I. Mercy and

1846 The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to ners.¹¹³ The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their s."¹¹⁴ The same is true of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of s."¹¹⁵

1847 "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us."¹¹⁶ To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have no , we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our s, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our s and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."¹¹⁷

1848 As St. Paul affirms, "Where increased, grace abounded all the more."¹¹⁸ But to do its work grace must uncover so as to convert our hearts and bestow on us "righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ ourLord."¹¹⁹ Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God, by his Word and by his Spirit, casts a living light on :

Conversion requires convincing of ; it includes the interior judgment of conscience, and this, being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man's inmost being, becomes at the same time the start of a new grant of grace and love: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Thus in this "convincing concerning " we discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the certainty of redemption. the Spirit of truth is the Consoler.¹²⁰