2. Our Catholic Faith Living What We Believe
CHAPTER 8
The Basics of Catholic Morality
 Modeling Christ
 Humans Are Made in God’s Image
 Conscience and Moral Decisions
 Virtues and Other Helps to Live a Moral Life
 Sin, Justification, and Grace

3. Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Modeling Christ
The building blocks of Catholic morality:
1. Be who you are.
2. Form and follow your conscience.
3. Respond to God’s call to holiness by using the helps he gives us to live virtuous lives, to avoid sin, and to do good.

4. Because we are made in God’s image:
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Humans Are Made in God’s Image
Because we are made in God’s image:
We have dignity – our worth does not have to be earned
We can think – we are able to distinguish good from evil
We have freedom – free will helps us desire what is good and then choose it
We are responsible – we are blameworthy for our actions

5. Because we are made in God’s image:
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Humans Are Made in God’s Image
Because we are made in God’s image:
We are wounded by sin – though we are fundamentally good, we have inherited the effects of Original Sin
We are children of God – Christ’s Paschal Mystery of Salvation has forgiven our sins and rescued us from Satan
We are friends of the Lord – we must love him above all and our neighbors as ourselves

6. Responsibly use our God-given intellects and wills
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Humans Are Made in God’s Image
Humans and society
By nature, humans live with and for others, belonging to many societies
Each society must treat people as ends and not as means – promoting virtue and love
We act morally when we:
Responsibly use our God-given intellects and wills
Choose good and avoid evil

7. Allow the Holy Spirit to live in us
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Humans Are Made in God’s Image
Humans and society
We act morally when we:
Act as persons of incomparable worth who respect the essential dignity of others
Allow the Holy Spirit to live in us
Are Christlike and act as true sons and daughters of a loving Father
Act like true friends of Jesus – showing love for God and neighbor

8. God gave each of us a conscience to help us live like Christ
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Conscience and Moral Decisions
Conscience
God gave each of us a conscience to help us live like Christ
It helps us determine if what we are doing is in accord with God’s plan or goes against it
It helps us judge whether we did right after we act
It calls us to repent if we have sinned by going against it
Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed.
CCC, 1778

9. How to form a good conscience:
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Conscience and Moral Decisions
How to form a good conscience:
Use our God-given ability to think to discover God’s goodness and truth
Listen to Jesus Christ who teaches us how to be loving and virtuous
Look to his Death on the cross as the perfect example of how to love and obey God the Father
Obey the teaching of the Magisterium and the example of other wise and holy people
Use the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit that help us live virtuous lives

10. Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Conscience and Moral Decisions
Sources of Morality
Circumstances ►Secondary factors: who, where, when, how, consequences ►Can increase or reduce the evil or goodness of an action
The intention ►One’s motive or purpose for acting - the why I do it ►It looks to the “end,” that is, the reason or goal of an action ►A good intention cannot make an intrinsically evil action a just one
The moral object ►The matter of our actions – the what we do ►Moral norms can be discovered by human reason and conscience ►This is the most important element for judging morality

11. The Right Course of Action
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Conscience and Moral Decisions
The Right Course of Action
For actions to be morally good, all three elements must all be good
Jesus is our best guide for forming a sensitive and loving conscience
We must look to the Magisterium for guidance
Follow your conscience
If we violate our conscience, then we have sinned
It is possible to have a conscience that is in error due to ignorance or emotions

12. Vices – bad habits that incline us to do evil
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Virtues and Other Helps to Live a Moral Life
Virtues – help us control our passions and guide our actions according to faith and reason
Vices – bad habits that incline us to do evil
anger
envy
charity
sloth
prudence
pride
faith
lust
justice
greed
gluttony
temperance
hope
fortitude

13. Expressions of the moral law:
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Virtues and Other Helps to Live a Moral Life
Moral Law – “a reasonable regulation issued by the proper authority for the common good”
Expressions of the moral law:
1. the natural law – the light of understanding placed in us by God
2. revealed law – the Old Testament Law and the Law of the Gospel
3. civil and Church laws – these flow from natural law

14. Jesus Christ makes God’s law perfect
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Virtues and Other Helps to Live a Moral Life
Jesus Christ makes God’s law perfect
Most perfectly revealed in the Sermon on the Mount
Christ’s new law is a law of love, a law of grace, a law of freedom
Speaks to the attitudes and motives behind our actions
The New Law has several special virtues called the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity, and obedience

15. 2. Confess your sins at least once a year
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Virtues and Other Helps to Live a Moral Life
Precepts of the Church
1. Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor
2. Confess your sins at least once a year
3. Receive the Sacrament of Eucharist at least during the Easter season
4. Observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church
5. Help to provide for the needs of the Church

16. Jesus’ Death on the cross brings about our justification
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Sin, Justification, and Grace
Justification
God’s mercy
The grace of the Holy Spirit that cleanses us from our sins through faith in Jesus Christ and Baptism
Jesus’ Death on the cross brings about our justification
We do not earn, nor do we deserve, the gift of grace

17. Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Sin, Justification, and Grace
Types of Grace
Sanctifying Grace
permanently disposes us to live like God
Actual Grace
God’s special help to turn from sin or help us act like Christ once we have
Sacramental Graces
gifts that flow from particular sacraments
Charisms
Special gifts the Holy Spirit bestows on individual Christians to help the Church grow
Graces of State
God’s special help for special ministers in the Church

18. Merit is something we are owed because of good deeds
Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality Sin, Justification, and Grace
Merit and Holiness
Merit is something we are owed because of good deeds
God will reward us with Heaven, but we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s graces to live holy lives
It is impossible to “earn Salvation”
We must let Christ live in us by the power of the Holy Spirit and sanctifying grace
All of us are called to be holy by loving and imitating Jesus Christ
The saints have taught us that works of self-denial and penance lead to holiness

19. Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality VOCABULARY
Cardinal virtues (213)
Passions (213)
Society (214)
Subsidiarity (214)
Common good (215)
Social justice doctrine (216)
Solidarity (217)
Sources of morality (218)
Christian morality (222)
Natural law (224)
Precepts of the Church (225)
Justification (227)
Sanctifying grace (227)
Habitual grace (227)
Actual grace (227)
Sacramental graces (227)
Charisms (227)
Graces of state (227)

20. Chapter 8 The Basics of Catholic Morality A Prayer for Human Rights
Lord, lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust.
Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe.
Let us dream together, pray together and work together to build a world of peace and justice for all.
Merciful God, listen to us as we pray for a world that will respect the God-given rights of all.
A Prayer for Human Rights