No portion of this hand-out may be copied or reproduced―whether printed, mimeographed, typewritten, photocopied, or in any

form―for distribution, without the written permission of the school. The infringer shall be prosecuted in compliance with
copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

THOMAS AQUINAS MAJOR SEMINARY

Lyceum of Aparri, Macanaya Highway . Aparri . 3515 Cagayan

CHRISTIAN MORALITY
by Rev. Fr Ferdinand T. MAGUIGAD, PhD

Lesson No. 1 What is Christian Morality: “GOOD TEACHER, WHAT MUST I DO?”
Lesson No. 2 “NO ONE IS GOOD BUT GOD ALONE. KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.”
Lesson No. 3 “ALL THESE I HAVE OBSERVED. WHAT ELSE DO I LACK?”
Lesson No. 4 “GO, SELL EVERYTHING, AND GIVE TO THE POOR.”

IDEOGRAM OF UNIT I
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copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

Lesson No. 1
WHAT IS CHRISTIAN MORALITY:
“Good Teacher, what must I do to gain Eternal Life?”

1. EXTENT of the Content Knowledge

“GOOD Teacher,
1 what must I DO to gain eternal life?”

1. Pumunta kay Hesus ang binatang ubod ng

yaman dahil gusto niyang malaman sa Kanya kung
ano nga ang kailangang gawing KABUTIHAN
para matamo niya ang tiyak na kasiyahan.

2. Sa dinami-rami ng mga
magagaling na guro noong
kapanahunang iyon,
3. Makikita natin ang sagot kung ETERNAL LIFE bakit kaya kay Hesus siya
papa’no niya tinawag si Hesus: Happiness nagpunta at nagtanong?
“GOOD Teacher”. Isa lang ang
ibig sabihin nito: BUO ANG
PANINIWALA niya kay Hesus! 4. KABUTIHAN ang hinahanap
niya para matamo niya ang tiyak
na kasiyahan. Tama lang
na sa isang MABUTING GURO
siya magtatanong.

5. PERO, bakit kaya siya NAGTATANONG

ng gano’n? Hindi ba dapat nasisiyahan
na siya dahil nga … siya ay isang binatang ubod
ng yaman? HINDI KAYA SIYA MASAYA?

To ASK the right questions is

the first stage of us wanting
to go deeper into the reality
of things – their MEANING,
their SENSE, their VALUE.
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form―for distribution, without the written permission of the school. The infringer shall be prosecuted in compliance with
copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

2. EXAMPLES
OLALLA OLIVEROS
Spanish Supermodel-turned-nun

She was rapidly climbing to her success as a Supermodel.

She signed a multi-dollar solo film starrer with
Hollywood in 2012. After the signing of contract,
however, she disappeared. Two years after (2014),
she was located by the producer of the film … but already
in a monastery as a NUN! She is now Sister Olalla
del Sí de María of the Order of Saint Michael.

GANG GOMEZ
Filipino designer-turned-priest

He was one of Manila‟s famous and finest designers

in the 1980s. And then, in 1990, he left show
business to enter the monastery. He is now known
as Dom Martin de Jesus Gomez.

JIM CAVIEZEL
Hollywood actor-turned-Catholic lay preacher

He was a rising actor in the late 1990s when fellow Catholic

producer-actor, Mel Gibson, offered him the role of the Christ in
the 2004 record-breaking film, The Passion of the Christ. He was
warned by Mel that Hollywood might not consider him after he
plays this role as it hates Jesus Christ. He accepted the role
anyway, saying that he is Catholic. True enough, after the very
successful film, Hollywood did not recognize him anymore.
He did not have hurt feelings. Instead, he started dedicating his
life by going around the world as a Catholic lay preacher.

MEANING, SENSE, and VALUE belong to the spiritual part of us, human beings.
When we, therefore, ASK (and be CONCERNED WITH) about these things,
we have reached that world that “connects” us with God.
“Mas may malawak, mas malalim, at mas mataas na hinahanap ang PUSO ng Tao
na hindi kayang ibigay ng kayaman ng Mundo magpakailanman.”
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copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

3. EXSERTION to Life-Situations
Siya si Bro. WILSON F. NUCUM, isang Dominikanong
seminarista. Sa kasalukuyan, siya ay nasa pangalawang taon sa
pag-aaral ng Teolohiya sa UST.

Si Bro. Wilson ay nakapagtapos ng Bachelor of Science in

Business Administration (major in Business Economics) sa Tarlac
State University. Ang layunin sana ng kanyang pamilya kung
bakit „yon ang ipinakuha sa kanya ay dahil siya ang napipintong
tagapamahala ng dalawang malalaking businesses ng kanyang

mayamang pamilya —isang eskuwelahan at isang catering company.

Ang “pagbabaliktad ng kanyang desisyon” ay nangyari nang nasa Amerika siya. ―I was in a very
powerful place,‖ aniya. ―The ‗American Dream‘ was at my fingertips if I continued with my ambition,‖ kanya
pang ipinagpatuloy sa isang panayam. ―But I asked myself, ‘Why am I not happy?’ I was in the land of my
dreams, the land of the free and home of the brave! I had a nice job and a decent salary. All I needed to do
was to move forward and climb up the ladder of success. Why was I not happy?‖

―(Now), I always look back to my experience when I first heard the call of God through some
seemingly superficial things, like the homily of Cardinal Tagle, or the grandeur of the Mass, or the happy
community life of the friars of Santo Domingo Church. I always go back to my desire for happiness, which no
money, power, honor, or fame could fill. And I think, being a religious, more importantly being a Dominican
friar is the perfect way for me to achieve that lasting happiness,‖ sinabi pa ng binata ng buong sigla at saya..

―I do not need money, power, honor, or fame. I only need a life of prayer, study, community, and
apostolate to serve the source of all happiness—God,‖ kanya pang pagtatapos.

Reflection:
Have you ever asked yourself what makes you HAPPY?
If YES, WHAT is it?
If NO, what do you think is it?
Write a seven (7) to ten (10) sentence-essay about this question.
 No portion of this hand-out may be copied or reproduced―whether printed, mimeographed, typewritten, photocopied, or in any
form―for distribution, without the written permission of the school. The infringer shall be prosecuted in compliance with
copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

Lesson No. 2
“NO ONE IS GOOD but GOD ALONE:
Keep the Commandments.”

1. EXTENT of the Content Knowledge

“NO ONE IS GOOD but GOD ALONE …

2 Keep the Commandments.”

1. Napakaganda ang sagot ni Hesus sa binata! Parang

2. Bakit MABUTI ang Ama?
DAHIL WALA SIYANG IBANG
HINANGAD KUNDI ANG
KABUTIHAN NG TAO.”
sinasabi niya sa kanya na kung tinuturing niya Siya na isang
MABUTI NG Guro, ito ay dahil sa Kanyang BUTIHING Ama.
Itinuro Niya kaagad sa Ama ang RASON kung bakit siya ay
Mabuti.
ETERNAL LIFE
Happiness

3. Papa’no natin malalaman ito? Through

the Ten Commandments. Because if the 4. Parang
Father is Good, then His Commandments sinasabi ni Hesus,
for His children MUST also GOOD! “You WANT to DO
DOING GOOD = GOOD? Then,
KEEPING the KEEP My Good
Commandments Father’s Ten
Commandments.”

LOVE God.

LOVE your
Neighbor.

5. “DOING good” is the same as Only He who LOVES the one

“OBEYING what the Father wants.” who commands, OBEYS!
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form―for distribution, without the written permission of the school. The infringer shall be prosecuted in compliance with
copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

2. EXAMPLES

ABRAHAM
Genesis 22:1-19
He and his wife, Sarah, were rich; but, they were childless. God called
him to be a believer of His with the promise that he will have a son in due time.
He agreed, all because God promised “TO WALK BEFORE HIM.” Times
have passed. God gave him a number of „tests‟ to see whether he really
believes in Him or not. In spite of all these, he remained steadfast in his belief
of God. After 25 years, at the age of 100, his son, Isaac, was born.
One day, the most difficult „test‟ came to him: GOD TOLD HIM TO
SACRIFICE HIS SON! Without doubt, but with a fatherly pain in his heart, he
OBEYS God. When he was about to strike his son, an angel appeared and
stopped him. God was pleased with his OBEDIENCE. Because of that, God
promised to BLESS him a hundredfold!

MOSES
Exodus 24:1-18
He had all the reasons not to believe in God! As a baby, he was made
to float in the river (in order to save him from being killed). He was eventually
saved by the daughter of Pharaoh, brought to the palace, and made to grow up
as a prince, until his Hebrew blood surfaced due to an uneventful scene he saw
of an Egyptian maltreating a Hebrew slave. He dashed to the rescue of the
latter, and killed the former. Because of that, he fled for his life. He knew that,
even if he were Pharaoh‟s “son”, his murderous act would not go unnoticed.
He settled in the land of Midian, where he got married and tended the flock of
his father-in-law, Jethro, when God appeared to him through the Burning Bush.
Here, God instructed him to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrews from
Egyptian slavery. He has all the reasons not to go, after everything that he
experienced there. But, he BELIEVED in God, OBEYED in His command,
but especially when God assured him, “I WILL BE WITH YOU!”

JOSHUA
Joshua 1:1-9
He thought of himself as just the faithful follower and defender of
Moses. Then, when Moses died, while he was still in a state of grief, God
called him to be Moses‟ successor. God promised him, “BE STRONG AND
TAKE COURAGE. AS I WAS WITH MOSES, SO I WILL BE WITH
YOU!” His fear to lead being taken aside, with God‟s grace and presence, he
led his people to the Promised Land: Canaan.
When the Hebrew people got settled there, and began to grow in
number, a lot of them intermarried with the daughters of the neighboring pagan
territories. Slowly, they adopted the pagan ways. This saddened Joshua. At
the end, he challenged his fellow Hebrews who became disobedient to God:
“Choose which god to serve. As for me and my household,” he said, “I WILL
SERVE THE LORD!”
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form―for distribution, without the written permission of the school. The infringer shall be prosecuted in compliance with
copyright, trademark, and other pertinent laws.

© Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary 2020

TAMS Upd-2020

LOVE is the ROOT of OBEDIENCE.

If one does not have Love at all, he can never Obey!
He is only Obliged.
“Kapag ikaw na ay nagmamahal,para kang sunud-sunuran na hangal.
Dahil kung para lang sa iyong minamahal,handa kang humingal nang humingal.

3. EXSERTION to Life-Situations

Servant of God CARLO ACUTIS

3 May 1991 – 12 October 2006

“I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a

minute on those things which do not please God.”
He was an Italian Roman Catholic teenager who died at the age of 15
years old in 2006. He is best known for documenting Eucharistic miracles
around the world and cataloging them all onto a website that he himself created
in the months before he died of leukemia. He was noted for his cheerfulness
and for his computer skills as well as for his deep devotion to the Eucharist
which became a core theme of his life
In February 2020, his mother was interviewed in a Catholic daily newspaper. At one point in time,
the interviewer asked her some details about Carlo‟s young life. Her mother admitted that, although he was
a young man who struggled with defects like anyone else, her son (to say the least) was extraordinarily
obedient and mature for his age. Carlo will be beatified by Pope Francis on 10 October 2020, at the Papal
Basilica of St Francis of Assissi, Assissi (Italy). From then on, he will be addressed as Blessed Carlo!

Reflection:
Why do we naturally dislike a disobedient kid-brother?
In like manner, why is it that formators have a natural distaste
for disobedient seminarians?
Write a seven (7) to ten (10) sentence-essay about this question.