From: kriz@skat.usc.edu (KRIZ)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Cath. Christianity 101 - CDFs 1986 Christian Freedom and Liberation - 4
Date: 16 Aug 1992 19:46:22 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: skat.usc.edu

The following is a portion of the CDF's 1986 "Instruction on
Christian Freedom and Liberation."  The document is organized in
the following manner:

     Introduction.
     Chpt 1. The State of Freedom in the World Today.
     Chpt 2. Man's Vocation to Freedom and the Tragedy of Sin.
-->  Chpt 3. Liberation and Christian Freedom.
     Chpt 4. The Liberating Mission of the Church.
     Chpt 5. The Social Doctrine of the Church: For a Christian
               Practice of Liberation.
     Conclusion.

Note: (-->) indicates the section of the document contained herein.

In Christ,

Dennis
kriz@skat.usc.edu

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CDFs 1986 Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation - Chpt 3


                           Chapter III
                LIBERATION AND CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

Gospel, freedom and liberation
------------------------------

 43. Human history, marked as it is by the experience of sin, would
drive us to despair if God had abandoned his creation to itself.
But the divine promises of liberation, and their victorious
fulfillment in Christ's Death and Resurrection, are the basis of
the "joyful hope" from which the Christian community draws the
strength to act resolutely and effectively in the service of love,
justice and peace. The Gospel is a message of freedom and a
liberating force [31] which fulfill the hope of Israel based upon
the words of the Prophets. This hope relied upon the action of
Yahweh, who even before he intervened as the "goel" [32],
liberator, redeemer and saviour of his People had freely chosen
that People in Abraham [33].


I. LIBERATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Exodus and the liberating acts of Yahweh
--------------------------------------------

 44. In the Old Testament, the liberating action of Yahweh which
serves as model and reference for all others is the Exodus from
Egypt, "the house of bondage." When God rescues his People from
hard economic, political and cultural slavery, he does so in order
to make them, through the Covenant on Sinai, "a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). God wishes to be adored by people
who are free. All the subsequent liberations of the people of
Israel help to lead them to this full liberty that they can only
find in communion with their God.

 The major and fundamental event of the Exodus therefore has a
meaning which is both religious and political. God sets his People
free and gives them descendants, a land and a law, but within a
Covenant and for a Covenant. One cannot therefore isolate the
political aspect for its own sake; it has to be considered in the
light of a plan of a religious nature within which it is integrated
[34].


The law of God
--------------

 45. In his plan of salvation, God gave israel its Law. This
contained, together with the universal moral precepts of the
decalogue, religious and civil norms which were to govern the life
of the people chosen by God to be his witness among the nations.

 Of this collection of laws, love of God above all things [35] and
of neighbor as oneself [36] already constitute the centre. but the
justice which must govern relations between people, and the law
which is juridical expression, also belong to the sum and substance
of the biblical law. The Codes and the preaching of the Prophets,
as also the Psalms, constantly refer to both of them, very often
together [37]. It is in this context that one should appreciate the
biblical law's care for the poor, the needy, the widow and the
orphan: they have a right to justice according to the juridical
ordinances of the People of God [38]. Thus there already exist the
ideal and the outline of a society centered upon worship of the
Lord and based upon justice and law inspired by love.


The teaching of the Prophets
----------------------------

 46. prophets constantly remind israel of the demands made by the
Law of the Covenant. They condemn man's hardened heart as the
source of repeated transgressions, and they foretell a New Covenant
in which God will change hearts by writing them on the Law of his
Spirit [39]. 

 In proclaiming and preparing for this new age, the Prophets
vigorously condemn injustice done to the poor: they make themselves
God's spokesmen for the poor. Yahweh is the supreme refuge of the
little ones and the oppressed, and the Messiah will have the
mission of taking up their defence [40].

 The situation of the poor is a situation of injustice contrary to
the Covenant. This is why the Law of the Covenant protects them by
means of precepts which reflect the attitude of God himself when he
liberated Israel from the slavery of Egypt [41]. Injustice to the
little ones and the poor is a grave sin and one which destroys
communion with God.


The "Poor of Yahweh"
--------------------

 47. Whatever the forms of poverty, injustice and affliction they
endure, the "just" and the "poor of Yahweh" offer up their
supplications to him in the Psalms [42]. In their hearts they
suffer the servitude to which the "stiff-necked" people are reduced
because of their sins. They endure persecution, martyrdom and
death; but they live in hope of deliverance. Above all, they place
their trust in Yahweh, to whom they commend their cause [43].

 The "poor of Yahweh" know that communion with him [44] is the most
precious treasure and the one in which man finds his true freedom
[45]. For them, the most tragic misfortune is the loss of this
communion. hence their fight against injustice finds its deepest
meaning and its effectiveness in their desire to be freed from the
slavery of sin.


On the threshold of the New Testament
-------------------------------------

 48. On the threshold of the new Testament, the "poor of yahweh"
make up the first-fruits of a "people humble and lowly" who live in
hope of the liberation of Israel [46]. 

 Mary, personifying this hope, crosses the threshold from the Old
Testament. She proclaims with joy the coming of the Messiah and
praises the Lord who is preparing to set his People free [47]. In
her hymn of praise to the divine mercy, the humble Virgin, to whom
the people of the poor turn spontaneously and so confidently, sings
of the mystery of salvation and its power to transform. The *sensus
fidei*, which is so vivid among the little ones, is able to grasp
at once all the salvific and ethical treasures of the *Magnificat*
[48].


II. CHRISTOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

In the light of Christ
----------------------

 49. The Exodus, the Covenant, the Law, the voices of the prophets
and the spirituality of the "poor of Yahweh" only achieve their
full significance in Christ. The Church reads the Old Testament in
the light of Christ who died and rose for us. She sees a
prefiguring of herself in the People of God of the Old Covenant,
made incarnate in the concrete body of a particular nation,
politically and culturally constituted as such. This people was
part of the fabric of history as Yahweh's witness before the
nations until the fulfillment of the time of preparation and
prefigurement. In the fullness of time which came with Christ, the
children of Abraham were invited to enter, together with all the
nations, into the Church of Christ in order to form with them one
People of God, spiritual and universal [49].


III. CHRISTIAN LIBERATION

The Good News proclaimed to the poor
------------------------------------

 50. Jesus proclaims the Good News of the Kingdom of God and calls
people to conversion [50]. "The poor have the good news preached to
them" (Mt 11;5). By quoting the expression of the Prophet [51],
Jesus manifests his messianic action in favour of those who await
God's salvation.

 Even more than this, the Son of God who has made himself poor for
the love of us [52] wishes to be recognized in the poor, in those
who suffer or are persecuted [53]: "As you did it to one of the
least of these my brethren, you did it to me" [54].


The Paschal Mystery
-------------------

 51. But it is above all by the power of his Paschal Mystery that
Christ has set us free [55]. Through his perfect obedience on the
Cross and through the glory of his Resurrection, the lamb of God
has taken away the sin of the world and opened for us the way to
definitive liberation.

 By means of our service and love, but also by the offering up of
our trials and sufferings, we share in the one redeeming sacrifice
of Christ, completing in ourselves "what is lacking in Christ's
afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col.
1:24), as we look forward to the resurrection of the dead.


Grace, reconciliation and freedom
---------------------------------

 52. The heart of the Christian experience of freedom is in
justification by the grace received through faith and the Church's
sacraments. This grace frees us from sin and places us in communion
with God. Through Christ's Death and Resurrection we are offered
forgiveness. The experience of our reconciliation with the Father
is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. God reveals himself to us as the
Father of mercy, before whom we can come with total confidence.

 Having been reconciled with him [56], and receiving this peace of
Christ which the world cannot give [57], we are called to be
peacemakers among all men [58].

 In Christ, we can conquer sin, and death no longer separates us
from God; death will finally be destroyed at our resurrection,
which will be like that of Jesus [59]. The "cosmos" itself, of
which man is the centre and summit, waits to be "set free from its
bondage to decay and to share in the glorious freedom of the
children of God " (Rom. 8:21). Even now Satan has been checked; he
who has the power of death has been reduced to impotence by the
death of Christ [60]. Signs are given which are a foretaste of the
glory to come.


Struggle against the slavery of sin
-----------------------------------

 53. The freedom brought by Christ in the Holy Spirit has restored
to us the capacity, which sin had taken away from us, to love God
above all things and remain in communion with him.

 We are set free from disordered self-love, which is the source of
contempt of neighbor and of human relationships based on
domination.

 Nevertheless, until the Risen One returns in glory, the mystery of
iniquity is still at work in the world. Saint Paul warns us of
this: "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal 5;1). We must
therefore persevere and fight in order not to fall once more under
the yoke of slavery. Our existence is a spiritual struggle to live
according to the Gospel and it is waged with the weapons of God
[61]. But we have received the power and the certainty of our
victory over evil, the victory of the love of Christ whom nothing
can resist [62].


The Spirit and the Law
----------------------

 54. Saint Paul proclaims the gift of the new Law of the Spirit in
opposition to the law of the flesh or of covetousness which draws
man toward evil and makes him powerless to choose what is good
[63]. This lack of harmony and this inner weakness do not abolish
man's freedom and responsibility, but they do have a negative
effect on their exercise for the sake of what is good. This is what
causes the Apostle to say; "I do not do the good I want, but the
evil I do not want is what I do" (Rom. 7:19). Thus he rightly
speaks of the "bondage of sin" and the "slavery of the law", for to
sinful man the law, which he cannot make part of himself, seems
oppressive.

 However, Saint Paul recognizes that the law still has value for
man and for the Christian, because it "is holy and what it commands
is sacred, just and good" (Rom. 7:12) [64]. He reaffirms the
Decalogue, while putting it into relationship with that charity
which is its true fullness [65]. Furthermore, knows well that a
juridical order is necessary for the development of life in society
[66]. But the new thing he proclaims is God's giving us His Son "so
that the Law's just demands might be satisfied in us" (Rom. 8:1).

 The Lord Jesus himself spelled out the precepts of the New Law in
the Sermon on the Mount: by the sacrifice he offered on the Cross
and by his glorious Resurrection he conquered t power of sin and
gained for us the grace of the Holy Spirit which makes possible the
perfect observance of God's law [67] and access to forgiveness if
we fall again into sin. The Spirit who dwells in our hearts is the
source of true freedom.

 Through Christ's sacrifice, the cultic regulations of the old
Testament have been rendered obsolete. As for the juridical norms
governing the social and political life of Israel, the Apostolic
Church, inasmuch as it marked the beginning of the reign of God on
earth, was aware that it was no longer held to their observance.
This enabled the Christian community to understand the laws and
authorative acts of various peoples. Although lawful and worthy of
being obeyed [68], they could never, inasmuch as they have their
origin in such authorities, claim to have a sacred character. in
the light of the Gospel, many laws and structures seem to bear the
mark of sin and prolong its oppressive influence in society.


IV. THE NEW COMMANDMENT

Love, the gift of the Spirit
----------------------------

 55. God's love, poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
involves love of neighbor. Recalling the first commandment, Jesus
immediately adds: "And the second is like it, You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law
and the prophets" (Mt 22:39-40). And Saint paul says that love is
the fulfillment of the Law [69].

 Love of neighbor knows no limits and includes enemies and
persecutors. The perfection which is the image of the Father's
perfection and for which the disciple must strive is found in mercy
[70]. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that compassionate
love, which puts itself at the service of neighbor, destroys the
prejudices which set ethnic or social groups against one another"
[71]. All the New Testament witnesses to the inexhaustible richness
of the sentiments which are included in Christian love of neighbor
[72].  


Love of neighbor
----------------

 56. Christian love, which seeks no reward and includes everyone,
receives its nature from the love of Christ who gave his life for
us: "Even as I have loved you ..., you also love one another" (Jn
13;34-35) [73]. This is the "new commandment" for the disciples.

 In the light of this commandment, Saint james severely reminds the
rich of their duty [74], and Saint John says that a person who
possesses the riches of this world but who shuts his heart to his
brother in need cannot have the love of God dwelling in him [75].
Fraternal love is the touchstone of love of God: "He who does not
love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not
seen" (1 Jn. 4:20). Saint Paul strongly emphasizes the link between
sharing in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and
sharing with one's neighbor who is in need [76].


Justice and charity
-------------------

 57. Evangelical love, and the vocation to be children of God to
which all are called, have as a consequence the direct and
imperative requirement of respect for all human beings in their
right to life and to dignity. There is no gap between love of
neighbor and desire for justice. to contrast the two is to distort
both love and justice. Indeed, the meaning of mercy completes the
meaning of justice by preventing justice from shutting itself up
within the circle of revenge.

 The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict
millions of men and women today openly contradict Christ's Gospel
and cannot leave the conscience of any Christian indifferent.

 The Church, in her docility to the Spirit, goes forward faithfully
along the paths to authentic liberation. her members are aware of
their failings and their delays in this quest. but a vast number of
Christians, from the time of the Apostles onwards, have committed
their powers and their lives to liberation from every form of
oppression and to the promotion of human dignity. The experience of
the saints and the example of so many works of service to one's
neighbor are an incentive and a beacon for the liberating
undertakings that are needed today.


V. THE CHURCH, PEOPLE OF GOD OF THE NEW COVENANT


Toward the fullness of freedom
------------------------------

 58. The People of God of the New Covenant is the Church of Christ.
her law is the commandment of love. In the hearts of her members
the Spirit dwells as in a temple. She is the seed and the beginning
of the Kingdom of God here below, which will receive its completion
at the end of time with the resurrection of the dead and the
renewal of the whole of creation [77].

 Thus possessing the pledge of the Spirit [78], the People of God
is led towards the fullness of freedom. The new Jerusalem which we
fervently await is rightly called to the city of freedom in the
highest sense [79]. Then, "god will wipe away every tear from their
eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning
nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed
away" (Rev. 21;4). Hope is the certain expectation "of new heavens
and of a new earth where justice will dwell" (2 Pet. 3:13).


The final meeting with Christ
-----------------------------

 59. The transfiguration by the Risen Christ of the Church at the
end of her pilgrimage in no way cancels out the personal destiny of
each individual at the end of his or her life. All those found
worthy before Christ's tribunal for having, by the grace of God,
made good use of their free will are to receive the reward of
happiness [80]. They will be made like to God, for they will see
him as he is [81]. The divine gift of eternal happiness is the
exaltation of the greatest freedom which can be imagined.


Eschatological hope and the commitment for temporal liberation ----
----------------------------------------------------------
 60. This hope does not weaken commitment to the progress of the
earthly city, but rather gives it meaning and strength. It is of
course important to make a careful distinction between earthly
progress and the growth of the Kingdom, which do not belong to the
same order. nonetheless, this distinction is not a separation; for
man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress but confirms his
task of using the energies and means which he has received from the
Creator for developing his temporal life [82].

 Enlightened by the Lord's Spirit, Christ's Church can discern in
the signs of the times the ones which advance liberation and those
that are deceptive and illusory. She calls man and societies to
overcome situations of sin and injustice and to establish the
conditions for true freedom. She knows that we shall rediscover all
these good things -- human dignity, fraternal union and freedom --
which are the result of efforts in harmony with God's will, "washed
clean of all stain, illumined and transfigured when Christ will
hand over to the Father the eternal and universal kingdom" [83],
which is a Kingdom of freedom.

 The vigilant and active expectation of the coming of the Kingdom
is also the expectation of a finally perfect justice for the living
and the dead, for people of all times and places, a justice which
jesus Christ, installed as supreme Judge, will establish [84]. This
promise, which surpasses all human possibilities, directly concerns
our life in this world. For true justice must include everyone; it
must bring the answer to the immense load of suffering borne by all
the generations. In fact, without the resurrection of the dead and
the lord's judgement, there is no justice in the full sense of the
term. The promise of the resurrection is freely made to meet the 
desire for true justice dwelling in the human heart.

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Footnotes:

[31] Cf. LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, Introduction: AAS 76 (1984), p. 876.

[32] Cf. Is 41:14; Jer. 50:34. "Goel": the word implies the ida of
a bond of kinship between the one who frees and the one who is
freed. Cf. Lev. 25:25,47-49; Rth 3:12; 4:1. "Padah" means "to
obtain for oneself." Cf. Ex. 13:13; Deut 9:26; 15:15; Ps 130:7-8.

[33] Cf. Gen. 12:1-3.

[34] Cf. LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, VI, 3: AAS 76 (1984), p. 882.

[35] Cf. Deut. 6:5.

[36] Cf. Lev. 19:18.

[37] Cf. Deut. 1:16-17; 16:18-20; Jer. 22:3-15; 23:5; Ps. 33:5:
72:1; 99:4.

[38] Cf. Ex. 22:20-23; Deut. 24:10-22.

[39] Cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ez 36:25-27.

[40] Is. 11:1-5; Ps. 72:4,12-14; LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, IV, 6: AAS 76
(1984), p. 883.

[41] Cf. x. 23:9; Deut. 24:17-22.

[42] Cf. Ps 25; 31; 35; 55; LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, IV, 5: AAS 76
(1984), p. 883.

[43] Cf. Jer. 11:20; 20:12.

[44] Cf. Ps. 73:26-28.

[45] Cf. Ps. 16; 62; 84.

[46] Cf. Zeph. 3:12-20; LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, IV, 5: AAS 76 (1984),
p. 883.

[47] Cf. Lk. 1:46-55.

[48] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation MARIALIS CULTUS, 37: AAS 66
(1974), pp. 148-149.

[49] Cf. Acts 2:39; Rm. 10:12; 15:7-12; Eph. 2:14-18.

[50] Cf. Mk. 1:15.

[51] Cf. is. 61;9.

[52] Cf. 2 Cor. 8:9.

[53] Cf. Mt. 25:31-46; Acts 9:4-5.

[54] Cf. LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS, IV, 9: AAS 76 (1984), p. 884.

[55] Cf. John Paul II, OPENING ADDRESS AT PUEBLA, I, 5: AAS 71
(1979), p. 191.

[56] Cf. Rm. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-20.

[57] Cf. Jn 14:27.

[58] Cf. Mt. 5:9; Rm. 12:18; Heb. 12:14.

[59] Cf. 1 Cor. 15:26.

[60] Cf. Jn. 12:31; Heb. 2:14-15.

[61] Cf. Eph. 6:11-17.

[62] Cf. Rom. 8:37-39.

[63] Cf. Rom. 8:2.

[64] Cf. 1 Tim 1:8.

[65] Cf. Rom. 13:8-10.

[66] Cf. Rom. 13:1-7.

[67] Cf. Rom. 8:2-4.

[68] Cf. Rom. 13:1.

[69] Cf. Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-14.

[70] Cf. Mt. 5:43-48; Lk. 6:27-38.

[71] Cf. Lk. 10:25-37.

[72] Cf. for example 1 Th. 2:7-12; Ph. 2:1-4; Gal. 2:12-20; 1 Cor.
13:4-7; 2 Jn 12; 3 Jn 14; Jn 11:1-5,35-36; Mk 6:34; Mt. 9:36;
18:21ff.

[73] Cf. Jn. 15:12-13; 1 Jn:3:16.

[74] Cf. Jas. 5:1-4.

[75] Cf. 1 Jn. 3:17.

[76] Cf. 1 Cor. 11:17-34; LIBERTATIS NUNTIUS IV, 11: AAS 76 (1984),
p. 884. St Paul himself organizes a collection for the "poor among
the saints at Jerusalem" (Rm. 15:26).

[77] Cf. Rom. 8:11-21.

[78] 2 Cor. 1:22.

[79] Cf. Gal. 4:26.

[80] Cf. 1 Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 5:10.

[81] Cf. 1 Jn. 3:2.

[82] Cf. GAUDIUM ET SPES, 39 para. 2.

[83] Cf. ibid, 39 para. 3.

[84] Cf. Mt. 24:29-44,46; Acts 10:42; 2 Cor. 5:10.

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