Transcript Christian Morality

 Morality has to do with the way we live our life.
 It helps us decide what is right and wrong
behavior
 All Christians and non-Christians has morality
 Jews and Christians share many similarities
regarding teachings about morality (for ex. To
kill or to steal)
 Christian morality: It is summed up in the word LOVE
 Great commandment
 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul and with all your mind
 You shall love your neighbor as yourself
LOVE IS FREELY GIVEN
AND FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS
 Christian vision: We lead a moral life of love not to
gain God’s love, but we love because God loved us first
 Each of us is precious to God
 We have to choose to be open to God – let God’s love
fill us up and overflow into our words, thoughts, and
actions
 We can also choose to be closed to God – being selfcentered, small, and alone
 The Great Commandments are summed up in the 10
commandments
 The first three commandments are about the love of
God and the next seven are about love of neighbor
 Jesus told us to go BEYOND the letter of the LAW (the
literal meaning) and EMBRACE the spirit of the LAW
(it’s deeper meaning of love)
 The Catholic Church talks about the problems of our
world and society through the CATHOLIC MORAL
TEACHING in 3 themes
 Protect life at every stage of existence – from the fetus
in the womb to the old person dying
 This theme is directly related to – murder, abortion,
euthanasia, capital punishment, war
 Other problems dealing with this – racism,
discrimination, terrible living conditions, malnutrition
and hunger, domestic violence, reckless driving,
alcohol and drug abuse, torture, exploitation of others
 Everyone’s needs in society should be provided for,
not just for the few or majority
 The theme of social justice is related to the 7th
commandment – YOU SHALL NOT STEAL
 We must foster the common good – the well-being of
all in society
 This theme deals with work and employment, poverty
and global economics, war, healthcare, education,
racism, development of the world’s poorest nations,
the environment, farmers, and homelessness
 In our society, sex is often used to sell products and
make money, to manipulate persons, to exert power
over another, or to express temporary attraction
 Human sexuality and its genital expression are
SACRED; gifts from God meant to be treated with love
and care
 Themes: condemns rape, sexual harassment,
pornography, prostitution, advertising, and the abuse
of children and other vulnerable people
 Conscience – ability to recognize the difference
between right and wrong
 Free will – we can choose between moral good and evil
 Responsibility – we are responsible for our actions
good and bad; we have to own them
 To form our conscience – we look at the Church’s
teachings and let those teachings guide our thinking
 Christianity puts hope in the promise that God’s grace
is stronger than all the sin in the world
 The power of love, peace, joy, forgiveness,
reconciliation- God’s power – can transform even the
worst situations of sin and suffering into new life
 God does not force us to be good but INVITES US
What kind of person are you? What kind of person do
you want to become?
Habits you form (virtues and vices) -> who you are
(character) -> what you do (acts)