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centurionguard
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Moral Theology is integrated with Christian Spirituality in which (“Today”) in the early 21st century is called to evangelize the moral catechises, by proclaiming God’s abiding laws of grace that transforms our relationships to God and one another and destroys our sinful alienation. As a people of Faith in Christ we must all strive to recapture the moral imaginations with all people, especially our Catholic brothers and sisters. We must “put on Christ” and thus grow in virtue. For too long, the one-sided emphasis on avoiding sin and obeying laws, extrinsically and legalistically understood, has virtually destroyed the attractiveness of the Catholic Church’s moral teachings. Many Catholic moralists since Vatican II have endeavored instead to demonstrate the universality and non-distinctiveness of Christian moral principles in a pluralistic and secular world. At the same time, in our highly individualistic age in the 21st century, the average person continues to see the Catholic Church’s moral teachings as an imposition upon personal freedom. Moral teachings from the Church comes across today as lacklustre or really anything that truly echo’s the genuine value of the Good News from Scripture. Furthermore, ignorance and misconceptions abound about why the Catholic Church teaches what it does. Few Catholics see the intimate connection between morality and their spiritual quest for self-fulfillment and happiness. In addition, the confusion spawned by a number of Catholic moral theologians, who have espoused consequentialism and proportionalism in their answers to contemporary moral questions that are of great importance and have caused many a priest to become gun-shy of broaching these same issues from the pulpit. Indeed, the clergy themselves often lack a coherent vision of the Catholic moral traditions taught by the early Fathers and Saints of the Church. Catechism and Catholic school teachers also find themselves in the same boat. The result is that many Catholics today really do not know what it means to lead lives of genuine Christian virtue.
Too readily Catholics separate their belief in Jesus Christ from their everyday behaviors often wrought by acts of sin. The goal of every Catholic is to realize and study the vast richness of our Catholic heritage and delve into it rather than go beyond it. To understand better the Moral Traditions of the Church so we can more fervently share it lovingly in our contemporary world. Catholic Moral Teaching will only appeal and make sense to modern Catholics when it is perceived as offering a holistic vision of what it means to be a “genuinely” integrated and happy person of Faith in Jesus Christ alone, (“the final Adam”) who provides for us the spiritual vision and with the transforming power of grace to become “A New Creation” as Sons and Daughters who live our lives accordingly embracing the moral teachings passed down through the history of the Church.
Too readily Catholics separate their belief in Jesus Christ from their everyday behaviors often wrought by acts of sin. The goal of every Catholic is to realize and study the vast richness of our Catholic heritage and delve into it rather than go beyond it. To understand better the Moral Traditions of the Church so we can more fervently share it lovingly in our contemporary world. Catholic Moral Teaching will only appeal and make sense to modern Catholics when it is perceived as offering a holistic vision of what it means to be a “genuinely” integrated and happy person of Faith in Jesus Christ alone, (“the final Adam”) who provides for us the spiritual vision and with the transforming power of grace to become “A New Creation” as Sons and Daughters who live our lives accordingly embracing the moral teachings passed down through the history of the Church.