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Chapter 24. Life in Christ—Part Two • 331
the saving truth.” “To the Church belongs the right always
and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those
pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any
human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fun-
damental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls.”
(CCC, no. 2032, citing 1 Tm 3:15; LG, no. 17; CIC, can. 747 §2)
1. Why is happiness a motivation to be moral?
The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happi-
ness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in
the human heart in order to draw man to the One who
alone can fulfill it. (CCC, no. 1718)
2. What is social sin?
Sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes
concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among
them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions
that are contrary to the divine goodness. “Structures of
sin” are the expression and effect of personal sins. They
lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous
sense, they constitute a “social sin.” (CCC, no. 1869)
3. What is the New Law?
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.” (CCC, no. 1965, citing Heb 8:8, 10)
FROM THE CATECHISM