Essence of Catholic Morality PDF

3 PARTS OF CATHOLIC RELIGION   They come simultaneously, not separately.  The more prayer, the more How are virtue; the more virtue, the these three more faith. parts related?  To be a Catholic is to believe,...

3 PARTS OF CATHOLIC RELIGION   They come simultaneously, not separately.  The more prayer, the more How are virtue; the more virtue, the these three more faith. parts related?  To be a Catholic is to believe, obey, and pray. They come simultaneously, not separately.  You can judge whether you are a Catholic or not.  But only God can judge whether you are a strong or a weak Catholic.  These three parts of Catholic religion are dimensions of the same reality, that is, the life of Christ.  We do not only imitate the life of Christ, but we are sharing in its reality. What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says? - “ What Faith confesses, the sacraments communicate: By the Sacrament of rebirth, all Christians have become ‘Children of God’. (CCC, 1692) - Phil. 1:27 ‘Christians are called to lead henceforth a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.’ This means, we are called to live morally the very life of Christ we received sacramentally and confess it. The centrality of Christ in the Catholic morality Read Luke 10:41-42 Martha and Mary  The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing, Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her".  The moral life of a Christian is not simply a human effort to imitate Christ; it is what St. Paul called ‘the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ (Col. 4:3).  The point of this passage, however, is about making Jesus and his word our first priority.  According to the Catholic Church, “The first and last point of reference of the catechism will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ (CCC, 1698).  Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member (CCC, 1691).  According to St. Paul, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).   Based from outside: Media Joyless, repressive, dehumanizing, impersonal, narrow minded system, something alien, inhuman, stupid. Image of  Based from inside: Saints Moral rule are the street map to the good life, but they are catholic the thing itself. The thing itself is a relationship of love. morality in today's  Principles are for person, not person for secular principles. world Catholic Morality is personalistic because Christ is a person, and not a principle. Christianity is essentially a love relationship with persons. Love without law is a soul without a body- Ghost Law Without love is a body without a soul- Corpse Catholic morality is not just a way of behaving, but a way of being; not just living a good life but becoming a ‘new creation’, 2 cor. 5:17 To enter into Christ’s own very life and love is not just following rules, but following Christ. Christians love goodness most of all where we saw it perfectly on earth: in Christ. It looked like a Cross: God loving us to death, to the end, no matter what it cost him and no matter how undeserving we are.   DOSTOYEVSKI: “IF GOD DOES EXIST, EVERYTHING IS PERMISSIBLE” Destroy religion-you destroy morality James 1:17 “God is the source of every good and perfect gift.” RELATIONSHI But ancient thinkers recognized moral law and its binding force. P BETWEEN RELIGION St. Paul in Rom. 1:17-21 “All men know God’s moral law through AND natural reason and conscience. MORALITY All men know the creation without knowing the creator. All men know the moral law, not the law giver. Our natural moral knowledge and good moral choices are God’s grace.  Why be a Catholic if you can live a good moral life without it? Yes! But it is not easy! You can live a long life without knowing and practicing diet, exercise, medicine, but it is not easy! If you have a better knowledge of what a good life from Divine Revelation, then you are more likely to live a good life.  Lastly, as Fr. Pasquale Giordano, S.J. in his book, Evangelizing Presence: Living the Moral Life Today, He said that, “Moral Theology is about making decisions in life that enable us to become more fully human, to enable us to come to God as our final end.”   Theocentric  Christocentric  Ecclesial  Biblical Characteristics of Catholic  Sacramental Morality  Personal  Ecumenical