Christian Morality-lecturenotes and personal reflections

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

2005-12-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

Everyone is in need of healing and conversion…
The truth of original sin means not so much with our state of brokenness
But everybody’s need for forgiveness…

Jesus Christ is the sacrament of God’s reconciliation

His mission had been to share God’s healing and reconciling love…
• He brought sight to a man blind from birth…
• He offered conversion to a Samaritan woman…
• He extended a loving forgiveness to Zacchaeus, the Tax collector…
Jesus revealed to us that God is a loving, and forgiving Father…
Jesus broke the bonds of sin and freed us from the slavery of sins and its effects in the world…
Jesus shows us the reconciling and liberating power of love by “dying for our sins” and freeing us from our self-centeredness…

By dying on the cross and rising to a new life, Christ:
• Loved to the fullest
• Empowers us to transcend our sinful tendencies by sending his Holy Spirit of love...

Christ perfect sacrifice did not take away the concupiscence nor the “sin of the world…”
We continue to struggle against selfishness and the sin around us.

But our relationship with the risen Lord gives us the grace to resist these inducements to sin
And Jesus passed this ministry of healing and forgiveness to the Church—through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Reconciliation: a Misunderstood Sacrament
Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest?
Why can’t I confess directly to God?

• Words and actions are sacramental: words and action of both penitent and the priest are symbolic—instituted by Christ to bring us God’s forgiveness and peace of soul.
• As embodied person, we need to express our sorrow for our sins and purpose of amendment, and hear that we have been forgiven.
• The sacrament is not just a God and me moment; it also celebrates our reconciliation within the Church, the community whose members we have hurt through our selfishness.
• The act of confessing one’s sins to the priest, who represents Christ, and in Christ welcomes us and forgives us—the act is a sacrament to rebuild relationships.
• Renewed understanding: need for constant and ongoing conversion, for deepening our sorrow for sin—reparation for our sins and the firm resolve to truly become loving persons.

Making Moral Decisions

2005-11-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And look down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black,
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
By Robert Frost

“We become the choices we make. Every moral choice we make reveals the kind of person we are and forms the kind of person we become.”

“We are who we are because of our choices.”

Often, like the persona in the poem, we need to make difficult decisions—a choice we make at the crossroads of our lives.
Sometimes, the good choice may seem so clear that we immediately pursue it without deliberation. Other times—the difficult times—the good choice may not be so clear because there are many important factors to consider.
Factors like: circumstances of our decision-making, possible short and long term consequences, other peoples guidance, our values, society’s values, and etc…

How do I make good decisions?
How do i make decisions?
What do I consider? What are the steps I follow?
Do I act on it immediately or after doing thorough deliberation?
Do I consider some second opinion about my decision(s)?

We make moral decisions everyday: some may need serious deliberation; others may not be the case. When conflicting values, peer pressure, uncertainty are involved, decisions are not made that easy.

What a good decision is not:
When we fail to recognize our inherent capacity to think and choose freely by letting “fate” determine how we should act in a particular situation.
When unable to make decisions, resort to “Bible cutting,” or randomly opening a Bible to a verse.
When we fail to recognize that we a re persons-in-community—of two types: extreme individualist or passive conformist.
Individualist—their mind-set selectively focus only on those elements of moral situation that support their bias and prejudices: like cheating in order to pass the subject and not be grounded by parents.
Passive conformist—leave the decision making to their barkada or authority figures, disregarding the promptings of their conscience.

What are the elements in good decision making?

Investigate the facts of the Moral Act: a thorough understanding of the moral act; clear assessment and awareness of the reality.
the object of the act
one’s intention for doing it
circumstance that surround the act

Inquire about the Mortal Norms affecting your Act: we seek guidance of our families or peers.

Imagine Alternatives and Consequences: imagine both possibilities and consequences. What can happen if I choose to do this act? Alternatives? Identify short term consequences and long term consequences.

Introspect: Listen to you Emotions: emotions can help us be more objective and responsible, can help us grasp the full reality of the actions intended.

Implore God’s help in Prayer:

MORAL CASE FORM

I. The Relevant Issue
The relevant issue – it helps to be able to state or define, succinctly, the ethical issue involved in the case and to make sure that this is not confused with other elements of the problem.

Ex: SHOULD THE SURGERY HAVE BEEN PERFORMED?

II. The Stakeholders

It is important to identify the stake-holders who will be affected by the ethical decision to be made. It will also help to identify the corresponding obligations that one has toward the various stakeholders.

Ex:
q Baby Jane Doe
q Parents
q Doctors
q Lawyers – Right-to-Life Groups
q Other Babies
q Government

III. Facts of the Case
What immediate facts have the most bearing on the ethical decision that must be made in this case? Include any potential economic, social, or political pressures.

Ex:

q Baby Jane Doe is born with multiple defects.
q Baby Jane Doe needs immediate surgery.
q Without surgery, she could not live beyond two years.
q With surgery, she could live but as a severely handicapped person.

IV. The Available Options
It is important to list down at least three. Two often represent the extremes. Nothing is ever either black or white; sometimes one is forced to think in terms of a compromise, even if that compromise doesn’t exactly conform to your personal notion of what is the right thing to do. It is at this stage that reason struggles to transcend what we feel.

Ex.
q Do not authorize the surgery even if without it Baby Jane Doe could not live longer than
two years.

q Set aside parents’ wishes and order that the surgery be performed.

q Use shunt to remove the excess fluid from the child’s brain (but no surgery).

V. The Arguments
What reasons are there for deciding one way or the other?
What can be said to justify one’s decision?
What principles can I use to justify the decision?

In the case of Baby Jane Doe, we want to know the truth of the matter. Were the parents right to deny the surgery?
[note: make the names of your own arguments…]

Ex.
-Benefit Argument-
(1)If no one would benefit from a medical treatment, then the treatment would be pointless and it need not be performed.
(2) In the case of Baby Jane Doe no one, not even the baby herself, would have benefited from the surgery.
(3) Therefore, the surgery need not have been performed.

It would not serve the infant’s own interests to prolong her life – sadly, it would do her no good. In fact, no one’s interests would be served by the surgery. Certainly it would not benefit the parents, who could look forward only to years of pointless labor, caring for a child who was deriving little advantage from it.
Even with best possible medical care, the child would have extremely poor prospects. With surgery, she would have a 50-50 chance of surviving into her 20s, but as mentally retarded, paralyzed, epileptic, etc. Mental retardation will be so severe that she won’t be able to recognize her parents.

-Sanctity of Human Life-
Every human life is precious, valuable regardless of age or handicap.

(1) Every human life is individually and uniquely sacred.
(2) Therefore, every individual, regardless of age or handicap, should be given whatever medical treatment is needed to preserve his or her life.
(3) Therefore, the surgery on Baby Jane Doe should have been performed.

But this supposes that –
Every human being should be kept alive as long as possible.
There are many cases in which everyone would agree that keeping people alive is pointless. For example – it is widely agreed that in hopeless cases of irreversible coma, people who are being artificially maintained by the use of machines may be allowed to die by “pulling the plug.”

-Respect for People’s Rights-
Isn’t there discrimination here? The child should not be denied surgery merely because she is handicapped.

(1)It is wrong to discriminate against handicapped people.
(2) There is no doubt that Baby Jane Doe was terribly handicapped and that she was being denied surgery precisely because of her handicap. If she had been a ‘normal’ child needing surgery, it would have been provided.
(3) Therefore, the parents’ decision was wrong.

Discrimination against the handicapped is indeed objectionable. But there are certain circumstances in which treating the handicapped differently may be justified. For example, no one would argue that a blind person should be employed as a traffic police.

The point is: if there is no good reason for excluding a person, then there is discrimination. But if it could be reasonably explained why one is excluded, then it is not arbitrary, and so, not discriminatory.

VI. Conclusion:
Determine the most appropriate action.

So what are we to conclude about Baby Jane Doe? Should the surgery have been performed?
q The argument that takes the question of whether the baby would benefit to be the central issue seems to be on the right track.
q On the other hand, some of the implications of the “sanctity of life” argument seems to be unacceptable.
q The argument that refusing surgery is discriminatory cannot be justified.

VII. Our overall conclusion

Whether the surgery should have been performed depends on whether it would have really helped Baby Jane Doe.
The parents’ decision appears to be the right one. They made their decision on the basis of what they knew about the situation and the reasons for their decision

VIII. Double-Checking the Decision
First, we must see to it that our arguments, the position we take are consistent. Ethics is supposed to provide us with a guide for moral living, and to do so, it must be rational – that is, free of contradictions.

Perhaps we can ask the following questions:
q What are the best and worse-case scenarios if I choose this particular option?
q Can I honestly live with myself if I make this decision?
q Will I be able to defend this decision to that claimant who has lost the most or been harmed the most?

Finally, our decision must be “enabling” rather than “disabling.” There are decisions that prevent us from acting any more fruitfully or effectively. These decisions cannot be moral! After all, a moral decision or action is one that liberates us – develops our potentialities as a person. A decision that “dis-ables” us prevents our growth as persons.

The True Value of Law

2005-11-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

What are Laws for? Why do we have Laws?
Why do we follow laws?
What is Law?

Essence of Laws
Objective moral norms, or Laws, are central to moral living. Why? These foundational moral norms like—do not steal, do not kill, be honest—held by different people regardless of race are moral norms that express basic human values which:
1. Provide criteria for judging how we should act and who we become by these acts.
2. Ground the proper formation of our conscience
3. serve as reliable “reference points” for our moral discerning and striving
4. challenge us to become our best selves

Rather than posing as obstacles to our freedom, just laws direct and protect our freedom as individuals and a s members of a community.

Why do we need to have laws in the first place?

· LAW is at the heart of being fully human and fully alive.

· Men and women who dream of excelling in a sport, in arts, in academics—know the value of respecting the standards or laws that govern their particular interest.
· One who wants to be a good basketball player or a good soccer player knows that he cannot become one by simply doing anything he wants. What do you need to do in order to be a good basketball/soccer player? [practice, hardwork, doing drills]
· Need to look at other players [idols] in order to check and correct performance.

In the same way, LAWS are central to moral living. These laws—don’t kill, don’t steal, be honest, don’t cheat—held by different peoples regardless of race, culture remain consistent across generations and time.
SO that JUST LAWS protect freedom and are not threats to freedom—they help us become FULLY HUMAN and FULLY ALIVE.

If we understand this context, we can begin to understand our parents when they ask us for example, not to watch too much TV or go out with our friends during weeknights, or even give us minimum load for our cellphone. We realize that these “rules” exist in our homes, not because our parents enjoy TERRORIZING us, but because the rule has our good in mind—without these limitations, we may be tempted to not do well in class and we get low grades in turn.

We then begin to see that there is a bigger context to these rules, commandments and laws. There is a bigger meaning to this. These things make sense. We do need to set our priorities straight! We do need to realize that there is an appointed time for everything: a time to enjoy, and a time to study, a time to go out with friends, a time to spend extra time for orgs, a time for vacation, a time for preparing for tests.

We make do with these clear limitations externally placed on us for now, until the time when we are mature enough to place these limitations on ourselves.

At the same time, there is a need to communicate (in a healthy way) to our parents the fact that certain family rules may need to be adjusted because of our capacity to make wiser and more responsible choices. But we have to prove we are wise and responsible enough to make these choices!
Hopefully, instead of resorting to rebellion, we assert our capacity for more mature responsibilities not only through resolutions and promises, but more importantly through clearly responsible and mature actions. Usually, when we rebel, our parents lose their trust in us even more.

Difference between legality and morality.
Some laws may be LEGAL– 1) an ordinance of reason (based on reasonable deliberation by a body of legislators—in our case senators and congresspeople), 2) properly promulgated (communicated to all people concerned), 3) decreed by the government/country. But this does not automatically mean that the law is MORAL.

Legalizing abortion, for example, does not make abortion moral!

Be careful about the difference: legal means permitted, but moral is asking whether something is ethical, or will make us fully human and fully alive. Morality takes into consideration freedom, sin, and conscience. Legality usually takes into consideration a law’s connection to the Constitution (is it in accordance to the constitution?).

A Summary of the 10 commandments and the basic human values they uphold.

The Ten Commandments and Basic Human Values
1. “You shall have no other gods before me…”
Recognition of God as the center our lives. All other things become important insofar as they draw us closer to God.

2. “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain…”
Appreciation of God’s holiness. All things associated with him are holy as well.

3. “Take care to keep holy the Sabbath day…”
Valuing the role of worship – both personal and communal – in our living as moral persons.

4. “You shall honor your father and your mother…”
Seeing the human family as a community and sacrament of God’s love. Recognition of the duty and role of parents and children to one another.

5. “You shall not kill…”
Cherishing God’s gift of life.

6. “You shall not commit adultery…”
7. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…”
Respect for the gift of sexuality as well as the sacredness of marriage.
8. “You shall not make false accusations against your neighbor…”
Honesty and the right of other people to a good name.

9. “You shall not steal…”
10. You shall not desire your neighbors house/field,.. Respect for the possessions of other people. By giving this respect, we foster justice and a proper regard for material things.

Jesus’ Law of Love
Jesus is the New Moses. Through Jesus, God has renewed his covenant with his own people. Jesus is our New Law-Giver who speaks eloquently about the real meaning of the law….

The Greatest Commandment
Mat 22:36-40

And one of them (a scholar of the Law) tested him by asking: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as your love yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Jesus’ answer was remarkable, for it revealed his keen understanding of Jewish scriptures. He bound together into an inseparable union two essential themes of the LAW: love for God and love for neighbor. Without love for God, love for neighbor has no meaning and no goal. Without love for neighbor, love for God is hypocritical and empty. Faith and justice must come together.

Jesus proclaimed these laws of love not only in words, but also in his deeds and actions. “Jesus brought God’s commandments to fulfillment by his life.”

His vision of the Kingdom of God and the consistent manner by which he had proclaimed his vision challenged the religious leaders to go beyond mere adherence to the externals of the law. A strict and heartless obedience to customs and rituals often conflicted with the true spirit of God’s laws of love. This legalistic attitude often deprived persons of human dignity and denied God his own initiative. This can be encapsulated in Jesus’ words when he spoke to the Pharisees who criticized his disciples’ picking of grain on the Sabbath: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27)

Jesus became our new Law (i.e. our new “standard” or “norm” of morality: what would Jesus do?) by being a true and faithful witness to the SPIRIT of the Old Covenant (i.e. Ten Commandments). Jesus knew that the Ten Commandments was basically an invitation by God for all men and women to share in a life of loving relationship with Him.

Once again, the spirit of the Commandments is to make us fully human and fully alive.

A summary of the Beatitudes and their Meanings

The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-12)
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We re called to recognize our radical dependence on God from whom flows all that we have and are

2. Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.
We are called to sincere compassion for all who suffer

3. Blessed are the meek, or they shall inherit the earth
We are called to open positive humble relation to others through all powers graced by Christ’s love.

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteous, for they will be satisfied.
We are called to actively strive for justice and reject the injustices in our community

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
We are called to a compassionate commitment to suffering persons. Mercy is shown in acts.

6. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
We are called to be upright and truly Christ-centered in our love for God and others.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God
We are calle dto foster peace that is found on truth, justice and the grace of God.

8. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
We are called to follow Christ even in the face of strong opposition as he Himself did and thus discover true good life

9. Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, your reward will be great in heaven.
Our commitment to Jesus demands hearts willing to confront the reality of not being too popular because we have chosen what is good.

Types of Laws:

Church Laws
Divine Laws
Civil Laws
Natural Laws

Struggling with Moral Evil: SIN

2005-11-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Our goal in lifeà is to live a moral life
Meaning: to become more fully Human to live according to the standard and ways of
Christ: our Norm and Model.

When do we commit SIN?
But in our day to day existence--- we are always challenged and confronted by our greatest obstacle: wrong use of freedom [that is rejecting the GOOD which our conscience directs us and refusing God’s LOVE revealed to us in Moral Law.

Because of lack of personal discernment
Convenience
Self-satisfaction/self interest/self gratification
Ignorance
Attachments
Wrong process of making choices

We are caught/ trapped, thus, choose what is to our favor—fail to see what the good is [common good], commit SIN

What is SIN therefore?
Rejecting what is GOOD
Refusing the promise of salvation—refusing God’s love

Simply, breaking away in the loving relationship with God, others and even with ourselves.

How do we know?
We feel uneasy/guilty, not free to relate, we sense that there is something wrong and we don’t understand fully why…but we sensed that something is wrong…

Does it mean that sin is a state of mind or thoughts that create a feeling of guilt?
So that, I make some false reasons and excuses for sinful action and doing sinful acts repeatedly and eliminate sin by eliminating our guilt feelings?
No, acknowledging our true moral guilt for failing to love as we should have is a necessary part of our moral growth, enabling us to see the evil of our action—the evilness—and empowering us to change our ways.

Remember: at the middle of SIN is the s I n
There are moments in my life that I fail to LOVE others because I only think of my myself.. I become too self-centered [pagkamakasarili]
This “pagkamakasarili” is at the heart of bullying, name calling, cheating, abusing our own sexuality, backbiting, etc…
Eventually destroy our selves…deceive ourselves.

Views about SIN and SINFUL acts
A. Downplaying the Existence of Sin
However, when we think of sin, we sometimes think of it as too little or too much. Sometimes, we downplay the existence of sin and regard it merely as an abstract reality or reduce it to simply making a common mistake.

1. We think of it as merely a stage in our personal growth. So we view freedom as absolute, we think that this freedom is something to which they have a right, owed to them by others for the personal growth. This is a false reasoning. It denies the reality that sin:
Is evil
it harms our true personal growth
enslave and weaken us morally
by attacking our moral stature
hinder us from becoming truly free

2. “What’s wrong with sin anyway if everybody’s doing it?” Sinful acts become the means for rationalizing our own complacency toward sinful acts. Cheating and gossiping no matter how widespread always hurt true personal moral growth and good relationship with others.

3. Sin as a mere feeling of guilt.

Overstressing the Existence of SIN
Evil is constantly publicized and the good remains hidden. Thus we fail to see our capacity for doing good. Sin’s in the world is so insurmountable, is overwhelming that we could no longer recognize our capacity to overcome these sins, thus no HOPE.
But Human History and Christian Faith give us much reason to hope.
God’s goodness never ceases to work through persons, places and events, inspiring them to exercise their freedom in doing what is truly loving and empowering them to follow life and the teachings of Christ.

Jesus Christ and Sin
The Cross allows us to see the “evil and ugliness of sin and its power in creating poverty, disease, hunger, ignorance, corruption and death…” However, the cross went beyond the eyes can see. The cross reveals beyond the ugliness of sin…the man who died on the cross; His perfect and selfless sacrifice shows us how God’s love has triumphed over sin and death.
Christ’s death and resurrection restores us into the loving relationship with God that had been broken by sin.

Original SIN
This refers to: the sinful act committed by our first parents; and the sinful state or condition resulting from their sinful act.
We have inherited the sinful condition which was the consequence of the first sinful act, a condition which we experience within ourselves and in our world.
“Kasalanang Mana”—we carry within ourselves the sinful act of our first parents.
This can be removed thru our baptism—the water poured and used in baptism symbolizes the new life brought by the Holy Spirit.

Concupiscence: our weakened state within (disorder of our natural desires that attracts us to sin)
Although we feel obliged by our consciences to do or choose good and avoid evil, we also experience within us an attraction to sin. We delight in the law of God but at the same time, we also have an inclination toward sin.
However, baptism does not erase all effects of original sin. Why? We remain in this sinful world. We continue to struggle against the enticements of our sinful world.

The Sin of the World
This refers to the effects of the first sinful act which not only disturbed the inner disposition of the first humans, but also affected their posterity at all levels of human relationships—among friends, relatives, family, among societies and nations.

We experience the sin in the world in many ways: when personal sin influences others, when sin attacks the dignity of the human persons, when sin alienates groups, and when sin creates unjust social structures.

Personal and Social Sin
Personal sin results when we freely choose to give in to our self-centered tendencies. But we belong to community—we are persons-in-community. Thus all personal sins, no matter how secret or private they seem to be, have social repercussions. Our personal sins can hurt others. We influence others to sins without even intending it.
How? When our right reason fails to keep them in order.
All of us have evil tendencies. This is influenced by the seven capital sins. What are they?
Pride, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, covetousness and sloth: these sins are roots of our personal sins. This means that although we are still free to choose what to do, these root attitudes incline us toward focusing on our selves alone ignoring others.

I) Church Teachings on Sin
The students will be asked to summarize and outline the textbook in class [20 mins].
Open Forum will be given in the last 30 mins of the class on their questions about sin.

II) Ways of Not Being a Self – some examples of how we “lose” ourselves in the process of living. And to lose ourselves is dis-aster—to be out of our orbits.

To be a self is an achievement—madaling maging tao, pero mahirap magpakatao. A person needs to GROW (not just physically, but emotionally, morally, spiritually). There is always that possibility of becoming a “nobody”.

What is a nobody? A nobody is someone who doesn’t know who he is. Who has no direction, and meaning in life. A bum. A person who doesn’t do anything with himself. And we know of people who are like that. We know people who are shallow – mabaw. We talk to them, and we don’t learn anything new. They do not leave any impact on other people’s lives. They do not touch other people. It feels like they are just hiding behind a mask. It’s like peeling an onion. We end up with nothing.

We say that a person “finds”, “discovers” himself. What does that mean—to discover oneself? It means that we have a fuller sense of who we are, where our life is heading. We now know what our talents are, and where we are good at. We have begun to assert ourselves and take responsibility for our lives.

There are people on the other hand who haven’t discovered themselves yet—they are nobodys. Why is it that a person can live, and not be alive? Let us examine some possible answers to this:

[See these as SIN – in terms of missing the mark and DIS-ASTER]

1) Wearing a Mask

We present to other people feelings, concerns, and fears which are not really our own. We assume a self which is not our true self and we present this self to others. This is a MASK.
We become artificial, and plastic. We compliment someone even if we do not really like him. Or we may appear cold to someone who we really like.

We can see ourselves in terms of image which distorts who we truly are. We can have an image of ourselves as goody-goody, a saint. Such an image can prevent us from recognizing and being aware of the negative aspects of our character. Or we may feel that we are worthless (our parents can tell us this!), and so we have such a difficult time trying to do better things/improving ourselves.

There are masks forced upon us from outside—our friends require us to come to a party to celebrate even if deep inside we feel really bad.
· We are asked to look and act confident and appear calm when we come in front of the class for a speech in English, even when deep inside we are so afraid.
· We joke and banter with our classmates and act cool, and we don’t want to do too well in class for fear of being kantiawed or copied from—even when deep inside, we know we can do better than what we are showing.
· We can be so caught up wearing a mask that we fail to live and express our real selves; and we can even be unaware (dili ta kabalo) of what the true self is.
· We do not know anymore what we really feel and what we really want.
· DIS-ASTER!

2) Failure to take responsibility for one’s life.

To be fully alive, I must take responsibility over my life and learn to assert myself. At the same time, I must be able to “unite” all the unruly elements within me – to become ONE: to discipline my wild tendencies, to overcome my weaknesses.

Sure signs of not being able to take responsibility over your life:

· I do something because people close to me do it.
· When I do something wrong, I say “Everyone else is doing it anyway”
· I am so easy to convince and I “go along” with what people are doing.
· I do not want to be blamed when something bad happens. I try to pass it to someone else.
· I look at the mistakes of other people more than my own mistakes.

3) Absorption in a Function

· We usually see ourselves in a role: son, friend, boyfriend, student, officer.
· These roles give me meaning in life – they define who I am.
· But these can have a hidden danger – I can become so absorbed in my role that I lose focus on other more important aspects of my life.
· I can be too focused on my role as a student that I forget about being a friend to my classmates. I can be too focused on my role as leader that I forget my other responsibilities as son to my parents.
· There is a need to live out our roles but we have to be able to go beyond these roles when the need arises. To be human is to be open to new possibilities of self.

4) Insensitivity to What I Am Meant to Be

· Our problem is not just that we are insensitive about other people, but that we have become insensitive to our own selves – we are not aware of our feelings, pains, fears, and the longing that are deep in our hearts.
· We do not listen to ourselves – to what is happening within us – because we are too busy or too concerned about responsibilities and other things.
· Sometimes, we live in the past – to a set of rules, a set way of doing things, a series of goals we have set for ourselves when we were younger, etc. And so we forget to live in the present – to what our present situation is calling us to do.
· If we live in the past, we become “nobodies” in the present.

5) Failure to Respond to an Absolute

· The psychologist Karl Jung talked about the need for a religious dimension of the self – that man, in order to be a healthy human being, must have an openness to something beyond this world. He said that without this openness, man will be swallowed up by despair and he will find that his life has no meaning.
· Personal observation: I have never seen a man who doesn’t believe in God happy. Atheists are sad persons. I don’t know why, but that is my personal observation.
· There are several ways of living this out: 1) commitment to something beyond yourself – a family, a career, a cause; 2) living for God; 3) personal dedication to principles or values which possess absolute importance. THE POINT IS THIS: the individual self opens itself up to something beyond him/herself.

Please read...

2005-10-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

i created this page for two reasons: first, for easy access on the different lecture materials we developed in class; second, for us to post our personal reflection.

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thank you. all for the greater glory of God....

in Christ,

bro dwainesj

Conscience

2005-10-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

What is Human Conscience?
Everyday we are constantly making moral judgments about the acts we are about to do or acts we have already done.
Within us, somehow an inner voice that somehow is telling us at the right moment: “do this…” and “do not do that…”we call this in Filipino the “tinig ng budhi”
This tinig ng budhi that guides us is what we call our conscience.

Conscience: that (for many people they say it is the voice of God, or the inner voice within self) which compels/obligates us to do good and avoid evil. It is a judgment of reason (“na-konsensya ko” really means “my reason told me”… that we feel guilty about something we have done or failed to do).

What Conscience is not:
Myth 1: “It’s a matter between me and my conscience.”—it is simply doing things my way without considering the good of others
Myth 2: “My conscience is the voice of God within us.”—my conscience is the voice of God.
Myth 3: “My Conscience is our feeling of guilt.”—equates conscience as a feeling of guilt; reducing conscience as mere feelings.
Myth 4: “The notion that media’s depiction of conscience as an external reality is essentially accurate.”—conscience as merely a question of taste or private preferences without real moral weight or value.

Kinds of Conscience
Case 7: Chickens and joiners?
Ben, Jhun, Lawrence were with a group of friends the other evening celebrating their juniors and seniors prom. They had a good time at liquid. One of the members of the group thought it would be great fun to get into a car and recklessly drive through the lawn of Apo View. The purpose of the joyride would be to wreck one of the greens with deep tire marks. Several members of the group decided to engage in the destruction, but Ben, Jhun and Lawrence declined to do so.

How can you explain the following given this particular scenario?
Fear Conscience
Person-centered Conscience
Christian Conscience

Conscience morally obliges Us
Conscience morally obliges us not only to judge what is morally good but to do the right and love goodness. It is always inclined to doing good.

Subjective dimension: we do not mean that judgment of conscience depends only on what an individual thinks, but our individual conscience is simply ours and no one else.
Objective dimension: our conscience is shaped by our interaction with another; it has always a social dimension; thus our conscience obliges us at all times to choose what is good not only for ourselves but also consider the good of others.

Values, Moral Laws, and Human Conscience:
What is their basic relation?
There are human values basic/fundamental to living a truly human life…like?
Moral laws protect these basic human values.
What is the role of Human Conscience here?
Consider:
Case 8: Finders Keepers, loser’s weepers
You went to the library to do a research about a topic assigned to you by your CLE teacher. You found a wallet in one of the empty table. It has no identification on it and no way to trace who is the owner. Inside the wallet is a P5, 000.oo bill. Nobody saw you that you found the wallet. What do you do?

Since there is no one to one correspondence laws protecting my values, it is our conscience judging this particular act…good or bad.
My conscience recognizes the objective value of restoring lost property to the owner, just as I would want others to restore to us things we lost…
Not returning the lost item is stealing…

Why do we have to follow what our conscience tells us?
It is always inclined to do what is good—its goal is goodness
It is God’s gift to us a free persons
It is our obligation to follow our conscience because this is part of the foundation of the faith relationship with God. To follow goodness is to follow God who is the source of all goodness.

Why do we have to educate our Conscience?
Our consciences are not automatically formed, thus we need to educate our conscience.
Our consciences are gradually developed formed by many influences: Our conscience is influenced by what we learn and how we feel, our intellectual and affective aspects: mind and heart—from people around us, media, church, “kaberks”
Thus it is our moral responsibility to develop correct conscience, one that judges moral goodness or evil according to what is objectively good or evil.
Erroneous conscience—one that mistakenly judges something good to be evil and evil to be good.
Past experiences and past choices/judgments: from this, many of our moral judgment at present come almost automatic, seemingly involving little or no deliberation at all. We can say it’s bad or good immediately because of previous experience.

Example: We immediately know that respecting our parents, teachers, and classmates, studying our lessons well, and not bullying our classmates are all good acts, while cheating another student’s answers and stealing are morally evil acts.

How does one form his/her conscience?
Ways of forming our mind:
Learning from the experiences and reflections of friends
Taking time to read and study the Bible
Listening to parents advice or engaging in a dialogue with them
Learning in school
Consulting and asking questions from parents and teachers

Ways of forming our Hearts:
spending moments alone in quiet personal prayer and reflection
attending and participating in the Mass
Join religious groups, prayer sessions, etc.
Receiving the sacrament—the mass and reconciliation

Freedom

2005-10-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

Scope
• Freedom—poem
• What is true freedom and what is not true freedom?—right understanding and misconceptions of our freedom [activity]
• What is freedom?
• Essence of my Freedom: Freedom in the Old an New Testament
• Freedom from and freedom for
• Types of Freedom
• External and internal threats of our freedom
• Freedom and responsibility
• Ignorance
• Am I Free?

MAN'S FREEDOM
• God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him."
• Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.
• Man's freedom is shared freedom, freedom in the conjoint existence of liberties which limit and thus sustain one another. Freedom must measure itself by what I am, by what we are—otherwise it annuls itself. But having said this, we are now ready to make an essential correction of the superficial image of freedom which largely dominates the present:“if man's freedom can consist only in the ordered coexistence of liberties, this means that order—right—is not the conceptual antithesis of freedom, but rather its condition, indeed, a constitutive element of freedom itself. Right is not an obstacle to freedom, but constitutes it. The absence of right is the absence of freedom.”

Misconceptions about Freedom
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT “FREEDOM”—What Freedom is NOT
It is a right to say or do everything—as it pleases me.
It is the satisfaction of his own interests (appetites) through the enjoyment of earthly goods
Rules, commitment, laws, etc. limit my freedom

Right understanding of Freedom
THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF “FREEDOM” –What Freedom should be
Freedom should be understood this way
or there will be chaos.
or we will not be true to ourselves
or we will lose the point of what it means to be human

What is freedom?
Characteristics/attitudes of the human person by which he/she is able to pursue the good of his/her existence
• To fully and truly live life fitted for/to a human being…
• To live like Christ: model and norm for what it means to be human…

Types of Freedom
• Internal Freedom—to be all that we can possibly be; to be the best that we can possibly be…
Some threats: negative habits or vices, fears, doubts, disordered desires, prejudices and ignorance
• External Freedom—to do everything we can possibly do…a means to an end.
Some threats: forces or realities in our community that influence us to act in a self-centered way, violence, peer pressure, slavery and oppression, media and lack of parental supervision.

Essence of My Freedom

Freedom in the Old Testament—experience of freedom from slavery and suffering in Egypt to a new life of freedom and dignity as God’s people.
– God gave his lasting sign of his call for all persons to be truly free—the 10 commandments: the 1st 3 concretely expressing how we should love and worship God, the other 7 express how we should love our neighbor.
– True freedom and prosperity are promised to all who keep God’s commandments [Deuteronomy 6:3]

Freedom in the New Testament—the perfect sign of God’s call for us to true freedom is Jesus Christ.
– To [truly] love God and others can we become truly free.
– Jesus empowers us to overcome our self-centeredness and sin—abuses of our freedom.
– True freedom is to LOVE…and to live in TRUTH…

Right Understanding of Freedom
1. Christ invites all persons to the fullness of graced life and freedom: freedom from…as well as freedom for…
1. Freedom from conditions, Attitudes. And acts that hinder us from following Christ as well as freedom for growing in Christ…
Freedom from is not absence of restraint and whatever impedes our free activity….
• Freedom from is not absence of restraint and whatever impedes our free activity….it is our freedom to do what is truly good.
• Freedom for is the pursuit of goodness—our freedom is for growing as full persons and disciples of Christ…
Freedom from sin and freedom for genuine loving…freedom from any attachment to material goods and freedom for growing as full person and life in the spirit of God….

1. Freedom carries with it the corresponding duty/responsibility to respect the same freedom in others – every person has the right to be recognized and respected as free and responsible. And to respect that freedom is a moral obligation – we are obligated only because if we will not do it, we would be contradicting ourselves.
· This is a simple example and may be imperfect but is something you can understand: someone loves to tease and make fun of us and then we tease back or mubalos ta once and he gets very angry at us. Isn’t that a contradiction?
· In the same way—our freedom should be exercised in such a way that freedom should only be exercised for things that we would want to happen to us as well.
· If we don’t want it to happen to us, then we do not do it. [Golden Rule: Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you…]

2. Freedom is always for the good, and always relational.
– Freedom done for the bad of other people is not freedom (because I am free, I beat up my classmate).
– Freedom done only for your own good is incomplete freedom (because I am free, I eat as much as I want and as much as I can—that’s not freedom, that’s appetite and pigging out.

3. Freedom is about control. Not all itches need to be scratched! Not all appetites need to be fulfilled. To scratch all itches is to be as “unfree” as animals.
– to allow yourself to be controlled by whatever you feel at a particular moment: I court a girl because gusto lang nako, I am not listening to the teacher because I do not feel like listening, I want to go out because gusto lang nako, I do not go to church because I do not feel like going to church.
– one criterion of mature human beings is the ability of persons to do what he does not feel like doing. A mature father of a family works even when he is tired. A mature mother cooks for the family even when she does not feel like doing it. A mature student studies even when he doesn’t feel like studying anymore. The decisions of mature people are based on free decisions. And free decisions are made in spite of and despite our appetites.

4. Freedom is an achievement. It can be attained only if we take control of our lives, learn to control our feelings, get beyond our basic needs, rise above rules, and become free of social pressure
– TAKING CONTROL -- I can live my life as if it is determined by external happenings – by chance. I go to college because my uncle offers to pay my tuition and so he chooses my course and he chooses my school. I work for this company because the job was offered to me. We leave things to chance. But freedom is exercising control over my life. Freedom is setting goals for myself, making decisions that will lead me to what I really want.
– CONTROL OF FEELINGS – we mentioned above the point of doing things you do not want to do.
– GETTING BEYOND BASIC NEEDS – need for food, shelter, clothing, security and companionship. When these assert themselves and overpower me, they take away my freedom. When I become too tired, then I fall down and cannot do anything else but sleep. I become too hungry, that I cannot think of anything but food.
– RISING ABOVE RULES – are good because they promote order. Because of rules, individuals know what to do without having to think about it. They make life simpler. We simply do what the rule tells us. But sometimes, we follow rules blindly and they control every situation in my life that there is no more room for human choice.
– Lawyers can become so concerned with the law and procedures that they forget about justice.
– Students can be so concerned with fulfilling requirements and passing a subject that no learning happens in the classroom. The class becomes a series of memorized lessons that you forget once you finish the subject.
– Freedom is about evaluating situations, making personal decisions and committing to those decisions made.

- GOING BEYOND SOCIAL PRESSURE – I become an engineer because my father wants an engineer in the family. I wear my hair in a certain way because it is “in” style. I listen to a certain type of music because everyone else does. When that happens, it is not “I” making choices, I am just following “their” decisions. My life is not really “mine” but “theirs”.

FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY
1. Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.

2. As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.

3. The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."

4. Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and assess enhance the mastery of the will over its acts.

5. Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.

6. Every act directly willed is imputable to its author:
• “Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this that you have done?"29 He asked Cain the same question.30 The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered”

7. Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.

2005-10-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

Salvation History
The constant and abiding presence of the Lord in the History of Humanity

This lesson brings out the fact that Christianity is a religion rooted in history.
It deals with real people who lived in a definite period of time, in a certain place; who said and did things that others remembered and of which they kept a record.
In the words of the first Pope, "We do not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty"
That is what Salvation History is all about. It is about persons and places, words and events which are not "cleverly devised myths." It is about facts and not fiction.
It is about how God’s abiding presence and faithfulness revealed in human history; and how God take the first initiative to reach us despite how unbelieving we are…
It is about how God’s enduring love continues to inspire many of us in our history to proclaim His works and deeds despites the many persecutions.
His love and compassion endures forever…
• There are 4 main persons: Abraham, Moses and David in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, who as the natural Son of God-become-man brought the New and Eternal Testament into the world.
• But history of salvation began after the fall of our first parents. No sooner had Adam and Even sinned, God promised them and their descendants a Redeemer.
• Salvation means being saved from sin and its effects.

The Abiding love and compassion of God in Human History

Sin- Punishment -God’s love and mercy
Adam and Eve -Disobedience- S ent them away- Clothe them
Cain and Abel- Envy/Murder -Fugitive/wanderer -Mark on his forehead
Noah -Wicked/Corrupt world -Flood (40days) -Promise not to destroy
the face of the earth.
Tower of Babel -Pride- Confused their language -Scattered all over the
earth

ABRAHAM
• Anointed by God as the father of multitude of nations; promise of God: “make you fruitful, I will make my covenant with you and your descendants; I will give to you all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God.”
• He always find favor in God
• He is always in the sight of God.
• God did not abandon him.

Moses
• Anointed by Yahweh [God] to liberate his chosen people from slavery in Egypt.
• Yahweh heard the cry of his people so he has chosen Moses—leading them out of Egypt.
• In their sojourn, despite their constant unbelief to the power of God, He did not abandon them…Yahweh remained with them faithfully until they reach the promise land.
• Yahweh was always there faithfully protecting them—He stayed with them.

David
• Anointed by God to be the King of Israel.
• Defeated the champion of the Philistines—Goliath
• Once a care taker of animals for Saul—yet he found favor in the sight of the Lord.
• He ruled Israel in the guidance of God.
• God fought with him in every battle.
• He always seek the guidance of God.

Jesus Christ
• Jesus is God who became Man
• Embodiment of God’s love and compassion as a decisive intervention in human history.
• Jesus Christ is the promise of salvation
• Gave us a new understanding of who God is---a God who suffers with me, shares my own weakness and insecurities, shares my being…
• Brings the promise of salvation into its fullness.

2005-10-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Who do you say Jesus is?
He is God in human way
-son of Mary and Joseph
-son of a carpenter: a good carpenter
-he lived a simple life
-both parents are religious
-he finds joy in serving the poor
-always associate himself with them
-loves to eat and celebrate with people

He is fully human
-a lover of the poor: widow, tax collectors, prostitutes and the sick
- He does not discriminate: but he welcomed everyone…
- He treats people with importance
- He speaks in authority/power and wisdom
- He notices ordinary people
- He is God yet he made himself low.
-He is Human in Divine way

He is the Son of God
“God [the Father] responding to sin did not spare his own Son, but in love sends him to pour out his forgiveness…he was obedient even unto death—death on the Cross.”
He is the fulfillment of the Scripture and the fullness of creation.

How did he live his life?
He lived his life in constant communion with the Father—the Oneness of Jesus and His Father. [Luke 9:28-36; John 14:15-28;Luke 11:18]
He lived among the poor, women and children, widows, among those who are not acceptable in society, etc., and taught them and preached to them…His heart is very close to them…always on the side of suffering.
He was a “troublemaker” in society: what He was teaching and preaching upset and threatened both religious and civil leaders.
He is the representation of a people suffering, hurting, victimized, broken, oppressed…brought to a sharp focus
His very person, teaching and praxis were a threat to those who are in power.

Why was he put to Death—was Crucified? [Passion—Death—Resurrection]
The suffering and death of Jesus- brought about by human/historical rejection of Jesus’ person, preaching and praxis: by Jewish people, Pontius Pilate, and civil authorities.
Sin- God’s Son enters into this world of Sin; my sins form part of the total network of original sin and human sinfulness: disorders, idolatries of riches– a world in need of redemption.
Image of God- God responding to sin did not spare His own Son, but in love sends Him to pour out His forgiveness, mercy upon the world upon us all. Jesus on the Cross is the mercy-seat of God’s forgiveness and faithfulness to His promise of salvation.

Rediscovering Jesus: “Son of Man and Son of God…

2005-10-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he Has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovering the sight to the blind, to set liberty to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing…”

Who do you say I am?
“He is the Messiah, the One sent by the Father to redeem humanity…the living bread, source, center point and fulfillment of all creation…”
“In Jesus Christ is God in Human way, and Human in a Divine way…”
“In His personal insertion of himself as a son of God into our Human condition, Jesus has actually placed God within our reach…”
He took side with the lowly, and brought himself low…
He is always identified as lover of sinners: of tax collectors and prostitutes; a glutton and drunkard: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners…”

Teachings and Preachings

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of heaven are yours…”
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father…for if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even gentiles do the same?”
“ Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles will be exalted…”
“For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life will save it…”
“He stayed with them…and was obedient unto death… even a death on the cross”

The word of the cross remains the power of God, and this is the guarantee of the presence of the risen Lord among Us.

The Folly of the Cross

The death of the Lord is life giving because it proclaims the truth about human situation: no human can overcome finitude, sin and tragedy,...

The cross affirms that man is finite but it also affirms that God is with him in his finitude….
The cross makes evident the fact that man is weak, but it tells him to glory in that weakness because God has chosen to share this weakness….

It exposes man’s insecurity but it also tells him that God has made that insecurity his own.
The cross manifests the darkness that man lives and dies but it also tells him that when the darkness is most impenetrable, God is there….

The cross is the message that God is with us in finitude, weakness, insecurity and darkness and that it is precisely there that he affirms us with a love for which nothing can separate us…

The message of the cross is a unique word to each of us who is willing to hear it, because it speaks to us where no one else has been and where we are now and where God chooses to be.
In the man on the cross, he came to stay, and until the end of time, there will be no dark corner of human existence that will ever again be deprived of his presence.

To hear and accept the word of the cross is to live in joy and to die in peace, secure in the knowledge that when the foundations shake, God is there, and will prove himself, as always, by calling into being the things that are not and raising the death to life.