The Moral Act – 3 parts/sources
- The object chosen
- The good toward which the will deliberately directs itself.
- Morally specifies that act of the will, whether in conformity or not with the true good.
- The end in view or the intention
- Resides in the acting subject, the intended goal or purpose of the act.
- Can guide several actions → serving to help one’s neighbor and inspired by love of God.
- A good intention can never make an evil act good, and a bad intention can make a good act turn evil.
- The circumstance of the action
- The consequences of the action and secondary elements of a moral act. What surrounds the act itself.
- Can increase or diminish the moral goodness or evil of the act. (amount stolen or acting out of fear of death)
- A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, intention/end, and circumstance together.
- Certain acts are intrinsically evil and always wrong to choose (see the Ten Commandments)
Mortal and Venial Sin Recap
- CCC 1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."
- Mortal Sin: grave matter, full knowledge, full consent
- Grave matter specified by the Ten Commandments
- Destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation against God → destroys friendship with God
- CCC 1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
- CCC 1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.
- Venial sin concerns a less serious matter but weakens charity and can lead to mortal sin.
Old Law vs the New Law
- God gave Israel the Old Law in order that they may follow it and be his people, laying the foundation for proper living.
- Acts like a like to man’s conscience and is the first step in preparing mankind for the Gospel
- The Old Law shows what must be done, but it does not give the strength to carry it out, it cannot remove sin, but reveals it.
- The New Law is the perfection of the Old Law, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit given to the faithful through faith in Christ and works through charity.
- The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law → Jesus with his Sermon on the Mount revealing the hidden potential of the law → ”you have heard it said… but I say to you.”
- Summarized in the two great commandments.
- Practiced through acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.