THE PERFECTION 0F CHARITY

64 The action of the Spirit of Christ is made clear when the peculiar characteristic of Christian moral teaching s brought to light; ail precepts and counsels of this moral teaching are summarised in faith working through charity (cf. Gal. 5, 6), and this is as it were its soul.

Man is called to adhere freely to the will of God in ail things; this is "the obedience of faith by which man entrusts his whole self freely to God" (DV, 5). However, since God is love, and his plan calls for communicating his love in Jesus Christ and for uniting men in mutual love, it follows that adhering freely and perfectly to God and to his will is the same as following a way of life in which love reigns in the keeping of the commandments; in other words, it is identical with embracing and putting into practice the precept of charity as a new precept.

Man, therefore, is called to embrace, in faith, a life of charity toward God and other men; in this lies his greatest responsibility and his exalted moral dignity. The holiness of a man, whatever his vocation or state of life may be, is nothing other than the perfection of charity (of LG, 39-42)