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| Foundations for Catholic Morality | |
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| A Call to Catholic Living | |
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| Moral decision making reflects our nature as persons endowed with intellect and free will | |
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| Catholic morality is our response to Jesus | |
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| Grace as sharing in God's life is both a comfort and a challenge | |
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| The grace of the Holy Spirit helps us live our vocation to follow Jesus | |
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| Jesus | |
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| Jesus is the starting point of Catholic morality | |
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| Love is the guiding principle of Catholic morality | |
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| The kingdom of God is a central theme in the mission of Jesus | |
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| Jesus models service and calls upon his followers to serve | |
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| The Church | |
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| The communion of saints refers to holy things, especially the Eucharist. It also refers to holy people from the past, present, and future who are inspired by the Holy Spirit to use their talents for helping others | |
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| The Church is a God-given gift that assists us in our moral lives | |
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| The Church's sacraments are the "masterworks of God" that give us grace to follow Christ | |
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| The Church is a source of moral guidance for Catholics | |
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| Conscience | |
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| Our dignity as persons created by God requires us to follow our conscience | |
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| Popular uses of the word conscience are frequently inadequate to describe all that the term involve | |
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| A fuller understanding of conscience includes three dimensions: awareness, develpment, and judgment | |
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| Scripture and Tradition emphasize the importance of using our conscience to make informed moral decisions | |
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| Sin and Morality | |
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| Two images of sin that are frequently used in Scripture are missing the mark and hardness of heart | |
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| In Christianity the primary message about sin is one of forgiveness | |
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| Distinction among types of sin is intended to help people overcome sin | |
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| Social sin refers to behavior patterns, values, and social structures that encourage or support sin in a society | |
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| The Virtues | |
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| Virtues are character strengths that we develop over time and through consistent use | |
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| The theological virtues of faith, hope, and love are gifts from God | |
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| The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance | |
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| An important aspect of the moral life is creating communities of character | |
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| Moral Decision Making | |
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| Three sources of moral decision making are: the object chosen, the intentions, and the circumstances | |
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| Moral decision making involves asking what and who | |
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| Moral decision making involves asking why, how, when, and where | |
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| Discernment means calling upon as many resources as possible to evaluate whether an action is right or wrong | |
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| Catholic Morality Applied | |
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| The Decalogue | |
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| God's gift of the Decalogue to the Israelites is also a gift to us | |
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| The first commandment affirms the importance of adoring the one true God and rejecting false gods | |
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| The second commandment calls for speaking and acting with reverence toward God | |
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| The third commandment reminds us to set aside the Lord's Day for prayer, worship, rest, and recreation | |
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| The Family and Beyond | |
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| The Catholic family is a domestic church with the Trinity as its model | |
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| The fourth commandment calls for harmony within families and society by honoring parents, elders, and leaders | |
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| For the past fifty years the Information Age has influenced family life and values | |
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| Computers, video games, and the many forms of information technology impact our moral lives | |
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| Cherishing Each Person | |
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| The fifth commandment mandates us to respect the life of the unborn | |
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| Respect for life is a principle that guides us in caring for those who are sick or who are near death | |
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| The fifth commandment forbids intentional euthanasia | |
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| Church teaching targets the issues of life support and physician-assisted suicide | |
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| Promoting Peace | |
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| We are called to counteract violence in its many forms, both explicit and hidden | |
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| Church leaders have declared capital punishment an unnecessary affront to the dignity of human life | |
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| The Church promotes alternatives to war and calls for restriction of warfare as much as possible | |
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| The moral issues of nuclear weapons and the arms race, terrorism, and nonviolence challenge us to follow the gospel of Christ | |
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| Sexuality and Morality | |
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| Sexuality is more than physicality; it is a drive toward fruitful union and a reaching out to others | |
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| Catholics are called to follow Jesus, the model of chastity | |
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| Catholicism presents marriage as the naturally-ordered context for full sexual expression | |
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| Catholic moral teaching based on the sixth and ninth commandments provides guidance for decision making in areas of sexual behavior | |
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| Living the Truth in Love | |
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| The eighth commandment calls for respect for truth | |
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| We can abuse speech by what we say or fail to say | |
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| Disregard for truth leads to a culture of mistrust | |
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| A truthful society seeks to give all people a voice and to address their needs | |
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| Generosity and Justice | |
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| The seventh commandment involves the topics of stealing, the use of private property, and the necessity of making amends | |
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| The tenth commandment helps us appreciate the need to follow the way of Jesus in order to avoid the sins of envy, avarice, and greed | |
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| Justice applies the seventh commandment to the pursuit of the common good | |
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| Catholic social teaching offers guidance for achieving social justice | |