John 20:19-23 "Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
CCC 1990-1994 Justification – detaches man from sin – purifies the heart of sin. It reconciles man with God. Justification is an acceptance of righteousness (or the truth of divine love) through faith in Jesus Christ. With Justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to God’s will is granted to us. This comes through a cooperation between the Grace of God (now flowing into the heart) and man’s freedom.
St. Augustine, “the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth,” because, “heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect…will not pass away.” – higher also than creation of angels for shows greater mercy
Grace
CCC 1996: Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is a favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.
CCC 1997: Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of His Body. As an “adopted son” he an henceforth call God “Father,” in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.
CCC 1999: The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it.
CCC 2000: Sanctifying gift is a habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by His love.
Why go to confession?
Sin – turning away from God, missing the mark, failure in genuine love for God and neighbor
Mortal sin – sin that involves 1) grave matter, 2) full knowledge, 3) full consent
CCC 1861: Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in a loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.
Venial sin – weakens the love we have – occurs when in a less serious matter, a person does not observe the moral standard or when he disobeys in a grave matter – but without full knowledge or full complete consent. Venial sin does increase need to be punished. It also can set people up to commit mortal sin. However, Venial sin does not break the covenant with God, or deprive person of sanctifying grace. Can be humanly repaired.
Steps of Confession
Examination of Conscience (detailed procedure at bottom of page)
contrition
the actual confessing of your sins to God through His priests
the assigning of penance
Act of Contrition
Absolution
carrying out your penance
Contrition
CCC 1451 – sorrow of the soul and detestation (hatred) for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.
2 kinds of Contrition - Perfect and Imperfect Contrition
Perfect – when contrition rises from love by which God is loved above everything. Perfect contrition receives the pardon of venial sin and obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if there is firm resolution to receive sacramental confession ASAP (as soon as possible).
Imperfect – still a gift from God and prompting of the Holy Spirit in particular, but born of sin’s ugliness or fear of eternal damnation and/or other penalties. By itself it cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins – requires sacrament of confession and not just resolve to go immediately (difference matters if you are near death and can’t receive the sacrament – in other words don’t count on getting around the sacrament by hoping you will have perfect contrition just before you die).
Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Note – this is just one example of an act of contrition. You can always pray in your own words or use another written prayer of contrition.
Why the penance?
CCC 1459 - “Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins.”
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Euthanasia
Below are the points from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Euthanasia.
CCC 2276: Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.
CCC 2277: Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
CCC 2278: Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted [in the case that death is inevitable as a result of the current ailment]. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.
CCC 2279: Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.
Definition: Palliative - relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure.
Articles on Terri Schiavo
Fr. Johansen - medical aspects, judicial side
National Right to Life: Terri Schiavo - Myth vs Reality
CCC 2276: Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.
CCC 2277: Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
CCC 2278: Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted [in the case that death is inevitable as a result of the current ailment]. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.
CCC 2279: Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.
Definition: Palliative - relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure.
Articles on Terri Schiavo
Fr. Johansen - medical aspects, judicial side
National Right to Life: Terri Schiavo - Myth vs Reality
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Posting For Homework
Hello Vianney Morality classes,
This site should now allow anyone to post. I had to switch off one of the controls. Until just now, only registered users could post a comment. Thanks for your patience.
Tim
This site should now allow anyone to post. I had to switch off one of the controls. Until just now, only registered users could post a comment. Thanks for your patience.
Tim
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sources of Morality
Object chosen
End in view (intention)
Circumstances
Object – the good chosen toward which the will deliberately directs itself. The object is the matter of a human act. This morally specifies the act of the will, insofar as reason recognizes and judges it to be or not to be in conformity with the true good. CCC1751
Intention – resides in the acting subject. It lies at voluntary source of action and determines it by its end, so intention is an element essential to moral evaluation of an action.
The end is the first goal of the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action.
The intention is a movement of the will toward the end.
The intention aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken.
Intention is not limited to directing individual actions, but can guide several actions toward one and the same purpose; it can orient one’s whole life toward its ultimate end. CCC1752
A good end (intention) does not make intrinsically disordered behavior (abortion, fornication) good. The end doesn’t justify the means. The intention doesn’t justify the means. CCC1753
Circumstances – including consequences – secondary elements (can increase or decrease moral goodness/evil of act). By themselves, circumstances cannot change the moral character of an act
Morally Good Act – requires goodness of object, end, and circumstances.
Evil end corrupts action – even if object is good in itself. Ex: praying/fasting in order to be seen by men.
End in view (intention)
Circumstances
Object – the good chosen toward which the will deliberately directs itself. The object is the matter of a human act. This morally specifies the act of the will, insofar as reason recognizes and judges it to be or not to be in conformity with the true good. CCC1751
Intention – resides in the acting subject. It lies at voluntary source of action and determines it by its end, so intention is an element essential to moral evaluation of an action.
The end is the first goal of the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action.
The intention is a movement of the will toward the end.
The intention aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken.
Intention is not limited to directing individual actions, but can guide several actions toward one and the same purpose; it can orient one’s whole life toward its ultimate end. CCC1752
A good end (intention) does not make intrinsically disordered behavior (abortion, fornication) good. The end doesn’t justify the means. The intention doesn’t justify the means. CCC1753
Circumstances – including consequences – secondary elements (can increase or decrease moral goodness/evil of act). By themselves, circumstances cannot change the moral character of an act
Morally Good Act – requires goodness of object, end, and circumstances.
Evil end corrupts action – even if object is good in itself. Ex: praying/fasting in order to be seen by men.
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