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Journal 4: Catholic Morality

The main idea of this section was to look at specifically Catholic morality. We studied this through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by looking at the purpose of our conscience along with the proper way to develop it, and through a summarization of Catholic social teaching through the Ten Building Blocks. We started off studying the Catholic idea of freedom, that it is more freedom TO act, not freedom from something else. We also talked about the morality of our acts, and what constitutes what is moral and what isn’t. There are three things that must be considered, the object, intention, and the circumstances. Passions, emotions that can move us to act, incline us to do good or bad acts. Conscience, a judgment of reason where a human recognizes the moral quality of his actions, requires three aspects: uprightness, interiority, and responsibility. We must properly form our conscience over our entire life through the Word of God, faith, and prayer. We are also assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, others’ advice, and the authority of the Church. Our conscience is our most sacred core and as humans e are obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right, even if it goes against Church teaching. It is still possible that even after we do all we can to form our conscience that we make a bad decision due to ignorance or some other reason. We are still culpable, or responsible for the consequences, of the evil we did, but are not morally responsible. This is erroneous judgment. Finally, we studied ten building blocks of Catholic social teaching, which called for principles of human dignity, respect for human life, association, participation, preferential protection for the poor and vulnerable, solidarity, stewardship, subsidiarity, human equality, and the common good.

Three things that I want to remember from this section are the Catholic idea of freedom, the LISTEN method, and that conscience is both a power and a process.

The Catholic idea of freedom is that we are free to act and choose, not that we are free from any bonds or burdens. This also makes humans responsible for their actions and choices. Our deliberate acts belong to us and only us. The right to exercise freedom is an undeniable requirement of the dignity of man. It attains perfection when directed toward God.

The LISTEN method is a set of guidelines we can use when making moral decisions. First you have to look at the facts. You need to gather information and know the who, what, where, when, why, and the how. Unless you get the facts straight, you risk making a decision based on false information. Then you need to imagine the possibilities. This is so you don’t limit your choices and so you can see the consequences in each case, the good and the bad. Then you need to seek insight beyond your own. Others’ advice and experiences can add to our own. Our own ignorance, biases, and other blinders can distort facts for us. Consulting others can help eliminate this. Next, you need to turn inward. This is where you take all the information gathered in the previous three steps and reflect and interpret it. We also need to expect God’s help. We need to have faith in Him that he will help us if we pray to Him for help. Finally, we need to name our decision. This is a part that is often overlooked but is necessary. It puts closure to the process when we articulate our decision and make it our own.

Conscience is a power in that it is a human’s most sacred center. It is where we are most truly ourselves. It is the place in a person where a human’s freedom and God truly dwell. It is a power of reason in that it is the ability to weigh the behavior contemplated in light of the principles one knows to be true guides to happiness. As a process, it is the actual weighing of this behavior. It is the obligation of every human person to correctly form his or her conscience. We must seek accurate knowledge and understanding of facts as well as contemplation of spiritual guidelines, mainly from Divine Revelation, scripture and Tradition, and the magisterium.

image from '>this site.

Sylvester is always trying to get Tweety, but when he is about to, Grandma (his conscience) quickly reminds him that he needs to let Tweety go. Grandma’s voice of reason is always present in Sylvester.

Am I doing all that I can to properly form my conscience?

I know that I am not, but I think I am doing pretty good. I tend to get “stuck in my ways” sometimes and am not real open to new ideas on what’s right and wrong. I sometime tend to not want to let a new way of thinking or something that contradicts what I used to think into my decision making process.

I will start to more consciously think about the decisions I make and even try one of the methods learned in this section. I can also be much more active about forming my conscience properly so if I ever get into a tough situation, it will be much easier to know what the right thing to do is.