MORALITY
The Law
1. What is the meaning of the word law?
A law
is an ordinance for the common good, promulgated by the person or authority who is in charge of a community. [1976*].
2. What is the meaning of The Law according to
scripture?
The Law
is a fatherly instruction by God which prescribes the ways that lead to heaven,
and points out the ways of evil. Christ
is the end of the Law (cf. Rom 10:4); only he teaches and bestows the justice
of God. [1975*].
3. What is the natural law?
The
natural law is engraved in the soul of every person, directing him to do good and to avoid evil.
It enables him to distinguish by reason what is good and what is evil;
what is true and what is a lie. The
natural law is unchangeable and permanent through out history, and provides a
necessary foundation for the establishment of moral rules and civil laws.
[1979*, 1954-60].
4. What is the Old Law?
The Old
Law, summed up in the Ten Commandments, is the first stage of revealed
law. It contains many truths naturally
accessible to reason, and is a preparation for the Gospel. [1980*-82*, 1961-64].
5. What is the New Law?
The New
Law is the Law of the Gospel;
it is a law of love, of grace, and of freedom. It finds its expression above all in the
Sermon on the Mount, and uses the sacraments to communicate grace to us. [1698].
6. How is the New Law related to the Old Law?
The New Law of the Gospel fulfills, refines,
and brings to perfection the Old Law. It does not add new external precepts,
but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts, where faith, hope and
charity are formed, and with them the other virtues. [1967].
The Evangelical Counsels
7. What are the evangelical counsels?
Besides
its precepts, the Ten Commandments, which bind under pain of sin, the New Law
includes the evangelical counsels which lead to the perfection of the Christian
life. This perfection consists essentially in developing our love of God, and
our love of our neighbor. The counsels
point out the more direct ways, the readier means, for attaining holiness, and
are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each person. [glossary, 1986*,
1973-74].
8. How do the precepts and the counsels of the
New Law differ from each other?
The precepts are intended to remove whatever
is incompatible with charity, and the counsels are to remove whatever might
hinder the development of charity, or the attainment of holiness. The counsels
help us to achieve our purpose in having been created, that is, eternal life. [glossary, 1950, 1973].
9. Which evangelical counsels are associated
with the consecrated life?
The
public profession of the counsels of poverty, chastity , and obedience is
an integral component of the consecrated life lived by those in religious
orders. [915].
Grace
10. What is grace?
Grace
is the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to
become children of God, partakers of the divine nature, and of eternal life (cf.
Rom
11. What is sanctifying grace?
Sanctifying
grace is an habitual gratuitous gift from God, a
stable and enduring supernatural disposition infused into the soul by the Holy
spirit to heal sin, and inspire us to live with God, and act by his love. [2023*].
12. What is actual grace?
Actual
graces are God's interventions, the helps that he gives us to conform our wills
to his will, and his assistance to avoid sin and do good. [glossary, 2024*,
2000].
13. What is sacramental grace?
Sacramental
grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit coming to us through reception of a
sacrament. [2003].
14. What are some examples of special graces?
Among
the special graces are those that accompany the exercise of the
responsibilities of the Christian life, and of ministries within the Church.
There are also specific gifts or graces of the Holy Spirit called charisms which directly or indirectly benefit the church,
and are given in order to help a person live out a good Christian life, or to
serve the common good in building up the Church. Charisms are
sometimes extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues. [glossary, 2024*,
2003, 2004].
Justification
15. What is justification?
Justification
is the gracious action of God which frees us from sin, and communicates to us
"the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" (Rom
16. What does justification accomplish?
Justification
detaches man from sin, brings about the pouring of faith, hope and charity into
our hearts, and establishes cooperation between the grace of God and our
freedom. [1987-95].
Merit
17. What is merit?
Merit
is the reward which God promises and gives to those who love him, and by his
grace perform good works. [glossary].
18. Can we merit any gifts from God?
With
regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man, either
for justification, eternal life, or anything else. The merit of man before God arises from the
fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his
grace. [2007-11].
Sin
19. What is sin?
Sin is
an offense against God, as well as against reason and right conscience. It is a deliberate thought, word, deed, or
omission contrary to the eternal law of God.
[glossary, 1871*-72*, 1849].
20. What is mortal sin?
To
choose deliberately, that is both knowing it and willing it, something gravely
contrary to the divine law, is to commit a mortal sin. Mortal sins must be
reported in confession. [1874*,
1855-64].
21. What is venial sin?
Venial
sin is a lesser moral disorder which allows charity or the state of sanctifying
grace to continue subsisting in us. [1875, 1855].
22. What are the capital sins?
A
capital sin is one which engenders other sins.
The traditional list is: pride,
avarice, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and sloth.
[glossary, 1866].
Morality
23. What is morality?
Morality
refers to the goodness or evil of human acts.
Human freedom makes a person a moral subject or agent, able to judge the
morality (goodness or evil) of the acts which he has chosen. [glossary,
1749].
24. On what factors does the morality of human
acts depend?
The
morality of human acts depends on the object or nature of the action, the
intention or end foreseen, and the circumstances surrounding the action. [1757*, 1750-54].
Conscience
25. What is conscience?
Conscience
is a person's most secret inner core, where the law of God is inscribed. It provides a judgment of practical reason by
which a person recognizes the moral quality of a human action. It moves a
person at the appropriate moment to do good and to
avoid evil. [glossary,
1795*-96*, 1777-78].
26. What is a well formed conscience?
A well
formed conscience is upright and truthful.
It formulates its judgments in accord with reason, and in conformity
with the true good willed by the wisdom of the creator. The education of the
conscience is a lifelong task. [1798*,
1783-85].
27. What obligations do we have with respect to
our conscience?
A human
being has an obligation to form his conscience in an upright and truthful
manner. He also has an obligation to
obey the certain judgment of his conscience.
[1798*, 1800*, 1783, 1790].