UNIT I

DISCIPLESHIP

From the Catechism for Filipino Catholics,

715. What is “moral life” for the Christian? Christian moral life is the following of Christ: in
all our daily free actions, values and attitudes, empowered by Christ’s liberating and
transforming presence, through the grace of his Spirit, within the Christian community.
It is simply responding to the Gospel call to become loving persons, in the fullness of
life- with- others-in-community before God, in imitation of Jesus Christ.

716. What problems does “moral life” commonly raise? We all experience numerous pressures
and temptations both from inside ourselves and from without, against exercising our
freedom responsibly. Strangely enough, we find it difficult to consistently “do good and
avoid evil.”

717. How does Christian Faith help us understand this situation? Scripture and Church
teaching help us recognize this situation as the universal human condition resulting from the
“Fall” at the origins of our race. Hence our personal moral problems have a foundation
that goes deeper than anything we can handle by ourselves, without the redeeming
power of Christ.

718. What is the key to Christian moral life? The key to Christian moral life is our dignity
as human persons, created by God, redeemed by Christ, sanctified by the Spirit, and
destined for eternal life with God.

719. How do we experience ourselves as persons? We experience ourselves as embodied spirits,

conscious of our historical process of growing up and developing, in constant relation with
others with whom we are fundamentally equal, yet unique in ourselves.

720. What is authentic human freedom? Authentic human freedom is a shared capacity
with others in the community for choosing __ not anything at all __ but what is the good, in
order to become our true selves. It involves both:
a. freedom from whatever opposes our true self-becoming with
others in community, and
b. freedom for growing as full persons before God and our fellow human
persons,
in authentic love.
721. How is human freedom experienced? We experience freedom most naturally in our free
choices to act or not to act, to do or not to do something. We accept responsibility for
these acts. Beside our individual free acts there is the freedom of our very self formed
gradually by our free acts. Often called “fundamental freedom” or option, it is not primarily a
psychological term, but rather refers to our “moral being” as a human person.

722. What is meant by “freedom of the children of God?”

It means the freedom we share by the power of Christ’s Spirit within us, that liberates us
from the enslavement of sin, the law, and death, for a life of loving service of our
fellowmen. This does not mean that
• we have no sin, no laws to obey, and we will never die; but that the grace of God
offers us
the real possibility of:
• breaking out and overcoming the slavery of sin,
• living in true freedom as guided by law, and
• transcending our physical death by sharing in Christ’s eternal life.

723. What is Conscience? Conscience is the proximate norm of personal morality,

our ultimate subjective norm for discerning moral good and evil, with the feeling of being bound to
follow its directive. It is the inner voice:
• summoning us to love the good and avoid evil, by
• applying objective moral norms to our particular acts,
• and thus commanding: do this, do not do that!

724. If we are morally obliged by our conscience to “do good,” are we any longer free? We are
exercising authentic freedom in obeying moral laws and our consciences. The
objection is based on the common erroneous idea of freedom as “doing what I
want.”

725. How are our consciences formed? Our consciences are formed gradually through the
natural educational agents of our family upbringing, our school training, parish
catechesis, and the influence of friends and social contacts.

726. How do we form a “Christian conscience”? A “Christian conscience” is formed gradually

in faith and through personal and ecclesial prayer- life:
• by attending to the Word of God and the teachings of the Church,
• by responsiveness to the indwelling Holy Spirit, and
• by critical reflection on our concrete moral choices and experiences of daily life.

“Heart factors” include reading and prayerful reflection on Jesus’ teaching and actions, and our
own prayer and sacramental life. “Mind factors” refer to a deepening in understanding of
Sacred Scripture and Church teaching, especially Catholic moral principles, and sound
moral guidance.

727. What types of conscience are there? Many different categories are used to
describe the exercise of conscience, but the most functional is:

• “correct” conscience corresponds to objective moral values and precepts;

• “erroneous” conscience, one which mistakenly judges something as morally
good which is objectively evil. Our moral responsibility is to develop a
properly “informed” conscience, and to correct any erroneous conscience
we may have had.

728. What must our consciences decide on? To judge the good or evil of an act, our
consciences must decide on its three essential aspects:
 the nature or object of the act,
 our intention as agents or doers of the act, and
 the circumstances which affect the morality of the act.