THEOLOGY III – Reviewer

LCUP Vision, Mission, and Core Values

“When you lose your vision, you lose contact with things. When you lose hearing, you lose
contact with things” - Helen Keller
• LCUP Vision
Moved by the Spirit of the Risen Christ, La Consolacion University Philippines,
envisions itself to become a catalyst for the wholistic transformational
development of Catholic Augustinian Marian graduates rooted in Gospel values.
• LCUP Mission
To achieve the above vision, LCUP commits itself to generate and make available to
its Augustinian Marian students, programs and services that will make them:
o exhibit academic and technical competence in their respective areas of
discipline in the local and international environment;
o demonstrate their knowledge, critical thinking and creativity by exploring the
various avenues of learning and searching for truth;
o manifest their willingness to serve specially the marginalized sector of our
society;
o demonstrate productivity in various areas of learning as responsible citizens
of the society; and
o live the Gospel values in the varied aspects of their personal and professional
lives.
• LCUP Core Values
Unitas - “One Mind, One Heart” (Community Oriented)
Caritas – “Love in action” (Compassion, Missionary Spirit)
Veritas – “I am the way, the truth, and the life (Humility, Interiority, Courage)

Building Blocks of Christian Morality

Christian Morality – Living moral lives in the light of the Christian Faith and focuses on man’s
response to God who created him out of love.

Building Block 1. Man, Created in the Image of God (Imago Dei) –

Humans are created with divine qualities such as reason, morality, creativity, and the
ability to form relationships, reflecting God's nature.

• Intellect is the power to think rationally,

• Will is the ability to decide or choose.

“Humanity can use his or her will for or against God”

Building Block 2. Men are Created for the Beatitude or Happiness

Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods; they purify our
hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things. CCC 1728

• 8 Beatitudes of Jesus “Matthew 5:3-10”

o “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
o “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
o “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
o “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled.”
o “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
o “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
o “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
o “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Eudaimonia is pleasure by doing virtue and good deeds, while happiness is about
pleasure, pleasantness, and contentment.

Building Block 3. Responsible use of Freedom

Freedom is not the freedom to do what we want, but to do as we ought as creatures of

God.

• Freedom is diminished and nullified due to ignorance, fear, and psychological

factors.

Building Block 4. Three Elements of Moral Act

Human acts are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be

morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.

• Act is the object chosen.

• Intention is the purpose pursued in an action.
o Good Intention – It can never make an intrinsically evil act good.
o Bad Intention – It can turn a good deed into an evil one.
• Circumstances contribute whether to diminish or increase the moral goodness and
evilness of an act.

“For an act to be morally good, all three elements: the act (what I do), the intention (why I
did it), and the circumstances surrounding the act, must be good.”
Building Block 5. Types of Conscience

Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral
quality of a concrete act.

• True or Correct – Catholic conscience that acts in accordance with the Word of God.
• Erroneous – contrary to God’s Word and the teachings of the Church.
• Bad – It has no regard for objective truth.
• Weak – may know what is right but has not the courage or spiritual power to do what
is right.
• Scrupulous – One thinks that it is sinning when in fact it is not.
• Lax – one that is insensitive/ not careful to the good that ought to be done and the evil
that ought to be shunned.
• Rebellious – Shows no respect for Church teachings.
• Formed – Best Conscience wherein one sought to inform and educate itself about a
particular moral issue.

“One should always follow a well-formed conscience, a conscience that we take time to
educate about a particular issue.”

Building Block 6. Reality of Sin and God’s Mercy

Sin is our failure to live the Great Commandment to love God, others and self.

• Mortal Sin destroys charity in the heart of man, it turns as away from God.
o Three conditions: Grave matter, Full knowledge, Full consent of the will
• Venial Sin wounds but does not destroy our relationship with God
o It is important to bear in mind that venial sins can easily lead to mortal sin
unless they are held in check.
• 7 Capital Sin
o Pride is an excessive love of self. (Humility)
o Greed is an excessive pursuit of material goods. (Charity)
o Envy is the intense desire to have someone’s good. (Kindness)
o Wrath is a strong anger and hate towards another person. (Patience)
o Sloth is excessive laziness. (Diligence)
o Lust is an intense sexual desire. (Chastity)
o Gluttony is excessive eating and drinking. (Temperance)
• Social Sin exists within any structure in society that oppresses human beings and
violates human dignity.

“To receive God’s mercy, we must first sincerely repent of sin.”

Building Block 7. Cardinal and Theological Virtues

A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.

• Human Virtues are firm attitudes and stable dispositions, it can be developed
through experiences.
• Cardinal Virtues are virtues that one of the human virtues were hinged or connected.
o Prudence is the ability to make wise decisions and act with practical wisdom.
▪ Natural Prudence – own wise and good decision making.
▪ Supernatural Prudence - God as the guide of person in making wise
decisions.
o Justice consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and
neighbor.
o Fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials
and persecutions.
o Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures.
• Theological Virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity, they are infused
by God into the souls of the faithful.
o Faith is a virtue in which we believe in God and believe all that He has said and
revealed to us.
o Hope is a virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as
our happiness.
o Charity (Love) is a virtue by which we love God above all things for His own
sake, and our neighbor as ourselves.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge,
piety, and fear of the Lord.

Building Block 8. A Community of Love and Justice

Common good comprises the sum total of social conditions which allow people to reach
their fulfillment more fully and easily.

• Promoters of Common Good

o Employers promote the common good when they pay just wage and create a
safe working environment.
o Employees promote common good when doing an honest day’s work and
care about their employers and co-workers.
o Parents when they provide food, shelter and emotional support for their
children.
o Developed Nations when they share resources with underdeveloped nations.
 o Christians when they become involved in politics and public life.
o The Church when she models justice and love by the way she lives, by being
a prophetic voice for all who have little or no voice
• Christian Response to Social Injustices
o Social Action seeks to give immediate help to those in need.
▪ Ministries give a person a fish for today.
o Works of Justice seeks to remove unjust structures that are designed to keep
the poor poor, and favor the rich.
▪ Ministries seek to teach a person how to fish for himself.

Building Block 9. The Role of Law in Catholic Morality

Moral Law is God’s instruction for right human conduct. It teaches us what is good
and how to act to attain earthly and eternal happiness.

• Natural Law provides the whole human race with certain principles to guide
behavior. It is the foundation of the human community and from it, civil law arises.
o Example. The Law of Fair Play.
• Civil Law maintains fairness and justice within our society.
o If some civil laws are unjust, we need to fight to replace them with just laws.
• Revealed law spells out more concretely the central principle of natural law.
o Example: The 10 Commandments
• Church Law helps us to better understand our call to holiness, and better
understand what appropriate and inappropriate responses to Christ’s law of love.
o Magisterium – official teaching authority of the church, constituted by pope
and bishops.

Building Block 10. Grace

Grace is the free gift of God’s presence, life, and love living within us, for the purpose
of transforming us into His likeness which we lose when we sin.

• Our role is to allow God to do his transforming work in us and to cooperate with His
grace.

“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:18)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human
masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is
the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and
there is no favoritism.” Colossians 3:23-25