DIRECT REFERENCES TO THE DIVINE WILL
IN THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
God Reveals His "Plan Of Loving Goodness"
51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to
reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should
have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and
thus become sharers in the divine nature." (p. 19)
God creates by wisdom and love
295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. It is not the
product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it
proceeds from God’s free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being,
wisdom, and goodness: "For you created all things, and by your will they
existed and were created." Therefore the Psalmist exclaims: "O Lord, how
manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all"; and "The Lord is
good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made." (p. 77)
Man In Paradise
375 The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic
way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first parents, Adam
and Eve, were constituted in an original "state of holiness and justice." This
grace of original holiness was "to share in . . . divine life." (p.95)
Man’s first sin
398 In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned
him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely
status and therefore against his own good. Created in a state of holiness, man was
destined to be fully "divinized" by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he
wanted to "be like God," but "without God, before God, and not in
accordance with God." (p. 100)
The consequences of Adam’s sin for humanity
404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human
race is in Adam "as one body of one man." By this "unity of the human race;
all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice.
Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But
we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for
himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve
committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they
would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by
propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of
original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called "sin" only
in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed"-
a state and not an act. (p. 102)
Why Did The Word Become Flesh?
460 The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine
nature." For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son
of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine
sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we
might become God." The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his
divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods." (p. 116)
Christ’s human will
475 Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the
Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and
human. They are not opposed to each other, but cooperate in such a way that the Word made
flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the
Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. Christ’s human will "does not
resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will." (p. 120)
Mary’s predestination
488 "God sent forth his Son," but to prepare a body for him, he wanted
the free cooperation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother
of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the
virgin’s name was Mary:"
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life. (pp. 122-123)
Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan
505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of
children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?"
Participation in the divine life arises "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.: The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is
entirely the Spirit’s gift to man. The spousal character of the human vocation in
relation to God is fulfilled perfectly in Mary’s virginal motherhood. (p. 127)
Characteristics common to Jesus’ mysteries
518 Christ’s whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said, and
suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original vocation:
When Christ became incarnate and was made man, he recapitulated in himself the long history of mankind and procured for us a ‘short cut’ to salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam, that is, being in the image and likeness of God, we might recover in Christ Jesus. For this reason Christ experienced all the stages of life, thereby giving communion with God to all men. (p. 130)
The Christmas mystery
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the
kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become
"children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of
God." Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in
us. Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange:"
O marvelous exchange! Man’s Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity. (p. 133)
Jesus’ temptations
539 The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus
is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to
temptation. Jesus fulfills Israel’s vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had
once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God’s
Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this Jesus is the devil’s conqueror;
he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder. Jesus’ victory over the
tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of
his filial love for the Father. (p.137)
The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
139 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the
children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. To
enter it, one must first accept Jesus’ word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest. (p. 139)
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To them - the "little ones" - the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom.(p.139)
545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father’s boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life "for the forgiveness of sins." (p.139)
546 Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough; deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." For those who stay "outside," everything remains enigmatic. (p. 139-140)
The signs of the Kingdom of God
547 Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and
signs," which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the
promised Messiah. (p.140)
548 The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father’s works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for "offense"; they are not intended to satisfy people’s curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. (p.140)
549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God’s sons and causes all forms of human bondage. (p.140)
550 The coming of God’s kingdom means the defeat of Satan’s: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Jesus’ exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus’ great victory over "the ruler of this world." The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ’s cross: "God reigned from the wood." (p.141)
"The keys of the kingdom"
551 From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in
number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. He gives the Twelve a share in
his authority and "sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal." They
remain associated for ever with Christ’s kingdom, for through them he directs the
Church:
As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (p. 141)
A foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration
555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s
confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem
in order to "enter into his glory." Moses and Elijah had seen God’s glory
on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah’s sufferings.
Christ’s Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God’s servant; the
cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the
Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud."
You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father. (p.142-143)
556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus’ baptism proclaimed " the mystery of the first regeneration," namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection. From now on we share in the Lord’s Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body." But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":
Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: "Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse suffer?" (p. 143)
Jesus and the Law
577 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn in which he
presented God’s law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace
of the New Covenant:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets: I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law, until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (p. 148)