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Catholic Moral ResponsibilityDiocese of Phoenix - Kino Institute

14 January 2014 - Week Two

The opposite of love is not hate but indifference.Elie Wiesel

The opposite of love is not hate but use.Blessed John Paul II

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.

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OUTLINE

6:30 Prayer

6:40 Review & QUIZ

7:15 Conscience

8:15 BREAK

8:30 Virtues - I

8:50 Virtues - II

9:00 Discussion

9:10 Questions?

“Do whatever He tells you.”

REVIEW

1.What distinguishes a human action

from an action performed by a human person (e.g. breathing)?

2. What is the purpose of our freedom?

3. Why is man morally responsible for his acts?

4. What is the first requirement of a moral act?

5. What can hinder knowledge of the morality of an action?

6. Upon what does freedom depend?

7. List the three components of moral choice.

8. What effect does the END or 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.

9. True or False: The moral good or evil of an act never depends solely on the circumstances.

10. What is ethical relativism?

11. What is wrong with situation ethics?

12. 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

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CONSCIENCE

What is Conscience?

Three Functions of Conscience

Conscience & Truth

“David gets Uriah a Drink” (1985)

"Teacher, which commandment

in the law is the greatest?”

He said to him,

"You shall love the Lord, your God,

with all your heart, with all your soul,

and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend

on these two commandments.”

Mt 22: 36-40

“’Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.’”

CCC 1778

CONSCIENCE

How do I form my conscience?

How do I examine my conscience?

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CONSCIENCE

Divisions of Conscience

• Judgments

• “Ignorance”

• Correct vs. Erroneous

• Scrupulosity vs. Laxity

NB: Conscience is not infallible…

Acting Always with Right Conscience

Obligation to Follow (Correct) Conscience

“It is through his conscience that man sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law. He is

bound to follow this conscience faithfully in all his activity so that he may come to God, who is

his last end. Therefore he must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be

prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.”Dignitatis Humanae 3

CONSCIENCE

Arguments for the Existence of Conscience

Sense experience

Rational discernment

Moral reflection

Distortion & Degradation of Personal Conscience

“Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel,

bad example given by others,

enslavement to one's passions,

assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience,

rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching,

lack of conversion and of charity:

these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.”

CCC 1792

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SUMMARY of PRINCIPLES

1. Conscience is our moral guide.

1. Conscience is free.

1. Conscience must be well formed.

VIRTUESHabits for Good

1. What is virtue?

2. Read Bishop Olmsted’s article

How do these virtues help us

to overcome individualism?

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Cardinal VIRTUESThe moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle.

Divine grace purifies and elevates them.CCC 1839

Prudence

Fortitude

Justice

Temperance

cardines (Lt.) = hinges

THEOLOGICAL Virtues

Faith

Hope

Charity (Love, caritas)

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In the language of St. Thomas Aquinas, a

person who can successfully restrain

himself from sin is “continent” but not yet

virtuous. Continence falls short of virtue

since virtue presupposes a right desire, and

this is lacking in the continent person

(cf.Summa, Prima Secundae, q. 58, a. 3, ad 2).

As the Catechism observes, “The

perfection of the moral good consists in

man’s being moved to the good not only

by his will but also by his ‘heart’” and

even “by his sensitive appetite” (CCC

1770, 1775).

Human virtues do not suppress or

tyrannize our passions. They “order our

passions... They make possible ease, self-

mastery, and joy in leading a morally good

life” (CCC 1804).

PASSIONS

Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are

simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in which the moral life is

expressed. Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the

opposite case. The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to

the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and

exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the virtues or perverted

by the vices.

CCC 1768

1. The whole person - including the body & bodily experiences – is

loved by God and ordered to beatitude.

2. More than “God loves people including their emotions” but people

come to reciprocate God’s love with the aid of feelings.

3. Feelings are fundamentally ordered by love.

*** Knowing, doing, and enjoying what is good.

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GIFTS of the HOLY SPIRIT

DISCUSSION

What is the relationship

between the gifts of the

Holy Spirit, the formation

of conscience, and the

development of virtue in

the human person?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

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QUESTIONS?

1.

2. QUIZ II

3. Handouts on VIRTUE

4. Les Misérables?

LIFE EVENTS in PHX

You must do the right thing,

for the right reason,

in the right way.