Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Junior Theology
- Moral Act
- True freedom is not doing whatever you want, but doing what you ought to do.
- Good moral actions makes us freer, while bad moral actions make us a slave to sin.
- Every human being faces moral decisions, and is morally responsible for his/her own actions.
- Involves both deliberation and choice, has a moral content, and affects the character of the person.
- Freedom and Responsibility
- The more knowledge one possesses, the more morally responsible one if for his/her own actions.
- The origin of moral evil is the free decision of a man to reject God's moral law.
- There is no such thing as a freedom that is independent of responsibility.
- Conscience
- The reality of conscience is witnessed in Sacred Scripture, and though human experiences.
- We have both a right and a duty to exercise our moral conscience.
- A good conscience applies moral truths; it does not create it.
- Conscience is not an infallible guide, and can be ignorant, or blind.
- Conscience fails when the objective moral law is ignored, or misunderstood.
- How is conscience formed?
- Practice frequent and honest self-examination, which lead to sincere knowledge.
- Frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
- When the conscience is repeatedly ignored (repeated errors), it eventually becomes numb to wrongdoing, and ceases to function as it should.
- Conscience involves sworn that every Christian is called to be a saint (Baptism).
- Conscience is the practical application of the objective moral law to concrete circumstances.
- Love
- True love is a free gift of oneself that leads to self-mastery.
- If love is taken or required it is no longer free.
- The self giving that is love is often hard it may require overcoming difficulties.
- Examples: laziness, selfishness, sensuality, stinginess, etc.
- Grace
- Grace enlightens us to know what is good, or bad, and it strengths us to do God's will.
- Grace does not diminish freedom, but instead it strengthens it to become better, and allows us to see truths more clearly.
- Graces, or the Sacraments allows us to align our will with God's will.
- Quote: "We must continually seek God's grace, continually respond to the actual graces God is working within us, inclining us to turn to him and do good."
- Repentance
- Contrition - truly sorry for your sins.
- Spiritual direction is the counsel of someone wise who can give good advice, such as a priest.
- Purpose of amendment - intention to avoid sin in the future.
- There is little point in acknowledging our sins, but not intending to eliminate them from our lives because we would simply turn around, and commit that same sin again.
- Human beings
- Man is a free, moral being, responsible for his own acts.
- Human freedom is limited by the unique circumstances of each person's life.
- Examples: poverty, war, disease, etc.