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CONCLUSION
17. In
Jesus Christ all things have been made new (cf. Rev 21:5). Renewal in
grace, however, cannot take place without conversion of heart. Gazing at Jesus
and confessing him as Lord means recognizing the path of love, triumphant over
sin, which he sets out for his disciples.
In this way, man's
relationship with woman is transformed, and the three-fold concupiscence
described in the First Letter of John (1 Jn 2:16) ceases to have the
upper hand. The witness of women's lives must be received with respect and
appreciation, as revealing those values without which humanity would be closed
in self-sufficiency, dreams of power and the drama of violence. Women too, for
their part, need to follow the path of conversion and recognize the unique
values and great capacity for loving others which their femininity bears. In
both cases, it is a question of humanity's conversion to God, so that both men and
women may come to know God as their “helper”, as the Creator full of
tenderness, as the Redeemer who “so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son” (Jn 3:16).
Such a conversion cannot
take place without humble prayer to God for that penetrating gaze which is able
to recognize one's own sin and also the grace which heals it. In a particular
way, we need to ask this of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the woman in accord with
the heart of God, she who is “blessed among women” (cf. Lk 1:42), chosen
to reveal to men and women the way of love. Only in this way, can the “image of
God”, the sacred likeness inscribed in every man and woman, emerge according to
the specific grace received by each (cf. Gn 1:27). Only thus can the
path of peace and wonderment be recovered, witnessed in the verses of the Song
of Songs, where bodies and hearts celebrate the same jubilee.
The Church certainly
knows the power of sin at work in individuals and in societies, which at times
almost leads one to despair of the goodness of married couples. But through her
faith in Jesus crucified and risen, the Church knows even more the power of
forgiveness and self-giving in spite of any injury or injustice. The peace and
wonderment which she trustfully proposes to men and women today are the peace
and wonderment of the garden of the resurrection, which have enlightened our
world and its history with the revelation that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16).
The Sovereign Pontiff
John Paul II, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect,
approved the present Letter, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this
Congregation, and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, May 31, 2004, the Feast of
the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
+ Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect
+ Angelo Amato, SDB
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary
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