II.
The Old Law
1961 God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose Israel for himself
to be his people and revealed his Law to them, thus preparing for
the coming of Christ. The Law of Moses expresses many truths
naturally accessible to reason. These are stated and authenticated
within the covenant of salvation.
1962 The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral
prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments. The
precepts of the Decalogue lay the foundations for the vocation of
man fashioned in the image of God; they prohibit what is contrary
to the love of God and neighbor and prescribe what is essential to
it. The Decalogue is a light offered to the conscience of every man
to make God’s call and ways known to him and to protect him
against evil:
God wrote on the tables of the Law what men did not read
in their hearts.13
1963 According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual,
and good,14 yet still imperfect. Like a tutor15 it shows what must
be done, but does not of itself give the strength, the grace of the
Spirit, to fulfill it. Because of sin, which it cannot remove, it remains
a law of bondage. According to St. Paul, its special function is to
denounce and disclose sin, which constitutes a “law of concupis
cence” in the human heart.16 However, the Law remains the first
stage on the way to the kingdom. It prepares and disposes the
chosen people and each Christian for conversion and faith in the
Savior God. It provides a teaching which endures for ever, like the
Word of God.
1964 The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. “The Law is a
pedagogy and a prophecy of things to come.”17 It prophesies and
presages the work of liberation from sin which will be fulfilled in
Christ: it provides the New Testament with images, “types,” and
symbols for expressing the life according to the Spirit. Finally, the
Law is completed by the teaching of the sapiential books and the
prophets which set its course toward the New Covenant and the
Kingdom of heaven. 122
There were . . . under the regimen of the Old Covenant,
people who possessed the charity and grace of the Holy
Spirit and longed above all for the spiritual and eternal
promises by which they were associated with the New Law.
Conversely, there exist carnal men under the New Covenant,
still distanced from the perfection of the New Law: the fear
of punishment and certain temporal promises have been
necessary, even under the New Covenant, to incite them to
virtuous works. In any case, even though the Old Law
prescribed charity, it did not give the Holy Spirit, through
whom “God’s charity has been poured into our hearts.”18
III.
The New Law or the Law of the Gospel
1965 The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection
here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed. It is the work
of Christ and is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount.
It is also the work of the Holy Spirit and through him it becomes
the interior law of charity: “I will establish a New Covenant with
the house of Israel. . . . I will put my laws into their minds, and write
them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people.”19
1966 The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit given to the
faithful through faith in Christ. It works through charity; it uses the
Sermon on the Mount to teach us what must be done and makes
use of the sacraments to give us the grace to do it:
If anyone should meditate with devotion and perspicacity
on the sermon our Lord gave on the mount, as we read in
the Gospel of Saint Matthew, he will doubtless find there . . . the
perfect way of the Christian life. . . . This sermon contains . . . all
the precepts needed to shape one’s life.20
1967 The Law of the Gospel “fulfills,” refines, surpasses, and
leads the Old Law to its perfection.21 In the Beatitudes, the New
Law fulfills the divine promises by elevating and orienting them
toward the “kingdom of heaven.” It is addressed to those open to
accepting this new hope with faith—the poor, the humble, the
afflicted, the pure of heart, those persecuted on account of Christ—
and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.
1968 The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law.
The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing
the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden
potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their
entire divine and human truth. It does not add new external
precepts, but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts,
where man chooses between the pure and the impure,22 where
faith, hope, and charity are formed and with them the other virtues.
The Gospel thus brings the Law to its fullness through imitation of
the perfection of the heavenly Father, through forgiveness of ene
mies and prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine
generosity.23
1969 The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving,
prayer and fasting, directing them to the “Father who sees in
secret,” in contrast with the desire to “be seen by men.”24 Its
prayer is the Our Father.25
1970 The Law of the Gospel requires us to make the decisive
choice between “the two ways” and to put into practice the words
of the Lord.26 It is summed up in the
Golden Rule, “Whatever you
wish that men would do to you, do so to them; this is the law and
The entire Law of the Gospel is contained in the “new com
mandment” of Jesus, to love one another as he has loved us. 28
1971 To the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount it is fitting to add the
moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, such as Romans 12-15,
1 Corinthians 12-13, Colossians 3-4, Ephesians 4-5, etc. This doctrine
hands on the Lord’s teaching with the authority of the apostles,
particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from faith in
Christ and are animated by charity, the principal gift of the Holy
Spirit. “Let charity be genuine. . . . Love one another with brotherly
affection. . . . Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice
hospitality.”29 This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of
conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the
Church.30
1972 The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act
out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a
law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means
of faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us free
from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law, inclines
us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity and, finally,
lets us pass from the condition of a servant who “does not know
what his master is doing” to that of a friend of Christ—“For all that
I have heard from my Father I have made known to you”—or even
to the status of son and heir.31
1973 Besides its precepts, the New Law also includes the evan
gelical counsels. The traditional distinction between God’s com
mandments and the evangelical counsels is drawn in relation to
charity, the perfection of Christian life. The precepts are intended to
remove whatever is incompatible with charity. The aim of the coun
sels is to remove whatever might hinder the development of chari
ty, even if it is not contrary to it.32
1974 The evangelical counsels manifest the living fullness of
charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its
vitality and call forth our spiritual readiness. The perfection of the
New Law consists essentially in the precepts of love of God and
neighbor. The counsels point out the more direct ways, the readier
means, and are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each:
[God] does not want each person to keep all the counsels,
but only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times,
opportunities, and strengths, as charity requires; for it is
charity, as queen of all virtues, all commandments, all coun
sels, and, in short, of all laws and all Christian actions, that
gives to all of them their rank, order, time, and value.33
the prophets.”27
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