“...I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life.”

- Duet 30:19

Natural Law

Freedom

The Morality of Human Acts

Conscience

Virtue

Sin

Conclusion

Outline

Natural Law

The law of our being. - Daniel Sullivan; “An Introductory to Philosophy”

Natural Law

The natural law is based on the structure of reality itself. It is therefore the same for all men and all times, an unchanging rule or pattern which is there for us to discover, and by means of which we can rationally guide ourselves to our goal (our purpose).

We are made for a purpose. We have an end. We are made with freedom and a set of built in rules we call natural law that help us to achieve this end. Our final purpose for which were made is to see God “face to face” (beatitude).

However we have many purposes in between our final end and now that all help us to get there.

The natural law is the rule of conduct which is prescribed to us by the Creator in the constitution of the nature with which He has endowed us. What are those things that are a part of us by the very fact of us being human?

The rule, then, which God has prescribed for our conduct, is found in our nature itself. Those actions which conform with its tendencies and lead to

our destined end are thereby constituted right and morally good;

Those at variance with our nature are wrong and immoral.

When people make appeal to fair play, demand square treatment,

apply the golden rule, they are spontaneously invoking the natural law.

It is the “law written on our hearts.” - St. Paul

“Do good; avoid evil.”

Natural Law

Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

- Gal 5:1

1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. ...

Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.

Man is Rational

License vs Freedom

License Freedom

• freedom to indulge compulsions • to indulge freedom to sin • do what feels good • sees law as the tyrant • law feels imposed

• breaks the law

• any choice is a good choice • negates love

• freedom from compulsion

• freedom from sin • do what is good • sees sin as the tyrant • law is written on the heart

• fulfills the law • choice between good and evil

• affords love

1733 ...There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."

An analogy for Authentic Freedom

Imagine a train that is on a set of tracks that run from San Francisco to New York. This train has the freedom to travel across the entire country from one end to the other.

But one day the train says to himself that he is tired of being on the tracks and wants to go to Houston so he uses the “freedom” that he has to choose to leave the tracks and sets out for Houston.

The only problem is he is a train and he is made for tracks. The minute he goes against how he was made and jumps off the tracks he loses all true freedom and now cannot move or go anywhere.

True freedom comes when we obey the laws of our nature and live

in accordance with the purpose(s) in which we were made for.

The Morality of Human Acts

Freedom makes man a moral subject.

- CCC 1749

1750 The morality of human acts depends on: the object chosen; the end in view or the intention; the circumstances of the action.

1751 The object chosen is a good toward which the will deliberately directs itself. It is the matter of a human act.

1753 A good intention (for example, that of helping one's neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. The end does not justify the means. Thus the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a legitimate means of saving the nation. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving).

1754 The circumstances, ...contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or evil of human acts (for example, the amount of a theft). They can also diminish or increase the agent's responsibility (such as acting out of a fear of death). Circumstances of themselves cannot change the moral quality of acts themselves; they can make neither good nor right an action that is in itself evil.

Object, Intention, & Circumstances

1755 A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself such as praying and fasting "in order to be seen by men"

1756 It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of

circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.

Good Acts and Evil Acts

Conscience

...When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.

- CCC 1777

1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey.....

1779 It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection:

Return to your conscience, question it.... Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness.

- St. Augustine

1782 Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "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."

Small Still Voice

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened....The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task....The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

The Formation of the Conscience

1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.

1791 Vincible ignorance occurs when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of

committing sin.“

In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.

1792 If the ignorance is invincible, ... the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.

Erroneous Judgment

Virtue

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is

anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

- Phil 4:8.

The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.

- St. Gregory of Nyssa

1803 ...A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.

1804 Human virtues ... make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.

The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; ...

Effort

1805 Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal";...

1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it....

1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor....

1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good...

1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods....

Cardinal Virtues

1813 The theological virtues ...are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. ...

1814 Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself....

1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit....

1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

1826 "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity."

The Theological Virtues

Sin

Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse

attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity.

- CCC 1849

1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. ...

1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.

Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."

Mortal and Venial Sin

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes

exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back.

However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

...do not despise these sins which we call "light": if you take them

for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them... What then is our hope? Above all, confession.

- St. Augustine

Mortal and Venial Sin

To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

- John 1:8-9

1847 "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us.“

- St. Augustine

“I have Greatly Sinned”

Conclusion

Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Pet 4:8

God has made us with a set of rules that correspond to us being human. This is the “Natural Law”.

One of the primary components of this “Law” is the fact that man is rational and can exercise freedom in making choices.

When man chooses to use his freedom in accordance with the laws with which the Creator has endowed him with and performs morally good acts he then is able to have true freedom.

He acts in such a way that is “true” to his very nature. So that morality is meant to free man to be what he was made to be “a son of God” created in the “image of the Father”.

Morality is not a burdensome set of rules meant to enslave man but on the contrary it is meant to teach him how to live in true freedom and so be authentically free.

Conclusion

For freedom Christ has set us free. - Gal 5:1

... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

- John 10:10