CSDC 583

Only love can completely transform the human person¹²²⁹ Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 49-51: AAS 93AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 93 (2001) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (2001), 302-304.. Such a transformation does not mean eliminating the earthly dimension in a disembodied spirituality¹²³⁰ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 798-800.. Those who think they can live the supernatural virtue of love without taking into account its corresponding natural foundations, which include duties of justice, deceive themselves. “Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice and it alone makes us capable of it. Charity inspires a life of self-giving: ‘Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it' (Lk 17:33)”¹²³¹ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1889.. Nor can love find its full expression solely in the earthly dimension of human relationships and social relations, because it is in relation to God that it finds its full effectiveness. “In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself”¹²³² Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Act of Offering in Story of a Soul, tr. John Clarke (Washington, D.C.: ICS 1981, p. 277), as quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2011. Reprint April 2005 © Copyright 2004 Libreria Editrice Vaticana ISBN 88-209-7716-8.