"Life in Christ — Part One" (USCCA, Chapter 23)
OPENING PRAYER
Help Me To Discern
Today, O God of all days,
give me an experience of your heart.
Draw me deep into your very being,
into the core of your love for me, others, and the world.
Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others:
loving them, forgiving them,
and delighting in the way they give glory to God
through their very existence.
Help me to discern out of that open place of deep affection
so that I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world.
(Source: Jesuitresource.org; author uknown)
"LIFE IN CHRIST — PART ONE"
—CCC, Nos. 1691–2082
Who and what guides the way you live your life?
We all have a certain way of viewing and living life in the world through the many choices we make. Our worldview has generally developed as a result of what we have learned from our parents and significant others, from various cultural influences, and from our day-to-day experiences. Our worldviews can and do change.
Are there some ways of living that are better than others, or should that question be avoided? Are there ways to help us to decide which are good ways to live, and which are not? Seeking answers to these type of questions is what we normally think about when we talk about morality – determining which ways to live that are loving, true, good, and beautiful and lead us to a deeper, loving relationship with God, with others, with ourselves, and with the world.
The basic principle of the Christian moral life is the awareness that every person bears the dignity of being made in the image and likeness of God, who has given each of us an immortal soul and the gifts of intelligence and free will. We also have a conscience. However, we suffer from the effects of Original Sin which can darken our minds, weaken our wills, and incline us to sin.
Christ’s unconditional love and saving grace delivers us from sin, heals sin’s damage within us, and offers us abundant life in Christ, which we receive through Revelation and the Sacraments by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is our ultimate teacher. We are called to respond to God’s love through our responsible practice of freedom in our personal and social moral behavior.
God calls us to become who we are created to be and to share eternal union with God. This happens when we choose virtuous ways that are consistent with God’s loving plan for us. “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.” Virtues form the soul with habits of mind and will that support moral behavior, control passions, and avoid sin.
Every moral act has three elements: the objective act (what we do), the subjective goal or intention (why we do the act), and the concrete situation or circumstances in which we perform the act (where, when, how, with whom, the consequences, etc.). For an individual act to be a morally good act, all three elements must be good.
God is love. Sin is the refusal to love as God loves. There are three conditions for a sin to be a mortal sin: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent (freedom). When we have sinned, we seek God’s mercy through our admission, confession, and sorrow for our sins, and our intention to sin no more.
Please read this week USCCA,Chapter 23, "Life in Christ—Part One," (pages 307–321), the CCC, Nos. 1691–2082, (pages 421–497), and the Compendium, Nos. 357–441
VIDEOS
"What is Sin" (Bishop Don Hying)
"What is a Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"Mortal vs. Venial Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"God and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Catholic Morality 101" (Fr. Robert Barron)
"Conscience and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Modernity and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Why What You Believe Matters" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Morality, Character and Relationships" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Faith, Hope, and Love" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Life and Dignity of the Human Person" (CST)
"The Cardinal Virtues – Prudence"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Justice"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Temperance"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Courage"
"Life in Christ – Introduction" – CCC 1691–1698 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Dignity of the Human Person" – CCC 1699–1715 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Our Vocation to Beatitude" – CCC 1716–1729 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Man's Freedom" – CCC 1730–1748 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of Human Acts" – CCC 1749–1761 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of the Passions" – CCC 1762–1775 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Moral Conscience" – CCC 1776–1802 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Virtues" – CCC 1803–1811 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Theological Virtues" – CCC 1812–1845 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Sin" – CCC 1846–1876 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Person and Society" – CCC 1877–1896 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Life" – CCC 1897–1927 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Justice" – CCC 1928–1948 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law and Grace" – CCC 1949–1964 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law of the Gospel" – CCC 1965–1986 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Grace and Justification" – CCC 1987–2005 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Merit and Holiness" – CCC 2006–2029 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Church, Mother and Teacher" – CCC 2030–2051 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Ten Commandments" – CCC 2052–2082 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
MUSIC
"Hosea" ("Come Back to Me")
"Lord I Offer My Life to You"
"Shout to the Lord"
"Power of Your Love"
OTHER RESOURCES
"Examination of Conscience (Call to Love)"
"Divine Chaplet"
REFLECT ON YOUR EXPERIENCE
How has your worldview changed over time?
What ways do you use to form your conscience about moral issues that you face?
We encourage and invite you to spend time to reflect, pray, and write in your journal about what you have read, seen, heard, or experienced this week. You can find some questions you may wish to consider here.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, in now, and ever shall be.
Amen.
"LIFE IN CHRIST — PART ONE"
—CCC, Nos. 1691–2082
We all have a certain way of viewing and living life in the world through the many choices we make. Our worldview has generally developed as a result of what we have learned from our parents and significant others, from various cultural influences, and from our day-to-day experiences. Our worldviews can and do change.
Are there some ways of living that are better than others, or should that question be avoided? Are there ways to help us to decide which are good ways to live, and which are not? Seeking answers to these type of questions is what we normally think about when we talk about morality – determining which ways to live that are loving, true, good, and beautiful and lead us to a deeper, loving relationship with God, with others, with ourselves, and with the world.
The basic principle of the Christian moral life is the awareness that every person bears the dignity of being made in the image and likeness of God, who has given each of us an immortal soul and the gifts of intelligence and free will. We also have a conscience. However, we suffer from the effects of Original Sin which can darken our minds, weaken our wills, and incline us to sin.
Christ’s unconditional love and saving grace delivers us from sin, heals sin’s damage within us, and offers us abundant life in Christ, which we receive through Revelation and the Sacraments by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is our ultimate teacher. We are called to respond to God’s love through our responsible practice of freedom in our personal and social moral behavior.
God calls us to become who we are created to be and to share eternal union with God. This happens when we choose virtuous ways that are consistent with God’s loving plan for us. “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.” Virtues form the soul with habits of mind and will that support moral behavior, control passions, and avoid sin.
Every moral act has three elements: the objective act (what we do), the subjective goal or intention (why we do the act), and the concrete situation or circumstances in which we perform the act (where, when, how, with whom, the consequences, etc.). For an individual act to be a morally good act, all three elements must be good.
God is love. Sin is the refusal to love as God loves. There are three conditions for a sin to be a mortal sin: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent (freedom). When we have sinned, we seek God’s mercy through our admission, confession, and sorrow for our sins, and our intention to sin no more.
Please read this week USCCA,Chapter 23, "Life in Christ—Part One," (pages 307–321), the CCC, Nos. 1691–2082, (pages 421–497), and the Compendium, Nos. 357–441
VIDEOS
"What is Sin" (Bishop Don Hying)
"What is a Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"Mortal vs. Venial Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"God and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Catholic Morality 101" (Fr. Robert Barron)
"Conscience and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Modernity and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Why What You Believe Matters" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Morality, Character and Relationships" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Faith, Hope, and Love" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Life and Dignity of the Human Person" (CST)
"The Cardinal Virtues – Prudence"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Justice"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Temperance"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Courage"
"Life in Christ – Introduction" – CCC 1691–1698 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Dignity of the Human Person" – CCC 1699–1715 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Our Vocation to Beatitude" – CCC 1716–1729 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Man's Freedom" – CCC 1730–1748 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of Human Acts" – CCC 1749–1761 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of the Passions" – CCC 1762–1775 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Moral Conscience" – CCC 1776–1802 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Virtues" – CCC 1803–1811 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Theological Virtues" – CCC 1812–1845 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Sin" – CCC 1846–1876 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Person and Society" – CCC 1877–1896 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Life" – CCC 1897–1927 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Justice" – CCC 1928–1948 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law and Grace" – CCC 1949–1964 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law of the Gospel" – CCC 1965–1986 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Grace and Justification" – CCC 1987–2005 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Merit and Holiness" – CCC 2006–2029 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Church, Mother and Teacher" – CCC 2030–2051 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Ten Commandments" – CCC 2052–2082 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"What is a Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"Mortal vs. Venial Sin" (Fr. Mike Schmitz)
"God and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Catholic Morality 101" (Fr. Robert Barron)
"Conscience and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Modernity and Morality" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Why What You Believe Matters" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Morality, Character and Relationships" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Faith, Hope, and Love" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Life and Dignity of the Human Person" (CST)
"The Cardinal Virtues – Prudence"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Justice"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Temperance"
"The Cardinal Virtues – Courage"
"Life in Christ – Introduction" – CCC 1691–1698 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Dignity of the Human Person" – CCC 1699–1715 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Our Vocation to Beatitude" – CCC 1716–1729 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Man's Freedom" – CCC 1730–1748 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of Human Acts" – CCC 1749–1761 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Morality of the Passions" – CCC 1762–1775 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Moral Conscience" – CCC 1776–1802 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Virtues" – CCC 1803–1811 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Theological Virtues" – CCC 1812–1845 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Sin" – CCC 1846–1876 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Person and Society" – CCC 1877–1896 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Life" – CCC 1897–1927 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Social Justice" – CCC 1928–1948 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law and Grace" – CCC 1949–1964 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Law of the Gospel" – CCC 1965–1986 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Grace and Justification" – CCC 1987–2005 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Merit and Holiness" – CCC 2006–2029 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"The Church, Mother and Teacher" – CCC 2030–2051 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Ten Commandments" – CCC 2052–2082 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
MUSIC
"Hosea" ("Come Back to Me")
"Lord I Offer My Life to You"
"Shout to the Lord"
"Power of Your Love"
OTHER RESOURCES
"Examination of Conscience (Call to Love)"
"Divine Chaplet"
"Divine Chaplet"