Opus Dei

The loss of the sense of sin has led to the loss of the awareness of the need for salvation, and hence to the forgetfulness of God through indifference. But Christ’s triumph on the Cross is an expression of his mercy towards us, an assurance that “love is stronger than sin.” Mercy is the fundamental law that should guide the heart of every person when looking at a brother or sister encountered on life’s journey.

Every human being is a person from the very fact of being human. The equality of persons must be expressed in respect for each individual and for groups. Discrimination, racism or xenophobia are unjust. Marriage is “conjugality,” it is a bond of “co-possession.” The Church requires that people with homosexual tendencies be welcomed with respect, compassion and refinement.

In the depths of the human spirit we find a longing for happiness that points to the hope of a home, of a definitive homeland. We are earthly, but we long for the eternal, we long for God. A God whom we can know with certainty as the origin and end of the universe and as the supreme good, starting from the world and the human person.

All men and women possess a natural desire to gain full knowledge of God, although we cannot attain this knowledge without God’s help. Through the history of salvation recounted in the Bible, God has revealed himself as a personal being and a Trinity of persons. By this revelation, God seeks to offer us the possibility of living in communion with Him, so that we can share in his gifts and in his own life, and thus attain complete happiness.

God revealed himself little by little to mankind, and his revelation culminated in the incarnation. Christ established the Church, which keeps his memory alive and presents Him as the one who, having lived in this world, has risen and remains among us for ever. She carries out this mission by guarding the word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures, transmitting Tradition and teaching, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, how to live as a Christian in every age through her Magisterium.

Creation is at once a mystery of faith and a truth accessible to reason. God has created everything "not to increase his glory but to manifest and communicate it." The knowledge and admiration of divine power, wisdom and love leads man to an attitude of reverence, adoration and humility, living in the presence of God and knowing himself to be God's child.

It is legitimate to wonder about the possibility and effectiveness of divine interventions in our world. The daily acceptance of providence is an act of theological hope, which does not exclude the responsible exercise of freedom, which is part of God's plan. Providence leads the Christian to an attitude of filial trust in God in all circumstances.

Man is the only creature capable of knowing and loving what transcends the material and finite world. God has created us with a spirit, so that we may know and love Him. The creation of man in the image of God implies the possibility of a relationship of mutual intimacy. The human being, created in the image of God and participating in the One who is love, is a being capable of love.

The Church sees freedom as an eminent sign of the divine image in man. Our participation in God’s beatitude is such a great good and so desired by divine Love that God has willed to take the risk of human freedom. In the moral sense, freedom is not so much a natural property of the person as a conquest, the result of education, of the moral virtues possessed and of God’s grace.

God has given human beings dominion over the world and has commanded them to exercise this authority. Care for the environment is a moral duty for each individual and for all humanity. Ecology is one of the areas in which dialogue between Christians and the followers of other religions is particularly important, so as to bring about mutual cooperation.