Theology
Unit 3A: Freedom
Dignity
- Created in the image and likeness
(Genesis 1:27)
Hylemorphism
- Fusion of the body and soul
Review:
Human Acts
By St. Thomas Aquinas
• Which we are responsible for.
• Done with knowledge and love.
• Done with intellect and will.
• Freely chosen informed act.
• Worthy of praise or blame.
• Has value for good or for evil.
CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACTS
a. knowledge
b. freedom (self-determination)
- ability to act without restraint.
- ability to be faithful to our dignity
- “The more we choose the good, the
freer we become.”
- Timothy O’Connell
liberum arbitrium – to have
options, to have choices
- Manifested through vocare (vocation)
Types of Vocations (UGS)
1. Ultimate – union with God
2. General - holiness
3. Specific – path
c. voluntariness (freewill)
FREEDOM AS:
God’s Image and Likeness in Man
• True freedom is a freedom only for the
good.
• Human person as the perfect and the
crowning glory of God’s creation must
participate in Gods creative works
which are good.
• Man is always expected to elect the
good in all his/her undertakings.
• Genuine freedom must be given
emphasis in order to straighten man’s
path toward the awareness of one’s
fidelity to the dignity which was lost to
sin.
• the more we become like God, the more
we become human
• the more we become humans, the more
we should be like God.
• It is by virtue of our dignity that we are
equal before the eyes of God.
• The intrinsic goodness of man is
exercised through the aid of his/her
freewill and intellect.
• The election toward the good is only
achieved if the person is definitively
bound to God and is totally aware of the
call to be always faithful to one’s
dignity.
• Man is able to perfect himself/herself
and is capable of arriving at the
promised salvation of Christ.
The Fulfillment and Manifestation of God’s
Presence in Man
1. Man’s life is from God (created in His image
and likeness) and God alone has the sole right to
take it away.
2. Washing man’s inequities through the blood
of Christ makes man acceptable before God.
3. By virtue of baptism, as adopted sons and
daughters of God, man’s body becomes the
temple of the Holy Spirit.
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• God’s presence in man makes him/her holy,
sacred.
• freedom enters here when man treats
the other with outmost respect and
high regard for the presence of God in
each person.
• It is by virtue of our dignity that we are
equal before the eyes of God.
One of the Basic Concepts in Christian
Morality
• As humans, we are gifted with
knowledge that can allow us to
consciously survey and consider
everything, even our own.
• With freedom, we are thinking,
conscious, and responsive so we can
choose the good.
• It is only in freedom that humans can
turn themselves towards what is good.
• “doing what I want?”
• Our dignity as persons require that we
act out of conscious (knowledge) and
free choice (self-determination).
• We are not to be moved by blind
impulses or limited by mere external
constraints.
• CCC: Authentic freedom is not “the
right to say and do anything,’ but the
right “to do good.
Love, Dignity, and Freedom
• Creation happened because of the
unconditional, undying and unending
love of God.
• Man’s response to overflowing love is
faithfulness.
• the recognition of one’s and other’s
dignity must be the basis of a person’s
genuine exercise of genuine freedom.
Freedom and Responsibility
• As man navigates the ins and outs of
genuine freedom, ideally, the good must
always take precedence.
• The responsibility in exercising freedom
entails that a person must always bear
consciously and unconsciously that
he/she is the only one answerable and
accountable for all the actions he/she
committed.
UNIT 3B: Law in Abiding Truth
A JUST LAW by St. Thomas Aquinas
“Is an ordinance of reason, properly
promulgated and decreed by competent
authority for the sake of the common good.”
A. Ordinance of Reason
• Contains a decisive command to
perform (Ordinance).
• a good law is a product of careful and
serious deliberation.
• It should not be based merely on whim,
emotions or sentiments of an individual
or group.
Ordinance
Latin: ordinare; ordinantia which means to put
order.
B. Properly Promulgated
• must be clearly communicated to all
people concerned.
• Ignorantia juris neminem excusat:
Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
C. Decreed by Competent Authority
Only persons with legitimate authority
have the power to create and implement
laws for their respective communities.
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 D. For the Sake of the Common Good
Common good – Sum total of benefits
by individuals from government and
from the nation as whole.
• “Universal Happiness of All Men”
• It presupposes the promotion of and
respect for the dignity and true
freedom of each person.
• It should also foster the well-being and
authentic development of the
community itself
MORAL LAWS
Importance:
• Gives direction to man’s activities
towards the ultimate end. Reason why
the need to conform Moral laws in a
narrower meaning are directives of
obligations.
• In the Old Testament: fidelity to the
covenant
• In the New Testament: the law of God
and fulfill it in the Spirit of love.
(i.e.: Then he said to them, "The Law of
Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath.“ (Mk 2:27))
ETERNAL LAW
• The plan of the Divine Wisdom as to
directing all actions and movements in
the universe.
• Unchangeable.
• Planned in Eternity.
NATURAL LAW
• Participation of human beings to the
plan of the divine wisdom.
• Reflects the eternal law.
• It is knowable through human reason.
• It is the set of rights and obligations
that arise from our basic dignity as
persons.
Properties:
1. Universal
• Binds all men at all times and in all
places, for it is the very nature of
men.
• Common to all people.
2. Indispensable
• Man has no authority over
natural law.
• God is the source of natural
law.
• Dispensation from natural laws
are violations of the divinely
willed order.
3. Immutability
• Unchangeable
• It will exist as long as human
nature exists.
4. Dynamic
• Changes in the condition of man
results in modified or new
demands of the Natural Law.
• Man himself and his conditions of
existence change
Fundamental Principle of the Natural Law
and Ethics
- ‘Do good avoid evil.’
- ‘Do unto others as you want others do
unto you.’
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REVEALED LAW
• The Laws revealed to us by Jesus
during His public ministry.
• By teaching us to return to its very core-
LOVE. (Mt 22:37-40)
• “Metanoia”
- A change of Heart and minds of the
people.
CHURCH LAW
• Also known as Ecclesiastical Law.
• It’s an expression of Christ’s laws of
love in particular circumstances of
Christian Living.
• Promulgated by Ecclesiastical
Authorities.
• The compilation of church laws is called
the Canon Law.
The Six Commandments of the Church:
1. To hear mass on Sundays and Holy
Days of Obligation.
2. To fast and abstain on the days
appointed.
3. To confess at least once a year.
4. To receive the Holy Eucharist during
Easter Time.
5. To contribute to the support of the
Church.
6. To never violate laws concerning
marriage.
CIVIL LAWS
• Are man-made laws/decrees that bind
all citizens of a nation.
• Promulgated by civil authorities.
• Highly encouraged to be in line with the
Universal Values, Gospel and The
Social Teachings.
eg. Constitution, Family Code,
Labour Code, Bill of Rights.
Unit 3C: Conscience
- the whole person’s commitment to
values, and the judgment that he or she
must take in the light of that
commitment to apply those values.
Conscience according to:
Jesus: “If your eye is bad, your
whole body will be in darkness.”
Pope John Paul II: “a call to form
our conscience, the conscience
being the bright lamp of the soul.”
CCC: practical judgment of reason
allowing the person to recognize the
moral quality of an act.
o judges particular choices,
approving those that are good
and denouncing those that are
evil.
o a judgment of reason, whereby
the human person recognizes
the moral quality of a concrete
act that he/she is going to
perform, is in the process of
performing, or has already
performed.
Old Testament: internal voice of
God which continually calls for
fidelity to the covenant
New Testament: Jesus teachings
that give emphasis to:
- what lies in the heart rather than
to external action;
- interior disposition
- the need for purity of intention.
Vatican: most secret core and
sanctuary of the human person.
There, people are alone with God,
whose voice echoes in their depths.
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Other definitions:
- drive to seek out what is good
- ability to understand and learn the
difference between good and evil
- actual judgements and decisions that we
make
FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE
- stands as the ethical imperative of the
Church
- a lifelong task
- an ethical responsibility of every person
- becomes increasingly challenging.
- Numbness of the conscience caused by
continuous ignorance of it
- Must be educated and taught humility
- Formed by our families, society, culture,
religion, education and own capacity to
understand and do what is right.
WAYS:
1. Through Prayer
2. Listening to the preaching of the Gospel
3. The Role of the Christian Community
4. Spiritual elements in formation of
conscience
• Moment of silence or quiet moment
• Sacrament of reconciliation
• Spiritual direction
How Conscience Works
- Inborn tendency to do what is right
- Formation of a healthy “formed” and
“informed” consciences
- Following our conscience
CONSCIENCE AND AUTHORITY
Catholicism values conscience as the person’s
ultimate guide.
Conscience can be in error:
- undeveloped maturity to move beyond
self-interest and social conformity in
making moral judgements
- through ignorance
- the person has not made the effort to
discover the truth.
The primacy of conscience can never be used to
avoid the responsibility of forming a correct
conscience.
- the Catholic tradition,
- Scripture,
- the sense of the faithful and
- the teaching magisterium.
The magisterium not only reminds Catholics of
what the Church has taught in the past, it also
functions as a living teaching office.
It is through his conscience that man sees and
recognizes the demands of the divine law.
He is bound to follow this conscience faithfully
in all his activity, so that he may come to God,
who is his last end.
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.
Gaudium et Spes
- man will be judged before the throne of
God.
Heaven: Union with God!
Hell: Total Rejection of God’s love.
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UNIT 4A: Obstacle to Following Christ:
Man as Disfigured by Sin
Following Christ as the Primordial and Essential
Foundation of Christian Morality
Saint Thomas Aquinas:
Sin as “Missing the Mark”
For sin does not consist in passing from the
many to the one, as is the case with virtues,
which are connected, but rather in forsaking the
one for the many.
— ST, I-II, Q. 73, art. 2
What is sin?
In general, sin is our failure to live the Great
Commandment to love God, others and self. The
Confiteor, which we pray at the beginning of the
Mass, offers us a good description of sin.
“I confess to Almighty God and to you, my
brothers and sisters [a recognition that sin is not
only an offense against God but it also wounds
the Body of Christ and our church community],
that I have sinned through my own fault [I take
responsibility for the wrong I have done], in my
thoughts and in my words, in what I have done
[sins of commission], and in what I have failed to
do [sins of omission].”
Too often, we forget sins of omission, the failure
to do the good we could have done.
Sin
Sin is an evil human act, wanting in the
perfection it should have, because it is out of
conformity with its proper norm or standard
(human rational nature/man as image of God).
Sin is an act directed to some lesser or merely
apparent good, falling short of the real good
which is integral human fulfillment, that is,
fulfillment in respect to all the goods in an ideal
human community.
Degrees of Sin (St. Thomas Aquinas)
What makes a sin mortal?
Grave matter: e.g., murder, adultery, rape,
torture.
Full knowledge: we clearly know that our action
is gravely sinful.
Full consent of the will: we freely and under no
duress choose to do the evil.
Factors that diminish full consent are fear,
compulsion, and addiction (CCC 1860).
The first condition of mortal sin is easy to
determine since “grave matter is specified by the
Ten Commandments” (CCC 1858).
The other two conditions can be very difficult to
properly discern, even in oneself, much less in
others. Hence, we should never assume that
someone is guilty of mortal sin (CCC 1861).
Note, however…
- All sin should be avoided for it weakens our
relationship with God.
- Ignoring venial sin is like ignoring a minor
cancer that can become a serious one.
“Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes
us little by little to commit mortal sin” (CCC
1863)
We know the truth of this statement as we
consider how a gradual neglect of a
relationship can eventually lead to divorce.
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Capital Sins:
Sources of Other Sins
The seven capital sins. Some sins are
called “capital” or “deadly”’ because they
can lead us to other sins (CCC 1866).
They list comes from the writings of St.
John Cassian who lived in the 4th century.
The seven capital sins are pride, avarice
(greed), envy, wrath, sloth, lust, gluttony.
Structures of Sin
In addition to personal sin, the Catechism also
speaks about “structures of sin,” sometimes
called institutionalized sin
e.g., unjust political and economic laws that
favor one segment of the population over
another.
UNIT 4B: Genuine Conversion:
Following the Path to Love
Sin and Conversion
• In the Synoptics, John the Baptist calls
people to conversion and repentance
• Actual Greek word used: “Metanoia”
• Luke 5:32: Jesus proclaims:
“I have come to call not the righteous
but sinners to metanoia”
Conversion: Metanoia
• “total change or turn of heart”
• Turning away from sin and turning
towards God
• An experience of being in love with God
without reservations
• This love reorients one’s life for the
better
• Christ now becomes the center and
model of life
Christ Our Model
Jesus asks us to follow him and to imitate him
along the path of love, a love which gives itself
completely to the brethren out of love for God:
"This is my commandment, that you love one
another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12).
The word "as"
- requires imitation of Jesus and of his
love, of which the washing of feet is a
sign. Jesus' way of acting and his words,
his deeds and his precepts constitute the
moral rule of Christian life.
- indicates the degree of Jesus' love, and
of the love with which his disciples are
called to love one another. After saying:
"This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you"
(Jn 15:12)
- Jesus continues with words which
indicate the sacrificial gift of his life on
the Cross, as the witness to a love "to
the end"
As he calls the young man to follow him along
the way of perfection, Jesus asks him to be
perfect in the command of love, in "his"
commandment: to become part of the unfolding
of his complete giving, to imitate and rekindle
the very love of the "Good" Teacher, the one
who loved "to the end".
What Jesus asks of everyone who wishes to
follow him: "If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me" (Mt 16:24).
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Call to Holiness
- By asking us to follow him, Jesus is
inviting all of us to become saints, no
less
Holiness or Sanctity can be achieved by
following:
• Jesus faithfully in our daily life, in all its
trials and challenges “taking up our
crosses daily”
• Holiness is loving God and loving our
neighbor.
Note, however…
• Conversion does not happen overnight:
• It is a particular act but also a lifelong
process
• “Daily Conversion”
The Holy Spirit and Grace
• Conversion is not of our own doing but
it is God’s gift
• It happens through His grace = help of
the Holy Spirit
• However, God also needs our
cooperation.
Conversion and Prayer
• For us to grow in grace, we need to pray
always especially to the Holy Spirit.
• We also need to train ourselves to listen
to his promptings in our conscience and
to obey his guidance in our life.
• In every moment of life let us say,
Come, Holy Spirit!
UNIT 4C: The Spirit Configures Us to Christ
through the Virtues
The Holy Spirit: Source and Means of Moral
Life (CCC 733-736)
• God is love and love is his primary gift,
containing all others, through the Holy Spirit.
• In Baptism, he restores in us the divine
likeness lost due to sin and makes us children of
God
• In our daily life, the Holy Spirit helps us to
grow in holiness and enter more deeply in the
life of the Trinity
Living by the Spirit (CCC 736)
By this power of the Spirit, God's children can
bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the
true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the
Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
"We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce
ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit."
The Holy Spirit and the Virtues (CCC 1811)
It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to
maintain moral balance.
Christ's gift of salvation offers us the grace
necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the
virtues. Everyone should always ask for this
grace of light and strength, frequent the
sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and
follow his calls to love what is good and shun
evil.
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Virtue for Augustine and Aquinas
Augustine: TRIA HAEC (These Three…):
- a fixed/stable disposition of soul, Faith (Fides)
making connatural the response to what
- enables us to believe in God and in what
is right. (Patrologia Latina 40:20), 2.)
he has revealed
- the art of living rightly and properly.
Hope (Spes)
Aquinas:
- enables us to trust that God’s promises
- virtue is a good operative habit, or a
to us will be fulfilled.
habit that is good and productive of
good (Summa Theologiae 1a2ae, 56.1– Love/Charity (Caritas)
3).
- enables us to love God above all things,
CCC 1803: a habitual and firm disposition to do and our neighbor as we love ourselves
good. for the love of God.

Cultivating Virtues Moral/Human Virtues

• CCC 1810: Human virtues acquired by • Developed by “habit”
education, by deliberate acts and by a • Helps us to be good human persons
perseverance ever renewed in repeated
efforts are purified and elevated by
divine grace. The Cardinal Virtues
• With God's help, they forge character
and give facility in the practice of the • Cardo (Lat.) = “hinge”
good.
• These four virtues guide the others by
• The virtuous man is happy to practice
giving them order, rule and measure
them.
• All other human virtues are related to or
hinged to one of the cardinal virtues.
• When lacking these cardinal virtues,
Kinds of Virtues they easily turn into vices.
Theological/Infused Virtues
• The sole origin and object of these
virtues is God
• Gifts of God to help us fulfill our
supernatural destiny
• Virtue is a good operative habit, or a
habit that is good and productive of
good

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Prudence
• discernment and choice of right course
of action in a given situation (CCC
1806)
• Aquinas: “right reason in action”
[common sense?]
• Sometimes called mother, but is in fact
the driver of the virtues (auriga
virtutum); the one that carries all the
virtues to their right destination or goal
Redemption
• God’s redemptive action through Christ
• JESUS’ LIFE, as example and as Grace
Mother Teresa’s Advice
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and
self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

Justice If you are successful, you will win some

• Being fair and honest in our relationship
with God and others; giving what is due
to God (religion) and to fellowman,
regardless of race, color or creed
• right thinking & upright conduct (CCC
1807)
• justice and mercy always go together:
“The Lord is merciful and just” (Ps 116:
5)
unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may
deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could
destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be
jealous. Be happy anyway.

Fortitude The good you do today, will

• the courage to do the right thing even in often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
the face of difficulties and temptations;
Give the best you have, and it will never be
firmness and constancy (CCC 1808)
enough. Give your best anyway.
• strength in the face of trial (external and
internal), readiness to die for one’s faith In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
and morals It was never between you and them anyway.
• “In the world you will have tribulation.
But be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world.” (Jn 16:33)

Temperance
• Aristotle: The golden “mean”
• moderation and balance (CCC 1809)
• self-mastery and ordering of the
appetites

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