The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known. All Christians by example of their lives and the witness of their word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at Confirmation. - CCC 2472 - Matt. 18:16 -
Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of the faith and of Christian doctrine. He endures death through an act of fortitude. "Let me become the food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God". - CCC 2473 -
Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness". By putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander." - CCC 2475 - Eph. 4:24-25; 1Pet. 2:1 -
False witness and prejury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness. When it is under oath, it is prejury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty or the increased punishment of the accused. They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions. - CCC 2476 - Prov. 19:9, 18:5 -
Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbour;
-of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
- of calumny who by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgment concerning them. - CCC 2477 - Sir. 21:28 -
To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbour's thoughts, words and deeds in a favourable way:
Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favourable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved. - CCC 2478 - St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercise, 22 -
Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbour. Honour is the social witness given to human dignity and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honour of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity. - CCC 2479 -
Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation or complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse conduct. Adulation is a grave fault if it makes one an accomplice in another's vices or grave sins. Neither the desire to be of service nor friendship justifies duplicitous speech. Adulation is a venial sin when it only seeks to be agreeable, to avoid evil, to meet a need or to obtain legitimate advantages. - CCC 2480 -
Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behaviour. - CCC 2481 -
"A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving." The Lord denounces lying as work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil... there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speak according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." - CCC 2482 - St. Augustine, De mendacio 4,5:PL40:491; John 8:44 -
Lying is the most direct offense against truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbour, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord. - CCC 2483 -
The gravity of lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victim. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity. - CCC 2484 -
By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbour into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray. - CCC 2485 -
Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships. - CCC 2486 -
Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. It someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another's reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It obliges in conscience. - CCC 2487 -
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Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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