Catholic Moral Responsibility

Transcription

1 The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Elie Wiesel The opposite of love is not hate but use. Blessed* John Paul II *Canonization Date: 27 April days away! Catholic Moral Responsibility Diocese of Phoenix - Kino Institute 7 January Week One Christina M. Strafaci, MTS Opening Prayer Student s Prayer before Study by St. Thomas Aquinas Ineffable Creator, Who, from the treasures of Your wisdom, has established three hierarchies of angels, has arrayed them in marvelous order above the fiery heavens, and has marshaled the regions of the universe with such artful skill. You are proclaimed the true font of light and wisdom, and the primal origin raised high beyond all things. Pour forth a ray of Your brightness into the darkened places of my mind; disperse from my soul the twofold darkness into which I was born: sin and ignorance. You make eloquent the tongues of infants. Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of Your blessing. Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May You guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion. You Who are true God and true Man, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen. 1

2 OUTLINE 6:30 Introduction Image of God, Vocation to Beatitude The Church as Teacher Friendship with Christ 7:25 BREAK Freedom 8:20 BREAK Sources of Morality 9:00 Discussion 9:15 Questions? Mary is the model of the Christian life (BXVI). Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Luke 1:38 The Annunciation, 1898 Henry Ossawa Tanner 2

3 PRAYER & the moral life 2742 "Pray constantly... always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." 33 [ ] This tireless fervor can come only from love. [ ] This love opens our hearts to three enlightening and life-giving facts of faith about prayer It is always possible to pray 2744 Prayer is a vital necessity Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned. (St. Alphonsus Liguori, patron of moral theologians) 2745 Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and loving conformity with the Father's plan of love He prays without ceasing who unites prayer to works and good works to prayer. Only in this way can we consider as realizable the principle of praying without ceasing. (Origen) PART I: The Dignity of the Human Person CCC 1700 The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article 7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal son 1 to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they attain to the perfection of charity. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor 12:9 3

4 The Christian Concept of the Human Person Man: The Image of God, Image of the Trinity THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY imago Dei, imago Trinitatis Ontology of LOVE MATTER & SPIRIT IMAGE & LIKENESS MALE & FEMALE *** FILIALITY *** The glory of God is man fully alive. St. Irenaeus Catholic Moral Responsibility, Moral Theology, Decision Making WHY DOES THE CHURCH TEACH? All that matters is that in any and every way Christ is being proclaimed! This is what brings me joy. Phil. 1:18 MAGISTERIUM AUTHORITY MATERNITY 4

5 FRIENDSHIP with CHRIST Fundamental basis of discipleship and action Five Principles: The Call The Response The Following Discipleship Imitation Jesus to the Rich Young Man: If you wish to be perfect Mt 19:21 To be perfected by the law, we must love the law. To love the law, we must love the lawgiver. In order to love the lawgiver, we must know Him. In order to know Him, we must have a relationship with Him. 5

6 Truth, and the love which it reveals, cannot be produced: they can only be received as a gift. Their ultimate source is not, and cannot be, mankind, but only God, who is himself Truth and Love the vocation to development on the part of individuals and peoples is not based simply on human choice, but is an intrinsic part of a plan that is prior to us and constitutes for all of us a duty to be freely accepted. Caritas in Veritate Christ reveals man to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation. GS 22 The Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods; they purify our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things. CCC 1728 OUR VOCATION TO BEATITUDE What is our response to the gift of filiation and eternal life? (VS) What is our reason for being moral? The moral life is the sequela Christi, to enter into Christ s life and love. Catholic moral theology is a scientific guide. Huh? a science which accepts and examines divine revelation while at the same time, responding to the demands of human reason. SCIENCE Rationally organized body of knowledge Universal laws Objective truths Data: human nature Discoverable by natural human reason SOURCES of MORAL THEOLOGY Sacred Scripture Sacred Tradition Magisterium Ancillary Sciences The Church is rich in her humanity. Pope Paul VI 6

7 DISCUSSION One of the documents of Vatican II states that a man is more precious for what he is than for what he has (GS 35). Explain how this sentence defines the Christian vocation and moral life in Christ. FREEDOM Christian, recognize your dignity! For know you partake of divine nature; do not degenerate by turning back to your past state. Remember what Head you belong to and to what Body you are a member of. Remember that you have been snatched away from the power of darkness to be transported to the light of the kingdom of God. St. Leo the Great 7

8 Freedom Aquinas (+1274) ~ Pinckaers vs. Ockham (+1347) 1. Humanistic a. universal truths do exist b. desiderium naturale (Augustine s restless heart!) 2. Morality: law educates in freedom; good law facilitates achievement of good(s) which persons naturally seek (piano); obligation ; internal 3. FREEDOM: freedom for excellence 4. Capacity to think and choose wisely, act well as matter of habit; interiorly ordered; root = TRUTH 5. Choice: outgrowth of (habit of) virtue; exercise of reason and will, acts on natural longing for truth, goodness, happiness 6. Life: journey of growth in virtue 7. Common good: union of persons w/absolute good 8. Relations btw persons: VIRTUOUS 9. Unifies all other human capacities into orderly whole, directs action towards pursuit of happiness and goodness 10. Understood in personalistic terms 1. Nominalism a. universal truths don t exist except in our minds. b. no human nature ; therefore, no universal moral principles to be read from human nature. 2. Morality: law, obligation; external, coercive. 3. FREEDOM: freedom of indifference 4. Neutral faculty of choice; defined by WILL; willfulness of autonomous man 5. Choice: self-assertion, matter of power 6. Life: contest of wills btw God s, others, & mine; world of willful means detached from ends (~dictatorship/tyranny of relativism) 7. No common good, only particular goods 8. Relations btw persons: POWER 9. No spiritual character, nothing to do with truth, goodness, happiness 10. Understood in instrumental, utilitarian terms Freedom: Gift & Task 1. Importance of the moral life 1. Man s ability to choose good and evil 1. The human act vs. acts of a human 1. Knowledge as condition for morality Full knowledge Partial knowledge 2. The free human act Existence of freedom Freedom & knowledge of the truth Freedom & the good Freedom & responsibility God s respect of human freedom Freedom & divine grace 8

9 SOURCES of MORALITY The sin of Adam and Eve has had and will have consequences beyond human count and understanding. Adam and Eve sinned in two important ways. First, they chose not to serve God. Second, they tried to become the arbiters of good and evil. The choice faced by Adam and Eve is not terribly different from our own. Through our actions, we either serve God or serve ourselves. We can also either accept what we know to be good and evil, or we can pretend that we alone determine what is good or evil. SUMMARY of PRINCIPLES The human act has three parts. The ends never justify the means. Intrinsically evil acts are always evil. (The Principle of Double Effect.) Components of Moral Choice A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together the object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the three sources of the morality of human acts. (CCC 1755, 1757) OBJECT or action being done 1. The matter of a human act or the action itself; a good toward which the will directs itself. 2. By their objects, acts can be either good or evil (eg: telling the truth vs. adultery). 3. The morality of the human act depends primarily and fundamentally on the object rationally chosen by the deliberate will (VS) END or intention/motive behind action CIRCUMSTANCES or conditions surrounding action You must do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way. 9

10 Components of Moral Choice A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together the object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the three sources of the morality of human acts. (CCC 1755, 1757) OBJECT or action being done END or intention/motive behind action 1. The motive or intention for which a personal commits a good or evil act. 2. The end of an action is not to be confused with the result. A person can perform an act with a certain intention in mind, with the act resulting in something else. 3. A good intention can reduce the guilt of a morally bad act, but it cannot change an intrinsically evil act into a good act. CIRCUMSTANCES or conditions surrounding action You must do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way. Components of Moral Choice A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together the object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the three sources of the morality of human acts. (CCC 1755, 1757) OBJECT or action being done END or intention/motive behind action CIRCUMSTANCES or conditions surrounding action 1. Why? the situation of the action (not to be confused with the intention). 2. Who? the person acting. 3. What? the thing done.. 4. Where? the place where the act occurs. 5. How? the manner in which act is done. 6. When? the timing of an act. You must do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way. 10

11 DISCUSSION 1. What distinguishes a human act from an action performed by a human (e.g. breathing)? 2. What is the aim of Christian morality? 3. What is the first requirement of a moral act? 4. What is the purpose of our freedom? 5. List the three components of moral choice. 6. What effect does the intention have on the morality of an act? a. Can a bad intention change an act with a morally good object to an evil act? Give examples. b. Can a good intention change an act with a morally bad object into a good act? Give examples. 7. True/False: The moral good or evil of an act never depends solely on the circumstances. 8. What is ethical relativism? 9. What is wrong with situation ethics? 10. Explain how a proportionalist might rationalize burning down his business to get insurance money to buy better, faster equipment. Never do evil to bring about a good. St. Paul, cf. Rom 3:8 OBJECTIVITY vs. Relativism The denial of the existence of objective truth has become quite commonplace over the last five centuries. This has led to a denial of moral absolutes: You have your truth and I have mine. This mentality leads to a relativistic attitude about morality, leading to the denial of the existence of intrinsically evil acts. This mentality is usually contingent upon how one feels in a particular situation. Human emotion is far too volatile and self-centered to be the basis for moral decisions! Situation (Circumstantial) ethics Consequentialism Proportionalism Legalism Subjectivism Separation of truth from freedom Separation of faith from morality 11

12 The Dictatorship of Relativism How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf. Eph 4, 14). Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude (acceptable) to today s standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one s own ego and one s own desires. 18 April 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (19 April 2005: elected Pope Benedict XVI) QUESTIONS? QUIZ(ZES) Blog 3. Handouts on FREEDOM 4. KREEFT & PINCKAERS reading assignments 12