Life in Christ:

Principles for Christian Morality

Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part III Articles 1691 - 1876
Taken from the annotations of Stephen M. Matuszak, S.T.L.
All rights reserved.

Morality is not simply following rules, but

living fully the new life of grace:
Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that
you share in Gods own nature, do not return
to your former base condition by sinning.
Remember who is your head and of whose
body you are a member. Never forget that
your have been rescued from the power of
darkness and brought into the light of the
Kingdom of God.
~ St. Leo the Great (#1691)

It is the following of Jesus Christ

Christ Jesus always did what was pleasing to
the Father and always lived in perfect
communion with Him. Likewise Christs
disciples are invited to live in the sight of the
Father who sees in secret, in order to
become perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect.
(#1693)

Living the New Life of Grace

Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians
are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus
and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord.
Following Christ and united with him, Christians
can strive to be imitators of God as beloved
children, and walk in love by conforming their
thoughts, words and actions to the mind
which is yours in Christ Jesus, and by following
his example.
(#1694)

The Two ways (see Psalm 1)

The way of Christ leads to life; there is also a
contrary way that leads to destruction
Today the Church speaks of a culture of life
and a culture of death; the choice is clear!
The Gospel parable of the two ways remains
ever present in the catechesis of the Church
(cf. Deut. 30: 15-20; Psalm 1: 1, 4; Mt. 7: 13).
Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy
and the demands of the way of Christ.

Catechesis for the newness of life in Christ

should be a catechesis of:
The Holy Spirit, who is the interior Master of life;
Grace, for it is by grace that we are saved;
The beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in them, they
articulate the path to eternal happiness which we desire and
were created for by God;
Sin and forgiveness, for unless we acknowledge that we are
sinners, we cannot know the truth about ourselves; we must
forgive others as God forgives us;
The theological virtues of faith, hope and love inspired by the
example of the saints & the moral virtues;
The twofold commandment of charity;
An ecclesial catechesis in the communion of saints.

Section I: Mans Vocation Life in the Spirit

Chapter I the Dignity of the Human Person
Human dignity is rooted in our creation in the image
and likeness of God;
It is reflected in our vocation to divine beatitude;
It is essential for human fulfillment;
Allows for free & deliberate human action;
Conforms to the true good attested to by moral
conscience;
Guides the passions toward growth & fulfillment;
With the help of grace, it leads to virtue;
It teaches us to avoid sin and live in Gods mercy.

Eight Foundational Elements/Articles:

I. Man is created in the image of God
II. We are created for beatitude / happiness
III. We are endowed by God with true freedom
IV. Three elements of the morality of human acts
V. The role and morality of human passions
VI. Moral conscience and its formation
VII. The importance of the virtues
VIII. The mystery of sin and greatness of Gods
mercy

Art. 1: Man, The Image of God

It is in Christ that the divine image, disfigured in man by the
first sin, has been restored to its original beauty & ennobled
by grace. (See G.S. 22)
The divine image is present in every person and shines forth
in the communion of persons.
By virtue of his rational soul, man is endowed with freedom
which is an expression of the divine image.
Through reason, man recognizes the voice of God directing
our actions through conscience.
Man abused his freedom at the beginning of history.
We are transformed by filial adoption, to follow Christ.

Art. 2: Our Vocation to Beatitude

The desire for happiness (beatitudo) lies in the heart of every
human person.
The beatitudes take up Gods promises to Abraham and the
chosen people by ordering them to fulfillment in the kingdom
of heaven.
They depict the countenance of Jesus and portray his
charity.
They express the vocation of the faithful associated with his
Passion & Resurrection and shed light on actions & attitudes
in living the Christian life.

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the pure of heart
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are those who are persecuted
Blessed are you when men revile you for your reward is
great in heaven.

All human beings seek happiness

God has placed the desire for happiness in the
heart of every person in order to draw men to
Himself God alone can fulfill it.
All men want to live happily. In the whole
human race there is no one who does not
assent to this proposition. (St. Augustine)
God alone satisfies (St. Thomas Aquinas)
God calls us to His own beatitude; This call is
addressed to each person as well as the whole
Church.

Christian Beatitude
The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize
the beatitude to which we are called: the coming of the
Kingdom of God; the vision of God; entering the joy of the
Lord; entering Gods rest.
Beatitude makes us partakers of the divine nature and of
eternal life; man enters the joy of Trinitarian life and love
being in communion with God!
This beatitude surpasses human powers and understanding.
It is supernatural and is accompanied by a special grace to
help us receive divine joy!
It confronts us with decisive moral choices and invites us to
purify our hearts and to seek the love of God!
The beatitude of heaven sets a standard for the use of earthly
goods in keeping with the will of God.

Art. 3: Human Freedom

God willed that man should be left in the hands of his own
counsel so that he might seek the Creator of his own accord.
(Sirach 15:14; GS 17).
Freedom is the power rooted in reason and will to perform
deliberate actions.
It allows us to grow and mature in truth & goodness.
It attains its perfection when directed toward God, our
Beatitude and final end.
We are faced with choices between good and evil and also
between lesser goods and the highest good.
This freedom characterizes properly human acts.
The more one does good, the freer one becomes.

Freedom & Responsibility

There is no true freedom except in service to what is good and
just.
To disobey Gods commandments is to abuse freedom & leads
to the slavery of sin.
Freedom makes us responsible for our actions.
Progress in virtue & knowledge of the good requires selfdenial (asceticism) to enhance self-mastery.
Responsibility can be diminished or nullified by the enemies
of freedom: ignorance, duress, fear, etc.
We are responsible for every deliberately willed act.
Some good actions have unintended consequences that are
bad. Are these morally permissible? We must use the
Principle of the Double Effect to judge.

The Principle of the Double Effect

An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for
instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A
bad effect is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end
or as a means of an action, e.g., a death a person incurs in
aiding someone in danger.
For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the
agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of
manslaughter caused by a drunken driver. (CCC #1737)

The Principle of the Double Effect

1.
2.

3.
4.

If an action has two or more consequences, both good

and bad, the act is morally good if the following
conditions are met:
The act itself is good or at least neutral;
The good effect does not come from the evil effect or
consequence;
The evil effect is not intended, merely permitted and
cannot be avoided;
There is a proportionate for allowing the evil effect.
A classic example of this Principle is an ectopic
pregnancy and the removal of the ovum and/or Fallopian
tube. This saves the life of the mother but also results in
the termination of the pregnancy which is unintended.
All four conditions are met.

Human Freedom in the

Economy of Salvation
Human freedom is limited and fallible. Why?
The misery of sin and the abuse of human freedom is attested
to everywhere in the world.
Liberation & salvation: By his glorious Cross, Christ has set us
free for true freedom; Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is freedom (2 Cor. 17)
The grace of Christ does not in the slightest way diminish our
freedom, but rather actualizes it.
The more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more
we grow in inner freedom & confidence.
Every temptation involves a denial of Gods love for us, calling
into doubt His goodness and providence.

True Freedom is a Gift from God!

By the working of grace, the Holy Spirit
educates us in spiritual freedom in order to
make us free collaborators in the Church and
in the world:

Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness

take away from us all that is harmful, so that,
made ready both in mind and body, we may
freely accomplish your holy will!
(Roman Missal)

Art. 4: Morality of Human Acts

Freedom makes persons moral subjects so
that they are the parents of their actions.
Human actions, chosen in consequence of a
judgment of conscience, can be morally
evaluated as either good or bad.
The morality of human acts depends upon:
- The object chosen (also called the means)
- The end in view or the intention (telos)
- The circumstances surrounding the action

Sources of Morality
The object chosen is a good toward which the will deliberately
directs itself and morally specifies the act of the will. Reason
judges whether it is in conformity with the true good. A good
will leads to a good act!
Objective norms of morality express the rational order of
good & evil, attested to by conscience.
The intention or end resides in the acting subject. The end is
the first goal of the action, its purpose.
A good intention does not make a disordered action to be
good. The end does not justify the means!
The circumstances include the consequences and are
secondary considerations. By themselves they cannot change
the moral quality of human acts.

Good and Evil Actions

A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the
end & of the circumstances. An evil end corrupts an action
even if its object is good (eg. prayer & fasting to be seen by
others, etc.)
The object of the will can by itself vitiate the act, or cancel out
its goodness, making it bad in its entirety. There are some
acts that are always wrong to chose because doing do entails
a disorder of the will, which is a moral evil. (i.e. fornication,
calumny, etc.)
One may not do evil so that good may result! (Romans 3:8)

Art. 5: The Morality of the Passions

Feelings or passions are emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite
that incline us to act or not act in regard to something felt or imagined to
be good or evil.
The passions are natural components of the human psyche. They form a
passageway to connect the life of the senses to the life of the mind. They
spring from the heart.
Love is the most fundamental passion, aroused by the attraction for the
good. This movement finds pleasure and joy once the good is possessed.
Therefore love begins with a desire.
Other passions include hatred (aversion to evil) and fear (aver-sion to an
impending evil). These can lead to sadness & anger.
Passions are evil if the love or desire behind them is evil; they are good if
the desire behind them is good (St. Augustine)
True love is understood as willing the good of the other.

Passions & the Moral Life

In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They become morally
specified to the extent that they engage reason & free will. They must be
guided by reason toward a proper end and fulfillment.
Passions are voluntary because they are either commanded or permitted
by the will.
Strong feelings are the inexhaustible reservoir of images & affections in
and through which the moral life of human beings is expressed.
In Christ human feelings are seen to reach their consummation in charity
& blessedness. We strive to imitate the Lord in this and every other way.
Moral perfection consists in being moved to the good not by the will
alone, also by the sensitive appetite. This means that we desire what is
good and right because we desire it with our hearts. That is to say, we find
the good to be appealing and attractive, not something repugnant that
must be endured!

Art. 6: Moral Conscience

Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has
not laid upon himself but which he must obey For man has
in his heart a law inscribed by God The conscience is mans
most secret core and sanctuary. There he is alone with God
whose voice echoes in his depths. (Vat. II, Gaudium et Spes
16)
Moral conscience is at the heart of the human person and
enjoins him to do good and avoid evil. It also judges particular
choices and convicts of the wrongness of some choices.
Conscience functions before we act, while we act and after
we act by examining the goodness or lack thereof, in the
things we do and desire.

The Judgment of Conscience

Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human
person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act
- that he is going to perform,
- is in the process of performing,
- or has already completed.
In everything we do, we are obliged to follow what we know
to be just and right.
It is important for every person to be present to himself in
order to hear and follow the voice of conscience. This
requires interiority & examination. This requires prayer,
discernment and counsel.

Judgment of Conscience, cont.

The dignity of the human person implies and requires uprightness of
moral conscience.
Conscience includes perception of the principles of morality (synderesis)
and their application in given circumstances by practical discernment of
reasons & goods.
The truth about the moral good is recognized practically and concretely
by the prudent judgment of conscience.
Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for all of the actions
that one carries out.
The judgment of conscience remains a pledge of hope in mans desire to
do what is good, and also of the mercy of God who forgives us when we
err in our judgment.
Man has a fundamental right to act in accord with his conscience and in
true freedom; He must not be prevented from doing so, especially in
religious matters. (See Vatican II Declaration on Religious Liberty,
Dignitatis Humanae #1-2.)

The Formation of Conscience

Conscience must be informed and moral judgment
enlightened.
A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It
formulates its judgments in conformity to reason, to the true
good willed by the Creator.
The education of conscience is a lifelong task. The Word of
God is the light for our paths. We assimilate Gods word in
faith and & in prayer (meditation).
We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the
witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative
teaching of the Church.

Choosing in Accord with Conscience

Conscience can either make a correct judgment in accordance
with reason and the divine and natural law, or an erroneous
judgment opposed to this law.
In making moral judgments, we must always seek to discern
the will of God expressed in divine law.
The virtue of prudence assists us in this task.
Charity always proceeds by way of respect for ones neighbor
and for his conscience: Never do anything that makes your
brother stumble (Romans 14:13).

Judgment: Correct vs. Erroneous

Always obey the certain judgment of conscience!
Ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility
failure to form conscience well.
At the source of errors of judgment may be found ignorance
of Christ & his Gospel, bad example given by others, a
mistaken notion of autonomy or freedom, rejection of the
Churchs authoritative teaching, and lack of conversion or lack
of charity.
If ignorance is invincible, the evil committed cannot be
imputed to the moral subject for his erroneous judgment.
However it remains an objectively evil act.

More on Conscience Principles:

Always follow a certain conscience.

Strive for a correctly formed conscience.
Never act on a doubtful conscience.
Conscience can remain in ignorance and make erroneous judgments.
Such ignorance and errors are not automatically free of guilt.
The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith
and prayerfully put it into practice.
The more a correct conscience prevails, the more will people and
groups be guided by objective standards for moral conduct and find
happiness, harmony & peace in their lives.
A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith; charity
proceeds from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith (I
Tim. 5).

Art. 7: The Virtues

A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good
through a prudent judgment of reason.
It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to
offer the best of oneself through self-mastery.
The virtuous person uses all the sensory and spiritual powers
in order to pursue the good and to choose it in all of his
concrete actions and decisions.
The four cardinal virtues play a pivotal role: Justice, Prudence,
Temperance and Fortitude.
Moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit
of morally good acts and dispose all the powers of the person
for communion with God.

Theological Virtues
Human virtues are rooted in the theological
virtues which adapt human faculties to
participate in the divine nature.
The virtues are the foundation for Christian
moral activity; they animate it with grace.
They are infused by God at baptism and make
us capable of acting as His children to merit
eternal life.
They are the pledge of the presence & action
of the Holy Spirit in the human faculties.

Faith
Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God, all
that He has revealed to us, and all that the Church proposes
for our belief.
By faith man freely commits his entire self to God to do His
will.
The righteous person shall live by faith (Rom. 1:17).
The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.
When deprived of hope and love, faith does not unite the
believer to Christ or His Body.
The true disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith but
also live it and confidently bear witness to it.

Hope
Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom
of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust
in Christs promises and relying not on our own strength but
on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
The virtue of hope responds to the desire for happiness which
God has placed in the heart of every person. It takes up and
purifies our individual hopes to order them to the Kingdom of
heaven.

It keeps us from discouragement and sustains us in difficult

times of abandonment.
Christian hope unfolds in Jesus proclamation of the
Beatitudes which raise our hope toward heaven.

Charity
Charity is the theological virtue by which we
love God above all things for his sake, and
our neighbor as ourselves for love of God.
Jesus makes charity the New Commandment.
He manifests the Fathers love which He
receives. By loving each other, the disciples
imitate the love of Jesus which we receive.
The Lord asks us to love even our enemies.
The practice of all the virtues is animated
and inspired by charity. Therefore charity is
called the form or soul of all of the virtues.

Fruits & Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The moral life of all Christians is sustained by the
gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are permanent
dispositions which make us docile in following the
prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit complete and
perfect the virtues of those who receive them.
They belong in their fullness to Christ who gives
them to us through the Holy Spirit.
The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are special
perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the
first fruits of eternal glory.

Art. 8: Sin & Gods Mercy

The Gospel is the revelation of Gods mercy in
Christ to sinners. You shall name him Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins. (Mt. 1:21)
God created us without us: but he did not will to
save us without us. (St. Augustine)
God, by his Word and by his Spirit, casts a living
light on sin. Conversion requires the convicting of
sin and includes the interior judgment of
conscience so that we can repent and amend our
lives from sin.

The Definition of Sin

Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it
is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a
perverse attachment to certain goods.
It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity.
It is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal
law.
In the Passion of Christ we see sin most clearly manifested in
its violence, unbelief, murderous hatred, mocking, cowardice
and cruelty to others.

Different Kinds of Sin

Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, according
to the virtues they oppose or according the commandments
they violate.
Sins are also evaluated according to their gravity.
Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart and turns man away
from God, by preferring an inferior good to Him.
Venial sin allows charity to subsist even though it wounds it.
Mortal sin requires a new initiative of Gods mercy and a
conversion of heart in order to be forgiven.

Conditions for mortal sin

For sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met:
Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is
committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent
(voluntary or free choice).
Grave matter specified by the Ten Commandments

Full knowledge of the sinful character of the act and its

opposition to Gods law, but willful disobedience.
Sufficiently deliberate consent is presupposed.
Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish but
increase its voluntary nature.

Unintentional sin and culpability

If ignorance is unintentional, it can diminish or
even remove culpability for a grave offense.
No one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law which are written in the
conscience. We have access to the truth.
Passions can diminish the voluntary and free
character of the offense, as can external
pressures or pathological disorders.
Sin committed through malice by deliberate
choice, is the gravest kind of sin & moral evil.

More on sin
Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, just as
love itself is also possible.
Mortal sin is especially destructive because it results in the
loss of charity and a privation of the sanctifying grace that
justifies us with God.
If it is not redeemed by repentance and forgiveness it causes
exclusion from Christs Kingdom and the eternal death of hell.
We must always however entrust the judgment of persons to
the justice & mercy of God, and not seek to make our own
judgments about others.

Venial sin
One commits venial sin when one does not observe the
standard prescribed by the moral law or disobeys the law in a
grave matter but without full knowledge or complete consent.
Venial sin weakens charity and manifests a disordered
affection for created goods.
It impedes the souls progress in the virtues and merits
temporal punishment.
Unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit
mortal sin.

Proliferation of sin
Sin creates a proclivity to sin and engenders vice. This results
in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt
the judgment of good and evil. It makes men accomplices
with one another in doing evil and opposing the good.
We each have our share of responsibility for the sins of others
when we cooperate in them by:
Participating directly or voluntarily in the sin;
Ordering, advising or approving of the sin;
Not disclosing or not hindering others from committing the sin
when we have an obligation to do so;
By protecting evil-doers and not opposing them.

Structures of sin; Social sin

Sin gives rise to social situations and even institutions which
are the expression and effect of personal sins within society.
They lead their victims to do evil in their turn.
In an analogous sense they constitute a social sin for which
all are responsible.
Structures of sin are the expression and effect of personal
sins which take on a life of their own when they are
condoned in secular society. They gravely damage human
community and contribute to the deionization of culture and
civilization.

We must never forget His mercy

When the goodness and
loving kindness of God
our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of
deeds done by us in
righteousness, but in
virtue of his own mercy,
by the washing of
regeneration and the
renewal of the Holy Spirit
which He poured out
upon us richly through
Jesus Christ.
(Titus 3:5-6)