection, Jesus asks him to be perfect in the command of love,
in "his" commandment: to become part of the unfolding of his
complete giving, to imitate and rekindle the very love of the
"Good" Teacher, the one who loved "to the end". This is what
Jesus asks of everyone who wishes to follow him: "If any man
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me" (Mt 16:24).
21.
Following Christ is not an outward imitation, since it
touches man at the very depths of his being. Being a follower of
Christ means becoming conformed to him who became a
servant even to giving himself on the Cross (cf. Phil 2:5-8).
Christ dwells by faith in the heart of the believer (cf. Eph
3:17), and thus the disciple is conformed to the Lord. This is
the effect of grace, of the active presence of the Holy
Spirit in us.
Having become one with Christ, the Christian becomes a member
of his Body, which is the Church (cf. 1 Cor 12:13,27). By
the work of the Spirit, Baptism radically configures the
faithful to Christ in the Paschal Mystery of death and
resurrection; it "clothes him" in Christ (cf. Gal 3:27): "Let us
rejoice and give thanks", exclaims Saint Augustine speaking to
the baptized, "for we have become not only Christians, but
Christ (...). Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ!".[28]
Having died to sin, those who are baptized receive new life (cf.
Rom 6:3-11): alive for God in Christ Jesus, they are called to
walk by the Spirit and to manifest the Spirit's fruits in their
lives (cf. Gal 5:16-25). Sharing in the Eucharist, the
sacrament of the New Covenant (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-29), is the
culmination of our assimilation to Christ, the source of
"eternal life" (cf. Jn 6:51-58), the source and power of that
complete gift of self, which Jesus--according to the testimony
handed on by Paul--commands us to commemorate in liturgy and in
life: "As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26).
With
God all things are possible
(Mt 19:26)
22.
The conclusion of Jesus' conversation with the rich young man is
very poignant: "When the young man heard this, he went away
sorrowful, for he had many possessions" (Mt 19:22). Not only the
rich man but the disciples themselves are taken aback by Jesus'
call to discipleship, the demands of which transcend human
aspirations and abilities: "When the disciples heard this, they
were greatly astounded and said, 'Then who can be saved?"' (Mt
19:25). But the Master refers them to God's power: "With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Mt
19:26).
In
the same chapter of Matthew's Gospel (19:3-10), Jesus,
interpreting the Mosaic Law on marriage, rejects the right to
divorce, appealing to a "beginning" more fundamental and more
authoritative than the Law of Moses: God's original plan for
mankind, a plan which man after sin has no longer been able to
live up to: "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to
divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (Mt
19:8). Jesus' appeal to the "beginning" dismays the disciples,
who remark: "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is
not expedient to marry" (Mt 19:10). And Jesus, referring
specifically to the charism of celibacy "for the Kingdom of
Heaven" (Mt 19:12), but stating a general rule, indicates the
new and surprising possibility opened up to man by God's grace.
"He said to them: 'Not everyone can accept this saying, but only
those to whom it is given"' (Mt 19:11).
To
imitate and live out the love of Christ is not possible for man
by his own strength alone. He becomes capable of this love
only by virtue of a gift received. As the Lord Jesus
receives the love of his Father, so he in turn freely
communicates that love to his disciples: "As the Father has
loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love" (Jn 15:9).
Christ's gift is his Spirit, whose first "fruit" (cf. Gal
5:22) is charity: "God's love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom 5:5).
Saint Augustine asks: "Does love bring about the keeping of the
commandments, or does the keeping of the commandments bring
about love?" And he answers: "But who can doubt that love comes
first? For the one who does not love has no reason for keeping
the commandments".[29]
23.
"The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free
from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2). With these words the
Apostle Paul invites us to consider in the perspective of the
history of salvation, which reaches its fulfilment in Christ,
the relationship between the (Old) Law and grace (the
New Law). He recognizes the pedagogic function of the Law,
which, by enabling sinful man to take stock of his own
powerlessness and by stripping him of the presumption of his
self-sufficiency, leads him to ask for and to receive "life in
the Spirit". Only in this new life is it possible to carry out
God's commandments. Indeed, it is through faith in Christ that
we have been made righteous (cf. Rom 3:28): the "righteousness"
which the Law demands, but is unable to give, is found by every
believer to be revealed and granted by the Lord Jesus. Once
again it is Saint Augustine who admirably sums up this Pauline
dialectic of law and grace: "The law was given that grace might
be sought; and grace was given, that the law might be
fulfilled".[30]
Love
and life according to the Gospel cannot be thought of first and
foremost as a kind of precept, because what they demand is
beyond man's abilities. They are possible only as the result of
a gift of God who heals, restores and transforms the human heart
by his grace: "For the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ" (Jn 1:17). The promise of
eternal life is thus linked to the gift of grace, and the gift
of the Spirit which we have received is even now the "guarantee
of our inheritance" (Eph 1:14).
24.
And so we find revealed the authentic and original aspect of the
commandment of love and of the perfection to which it is
ordered: we are speaking of a possibility opened up to man
exclusively by grace, by the gift of God, by his love. On
the other hand, precisely the awareness of having received the
gift, of possessing in Jesus Christ the love of God, generates
and sustains the free response of a full love for God and
the brethren, as the Apostle John insistently reminds us in his
first Letter: "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of
God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for
God is love... Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to
love one another.. . We love, because he first loved us" (1 Jn
4:7-8,11,19).
This
inseparable connection between the Lord's grace and human
freedom, between gift and task, has been expressed in simple yet
profound words by Saint Augustine in his prayer: "Da quod
iubes et iube quod vis" (grant what you command and command
what you will).[31]
The
gift does not lessen but reinforces the moral demands of love:
"This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of
his Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he has
commanded us" (1 Jn 3:32). One can "abide" in love only by
keeping the commandments, as Jesus states: "If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love" (Jn 15:10).
Going to the heart of the moral message of Jesus and the
preaching of the Apostles, and summing up in a remarkable way
the great tradition of the Fathers of the East and West, and of
Saint Augustine in particular,[32] Saint Thomas was able to
write that "the New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit given
through faith in Christ.[33] The external precepts also
mentioned in the Gospel dispose one for this grace or produce
its effects in one's life. Indeed, the New Law is not content to
say what must be done, but also gives the power to "do what is
true" (cf. Jn 3:21). Saint John Chrysostom likewise observed
that the New Law was promulgated at the descent of the Holy
Spirit from heaven on the day of Pentecost, and that the
Apostles "did not come down from the mountain carrying, like
Moses, tablets of stone in their hands; but they came down
carrying the Holy Spirit in their hearts...having become by his
grace a living law, a living book".[34]
Lo,
I am with you always, to the close of the age
(Mt 28:20)
25.
Jesus' conversation with the rich young man continues, in a
sense, in every period of history, including our own. The
question: "Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?"
arises in the heart of every individual, and it is Christ alone
who is capable of giving the full and definitive answer. The
Teacher who expounds God's commandments, who invites others to
follow him and gives the grace for a new life, is always present
and at work in our midst, as he himself promised: "Lo, I am with
you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20). Christ's
relevance for people of all times is shown forth in his body,
which is the Church. For this reason the Lord promised his
disciples the Holy Spirit, who would "bring to their
remembrance" and teach them to understand his commandments (cf.
Jn 14:26), and who would be the principle and constant source of
a new life in the world (cf. Jn 3:5-8; Rom 8:1-13).
The
moral prescriptions which God imparted in the Old Covenant, and
which attained their perfection in the New and Eternal Covenant
in the very person of the Son of God made man, must be
faithfully kept and continually put into practice in the
various different cultures throughout the course of history. The
task of interpreting these prescriptions was entrusted by Jesus
to the Apostles and to their successors, with the special
assistance of the Spirit of truth: "He who hears you hears me"
(Lk 10:16). By the light and the strength of this Spirit the
Apostles carried out their mission of preaching the Gospel and
of pointing out the "way" of the Lord (cf. Acts 18:25), teaching
above all how to follow and imitate Christ: "For to me to live
is Christ" (Phil 1:21).
26.
In the moral catechesis of the Apostles, besides
exhortations and directions connected to specific historical and
cultural situations, we find an ethical teaching with precise
rules of behaviour. This is seen in their Letters, which contain
the interpretation, made under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
of the Lord's precepts as they are to be lived in different
cultural circumstances (cf. Rom 12-15; 1 Cor 11-14; Gal 5-6; Eph
4-6; Col 3-4; 1 Pt and Jas). From the Church's beginnings, the
Apostles, by virtue of their pastoral responsibility to preach
the Gospel, were vigilant over the right conduct of
Christians,[35] just as they were vigilant for the purity of
the faith and the handing down of the divine gifts in the
sacraments.[36] The first Christians, coming both from the
Jewish people and from the Gentiles, differed from the pagans
not only in their faith and their liturgy but also in the
witness of their moral conduct, which was inspired by the New
Law.[37] The Church is in fact a communion both of faith and of
life; her rule of life is "faith working through love" (Gal
5:6).
No
damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life:
the unity of the Church is damaged not only by Christians
who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who
disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the
Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 5:9-13). The Apostles decisively rejected any
separation between the commitment of the heart and the actions
which express or prove it (cf. 1 Jn 2:3-6). And ever since
Apostolic times the Church's Pastors have unambiguously
condemned the behaviour of those who fostered division by their
teaching or by their actions.[38]
27.
Within the unity of the Church, promoting and preserving the
faith and the moral life is the task entrusted by Jesus to the
Apostles (cf. Mt 28:19-20), a task which continues in the
ministry of their successors. This is apparent from the
living Tradition, whereby--as the Second Vatican Council
teaches--"the Church, in her teaching, life and worship,
perpetuates and hands on to every generation all that she is and
all that she believes. This Tradition which comes from the
Apostles, progresses in the Church under the assistance of the
Holy Spirit".[39] In the Holy Spirit, the Church receives and
hands down the Scripture as the witness to the "great things"
which God has done in history (cf. Lk 1:49); she professes by
the lips of her Fathers and Doctors the truth of the Word made
flesh, puts his precepts and love into practice in the lives of
her Saints and in the sacrifice of her Martyrs, and celebrates
her hope in him in the Liturgy. By this same Tradition
Christians receive "the living voice of the Gospel",[40] as the
faithful expression of God's wisdom and will.
Within Tradition, the authentic interpretation of the
Lord's law develops, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The same
Spirit who is at the origin of the Revelation of Jesus'
commandments and teachings guarantees that they will be
reverently preserved, faithfully expounded and correctly applied
in different times and places. This constant "putting into
practice" of the commandments is the sign and fruit of a deeper
insight into Revelation and of an understanding in the light of
faith of new historical and cultural situations. Nevertheless,
it can only confirm the permanent validity of revelation and
follow in the line of the interpretation given to it by the
great Tradition of the Church's teaching and life, as witnessed
by the teaching of the Fathers, the lives of the Saints, the
Church's Liturgy and the teaching of the Magisterium.
In
particular, as the Council affirms, "the task of
authentically interpreting the word of God, whether in its
written form or in that of Tradition, has been entrusted only to
those charged with the Church's living Magisterium, whose
authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."[41] The
Church, in her life and teaching, is thus revealed as "the
pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Tm 3:15), including the
truth regarding moral action. Indeed, "the Church has the right
always and everywhere to proclaim moral principles, even in
respect of the social order, and to make judgments about any
human matter in so far as this is required by fundamental human
rights or the salvation of souls."[42]
Precisely on the questions frequently debated in moral theology
today and with regard to which new tendencies and theories have
developed, the Magisterium, in fidelity to Jesus Christ and in
continuity with the Church's tradition, senses more urgently the
duty to offer its own discernment and teaching, in order to help
man in his journey towards truth and freedom.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
Copyright © 2006 SCTJM
