UNIT I:

CALLED TO SALVATION IN CHRIST

CHRISTIAN VISION OF THE HUMAN PERSON

INTRODUCTION

In understanding our purpose and meaning in the universe, we begin our quest, by
claiming to ourselves that we are creatures redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ. We ponder what
happens when we set ourselves apart from Christ and what are the consequences should we
allow ourselves to be governed by our own selfish inclinations. For from the moment we
separate ourselves from the love of God, everything about us becomes contingent and perishable;
meaningless and hollow.

Same goes when we do not see Christ in others, we underestimate their worth, we treat
them as having exchange values, i.e., like objects, equivalent to a certain amount and like
instruments, desired only for their consumable utility and benefit. On the other hand, for those of
us who do not want anything to do with Christ, we overestimate our capabilities and valor by
assuming total independence from Christ. We claim false autonomy through which we see others
as mere means to achieve our selfish ends. History is replete with instances that prove this point.

So then, we embark on an anthropological, moral, and ethical enterprise toward

understanding who we are in the grand scheme of creation by following Christ, who is our only
WAY toward the ultimate TRUTH and the fullness of LIFE. In other words, our dignity is revealed
in the very mystery of the person of Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God, and the
Good Teacher. This two-fold outline shall be our bases in unveiling the dignity of the human
person.

A. JESUS CHRIST AS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines expresses the reason why we must put
Christ at the center, front, and back of our lives, it is that: “no mission is activated and no identity
is clarified apart from Christ.”1 Therefore, we look up to Christ as the ultimate revelation of the
Father, who calls us to communion, and as the good teacher who leads us to the Father.

1. JESUS CHRIST, THE ULTIMATE REVELATION OF THE FATHER

a. God as Our Personal Absolute

We know of many great personalities who have achieved unbelievable feats with
incredible contributions to the society and the world which history will remember in the

1
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines. Manila: Secretariat, Second Plenary Council of the Philippines and Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines, 1992. See Legaspi, “The Kairos of the PCP II,” 532.

1
succeeding generations to come. Their legacies shall be the paragons for people to look up to in
times of struggles, challenges, and difficult undertakings. From Aristotle in ancient Greece to
Justin Bieber in the contemporary times, we have, time and again, proven that human beings are
capable of triumphs, success, and accomplishments far beyond our imaginings. But where lies
our excellence as human beings? For some, fame and money have been their aim, but then, with
the rising cases of rich and famous people taking their own lives, it leads us to believe that fame
and money only offer temporal and fleeting feeling of greatness, and that something more
profound must be diligently pursued in order to find the fulfillment of one’s purpose and
meaning in life. Just like Saint Augustine, we know in our hearts that, because God has made us
for Himself, our hearts can never find rest until they rest in Him. For God, according to Edward
Schillebeeckx, “is a personal absolute in whom is found the reason for our existence, and
therefore, He is a being who gives absolute meaning to our lives.”2

The same notion is expressed in the Prologue of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, to
wit: “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created
man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place,
God draws close to man. He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with all his
strength.”3 Thus, even if Forbes ranks us as the wealthiest person in the world, this is nothing
compared to our supreme possibility, which is communion with God. As YOUCAT plainly puts
it: “to be a human being means to come from God and to go to God.”4 Herein, we find the reason
why we have a longing that no earthly value can satisfy. We are in a constant battle to mete out
the things which give us uneasiness and fill in the vacuum that is continuously pushing us to find
things and situations that will quench our deepest thirsts. And unfortunately, only few realize that
this emptiness can only be filled by God.

Out of God’s unselfish love for us, He makes us long for Him, for on our own, we can do
nothing and whatever we have achieved amounts to nothing if it is not Him. It is only by
responding to this longing that we can walk in the direction that will lead us to communion with
God. And that is God being the absolute, the finality, and the end/telos of everything created in
the universe. God, as our personal absolute, gave Himself straightforward to us through the
incarnation of Christ, His only Son our Lord. As the Catechism states: “In His Son and through
Him, He invites men to become, in Holy Spirit, His adopted children and heirs of his blessed
life.”5 Thus, it is through the mystery of Christ’s incarnation that God came down to meet man
in grace so that man actually lives in a condition of active communication with the One who, in
this relationship becomes the “living God” and this encounter with God takes place in an act of
faith.6

b. Christ: God, in a Human Way

2
Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God (London: Sheed &Ward, 1963),
4.
3
Catechism of the Catholic Church. AAS, 78 (1986), 13.
4
Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco, California, USA: Ignatius Press, 2011), no. 1
5
CCC, 13.
6
Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament, 4.

2
 In the mystery of incarnation, we gaze upon Christ who revealed God in a human way
and exemplified how it is to be man in a divine way. Through His incarnation, we glean that
absolute plan of God that from Him we come and to Him we shall and must return.
As human, Christ is the exemplar, He represents what is excellent and perfect in us. He
represents our humanity in its “ought” state and he was able to show that in His words and deeds.
Thus, existentially, Christ is the anti-thesis to the thesis that man is perverse and crooked. The
Gospel shares with us many of these accounts, and here, we recall a few: When the woman
caught in the act of adultery was brought to Him (John 8:1-11), His response was not
condemnation but mercy and compassion. When He admonished the woman to sin no more, He
showed that people, by the grace of God, have the power to reconfigure themselves back to God
or find their way back when they are lost, so to say. In his encounter with Zacchaeus the tax
collector (Luke 19:1-10), he exemplified before the crowd that an act of compassion can move
even the most desensitized sinner. Moreover, when He proposed to dine with the ostracized tax
collector, He demonstrated that if we let go of our prejudices, we can begin to see goodness in
others; and when asked how many times we should forgive (Matthew 18:21), his response was,
and here we rephrase it as, for as long as your erring brother or sister asks for your forgiveness,
forgive him/her. Christ demonstrated that goodness should not be treated as a quid pro quo
response but must be the response we must offer by virtue of our dignity, being made in the
image and likeness of God.

The accounts can go on and on but we reach the same conclusion that when Christ
assumed human form, he showed us that, indeed, as the Psalmist exclaims, “God has made us
little less than a god and have crowned us with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). Through the
examples of Christ, we were able to witness what we are capable of doing or that we can actually
participate in the saving acts of God. It’s like the master builder or inventor telling us or
demonstrating to us that this is what this and that part does, something that we only discover for
the first time, so to say. That man can love, forgive, show compassion, and set aside prejudices
toward others, shows that the divine is truly commingled with the human. That is the way of
Christ, and that is the way that we are called to direct ourselves to God. Thus, to profess that
Christ is the image of the invisible God is to affirm that we too share in that image, and we can
only come near to our personal absolute, which is communion with God, if we follow Christ.

c. Christ: Man, in a Divine Way

We know that Christ became man for our salvation and not for some selfish ends.
Therefore, the fact that He is the image of the invisible God is already a given and it adds
nothing to His greatness, because all of that, as we have always known, is for our sake. What
must we derive then from the reality that Christ, the image of the invisible God, emptied Himself
and took the form of a slave? (Phil. 2:7). Schillebeeckx explains:

Christ is God in a human way, and man in a divine way. As man, He acts out his
divine love in and according to His human existence.7 Everything He does is an act
of the Son of God, a divine act in human form; His human love is the human

7
Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament, 14. The dogmatic definition of Chalcedon, according to which
Christ is one and the same person, the Son of God on a visible human form.

3
 embodiment of the redeeming love of God. The humanity of Jesus is concretely
intended by God as fulfillment of his promise of salvation; it is a messianic reality.

We have in Christ, a human being who manifests, first hand, how and what kind of love
God is capable of expressing. This genuine act of love found visceral expression in the sequence
of events leading to Christ’s kenotic journey to Golgotha. We recall and reflect on all of these as
we pray the sorrowful mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary: The agony in the garden; the
scourging at the pillar; the crowning with thorns; the carrying of the cross; and ultimately, the
crucifixion and death of our Lord. Why is this paschal mystery the apex of God’s love for us? In
this act of divine de-centering, God has shown that it is godly to love others first, before oneself,
and according to Christ, there is no greater way of showing this than to lay down one’s life for a
friend (John 15:13). He has shown this in the most straightforward manner, as we have said,
through His paschal mystery. DOCAT explains why this is necessary, to wit: “Christ, our
Redeemer, chose the Cross so as to bear the guilt of the world and to suffer the pain the world.
So, He brought the world back home to God by His perfect love.”8 Before the incarnation of
Christ, the Father communicated through messengers or intermediaries. God, for example,
revealed himself to Moses through the burning bush, in later times through judges, and then the
kings of Israel who were all imperfect images and representatives of God. But with Christ, He
Himself was the message, hence, direct, clear, and crisp: “the blind sees, the lame walks, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hears, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to
them.” (Matt. 11:5) These were the concrete expressions of the love of Christ, who is the
sacrament or visible form of the love of God. Furthermore, “by becoming like us, God entered
into the most abysmal sufferings of mankind, since then, no one can say “God does not know
what I’m suffering.”9 A good portion of the New Testament is dedicated to telling stories about
Christ mingling with those who are rejected and objectified by the society. He talked, walked,
and dined, with them when no one else would. If Christ who is God did this, then it must be
godly to do the same. Why so? Because to love the poor, as Christ did, is to love perfectly, i.e.,
unconditionally and not for some shameful profit. The way that Christ bore witness to the love of
the Father, through his words and deeds, shows that a reciprocal model of loving is not adequate
and thus, must be transcended or elevated to that of sacrifice, wherein, out of our own freewill,
we take upon our shoulders the sufferings of others. These saving acts of the man Christ, the
Suffering Servant, are performed by a divine person and as such they have a divine power to
save, but because this divine power to save appears to us in visible form, the saving activity of
Jesus is sacramental.10 As John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor puts it: “The light of God’s face
shines in all its beauty on the countenance of Jesus Christ, “the image of the invisible God” (Col.
1:15), the “reflection of God’s glory” (Heb. 1:3), “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14), Christ is the
way the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6).”11

2. IMAGES OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL: THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE

8
DOCAT, 101.
9
Ibid.
10
Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament, 15.
11
VS, 2. GS, 22.

4
 John Paul II, following the Second Vatican Council, remarks that it is only in Christ from
whom man can derive the decisive answer to every one of his questions, religious and moral
questions in particular. Moreover, drawing again from the Second Vatican Council, the Pope
recalls: it is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that light is shed on the mystery of man.12
We, therefore, speak of Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life because it is only Christ who
fully discloses to man the mystery of the Father and the Father’s love, our personal absolute.13
From here, let us take as point of departure for our reflection, the account of Christ’s temptation
in the desert. Before embarking on his public ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit to the desert
where he was tempted by the devil (Mark 1:12,13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). In this
moment of solitude, the devil found one of those most opportune times to test His capabilities as
a human being. To make the long story short, the devil lured Him with everything that human
beings are longing for: food, power, and wealth. What the devil wanted was for Christ to yield to
his self-serving desires and whims. In other words, the temptation was for Christ to use His
powers for his personal benefit, and consequently, contradict the very reason why the Father sent
Him which is to totally surrender oneself to God.

In our world today, we encounter ideologies such as hedonism, egoism, and materialism,
to name a few. In these ‘isms’, the devil uses the same lures that it tempted Christ with. The
bottom line is that, in the way of the world, it is common to pursue those means that promote
self-preservation, which concomitantly demonstrate a kind of allergy or anemic disposition
toward others. Moreover, in this individualist worldview, conscience is accorded the status of a
supreme tribunal moral judgment, which means that each individual is faced with his own truth,
different to the truth of others.14 Unfortunately, this deviates from the truth of man as a creature
of God and it violates his dignity because it obscures what is good, excellent, and perfect in him.
They direct man to what is ephemeral, temporal, and merely corporeal, more often than not,
away from what is transcendent and farther away from communion with God.

Sequela Christi. We rise from the temporary setbacks of our lives and we redirect
ourselves back to Christ, “once we give up our own wealth and very self.”15 This is an
experience that we find in the responses of the Disciples whom Jesus invited to follow Him as
fishers of men (Matthew 4:19); in Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus cast out seven demons
(Luke 8:2) and who later became the apostle to the apostles (John 20); and in Saint Paul who
became the apostle to the Gentiles, to mention a few. We can see from these biblical personages
that those who opted to follow Christ must first undergo radical conversion: forgetting oneself
and committing everything to Christ. This promise of perfection entails stripping the old self of
that sinful life in order to take on the new white garment of Christ. It is also dying to oneself but
rising again as a new person configured to Christ, no longer living one’s life for one’s own but
for Christ. It is being immersed in the waters of baptism all over again and time and time again,
so to say. What Jesus asks us to do is to follow Him and to imitate him along the path of love, a
love which gives itself completely to the brethren out of love for God: This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12).16 The condition for the following of

12
Ibid.
13
VS, 2. GS, 22.
14
Ibid., 32.
15
Ibid., 19.
16
Ibid., 20.

5
Christ is that first, there must be a calling. But Christ calls everyone and what is needed is the
response of faith. Furthermore, the circumstances for the following of Christ are exemplified in
the conversation between Jesus and the rich young man. Jesus Christ conveys the radical
requirements which He laid down if one hopes to follow Him. This He already exemplified in his
own life, ‘take up your cross and follow me.’ In the case of the young man, go, sell your
possessions and come after me. To follow Christ and find our perfection, we must deny
ourselves, forsake the world, and humbly follow after Christ as the hymn for the Lenten season
directs us to do.

B. JESUS CHRIST AS THE GOOD TEACHER

1. IS ALWAYS PRESENT IN THIS CHURCH AND IN THE WORLD

It is to the Church that Christ entrusted the task of proclaiming the message of salvation
to all peoples. To fulfill this task, Christ empowered the Church to proclaim, without fear of
error, faith and morals, in the hope of leading people to the realization or actualization of the
kingdom of God here on earth. In embracing this divine mandate, the Church confronted bravely
the changes as well as the challenges that each generation brings, holding on to the promise that
Christ will be with his people until the end of time (Matthew 28: 16-20). In this regard, it
behooves the Church to uphold the twin task of preserving the integrity of the teachings of Christ
and at the same time, the equally difficult responsibility of proclaiming it in such a way that it
remains relevant regardless of who is on the receiving end. In other words, the Church must
always be deeply conscious of her duty in every age to examine the signs of the times and
interpret them in the light of the Gospel so that she can offer in a manner appropriate to each
generation replies to the continual human questionings on the meaning of this life and the life to
come and on how they are related.17 The Church has taken in stride with Christ, the “Light of the
nations”, who shines upon the face of His Church, which sends forth to the whole world to
proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk. 16:15). Hence the Church as the People of God
among the nations, while attentive to the new challenges of history and to mankind’s efforts to
discover the meaning of life, offers to everyone the answer which comes from the truth about
Jesus and his Gospel.

2. OPENS UP THE FAITHFUL TO THE BOOK OF THE SCRIPTURES

The return to our moral foundations in Scripture is the first step toward a more balanced,
authentic catechesis of Christian moral life in family, school, and parish. The very name of Jesus
means “the one who is to save people from their sins.” the Christian moral vocation is precisely
to commit ourselves through the power of Christ’s redeeming grace to the progressive
overcoming of the evil of sin in and around us – a personal human reaching out in loving service
to others – rather than simply avoiding sin or shrinking from evil. It is a question of conversion, a

17
Ibid., 2.

6
radical change of heart that, once begun in baptism, must develop 18into an ever more profound
personal renewal and holiness.19

3. REVEALS THE FATHER’S WILL

The three-fold yeses covering the three dimensions of human life – the intra-personal, the
inter-personal, and the societal – must be grounded on the fourth foundational, integrating yes to
God. The only way we could possibly develop an integral saying “yes” to the fullness of human
life by our total committed “yes” to God, as disciples of Jesus Christ. “The Son of God, the
Christ, Jesus that we proclaimed among you…was never Yes and No: with him it was always
yes, and however many the promises God made, the yes to them all is in Him. That is why it is
through Him that we answer Amen to the praise of God.20

Nothing less than the love of the Blessed Trinity – the love of Father, Incarnate Son, and
the Holy Spirit – is the ground for Catholic Morality. Thus, catechesis must stress that Christian
life means bearing witness to God revealed by Jesus Christ. This demands a radical change of
heart, a real conversion, manifested in a triple yes to self, others, and society, and grounded in
the ultimate yes to God, overcoming the “No” of sin.21

4. TEACHES TRUTH ABOUT MORAL ACTION

People today need to turn to Christ once again in order to receive from Him the answer to
their questions about what is good and what is evil. Christ is the teacher, the Risen One who has
life in Himself and who is always present in His Church and in the World. It is He who opens up
to the faithful the book of the Scriptures and, by fully revealing the Father’s will, teaches the
truth about moral action. At the source and summit of the economy of salvation, as the alpha and
the omega of human history, Christ sheds light on man’s condition and his integral vocation.22

If we, therefore, wish to go to the heart of the Gospel’s moral teaching and grasp its
profound and unchanging content, we must carefully inquire into the meaning of the question
asked by the rich young man in the Gospel and, even more, the meaning of Jesus’ reply, allowing
ourselves to be guided by Him. Jesus as the patient and sensitive teacher, answers the young man
by taking him, as it were by the hand, and leading him step by step to the full truth.23

5. SHEDS LIGHT ON MAN’S CONDITION AND LOFTY VOCATION

18
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, New National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines
2007 (Manila: Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 2007), 272.
19
VS. 2. GS, 4.
20
Ibid., 285.
21
NCDP, 290.
22
VS, 8.
23
Ibid., 8.

7
 The first and ultimate vocation of man is communion with God and there is only one way
to respond to this calling: Jesus Christ. The basic motivation for following Christ in moral action
is, of course the Blessed Trinity, the eternal Father’s love for us. The Father’s love is manifested
pre-eminently in Jesus’ Paschal Mystery, and the Holy Spirit sent into our hearts who enables us
to fulfill Christ’s own command: Love one another as I have loved you. The meaning of love for
Saint John is: “not our love for God, but God’s love for us when He sent His Son to be the
sacrifice that takes our sins away. My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too
should love one another.”24

C. JESUS SHEDS LIGHT ON THE MYSTERY AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

It is only in knowing Christ that the human person can arrive at a full understanding of
who He really is. “In fact, it is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that light is shed on the
mystery of man. For by his incarnation, the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with
every person.” 25 Being in full solidarity with humankind, our Lord showed us how to be fully
human and fully alive. Christ primarily revealed how the essential dignity of all persons is
grounded directly on their origin, meaning and destiny. From a renowned principle, it was
believed that we could only come to know the meaning of something once we get to know its
origin and destiny, beginning and purpose. In the light of Christian revelation, it was understood
that all persons are created by God in His image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) through our Lord
Jesus Christ, “through whom everything was made and through whom we live” (1 Cor 8:6). We
believe all are redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), and are sanctified by the
indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor 6:19). We believe all persons are called to be
children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), destined for eternal life of blessed communion with the Father, His
Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy Spirit.26

1. CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD

The dignity of man lies on being created in the Image and Likeness of God, because of all
visible creatures, only man is capable of knowing and loving his creator. He is "the only creature
on earth that God has willed for its own sake", and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and
love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason
for his dignity:” 27 He is not just a being one among the many creatures created by God, but a
“Person.” Extensively understanding the human person will not be possible without considering
the doctrine of man being created in the image and likeness of God. This fundamental notion
provides the theological grounding that upholds the sacredness of the human person and
guarantees the respect to be given him.

24
NCDP, 282.
25
GS 22
26
CFC 685
27
CCC 356

8
 “He is an image of God by virtue of his/her possession of the distinctive faculties of
intellect and freewill, that on account of which, he/she is capable of self-determination. Because
of the spiritual character of his/her soul, man possesses freedom, an eminent sign of divine
image. Man’s reason enables him/her to know the voice of God compelling him/her to do good
and avoid evil.”28 By virtue of this, man is therefore considered to be a moral being. For by
man’s freedom, one is capable of deciding whether to act or not to act and therefore held
responsible for whatever choices he/she would make, and by his reason he/she becomes
conscious of the decree of God inscribed in one’s heart, urging him/her to always do what is
good and avoid what is evil.

Another essential consequence of this noble dignity of being created in the image and
likeness of God is the uniqueness of every individual that on account of which, “Every human
being is an irreplaceable and non-substitutable person, a kind of good that cannot be treated as an
object of use or as a means to an end.”29 As a subject, he/she is the one in charge of his/her life as
they act according to their conscience, in freedom and with sufficient knowledge. Being mindful
of our dignity as an image and likeness of God, we are impelled to treat our fellow human being
as equals in as much as our dignity as an image and likeness of God is concerned. This is
obviously implied in the golden rule: “Do not do unto others what you do not want others do
unto you,” or in a more affirmative phrase, “Do to others what you want others do unto you.”
This is specifically true especially in workplaces where the distinction between employer and
employee, master and slave, leader and subject relationships are duly understood. Due to
excessive assertion of the individual’s apparent higher status, fundamental equality is
accordingly compromised. In relationships where the spirit of hedonism brings about a
utilitarian disposition, the tendency of accommodating a person into your circle on the condition
of reaping benefits from him/her in one way or another is always a probable. We usually call
these people “users” or “user friendly” since they only befriend you in as much as they perceive
prospects of profit from you. Yet, we must remember that human dignity worthy of respect and
value precedes any human accomplishments.

Likewise, we can also raise here the issue of equality between man and woman in as
much as they are equally created in the image and likeness of God, and so deserve to be treated
as such. It is well understood that companionship between man and woman is not of dominance
but solidarity, not inferiority but complementarity, equity and not equality. Even when they were
commissioned to share in the creative work of God and to be stewards of creation, no distinction
of tasks and responsibility was implied for in God's plan, both man and woman were equally
ordered to "subdue" the earth as His stewards. Acknowledging both man and woman as the apex
of everything, and possessing a dignity which surpasses all other things and animals, is definitely
articulated in the expression “created in the image and likeness of God.” This sovereignty is not
designed to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the
image of the Creator "who loves everything that exists,’ to share in his providence toward other
creatures; hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.” 30 Though full
dominion was given by God to both man and woman over creation which was evidently signified

28
Charles Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, Vol 2, (Manila: Studium Theological Foundation, Inc.
1997), 13
29
Karol Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility (New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1981), 41.
30
CCC 373

9
by their power to give names and label to everything in creation, it shouldn't be taken as a license
to irrationally exploit everything in creation and consume according to their whims. Pope
Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” imparts the rational way of treating creation which turns into a
kind of spirituality. A spirituality that is imperative for us to imbibe in order to be able to treat
creation the way it is supposed to be treated and see our real place in it. Learning from the said
encyclical, it challenges us to always approach everything in creation with awe and wonder,
reuse and not succumb to throwaway culture, help preserve nature’s diversity and render
frequent corporal contact with nature.

The human person as an image of God says something about the relationship between
God and man, implying that human person cannot be understood apart from God. God is the
image of perfect self-giving love, and being the image of God implies he is capable of self-
giving love as well. Since the human person is a product of a divine self-gift, he therefore should
respond to God by giving himself to other. To give oneself to others as much as possible in
imitation of the self-giving of God in the Trinity is the concrete living out of our being an image
of God. This is how the communitarian nature of the human person is thus understood. From this
perspective, we realize man’s relationship with God can be best achieved through the maximum
use of our gifts that would enhance acknowledging the giftedness of others. Thus, being created
in the image and likeness of God is both a gift and a task. The challenge to be true to who and
what we are is an endless task – it never expires. For this reason, we always look at Jesus Christ
and strive to always model our lives to his, for we are not just any slave or servant who follows
the will of his/her master but we are raised to the status of being adopted sons and daughters of
God. Therefore, “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.”31 We should never
forget that we are constantly called by God to be His adopted sons and daughters. We are all
called by our names, meaning, we are urged to be the best of ourselves. We are not expected to
be somebody else but to just be ourselves. Perhaps only in and with God can we utterly be who
we really are without pretensions and inhibitions, for we are certain that He will never reject or
forsake us because it was He who calls us by name.

As the only creature on earth God has willed for His own sake and is called to share in
His own life, God placed us in this world to know, love and serve Him, and so come to paradise;
thus, the human person is destined since his conception to the eternal happiness or beatitude.32
God is the origin, as well as man’s destiny. As creatures on their way toward their destiny, we
are highly encouraged to throw more concern with things of higher value; things that really
matter more than the things this world offer. We are all pilgrims on the way and must not settle
for the things of this world for they are temporary, unreliable and misleading. Being aware of our
destiny, we know well what we are heading for, to be in communion with our Creator, which
render all other things worthless. Another reading of man’s image and likeness will be revisited
in Unit III.

2. REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

31
CCC 1694
32
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 1

10
 In His wisdom and goodness, God created man – elevated him/her to participation in the
divine life and lived in communion and belongingness with the Trinity. But with the entry of sin,
this communion and belongingness was shattered, as well as their communion among
themselves. Yet God did not abandon man altogether; instead, He held out the means of saving
them by gathering men together to counter the chaos which was the consequence of sin. This
subsequent gathering of men together was fulfilled in Jesus Christ who always desired that all
maybe one. Our Lord have always desired “that all of them maybe one, as You, are in Me, and I
am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given
them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as we are one.”33

By saving us from our slavery to sin, we were brought back to our own character and

nature. “Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. By sending his own Son
in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God "made him to be
sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”34 “For in Christ
and through Christ, we have acquired full awareness of our dignity, of the heights to which we
are raised, of the surpassing worth of our humanity and of the meaning of our existence.”35
Mindful of this truth about ourselves, it would mean that our usual justification whenever we
commit something wrong, that is to invoke our weak and fragile nature is lame and pathetic. We
cannot simply turn the blame on our weak nature because after all, we are not powerless but are
empowered and so are capable of going beyond the call of our instincts. We can overcome the
inducement of our instincts in as much as we have been redeemed by our Lord from our slavery
to our weakness and vulnerability. If we have committed something evil or something wrong, do
not turn the blame on our fragile nature, for it is not simply an implication of nature but is the
result of our choice – our decision. Saint Paul exclaimed his gratitude to the Lord for this
splendid grace saying, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him
before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us
for adoption to Sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the
praise of his glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s
grace.”36

We are then indebted to always be mindful of this privilege and grace of having been
rescued from the power of darkness and being brought in turn to the light of the Kingdom of
God. Christians should constantly recognize their dignity for now that they share in God's own
nature, they should not return to their former base condition by sinning and remember their head
of whose body we are a member.37 Having been redeemed by Christ imbues us with the
consequent task of living a new life in Him, the responsibility to preserve and keep this lofty
dignity we are graced with. Being justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit
of our God," "sanctified…(and) called to be saints, Christians have become the temple of the

33
John 17: 21-22
34
CCC 602
35
John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 11.
36
Ephesians 1:3-7
37
CCC 1691

11
Holy Spirit. This "Spirit of the Son" teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their
life, prompts them to act so as to bear "the fruit of the Spirit" by charity in action. Healing the
wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He
enlightens and strengthens us to live as "children of light" through "all that is good and right and
true." 38

3. MADE HOLY BY THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT

Initially, the grace of the Holy Spirit which effects justification through adherence to our
Lord’s admonition to repent is the gift of conversion. It moves man to turn away from sin and
thus, accept forgiveness and righteousness from on high. Justification therefore does not only
consist in the remission of sins but likewise brings about sanctification and renewal from
within.39 It was altogether clear that it was the grace of the Holy Spirit that stirred man’s path to
conversion and turned him away from sinfulness. Man’s decision then to pursue this track should
not be mistakenly perceived as an impulse independent of any assistance from the Holy Spirit.
For when God touches man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is
not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God's
grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God's sight.40 The merit of
man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate
man with the work of His grace. The fatherly action of God is first on His own initiative, and
then follows man's free acting through his/her collaboration. Thus, the merit of good works is to
be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit itself,
moreover, is due to God, for his/her good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and
assistance given by the Holy Spirit. 41

Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial
grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit
and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our
sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even
temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God's wisdom.
These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need
for meritorious actions.42 Doing things of a higher value is made achievable in as much as we are
empowered by the Spirit of the Lord. Being a witness of Christ, as in leading a life worthy of the
Gospel of Christ, is made capable of doing so by the gift of his Spirit which we can obtain
through prayer, though the impulse to pray is still permeated with the promptings of the Holy
Spirit. The "Spirit of the Son" teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life,
prompts them to act so as to bear "the fruit of the Spirit" by charity in action. Healing the wounds
of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and
strengthens us to live as "children of light" through "all that is good and right and true.43

38
CCC, 1695
39
Ibid., 1989
40
Ibid., 1993
41
Ibid., 2008
42
Ibid., 2010
43
CCC 1695

12
 4. HUMAN PERSONS IN EXPERIENCE (CFC 687-692)

In Moral Theology, the human person is the most appropriate point of departure to
competently explain the meaning of morality and provide the fundamental principles in treating
complex and actual moral queries. This has been the renewal in Moral Theology ushered in by
the Second Vatican Council, i.e. the shift from the perspective and language of the human nature
to that of the human person. The former stressed the finality of common bodily structures and
functions from which moral norms or criteria were derived. Thus, actions are judged as right or
wrong depending on whether they are congruent or incongruent with the natural end of each
faculty. The latter, on the other hand, contends that human activity cannot be judged if it does not
refer to the person in his/her entirety. Accordingly, moral conclusions should be based on the
totality of the human person. Human nature emphasizes what is common to all while human
person captures the uniqueness of the person yet without abandoning the commonality. The
personalistic perspective (human person), given its grounded perception of man and morality,
should then take into account the experiences of people over time so as to determine what sorts
of activities best serve the person adequately considered. 44 Man does not act in a vacuum – he is
an organism, which means that his movement is qualified as a response to certain stimuli. His
total make-up is the sum of all his experiences. There are lots of factors around him that we
should always take into account.

a. Open and Relational

Persons are open and relational by nature. No one exists by oneself, but only in
relationship to others. Human existence does not precede relationship, but born of relationship
and is nurtured by it. We grow into our full selves as persons only in relating to others. My
personal existence consists of me and the others in relationship. Isolation is never in God’s
intention in his creation of man and woman. Being a person means being by others (our
conception, birth, upbringing), being with others (our family, friends, neighbors, business
associates), and being for others (love, service). Our Trinitarian origin infers that this is how we
have been created by God — as social beings. This is how we have been redeemed by Christ —
as a people. This is how the Holy Spirit works not only within but among us as the people of
God, journeying towards our common destiny in God.45
As social beings, human persons must live in social groups with appropriate effective
edifices that must sustain their dignity and their common good. It is imperative then to esteem
those laws and institutions that aim to sustain our social well-being and the common good. The
otherness or relational dimension of being human finds its apex in one’s relationship with God.
Morally, this means that God becomes the source and fulfillment of all the human persons’
relationships. Our faith teaches us that the fulfillment of our life is achieved in knowing, loving
and serving God via our relationship with others.46

b. Conscious Beings

44
https://www.scribd.com/document/111340268/Human-Person-Gula
45
CFC 687
46
R. M. Gula, S.S. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality (New York: Paulist
Press,1989), 66-72.

13
 Persons are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts. We possess this
self-awareness through our knowing and free willing (cf. CCC 1704-7; GS 14-17). Thus we
“image” in our small way from the Creator’s infinite knowing and loving. This is the basis for
our moral life.47 By his reason, he knows the order of things established by God; he then
understands how and what things should be. He is imbued with the instinctive awareness of the
unwritten decree inscribed in his heart. He then recognizes this as the voice of God constantly
urging him to do the good and avoid evil. No wonder the golden rule is diversely articulated in
every culture, religion and race.

c. Embodied Spirits

Persons are embodied spirits. This stresses the unity between our “body and soul.” This
substantial unity of our body and soul is technically labeled as “hylemorphism.” Our body is an
essential part of our being human and not merely an “instrument” we “use” according to our
whims. Contrary to those who look down on the body, and make it the source of all evil,
Christian Faith regards the body as “good and honorable since God has created it and will raise it
up on the last day” (GS 14). Moreover, God the Son further dignified the body through his
Incarnation — “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). And St. Paul
admonishes us: “You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within —
the Spirit you have received from God. . . . So, glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20). All
our relationships with others and with God are expressed through our bodies, which are the
“natural sacrament” of our spiritual depth.48 This strongly implies that the human body is
something integral in our becoming a person. What concerns the body has implications on the
human person for basically, it affects our expression of ourselves. Remember that God made
known His love for us through bodily form. Consequently, appreciation of our body entails
acknowledgement of its limits and potentials. Whimsical intrusion to the body and
compromising our bodily health should be prevented. Besides, as bodily beings, we are part of
the world. We can act as God’s co-agents in making this world a better place to live in. This
admonishes us to make sure that our utilization of science and technology will not cause damage
to corporeality and communality, but rather bring about the contrary. 49
The soul, on the other hand, serves as the form (the nature or essence of a thing that
makes it what it is) of the body. It functions as the unifying principle that forms the one unique
human being. It provides oneness for the body. However, as the soul emerges as a spiritual
substance endowed with a body, it definitely needs embodiment. The assistance of the senses is
needed for the fulfillment of the soul’s vital task. Thus, the soul is not a man, neither is the body,
man. Emphasizing the substantial unity of the body and the soul, man is categorically the union
of soul and body.

d. Historical Realities

Persons are historical realities. We are pilgrims on-the-way, who gradually, through time,
become our full selves. In exercising freedom, we decide for ourselves and form ourselves; in

47
CFC 688
48
Ibid., 689
49
R. M. Gula, S.S. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality (New York: Paulist
Press,1989), 66-72.

14
this sense we are our own cause. We develop as persons in discernible stages, described in great
detail by modern psychology.50 Nobody is predestined for something or to be someone. We
shape our own destiny. Our fate lies in our hands. What we become is the result of our choices
and decisions.
Being historical challenges us to take advantage of each opportunity of the present in the
overall journey to full human development. Integrating our past to our present existence makes
us move into our future not only with a sense of integrity but also with a coherent sense of
direction. 51 It is in this perspective that the popular Filipino saying, “ang hindi lumingon sa
pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan,” makes a lot of sense. In the same way,
looking ahead into the future keeps us on the right track as well. We carefully make our choices
and decisions and make certain they were products of prudent discernment. However, excessive
concentration on either the past or the future can be disadvantageous too. We might be so
wedged in our past that we are paralyzed to move on or move forward, or we might be overly
absorbed by our preparations for the future, trying to be certain and secured about our destiny.
Either way, we’ll get naive about the how special the events and people around us are., and how
blessed we truly are. That’s why the challenge for us is to always live in the middle of “now and
here;” without prejudice to either the past or the future.
Being historical also implies that our moral responsibility is proportionate to our capacity
according to our current stage of development. Moral acts become more meaningful if they are
related to their effects and consequences.52 Hence, dynamism in our moral reflections is highly
encouraged. There are diverse ways by which this dynamism is conveyed. Let’s take for
example, “ the four way test,” or Socrates’ “test of three,” and many other similar schemes.

e. Unique yet Fundamentally Equal

Persons are unique, yet fundamentally equal. Regardless of differences in physical,

intellectual and moral features and abilities, we spontaneously apprehend our basic equality as
persons. As Gaudium et Spes 29 holds: “All men are endowed with a rational soul and are
created in God’s image; they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ,
they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality between all men.”
But despite sharing common features of humanity, we do things differently. This implies
therefore that we seriously consider each person’s uniqueness and originality.
Each of us is called to “image” God in a unique way — no one can “take our place,” as it
were. To each of us Christ says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name:
you are mine” (Is 43:1). The fundamental equality of all individual persons grounds the
participation and solidarity of all peoples. “Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all
people, we are all called to be brothers. Therefore, if we have been summoned by the same
destiny, which is both human and divine, we can and should work together to build up the world
in genuine peace” (GS 92).53 This was the core of the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Our Lord made it clear that “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (Jn.
10:10). This fullness of life points to our ultimate communion with the Father to which every

50
CFC 690
51
R. M. Gula, S.S. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality (New York: Paulist
Press,1989), 66-72.
52
Ibid
53
CFC 691-692

15
person is freely called. Man is fundamentally good and is capable of goodness. He has the
capacity to respond freely to the call of God.
In a nutshell, our equality implies understanding that our moral obligations must be
always considerate of our common humanity while our uniqueness implies that we cannot expect
the same way of responding to the same situation since each of us will live out the norm and
respond to issues according to our capacity and subjective conditioning. Conversely, our
culpability lies on failing to do what we are capable of doing. 54

D. THE ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CHRIST IS A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

Following Christ is the essential and primordial foundation of Christian morality. Jesus’
ways and words, his deeds and his precepts constitute the moral rule of Christian life. Indeed,
His actions, and in particular His passion and death on the cross, are the living revelation of His
love for the Father and for others. This is exactly the love that Jesus wishes to be imitated by all
who follow Him.55 If we are to look for a set of precepts that utterly demonstrate the moral
standards of our Lord and at the same time resonate His call to follow Him as His disciples, we
can perhaps direct our focus on the Beatitudes. They depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and
portray His charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of His
Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions, attitudes and characteristics of the
Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations;
they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples;
they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.56

1. THE CHURCH: WILLED BY GOD TO MAKE POSSIBLE THE ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST

The Church was instituted by Christ to perpetuate His presence on earth. She signifies in
a visible, historical and tangible form the presence and redeeming activity of Christ offered to all
persons of every age, race and condition. The Church have always wished to serve this single
end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person
the path of life.57 That is why She has to remain deeply conscious of her "duty in every age of
examining the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel, so that She can
offer in a manner appropriate to each generation replies to the continual human questionings on
the meaning of this life and the life to come and on how they are related."58

As the sacrament of salvation of all, not only of the explicit members but also those who
share in the “theandric communion without explicit awareness of Christic foundation,” She is
mindful of her task to make present everytime, in every situation the encounter between the spirit
and the flesh, God and mankind. Within the unity of the Church, promoting and preserving the

54
R. M. Gula, S.S. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality (New York: Paulist
Press,1989), 66-72.
55
VS, 20
56
CCC, 1717
57
RH 13
58
GS 4

16
faith and the moral life is the task entrusted by Jesus to the Apostles, a task which continues in
the ministry of their successors. This is apparent from the living Tradition, whereby — as the
Second Vatican Council teaches — "the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates
and hands on to every generation all that she is and all that she believes.”59 Moreover, the
Church has faithfully preserved what the word of God teaches, not only about truths which must
be believed but also about moral action, an action pleasing to God.60 She has achieved a doctrinal
development analogous to that which has taken place in the realm of the truths of faith. Assisted
by the Holy Spirit who leads her into all the truth, the Church has not ceased, nor can she ever
cease, to contemplate the "mystery of the Word Incarnate", in whom "light is shed on the
mystery of man.”61

59
VS 27
60
1 Thessalonians 4:1
61
GS 22

17
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Belmonte, Charles. Faith Seeking Understanding, Vol. 2. Manila: Studium Theological

Foundation, Inc., 1997.

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Second Plenary Council of the Philippines

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, New National Catechetical Directory for the
Philippines 2007. Manila: Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 2007.

DOCAT, What to Do? The Social Teaching of the Church. Bengaluru, India: Asian Trading
Corporation, 2016

ECCCE. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ligouri, Missouri: Ligouri Publications. 1994.

ECCCE. Catechism for Filipino Catholics. Word and Life Publications: Manila.1997.

John Paul II. Veritatis Splendor. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1993.

__________. Love and Responsibility, Translated by: H. Willetts. New York: Farrar, Strauss
and Giroux. 1981.
__________. Redemptor Hominis. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1979.

Schillebeeckx, Edward. Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God. London: Sheed and
Ward, 1963.

Second Vatican Council. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et
Spes. Promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI December 7, 1965.

Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. San Francisco, California, USA: Ignatius Press, 2011.

18
 UNIT II
CALLED TO HAPPINESS

INTRODUCTION

All human beings seek happiness. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “all
want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this
proposition, even before it is fully articulated.”62 Unconsciously, this is the driving force that
sustains one’s battle in life whether emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, socially,
economically and even spiritually. This is the reason why we do everything in our powers to
achieve that which will make us happy.

Often, most people associate the idea of happiness with the feeling of being satisfied. For
example, when we are craving a certain kind of food and eventually satisfying that craving, some
equates it to happiness; or when we had a nice long, uninterrupted sleep, which has been
deprived of us because of work and school demands, it makes us feel happy; after watching a
feel-good movie and felt a little elated, some may have the impression that that is happiness; or
upon receiving a comforting hug from a dear friend, or just being freed from a very awkward
situation, some may call it happiness. The feeling of happiness may also accompany those who
will come up the stage to receive their diplomas at their graduation rites or for those fortunate
enough, with some stroke of luck, winning the lottery can bestow them happiness. But do these
examples bring about real happiness that we deeply longing for? Should we conclude right away
that happiness is equated to such attainments of satisfaction?

This chapter shall navigate the paths that lead man to his/her absolute happiness. This topic
shall be an exposition of man’s relation to his/her worldly context vis-à-vis his/her pursuit of
absolute happiness.

A. SEARCH FOR THE TRUE HAPPINESS

1. PREPARATORY UNDERSTANDING OF HAPPINESS

Happiness is defined as the realization of what is pleasurable and appealing to the senses. It
is also defined as the avoidance of pain. In relation to good fortune and good circumstance
coupled with an inviting and favorable milieu, happiness can also be found. Most express it as
the degree to which we judge the overall quality of our life as without worry, comfortable and
financially secured. St. Thomas Aquinas as explained by the Catechism of the Catholic Church
has enumerated different opinions about the essence of happiness. “Most people, according to St.
Thomas, relate happiness to: sensible pleasures and satisfaction of desires; success in
undertakings and interpersonal relations; or finally deep reflection and contemplation.”63

62
CCC, 1718.
63
Ibid., 823

19
 In other words, it answers the question how well we like the life we lead. Charles
Belmonte, in his book Faith Seeking Understanding, defined happiness as “the never-ending
possession of what absolutely satiates the desires of man.”64 However, what will make the
human person ABSOLUTELY satisfied? Can the examples mentioned above be considered as
the ultimate source of man’s happiness?

Since the essence of happiness has occupied some of the discourses of great thinkers in
history, the perennial question on the meaning of happiness for the human person became one of
the centers of philosophical debates and disputes. Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle
associated happiness to the good of the human person. This good, according to them, depends
on what man values in his/her life; the things which he/she pursues and the things which arrest
his/her consciousness. However, people, sadly, simply strive for those values that are fleeting
and temporal which Karl Peschke, a great moral theologian elaborated in the following quote:

There are, of course, different temporal values in which happiness can be

aspired to. Some attempt to find happiness in sensual pleasure (hedonism), others
in riches, honor, social standing and power (such as a certain trend in OT ethics);
others in the renunciation of sensual pleasure in favor of tranquility and peace;
and others in harmonic satisfaction of earthly needs, sensual, social, intellectual,
cultural (Aristotle.) In our time, a form of neo-eudemonism (Gk. Eudaimonia,
Happiness) has widely gained ground, which appraises life (naturally man’s life
here on earth) as the highest good and value. But life is only a desirable good if it
offers at least a moderate amount of enjoyment and happiness. The goal therefore
is to maximize personal gratification and happiness, especially through the more
immediate benefits of pleasure, comfort and material standards.”65

As seen above, we may argue as well against the absolute nature of happiness because the
idea of goodness, which most ancient thinkers believe to be the foundation of happiness, is not
absolute. But a point of intersection proposed by Aristotle is worth our attention if we are to
align our discussion on Christian Ethics. The good philosopher said that the highest form of
happiness can be acquired through the practice of virtues. For Aristotle, these virtues are actions
turned into good habits which lead a person to transcend his/her passions (this shall be dealt with
at length in Unit 4). Because of this, different points of view emerge nowadays that try to define
the meaning of authentic happiness the human person must achieve.

2. CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN ACHIEVING HAPPINESS

a. Secularism

James Bretzke defines secularism, thus:

64
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 7.
65
Karl H. Peschke, S.V.D., Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in Light of Vatican II, Volume 1 (Eugene,
Oregon, Wift and Stock, 2010), 23-24.

20
 Secularism is a vaguely defined philosophical theory, movement, or perspective
carrying a wide range of possible meanings. At one end of the spectrum,
secularism simply espouses letting lay or secular part of the world play its
legitimate role, free of improper control or dominance from religious authorities.
On the other end of the spectrum, secularism either denies belief in God or
proposes a sociopolitical movement to make the roles of faith and religion largely
irrelevant in the public arena.66

Different Popes have warned the world about the widespread threat of secularization.
John Paul II encouraged everyone to be vigilant about this ‘neo-God-is-dead’ culture in the
encyclical Evangelium Vitae. He said: “We have to go to the heart of the tragedy being
experienced by modern man: the eclipse of the sense of God and of man, typical of a social and
cultural climate dominated by secularism.”67 Similar to his predecessor, Benedict XVI continues
to strengthen ties with other Christian denominations to be united in fighting atheism, brought
about by secularism. He sees this aggressive form of secularism as “the exclusion of God,
religion and virtue from public life.”68 This secularist idea tends to disrespect cultural
expressions and traditional values different countries regard as social norms. Benedict also
questions the civilizations which set aside God because for him, taking away God from the lives
of people is like taking away the purpose and destiny to which every human being is ordained to
end up to. Francis, on other hand, despite the negative effects secularism has brought to the
world; he remained optimistic and exalted the responsibility of the Church in his encyclical
Evangelii Gaudium, he says: “The process of secularization tends to reduce the faith and the
Church to the sphere of the private and personal. Furthermore, by completely rejecting the
transcendent, it has produced a growing deterioration of ethics, a weakening of the sense of
personal and collective sin, and a steady increase in relativism.”69 Then he continues:

Despite the tide of secularism which has swept our societies, in many
countries…the Catholic Church is considered a credible institution by public
opinion and trusted for her solidarity and concern for those in greatest need.
Again and again, the Church has acted as a mediator in finding solutions to
problems affecting peace, social harmony, the land, the defense of life, human and
civil rights, and so forth. Yet, we find it difficult to make people see that when we
raise other questions less palatable to public opinion, we are doing so out of
fidelity to precisely the same convictions about human dignity and the common
good.70

Therefore, if we connect secularism to the human person’s pursuit of happiness, we may

say that happiness for a secularist negates the idea that God is its ultimate source and destiny.
Secularism focuses on ‘divine-free’ affairs. Secularist thinkers concern themselves with what is

66
James T. Bretzke, S.J., Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms.
67
John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 21
68
Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during his Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom.
Retrieve April 9, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2010/september/documents/hf_ben-
xvi_spe_20100916_incontro-autorita.html.
69
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s
World, 64.
70
EG, 65.

21
scientific and evidential as influenced by the Enlightenment which highlights reason, and water
down the significance of religion and faith to a mere creation of those who want to manipulate
people according to an order that no one can ever question. Secularists oppose the so-called
‘manipulation’ of religion to achieve the happiness of the individual, which for them can only be
found in the evident world.

b. Relativism and Individualism

Another inclination of the secularist view of happiness is to have a more relative

conception of what makes an individual happy. It denies an absolute happiness that every man
must pursue. Generally, relativism, as point of view, is the denial of the absolute because
everything in reality changes. Perceptions also differ from one person to another. In relation to
the moral truth, the Jesuit James Bretzke explains that moral values are “relative to a particular
situation, time or place.”71 But the question whether morality changes and if it is affected by the
contexts of the people involved still remains to be investigated as we penetrate more the spheres
that enclose the moral issues. Thus, the relativist maxim “what may be good for me might not be
good for you and what may be bad for me might not be bad for you,” is to be suspended if we are
to be objective in our search for a morally sound decision.

Benedict XVI explains in an interview that relativism permeates in the society and it
influences individuals to be more self-absorbed. He explains that “we are moving toward a
dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its
highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.”72 With such thought, relativism gives way to
a subjectivist notion of happiness. The meaning of happiness and its attainment depends on the
subject or the person alone. The act is considered moral when one feels that it is right regardless
whether it is objectively good or evil provided that it achieves the happiness (consequentialism)
one vies for.

Individualism on the other hand has an interwoven definition with relativism and
subjectivism. It is “the tendency to magnify individual liberty, as against external authority, and
individual activity, and against associated activity.”73 Thus, any external authority should not
define the meaning of happiness. “All forms of individualism runs the note of emphasis upon the
importance of ‘self’ in opposition to either restraint or assistance from without.”74 So it is the I-
Me-My-Mine who is in-charge of my own happiness and no one can ever dictate to me what will
make me happy.

c. Hedonism

71
Bretzke, S.J. Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms.
72
Pope Benedict XVI, Dictatorship of Relativism, Retieved April 9, 2018,
http://www.lst.edu/academics/landas-archives/373-dictatorship-of-relativism.
73
Bretzke, S.J. Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms.
74
Ibid.

22
 Hedonism is the doctrine that holds that the good is whatever gives you pleasure and,
therefore, pleasure becomes the standard of morality. To seek the pleasurable is the primary
reason of human behavior. According to Ruth Veenhoven, the opposite of hedonism is
asceticism. He explains that asceticism involves the moral rejection of pleasure and an abstinent
behavior. “Hedonists are people who are positive about pleasure and who pluck the fruits of
pleasure when possible.”75 How does happiness equate with pleasure? For the hedonist, pleasure
ranges from the physical exhilaration to the material things which the world cunningly offers.
Living out the ideals of love, freedom, and tranquility and even of religion, as long as there is
pleasure, the hedonist is in for it. And whatever one reflects as pleasurable can be a reason for
one to pursue happiness. But this can be very tricky at the same time can also be a trap. Some
hedonists are torn between that murky demarcation between physical pleasure and emotional,
psychological, intellectual and even spiritual pleasures. Some who subscribe to the hedonistic
trend, chase physical pleasures as their gateway to what will satisfy their inner longings. In the
end, after the fleeting feeling has welled up, the emptiness remains and the same cycle of chasing
after pleasure continues without providing the authentic remedy to their insatiable yearnings.

Utilitarianism, on other hand, determines what is right and wrong on the basis of the
usefulness of a thing or a person. If an action is to produce more pleasure than pain, or more
benefits than harm, then the action is pragmatically and somewhat morally good. This good for
those who follow this ideology is not so much the moral good but the usefulness or pragmatic
good which is dependent on how the action was able to achieve its end regardless whether it was
objectively wrong and morally unacceptable. Therefore, the happiness that utilitarianism
promotes can be achieved using whatever means. It does not evaluate the process on how
happiness is achieved and does not judge whether the means were good or bad. What is
important for a utilitarian is the happiness at stake which one is to receive as one works his/her
way in realizing the end. “A utilitarian morality really assumes a utilitarian view of life. Life
has to be made to work, as fairly as possible, with as little pain and suffering as possible etc.

d. Materialism and Consumerism

Frequently, happiness is linked to the possession of material wealth. Materialism suggests

that material possession, success, and progress are the highest values in life. The doctrine lures
us to be preoccupied with the material realm and opposed intellectual and spiritual concepts.
This is the reason why the idea of God as the highest good is abandoned because the God-
concept encourages everything related to material wealth and possession to be an impediment in
living a fruitful and morally upright life.

One of the offsprings of materialism is Consumerism. “Consumerism is the belief that

personal wellbeing and happiness depend, on a very large extent, on the level of consumption,
particularly on the purchase of material goods. The idea is not simply that wellbeing depends on
a standard of living, but that at the center of happiness is consumption and material possessions.
A consumerist society is one on which people devote a great deal of time, energy, resources and
thought to “consuming”. The general view of life in a consumerist society is that consumption is

75
Rutt Veenhoven. Happiness and Hedonism, Retrieved April 10, 2018, https://personal.eur.nl /veenhoven
/Pub2000s/2003c-full.pdf.

23
good, and more one consumes is even better.”76 To consume here presumes that a person is lured
to constantly explore, find and discover things which people assume and think to be useful.
Consuming delineates an action based on how much a person spends or obtain from a regular
purchasing habit that ends up only in the storage without realizing its actual use. The appearance,
attractiveness and trendiness of the object are the ones that entice the person to frequently
consume and spend. Like hedonism, buttressing one’s happiness on material things, in the end,
only throws a person into a cycle of dissatisfaction and constant yearning for something that is
temporal and fleeting.

3. GOD AS THE ULTIMATE HAPPINESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON

John Paul II, associates happiness to the meaning of life. It is the absolute truth that
everyone yearns for. He states in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor that: “In the depths of his
heart there always remains a yearning for absolute truth and a thirst to attain full knowledge of it.
This is eloquently proved by man's tireless search for knowledge in all fields. It is proved even
more by his search for the meaning of life.”77

a. Happiness: A Call towards the Fullness of Life

John the Evangelist has exceptionally pointed out that the Heavenly Father promises us
eternal life in Jesus Christ. At the beginning, in its content and toward the end of the Gospel of
John, echoes the reminder of Jesus that whoever believes in Him will receive eternal life. For
“through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.” (John 3:3) Jesus Christ was
with God in the beginning in giving life to man, the ruah of God. The Father sent him so that the
whole human race may be able to enjoy this life in union God.

John Paul II expounds this and explains that authentic happiness is not found here on
earth but in God. He clarifies that man “is called to a fullness of life, which far exceeds the
dimensions of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God."78 (§ 2)
Jesus knows about this joy that can be found only in God and because of this, He wants to share
this with all mankind. “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from
heaven, the Son of Man.” (John 3:13) For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This
is the purpose of His words and deeds. His preaching about the Kingdom of God and the
miracles He showed to those who believe and follow Him can identify this promise. Jesus said:
“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) But this promise
has its necessary consequence. And it is a commitment Jesus has accepted in obedience to the
will of the Father. “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
(John 10:11) Jesus has embraced the cross and has accepted death so that we can have the keys
to doors of salvation. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of

76
Consumerism, Retrieve April 9, 2018, https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/ContemporaryAmericanSociety/
Chapter %207%20--%20consumerism%20--%20Norton%20August.pdf.
77
St. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-
ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor.html.
78
EV, 2.

24
Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14).

b. St. Thomas Aquinas on Happiness (ST I-II, Q.2, Prologue)79

Why do we act as we do? Unlike irrational animals driven by instinct, we have the power
of reason to determine what seems good to us and the power of free will to choose what goods
we will seek and how we will go about obtaining them. We are masters of our own actions.
Those goods we seek are goals or ends, the things we hope to achieve by our actions. “Although
the end be last in the order of execution, yet it is first order of the agent’s intention. And it is in
this way that it is a cause.”

Contrary to the tenets of twentieth-century radical-behaviorist psychology, St. Thomas

recognized that we are not so much pawns who are pushed by the random events of our past as
masters of our fates who are pulled by future goals of our own making.

In Aristotle’s terms, an end acts as a final cause, a cause for the sake of which we
undertake to do something. If you are surprised by a friend’s actions and ask, “Why did you do
that?” you assume that his/her behavior was not reflexive, like a sneeze, coerced at the gunpoint,
or in some other way involuntary. You’re asking what he hoped to achieve – the final cause of
his/her action, the end he/she had in mind. Aristotle and Aquinas argue that although each
individual undeniably has his/her own personal likes and dislikes, we all act most of the time for
the very same final, last end. So, what then is that final end?

The One Thing We All Want. According to St. Augustine, “all men agree in desiring the
last end, which is happiness.” Why, then, do individual men (and women) act so very differently
and achieve such differing degrees of happiness? St. Thomas notes that “to desire happiness is
nothing else than to desire that one’s will be satisfied. And this is what everyone desires.” And
yet, “all do not know Happiness; because they know not in what the general notion of happiness
is found.” In other words, we all want to be happy, but not all of us know what really will make
us happy. In determining what will bring us happiness, St. Thomas starts by enumerating some
common false contenders – which are as popular and alluring today as they were in the thirteenth
century.

Contrary to messages that “greed is good,” do it, “everybody wants to be a star [or an
idol],” and “nice guys finish last,” happiness does not consist in wealth, power, honor, fame and
glory, goods of the body, pleasure, even goods of the soul – or for that manner, of any created
good. These are only means to the end of happiness itself, and none of them ever completely
satisfies. Sadly, they often lead to their possessor’s and to others’ destruction. The roster of rich
and famous celebrities and sports superstars whose lives have ended in suicide bears witness to
this fact. What, then, is true happiness?

Two Kinds of Happiness. “The Philosopher [that is, Aristotle], in placing man’s
happiness in this life (Ethics. I,10) says it is imperfect, and after a long discussion concludes: We
call men happy, but only as men. But God has promised us perfect happiness, when we shall be

79
Kevin Vost, Psy.D., One Minute Aquinas: The Doctor’s Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions,
(Manchester, New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 2014). Pp 30-31.

25
as angels… in heaven (Matt. 22:30).” We find the same in St. Thomas who, informed by both
natural reason and Christian revelation, acknowledges that we strive for twofold happiness: 1) an
imperfect happiness while here on earth and 2) a perfect happiness consisting of the beatific
vision of the Uncreated Good (i.e., God) in heaven. For his part, Augustine expressed this is so
beautifully, writing, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”80 The “you” refers to God,
the ultimate source of every good thing. Of course, we cannot obtain complete union with God
until we reach heaven. In the most important sense, St. Thomas’s ends his treatise on the Summa
Theologiae to help us obtain that final perfect, eternal bliss with God. But what are we to do,
meanwhile, as travelers here on earth?

“According to the Philosopher, happiness is the reward of the works of virtue.”81 So then,
to attain some measure of happiness on earth, we’ve got some work cut out for us – and the same
applies to perfect happiness in heaven. As Jesus himself declared, “If you know these things, you
shall be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). There are things we need to know and to do –
there’s a place for faith and a place for works – to attain some happiness on earth and perfect,
blessed happiness in heaven. Virtues are perfections of our God-given powers as human beings.
To understand virtue, we must understand those powers.

c. God’s Commandments: Criteria in Attaining Eternal Life

John Paul II, in Veritatis Splendor expounded the importance of following God’s
commandment in attaining the fullness of life.82 This is, as a matter of fact, part of his analysis
on the narrative of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-30. When the rich young man asked
about the good he must do to attain eternal life, Jesus explained that God is the sole good, which
all human persons’ gaze must turn to. The pope reminds us that through the faith of the Church
the human person reflects this goodness in relation to the Triune God, and because of this we
must be proud and firm in living out this goodness. He elaborates this in the following words:

The Church, instructed by the Teacher's words, believes that man, made in the
image of the Creator, redeemed by the Blood of Christ and made holy by the
presence of the Holy Spirit, has as the ultimate purpose of his life to live "for the
praise of God's glory" (cf. Eph. 1:12), striving to make each of his actions reflect
the splendor of that glory. "Know, then, O beautiful soul, that you are the image
of God", writes Saint Ambrose. "Know that you are the glory of God (1 Cor
11:7). Hear how you are his glory.83

And in order for us to give justice to this glorious nature, the goodness that we received
from God, the human person should follow His commandments. John Paul II elucidates the
connection between eternal life and following the laws of God. “God's commandments show
man the path of life and they lead to it.” 84 These are our passes to His heavenly Kingdom where
we can experience our ultimate destiny, that is, to be happy in union with God. Aside from

80
See YOUCAT, no. 3
81
Ethic. I, 9
82
See VS, 10-21.
83
Ibid., 10
84
Ibid., 12.

26
underlining the importance of the commandments in achieving fullness of life, John Paul II made
a very good reflection regarding the purpose of the commandments in relation to the human
persons’ dignity. He explains that due reverence must be given to God who is the source of all
goodness. However, as human persons we must also respect our inherent blessed nature which
also can be found in our neighbor, our fellow human beings.

Nevertheless, we cannot fail to notice which commandments of the Law the Lord
recalls to the young man. They are some of the commandments belonging to the
so-called "second tablet" of the Decalogue, the summary (cf. Rom 13: 8-10) and
foundation of which is the commandment of love of neighbor: “You shall love
your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 19:19; cf. Mk 12:31).85

Indeed, Jesus has summarized the Decalogue into two: The first three, which are found in
the first tablet, gives us the precepts that we ought to do for God. The first of the two greatest
commandments of love captures vividly the purpose of the first three precepts of the Ten
Commandments. The other seven calls us to love our neighbor by considering them as another
self. With the latter, St. John Paul II reminds us that the commandments explain that the
goodness the human person enjoys is bestowed to him/her by God. He also reiterates the idea
found in the catechism about the divine rootedness of our innate goodness so that those natural
consequences of our divine identity will be defended and upheld. He writes:

In this commandment we find a precise expression of the singular dignity of the

human person, “the only creature that God has wanted for its own sake”. The
different commandments of the Decalogue are really only so many reflections of
the one commandment about the good of the person, at the level of the many
different goods which characterize his identity as a spiritual and bodily being in
relationship with God, with his neighbor and with the material world. As we read
in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “the Ten Commandments are part of
God's Revelation. At the same time, they teach us man's true humanity. They shed
light on the essential duties, and so indirectly on the fundamental rights, inherent
in the nature of the human person”. The commandments of which Jesus reminds
the young man are meant to safeguard the good of the person, the image of God,
by protecting his goods. “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery;
You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness” are moral rules formulated
in terms of prohibitions. These negative precepts express with particular force the
ever urgent need to protect human life, the communion of persons in marriage,
private property, truthfulness and people’s good name.86

The Ten Commandments “teaches us man’s true humanity. They shed light on the
essential duties, and so indirectly on the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human
person.”87 They lead us to act according to our true nature. The laws of the Decalogue are
expressions of natural law. They are specific formulation of the fundamental moral principles.

85
Ibid.
86
Ibid., 13.
87
CCC 2070.

27
 d. Beatitudes: Call to Perfection
“The Beatitudes respond to man’s natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine
origin. God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can
fulfill it.”88 Bristow has a beautiful explanation about the nature and purpose of beatitudes in
relation to God’s commandments and the human pursuit of the fullness of life. He explains:

The Beatitudes are more about basic attitudes and dispositions than about
particular rules of behavior, Veritatis Splendor tells us. However, there is no
separation between them and the commandments since both orient us to eternal
life, it goes on. The beatitudes are above all promises from which ‘normative
indications’ flow.

Therefore, the Beatitudes are not simply statements of ‘if and then’ or ‘cause and effect’.
They suggest commitment to live out the different suggested attitudes to attain the graces
promised by God. This commitment is shown not only to God but also to oneself and other
people. Moreover, the beatitudes, as Bristow elaborates, gives us an idea that the true happiness
that we should pursue cannot be totally attained in this world through temporal things but
eternally reside in heaven. The destiny of man can be achieved through service and
contemplation of heavenly things. They show us how we attain happiness by the fulfillment of
our duties to ourselves, to neighbor, our God, according to St Thomas Aquinas. Happiness is
thought by some to consist in material well-being, honors, power and fame etc., while for others
it is achieved by active life and still others contemplation. But material happiness is false and
contrary to right reason, given a true anthropology, while the active life in the service of others
disposes one to virtue and therefore, future happiness, and contemplative life, if perfect, is the
very essence of future happiness and, if imperfect, is the beginning of it.89

What is remarkable in the exposition of Bristow is his elucidation about the meaning of
the eight beatitudes. He has divided the beatitudes into three groups. The first group calls for
everyone to overcome the challenging temptation imposed by the world self-control. The second
group explains our duty to serve our neighbor. And the last group brings forth the importance of
living a contemplative life. Consequently, in the list given by St Matthew, the first three
beatitudes are dedicated to removing the obstacles, which purely material goods can present to
be genuine happiness. Hence, blessed are the poor in spirit, refers to the need for detachment
either from riches or honors, which results from humility. The next two beatitudes restrain and
moderate the irascible and concupiscible appetites respectively. Thus, blessed are the meek,
protects man’s irascible nature from falling into excessive anger and keeps it within the bounds
of reason. And Blessed are those that mourn, moderates man’s desire for pleasure by keeping it
in proportion, which is the effect on us when we suffer trials, tribulations and the death of loved
ones.

The active life should be devoted principally to one’s duty and spontaneous inclination to
serve one’s neighbor. One’s duty to one’s neighbor is a matter of justice which inclines one to
give everyone what is due to them, and the corresponding gift enables one to do it, not as one

88
Ibid., 1718.
89
Bristow, Christian Ethics and the Human Person, 70.

28
who is pressed into service but ardently and willingly, just as one eats and drinks eagerly when
one has a good appetite. Hence, it is written, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. But spontaneous inclination also leads us to go beyond what is strictly due to
others and show them generosity, understanding and forgiveness, and indeed gratuitously
without expecting anything in return. This is what we mean by mercy and, hence, the next
beatitudes is, Blessed are the merciful.

Those things that concern the contemplative life are either final happiness itself, or the
beginning of it, and so they are listed in the beatitudes not as merits but as rewards, although the
effects of the active life which lead to contemplation and which perfect man himself are included
as merits. Hence, we say of men who triumph over the passions, Blessed are the pure of heart.
The virtues gifts, which perfect man in his relations with his neighbor, have peace as their effect,
as we read in Isaiah: “The work of justice shall be peace” (32:17). Hence the seventh beatitude
tells us, Blessed are the peacemakers.

Although the Beatitudes do not suggest certain actions but correct dispositions and
attitudes they remain necessary in forming our will to choose the Good and turn to God. They
are reminders that are given to us so that we can become “morally good persons and attain our
integral human fulfillment (everlasting happiness) in Jesus Christ.”90 The Beatitudes indicate a
way of life, a life that finds its full actualization in God, the one true source of happiness.

B. THE MORAL GOOD OF HUMAN ACTS

1. NATURE OF HUMAN ACTS

The recognition that our life here on earth has an ultimate purpose will bring us to the
realization that the end should guide whatever actions we will choose to perform. And as we
previously pointed out the absolute end of the human person is God. Belmonte discusses this by
emphasizing that the end is beyond natural but it is the perfection of our human nature.

As we have studied, human behavior is always governed by purpose; each human

action has an end. There is an objective and natural ultimate end of all human
acts, which is also the end of human nature: God. After the elevation to the
supernatural order, we can also speak of a supernatural end of man. This
supernatural end is also God, but in a more intimate way: God as sub ratione
deitatis. The latter does not destroy the former, but assumes, completes, perfects,
and deepens it.

To choose what is good and avoid whatever hinders us to reach our absolute supernatural
end are the moral standards of our actions. Jesus Christ reminds us to be perfect as our heavenly
Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). However, since we do not have full understanding of the reality
of the Father, He sent to us Jesus who is the perfect image of the Father. Therefore, if we have a
correct understanding of Jesus then we will be able to know the Father as well (John 14:9). The
Father sent Jesus Christ to us not simply as His ultimate revelation but also to give us an example

90
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 15.

29
on how to live an authentic Christian moral life. His exemplary ways will lead us to fulfill our
ultimate end and perfect our original nature as beings created in God’s image. Thus, the actions
that we must choose are choices toward holiness of life. Holiness, the greatest mandate of God,
has love as its center. Belmonte clarifies that “Christian morals imply following and imitating
Jesus Christ, each Christian being “another Christ,” alter Christus… Faith and charity transform
the natural principle of morality into the basic principle of specific Christian morality: to live for
the sake of the Kingdom, in which all things, including man, will find fulfillment in Jesus.”91

Human acts or actus humani are those acts of the human person, which defines him/her
as human in contrast to the actions of other material created agents more specifically animals.
What makes human acts basically human? - When it is governed by our intellect and will.
Animals act according to their instincts and not dictated by reason. Human acts are done with
sufficient knowledge of the agent and full deliberate consent. When you choose to read a book,
fulfilling your daily obligations, purchasing an item, taking your maintenance medicine or daily
dosage of vitamins, entering into a dialogue or conversation are examples of human acts.
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, human acts “are therefore those acts that proceed from a
deliberate will”92

On other hand, there are also acts and behaviors of the human person that cannot be
considered as human acts. These actions arise without the same amount of knowledge and
freedom as human acts. There called acts of man or actus hominis. Belmonte has the same idea
by saying that “acts of man, as opposed to human acts, are those acts that man performs without
being master of them through his intellect and will. In principle, acts of man are not the concern
of morals, since they are not voluntary.”93 They are actions that cannot be judged as good or evil.
In addition, Belmonte enumerated the distinct kinds of acts of man in details, to wit:

• The natural acts of vegetative and sense faculties: digestion, beating of the
heart, growth, corporal reactions, and visual or auditive perceptions. However,
these acts become human acts when performed under the direction of the will,
as when we look at something, or arouse ourselves.

• Acts of persons who lack the use of reason. Such is the case with children
or insane persons.

• Acts of people who are asleep or under the influence of hypnosis, alcohol,
or other drugs. In this case, however, there may still be some degree of control
by the will. Also, there is indirect responsibility if the cause of the loss of
control is voluntary, as we shall see later.

• Quick, nearly automatic reactions, called primo-primi acts. These are

reflex and nearly instantaneous reactions, such as withdrawing one’s hand
after suffering an electric shock, in which the will does not have time to
intervene.

91
Ibid., 19.
92
Cf. ST, I-II, q. 1, a. 1.
93
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 20.

30
 • Acts performed under violence or threat of violence. This includes
physical or, in some cases, moral violence.

2. CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACTS

There are three essential conditions that will tell us that an action performed by a human
person can be regarded as human acts. These are: (a) knowledge, (b) voluntariness and, (c)
freedom.

a. Knowledge

Peschke names knowledge as the intellectual constituent of the human acts. For him those
actions that are desired are fruit of knowledge. Those known actions may be judged as moral
and immoral. He explains that the “will decides for something and seek it only if it is first
known. Hence, the human act is voluntary only if the different elements are sufficiently
known.”94 He continues by stating that the person’s reason “cannot will without knowing what
object he is concerned with, without being master and therefore, conscious of the act he is to
perform in order to realize the aim, and without evaluating the action in its concrete nature as a
desirable good or undesirable evil, which appraisal also includes the judgment on the moral
value of the act.”95 With such, we can analyze that the prerequisite of choosing to act is the
adequate awareness of the agent in what he/she intends to choose.

Ignorance is the opposite of knowledge. Therefore, if the agent is ignorant or lacking

knowledge about something, particularly about the elements of his action, he/she will not be
responsible for the consequences that the act itself incurred. In support, Belmonte defines
ignorance as:

…erroneous knowledge (error) or simply the lack of knowledge. The effect of

ignorance in human actions can be seen in common expressions like: “I did not
have enough data to decide” or “I didn’t know.” In both cases, the implication is
that, because of ignorance, one could not do a responsible act, or that the act
performed was not a responsible one.96

Pesckhe considers ignorance as one of the impairments of required knowledge for an

action to be regarded as human act. He classified ignorance into two, namely: invincible
ignorance and vincible ignorance. First, he explains vincible ignorance in these words:

That ignorance is invincible which a man is not able to dispel by such reasonable
diligence, as is consummate with the issue of an act and with one’s opportunities.
In some situations, reasonable diligence would mean considerable diligence, as
when important issues are at stake, such as saving another person from dangers to

94
Peschke, Christian Ethics, 228-229.
95
Ibid., p. 229.
96
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 29.

31
 health and life. Invincible ignorance is inculpable. It is also characterized as
antecedent ignorance, because it precedes any voluntary act and is not willed by
any consent of the will.97
On the other hand, invincible ignorance cannot be dispelled because the person does not
have any means to overcome his/her ignorance since it is impossible for him/her to acquire
knowledge either because of physical or mental impediments (A crying baby cannot be morally
liable to the inconvenience he has given to his parents. A mentally handicapped person cannot
be morally responsible to any harm that he/she causes due to his/her mental condition) or
because the easy access to information to garner sufficient knowledge is not available or there is
not such information at all. Therefore, invincible ignorance makes the act involuntary making
the agent not culpable to the consequences of his actions. On other hand, Peschke explains that
vincible ignorance is something that will lead to a certain degree of culpability to the agent of an
action.

Ignorance is vincible if it could be removed by reasonable diligence but is not

because of negligence or bad will. Vincible ignorance is culpable. It is also
described as consequent ignorance, because it is admitted or willed either directly
or indirectly, flowing thus as a consequence from a previous decision of the free
will.98

Then, Peschke proceeds to enumerate three kinds of Vincible Ignorance: simple, crass
and or supine and affected.

According to the lesser of greater degree of negligence of which one is guilty,

ignorance maybe simply Vincible, if some effort has but insufficient diligence has
been used in dispelling the defect of knowledge; it may be crass or supine, if no
serious effort has been taken to remove the ignorance; or it may be affected, if one
deliberately wills to remain ignorant.99

In simple or merely vincible ignorance, the agent has committed a not serious negligence.
It might be a result of imprudence on the part of the person who has neglected to enquire
sufficiently or has taken for granted to overcome his/her ignorance. For example, a teacher told
his/her students to submit their projects due on a certain date, however, a student failed to submit
the project on the scheduled date because he/she thought that the submission was on the day after
actual due date. Simply vincible Ignorance lessens the culpability of an agent. According to
Peschke, the principle that should be followed in order to judge the liability of the person to the
consequences of his/her ignorance has to do with importance of the matter.

Nevertheless, vincible ignorance usually diminishes voluntariness and guilt, since

the imputability of an action essentially depends on the insight a person has about
the matter, and this insight is deficient in this case; and simple negligence or
laziness do not usually imply a full consent to all possible evil consequences
which may come there from. Of course, the greater the neglect, the greater the

97
Peschke, Christian Ethics, 239.
98
Ibid.
99
Ibid.

32
 guilt. Crass ignorance in a serious matter will generally make the sin grave,
simple ignorance will reduce the guilt somewhat.

There are conditions or circumstances to know the degree of culpability of an agent in

relation to his vincible ignorance: First is the amount of effort put forth to get proper
information. Consideration is given to the difficulty that the agent will go through in
overcoming once ignorance. How accessible are the pieces of information to help dispel the
ignorance? A person who has the means to know correct information because he has the
convenience of technology will be more culpable than those who do not have any access to it.
Second is the importance of the matter. For example, anything that concerns life and health must
be prioritized, thus, we should be knowledgeable about what, when and how to take our
medications. Knowledge about how to preserve life is more important than how to put on make
up or what outfit should we wear for a certain occasion. And lastly is the obligation of the agent
to inquire proper knowledge on the matter. If the matter has to do with health, we understand
that ignorance and neglect of a medical professional will be more unacceptable than the
ignorance of medical student.

These conditions are also applied to Crass or Supine Vincible Ignorance. However, the
responsibility of the agent with such ignorance is graver, since no effort or minimal effort is used
to dispel ignorance despite easy accessibility to the information. For example, even though the
student knows that the schedule of submission is written in his/her notebook, he/she did not even
bother to refer to it so that he/she will be able overcome his/her doubt.

On other hand, affected or studied ignorance is caused by the unwillingness of the person
to dispel his/her ignorance. As a matter of fact, the person even exerts effort to remain ignorant.
This makes the person more culpable with his/her action for it increases his/her malice. A
student who knows that there is an assignment but in order to escape this responsibility throws
away or burns his/her reminder notebook so that he/she will have an alibi about his/her
ignorance.

Belmonte added another kind of ignorance aside from Invincible and Vincible and he
calls it Concomitant Ignorance.

“Concomitant Ignorance (from comitari, i.e., “to accompany”) accompanies the

action but does not influence it. It is the case of a person who steals a car unaware
that it is needed to carry a sick person to the hospital, but who would steal it just
the same if he knew. This kind of ignorance does not diminish the voluntariness
of the action in any way.”100

b. Freedom

Freedom is an essential component of a genuinely human act. It is another prerequisite of

a human act. Timothy O’Connell associates this freedom to choices following the Augustinian
concept of freedom as liberum arbitrium. He writes that freedom “means to have options, to

100
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 28.

33
have choices.”101 He deliberately describes the meaning of freedom in these words:

In some deeper philosophical sense, freedom may be a separate reality, a capacity

of humans, and a general state of being. But in any ordinary sense of the word,
freedom must be more than this. It must be a concrete state of being, a state of
being-in-this situation. This freedom then, is what St. Augustine meant by his
term liberum arbitrium. Indeed, that phrase is accurately translated as “freedom
of choice.” And it designates the sort of freedom that exists where an agent has
more than one alternative: the alternative of doing this or that, the alternative of
doing or not doing a particular action. In any case, the agent is in a situation of
alternatives that are really there and really available to her or him.102

O’Connell describes freedom as an external personal value all human persons should
realize. However, it can also be an intrinsic characteristic or capacity of the will that governs the
human person in selecting among different options. Therefore, with the later definition two
senses can be derived: (1) freedom depends on the available choices present – to choose among
alternative acts; to choose between committing or omitting an act; (2) from the possible choices,
the human person decides on what choice to take without external influence forcing him/her to
act (or not to act). Similarly, Alfredo Panizo asserts such idea emphasizing the impediments that
destroy personal freedom and eventually responsibility.

A human act must be free. Every human act is a free act for it is under the control
of the will. An act, which the will does or leaves, undone is properly a free act.
Freedom is the power to choose between two or more courses of action without
being forced to take one or the other by anything except our own will. Man walks
to his final end by his free activity, selecting the means for his intended ends.
Freedom is human prerogative. It means absence of constraint from within and
outside of man. Within man himself there is fear, concupiscence, and ignorance,
which can weaken or even destroy man’s freedom. Outside man there is a force
or violence used by external against against man’s will.103

c. Voluntariness

Voluntariness according to Panizo “is a formal quality of human acts whereby any action
or omission results from a principle within the agent and from some knowledge which the agent
possesses of the end.”104 He continues by explaining that when a person “knows the end of his
work to the greatest degree and moves towards it, the voluntary character of his actions is present
to the greatest degree.”105 Voluntariness therefore, is a characteristic of human act that is not
simply chosen but desired or willed. Having sufficient or full knowledge of the act itself as well

101
Timothy E. O’Connell, Principle of Catholic Morality (San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers, 1990).
57.
102
Ibid, 57-58.
103
Alfredo Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy (Quezon City: PPP Incorported, 1964), 18-19.
104
Ibid., 19.
105
Ibid.

34
as the end of the act and having full consent of the will in performing the action qualifies
voluntariness. Therefore, those actions performed without proper knowledge and acted out with
internal and external coercion (or not deliberate) cannot be considered voluntary. All voluntary
acts are human acts and not the other way around, like a student, who knows cheating is a
punishable school offense has chosen to commit the act to get good grades, makes a voluntary
act.

3. SOURCES OF MORALITY
CCC highlighted the three sources of morality, which help us to determine the moral
character of the human act, namely: Object of the action itself; Intention or the end of the action;
and Circumstances of the act.

a. Object or Action Itself (Finis Operis)

CCC defines the object of the act thus:

The object chosen is a good toward which the will deliberately directs itself. It is
the matter of a human act. The object chosen morally specifies the act of the will,
insofar as reason recognizes and judges it to be or not to be in conformity with the
true good. Objective norms of morality express the rational order of good and
evil, attested to by conscience.106

The action itself is the material element of the human act or the “substance of the moral
107
act.” St. Thomas Aquinas argues that the “object is not the matter of which [a thing is made]
but the matter about which [something is done]; and it stands in relation to the 108 act as the form,
as it were, giving it the species”109 as highlighted by Panizo in his book. This matter is to be
differentiated to its formal element, which is connected to the agent’s knowledge and freedom.
Object or action is the one to be judged as moral or good, immoral or evil, or indifferent. Panizo
explains these three as the classifications of human acts.

“From the stand point of the object, human acts are classified into good, evil or
indifferent by their nature, independent of any command, regulation, or law.
Essentially, good acts would be: The love of God, the help of our neighbor, the
protection of the destitute. Evil acts: murder, theft, blasphemy. Indifferent acts:
talking, walking, standing.”

There are intrinsically evil acts that even performed with a good end remains to be evil.
A very good example of this is lying or not telling the truth. People often use the term ‘white lie’
to justify the evil act, which is lying. The end does not justify the means. Though, it will
mitigate the responsibility of the agent because of his/her good intention. However, judging the

106
CCC, 1750
107
Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy, p. 41.
108
Ibid.
109
Ibid., 42.

35
morality of an act does not depend on the act alone. To understand the totality of the morality of
a certain act also depends on the intention of the agent and the circumstances that define the
action.

b. Intention (finis operantis)

According to William Mattison III, the human person is a purposeful creature. Defining
the human person in relation to the motive of his/her action, He opines that “acting intentionally
is a function of our wills whereby we move toward, away from, something, and our intellect or
reason whereby we grasp or comprehend what we are pursuing or avoiding.”110 Furthermore, he
suggests, “not only do intentions prompt actions, but they also make those actions intelligible, or
meaningful, i.e., either good or bad.111 We also read in CCC the idea that our immediate
intentions will lead in achieving our ultimate purpose and can change the morality of an action.

In contrast to the object, the intention resides in the acting subject. Because it lies
at the voluntary source of an action and determines it by its end, intention is an
element essential to the moral evaluation of an action. The end is the first goal of
the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action. The intention is a
movement of the will toward the end: it is concerned with the goal of the activity.
It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken. Intention is not limited
to directing individual actions, but can guide several actions toward one and the
same purpose; it can orient one's whole life toward its ultimate end. For example,
a service done with the end of helping one's neighbor can at the same time be
inspired by the love of God as the ultimate end of all our actions. One and the
same action can also be inspired by several intentions, such as performing a
service in order to obtain a favor or to boast about it.112

Truly, intention can change the morality of an action. According to Panizo, the end or
intention modify human action in four ways113:

1) An indifferent act may become morally good or evil

Indifferent acts cannot be judge as neither good nor evil. Their morality may depend on
their intention. Talking, per se, is neither moral nor immoral. However, if the intention of
talking is to destroy the reputation of another person, then, it becomes evil. On other hand,
talking in order to save an innocent man from a certain crime that he did may be judged as good.
If an indifferent act has good intention, the act becomes good, so if otherwise, it will be
considered evil.
2) An objectively good act may become morally evil

110
William C. Mattison III, Introducing Moral Philosophy: True Happiness and the Virtues (Michigan,
Brazos Press, 2008), 39.
111
Ibid., 40.
112
CCC 1752
113
Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy, 43-44.

36
An evil intention will make a good act evil. Donating to charitable institution just to show off
makes the whole action evil. Praying is an objectively good action. But, if you pray for the
person to meet a certain misfortune will make the act unacceptable.
3) An objectively good act may receive more goodness
A good act will become more praiseworthy if it has a good motive. Panizo made use of the
example of giving alms to the less fortunate for the greater glory of God. We can express our
love to God if we help and love our neighbor.
4) An objectively evil act can never become good in spite of good motive
The end does not justify the means. Just like the story of Robinhood who steals from the rich to
give to the people may sound heroic, however, his good intention will never make his evil action
be judged as good. Passing an examination definitely is a worthwhile end, but if you cheat in
order to pass will never be deemed praiseworthy.
5) An objectively evil act may become more evil
An evil act with an evil intention will make the act doubly evil, in the same manner as, a good
act with a good intention will be judged doubly good. For example you lie just to intentionally
cover up your fault.

c. Circumstance

CCC explains that the “circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary
elements of a moral act. They contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or
evilness of the human acts. Circumstances themselves cannot change the moral quality of acts
themselves; they can make neither good nor right an action that is in itself evil.”114 Therefore,
circumstances are conditions that affect the morality of the action of an agent. A certain
circumstance may aggravate, mitigate or even negate the responsibility of an agent toward
his/her actions. They can modify the morality of the act. Aside from the reason why the agent
performs the act, which is the intention, there are seven other circumstances that affect the
morality of our actions:

1) Circumstance of Person (Who)

Panizo explains that this circumstance is the “subject or the person who does or receives the
action.” Cursing is an objectively evil action. However, the identity of the agent or the doer of
the action may worsen the gravity of the evilness of the act. When a president of a nation (more
so when a priest who must know better) utters bad words, compared to an uneducated man who
curses, makes his/her action more evil. A vigilante who murders an innocent person commits a
graver sin than another one who kills a criminal.
2) Circumstance of Place (Where)

114
CCC, 1753

37
This circumstance suggests that the setting or place where the agent performs an action may
affect the morality of his act. A crime committed in a church is more serious than a crime
perpetrated in a secluded spot because of a flagrant disregard of religion. An immoral act
committed in a public place involves scandal, etc.
3) Circumstance of Time (When)
It involves the time of the action performed. Fasting during Ash Wednesday or Good Friday is
praiseworthy. But fasting beyond the prescribed days of the Church is more commendable.
Sleeping as an act is basically indifferent. However, sleeping in class during lessons makes it
evil. The good act becomes better, or a bad act becomes worse by reason of the time when the
act is performed.
4) Circumstance of Manner (How)
Refers to the WAY THE AGENT manages to do his act. It answers the question: ‘how
did the agent perform the act?’ According to Panizo, this circumstance “involves different
conditions or modalities such as voluntariness, consent, violence, fear, ignorance.” Thus, it also
involves the condition of the agent. If an evil action is done with full consent then the agent
becomes responsible for his/her act. If it turns out to be an accident therefore, the culpability of
the agent will be lessened or negated.
5) Circumstance of Means (By what means)
“Although man’s intention may be normally good, if the means of attainting the end are
illicit or unlawful, his acts are immoral.”115 What kind of material used to accomplish an act? To
what extent is participation of the accessories to the crime?
6) Circumstance of Thing
Denotes the special quality of the direct object of the act. Stealing a large amount of
money makes the action more blameworthy. Desecrating a religious item is a serious offense
than vandalizing a wall of an abandoned building.

4. MORALITY OF PASSIONS
According to Panizo, “passions are strong tendencies toward the possession of something
good or toward the avoidance of something evil.”116 CCC discusses passion in these words:

The term "passions" belongs to the Christian patrimony. Feelings or passions are
emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not to act
in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil. The passions are
natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure
the connection between the life of the senses and the life of the mind. Our Lord
called man's heart the source from which the passions spring. There are many

115
Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy, 45.
116
Ibid., pp. 30.

38
 passions. The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the
good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this
movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed. The
apprehension of evil causes hatred, aversion, and fear of the impending evil; this
movement ends in sadness at some present evil, or in the anger that resists it.117

However, in relation to morality, passions remain to be indifferent. They are neither good
nor evil. “Passions are provided by nature to spur and strengthen the will. They may be used by
man for good or for bad purposes.”118 If the passion leads a person to become virtuous then the
passion can be deemed good. The passion, which is the desire to love God, which brings a
person to become kind and generous to his/her fellowman, helps man to practice excellence.
Passions that elicits evil actions make the passion evil. Love as a passion will be blameworthy if
it turns out to be obsession. Passions may arise spontaneously or deliberately. Fear can be a
spur-of-the-moment reaction produced from a certain frightening experience or can be
deliberately aroused if the person continuously develops it through watching horror or suspense
movies. According to Belmonte, St. Thomas Aquinas, inspired by the teaching of Aristotle,
enumerate eleven (11) passions which are classified according to the two (2) sense appetites.119

a. Acts of the concupiscible appetite:

1) Love (attraction toward a sensible good) and hate (aversion toward a

sensible evil or, rather, privation of a sensible good).
2) Desire (caused by the inclination to attain a sensible good), and
aversion (disgust toward a sensible evil that is not yet suffered).
3) Delight or joy (rest in the possession of a sensible good), and sadness
(sorrow caused by the absence of a sensible good that has not been
attained).

b. Acts of the irascible appetite:

1) Hope (caused by the knowledge of an absent good, difficult to obtain,
but still achievable) and despair (when the same good is perceived as
unattainable).
2) Courage (rebellion against and rejection of a present sensible evil) and
fear (uneasiness toward a future evil that is deemed unavoidable).
3) Anger (prompting a wish to revenge a present sensible evil).
Panizo has listed down the principles or criteria that judge the morality of an act
influenced by passions.120 (1) Antecedent passions may completely destroy freedom. Antecedent
passions are passions that occur prior the act. For example, many people were injured due to a
stampede that was caused by panicking (fear) people. (2) Antecedent passions do not always
destroy freedom for we can always control these feelings. We are masters of our action. (3)
Antecedent passions lessen freedom and diminish the responsibility of human actions because

117
CCC 1763-1765
118
Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy, 32.
119
Belmonte, Faith Seeking Understanding, 32.
120
Panizo, Ethics or Moral Philosphy, 33.

39
they tend to blind judgment of the intellect. A man, who has seen his wife with another man, was
blinded by jealousy thus, killing his wife. (4) Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness
but may increase it. A man deliberately provoking hatred in his heart in order to carry out his
intention to murder will increase his voluntariness and moral responsibility.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during his Apostolic Journey to the United
Kingdom. Retrieved April 9, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-
xvi/en/speeches/2010/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100916_incontro-
autorita.html.

Pope Benedict XVI. Dictatorship of Relativism. Retieved April 9, 2018,

http://www.lst.edu/academics/landas-archives/373-dictatorship-of-relativism.

Bretzke, James T. S.J. Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms.

Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Consumerism. Retrieved April 9, 2018.

https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/ContemporaryAmericanSociety/ Chapter %207%20--
%20consumerism%20--%20Norton%20August.pdf.

Francis. Evangelii Gaudium. Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in

Today’s World.

John Paul II. Evangelium Vitae.

__________. Veritatis Splendor.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-
ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor.html.
Mattison, William C. III, Introducing Moral Philosophy: True Happiness and the
Virtues.Michigan, Brazos Press, 2008.

O’Connell, Timothy E. Principle of Catholic Morality. San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers,
1990.

Panizo, Alfredo. Ethics or Moral Philosphy. Quezon City: PPP Incorported, 1964.

Peschke, Karl H. Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in Light of Vatican II, Vol. 1.
Eugene, Oregon, Wift and Stock, 2010.

40
Veenhoven, Rutt. Happiness and Hedonism. Retrieved April 10, 2018, https://personal.eur.nl
/veenhoven /Pub2000s/2003c-full.pdf.

Vost, Kevin. One Minute Aquinas: The Doctor’s Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions.
Manchester, New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 2014.

YOUCAT

UNIT III
CALLED TO THE FULLNESS OF LIFE

A. GENUINE FREEDOM: PURSUIT OF GOOD (CCC 1730-1748)

1. MATURITY IN SELF-GIVING

a. Dignity: God’s Image and Likeness in Man

The Summary of the Catholic Teaching on Freedom is first and foremost anchored on
man’s dignity. Before expounding on the idea of freedom, dignity must first be understood in its
scriptural basis and application in the daily human activity so that we are able to assess how it
can affect the exercise of freedom. This dignity, according to the sacred text, is man’s ‘being
made in the image and likeness of God’121, thus, from this, man’s nature, like God, is
intrinsically good. This image and likeness transcends the physical attributes of man for we
cannot ascribe to God man’s physical appearance as to having arms, legs and other parts of the
biological body. Therefore, when we speak of the God-like attributes, we refer to the capacities
of man such as the ability to love, to be merciful, to be understanding, and to be forgiving, etc.
For, to be loving is God-like; being merciful is God-like and to be forgiving is God-like.

Along with the human being’s dignity, the good, which is intrinsic in man is exercised
through the aid his/her freewill and intellect. In the choice of the good, we use the term election
which is a result of discernment (this part shall be dealt with in the discussion of the judgment of
conscience). This election toward the good can only be achieved if the person is definitively
bound to God and is totally aware of the call to be always faithful to one’s dignity. And being
bound to God can be attained by the day to day election of the good which is growing more to
become a loving, merciful, forgiving and creative son/daughter of the Almighty. Through this,
man is able to perfect himself/herself and is capable of arriving at the promised salvation of
Christ. In the Gospel of John122, Jesus says that: ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you
remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. But apart from me you can do nothing’.
Thus, only in God that man is able to achieve his/her perfection and only through Jesus that man
can truly actualize what being truly human is all about.

121
Genesis 1:27
122
John 15:5

41
 In connection to freedom, the Church teaches that there is no absolute freedom. A person
cannot just do what he/she wishes to do. Freedom can only be called freedom if utilized in
performing the good. So, if a person decides to do evil, he/she becomes unfree and a slave to
his/her uncontrolled passions. But what do we mean when we say that freedom is freedom only
for the good. We begin by revisiting the creation story in Genesis wherein God designates Adam
and Eve to be stewards of creation. Implied in this God-given task, embedded in their dignities,
is to continue the work of God be it in the world in general or in their own lives. Since the human
person enjoys being the ‘perfect’ and the crowning glory of God’s creation, endowed with
freewill and intellect, man and woman participate in the creative work of God; and God’s works
are good, therefore, man’s participation must not deviate from how God executes His work.
Thus, man is always expected to elect the good in all his/her undertakings.

The consequence of this participation must result in creating the world a place how God
intended it to be: Paradise. As allegorized by the Garden of Eden, God’s plan for the world is
perfect. Everything is provided for and nothing is lacking anymore. But when sin entered the
world, this original justice was lost and the whole of human history will be characterized by the
tedious and arduous efforts to bring back the original plan of God for the world to be like
paradise. But since man is now torn between his/her desire to move closer or away from God,
this aim of achieving the lost paradise becomes more and more distant. Governed by
concupiscence, inclination to pleasure and uncontrolled passions, man is now susceptible to be a
slave of his/her own desires, giving way to his/her own destruction and damnation. Thus,
genuine freedom must be given emphasis in order to straighten man’s path toward the awareness
of one’s fidelity to the dignity which was lost to sin.

As man strives to become ‘like-God’, he/she is called to always be reminded that the
more we become like God, the more we become human and the more we become humans, the
more we should be like God. Habang tayo ay mas nagiging kamukha ng Diyos, mas lalo tayong
nagiging tao. And becoming like God, as previously stated, must reflect the characteristics by
which God is known: being loving, merciful, forgiving, creative and etc. The saints have showed
us that to become more human is difficult, but it is not impossible. Their lives are living
testimonies that following God’s will can be very challenging especially in a world obsessed
with power, glamour and success, but this must not discourage a Christian who is sincerely and
honestly desiring to be faithful to the Lord. Jesus, the paragon of a life totally surrendered to God
is the example which the saints fixed their gazes on. It was and is Jesus who exemplified a life
that is totally dedicated to God and emulating him was the greatest gift the saints offered back to
God. We see this as well in how the Blessed Mother closely followed Jesus in his ministry and
how she kept all of God’s will in her heart.123

A story goes that when Mother Teresa visited the Philippines, one child asked what was
the big fuss about the old nun. The child, fortunate to have an aunt, also a nun, was given a first
class access to an audience with the living saint. When Mother Teresa arrived at the venue,
people burst into a thunderous applause. The child suddenly felt left out because his height did
not grant him the glimpse of the saint that everybody was patiently waiting for. His memory was
only that of the convoluted hands and the ugly feet of Mother Teresa which he accidentally saw
while the saint walked along the queued admirers. This memory imprinted something in him that

123
Luke 2:19.

42
several years after, this picture of the saint’s unattractive and uninviting hands and feet would be
the perfect explanation to what dignity is really all about. That even though, those hands and feet
were not as smooth as those of the one’s seen on TV, those were the hands and the feet that
people would want to touch and follow. Not because they belong to a famous personality, but
because those hands and feet were the ones that assured people in despair that there is hope, that
the mercy of God is real, that love is true and that God is indeed alive. Compare that to those
who regularly have their skins undergo treatments to be smoothened, those who wear the most
expensive perfumes, fetched by luxurious cars and living in castle-like houses, encounters with
them can be difficult because they are arrogant, full of pride, vengeful, judgmental, unmerciful
and unforgiving. They do not reflect the image and likeness of God. Thus, dignity, again, as the
image and likeness of God transcends the physical, the characteristics of God which all of us are
called to extend and make available especially to those who think, feel and believe that God is
distant and absent. Mother Teresa has become an icon of holiness because she exercised the
genuine freedom that Christians are all called to do: the works of God.

b. Dignity and Freedom: The Fulfillment and Manifestation of God’s Presence in

Man

Another important point to remember concerning the dignity of man is that God is in and
present in the person. Dignity does not only refer to man being made in the image and likeness of
God, but it also presupposes that God dwells in the person. How? First, when God formed man,
he breathed life to him124 and made him his own. Therefore, man’s life is from God and God
alone has the sole right to take it away. Second, when Christ redeemed the fallen nature of man,
it came at a very high price: his life and his blood. Washing man’s inequities through the blood
of Christ makes man acceptable before God because it is the precious blood of Christ that makes
man worthy of salvation offered by God. Lastly, by virtue of baptism, as adopted sons and
daughters of God, man’s body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. As the vessel of God’s
creative power, man becomes sharer in that sacred duty of continuing God’s work through the
help of the Holy Spirit. From this stems the idea and expectation that whatever man does should
be a fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit. From the three reasons mentioned, we can now say that
God’s presence in man makes him/her holy, sacred.

Through the recognition of the divine in each person, God is also recognized. Thus, the
respect that is extended to God must also be extended to each and everyone. It is in the neglect
and rejection of God’s presence in others that abuse, exploitation, mistreatment and violence
arise. Now freedom enters here when man treats the other with outmost respect and high regard
for the presence of God in each person. Also, the way I will treat the other is the way how God
will treat him/her. And God treats every human being with outmost delicacy, reverence and love
as if he/she is the center of his world. Though it will be a tremendous challenge for all Christians
to live by this especially in dealing with those difficult people to handle, we are all called to be
patient with them as how God will be patient with us.

In conclusion, it is by virtue of our dignity that we are equal before the eyes of God. It is
our dignity that makes us cry out to God: Father! Thus, dignity is inalienable, meaning nothing

124
Genesis 2:7.

43
and no one can take it away from us except the one who endowed it: God. Also, dignity is
inviolable, meaning, nothing or no one has the right to harm, desecrate, abuse or destroy, ruin or
harm it. If the Lord treats each human being with outmost respect, so too we must treat each
other with the same respect that God extends to us. Therefore, we have no right whatsoever to
think of ourselves better or above others because our dignity makes us equal to each other. No
matter what the station in life and what sin or crime others have committed, our dignity will
remain equal before the eyes of God.

c. Love, Dignity, and Freedom

In the end, what binds all these together is love. When God created the world and all the
intricate laws that govern it, it was an overflow of His love. The main idea that should be given
emphasis here is the fact that creation happened because of the unconditional, undying and
unending love of God. Now, man’s response to that overflowing love is faithfulness which is a
direct result of attuning ourselves in loving him back. Perhaps it might be very tricky to say that
all of man’s actions are the effect of his/her loving of God, but then, these actions must be
closely examined whether it is really out of one’s love for God or just a prodding of one’s
uncontrolled desires and passions (this topic shall be discussed in detail on the topic of superego
and conscience). So, the recognition of one’s and other’s dignity must be the basis of a person’s
genuine exercise of genuine freedom.

1. RESPONSIBILITY

As man navigates the ins and outs of genuine freedom, ideally, the good must always
take precedence. If a person is serious in his/her pursuit of salvation, because of one’s love for
God, training in virtues must be of outmost concern. This is seen in one’s relationship with
others because the fruits of freedom must manifest in how the good is advanced within one’s
family, circle of friends and the community. Further, this responsibility entails that a person must
always bear consciously and unconsciously that he/she is the only one answerable and
accountable for all the actions he/she committed. Being responsible, one must revisit the
provisions on what makes an action moral as previously discussed in the preceding unit and also,
one must be able to train himself/herself in the practice of discernment which will be dealt with
in the subsequent lesson on the judgment of the conscience.

B. LAW ABIDING IN TRUTH (CCC 1959-1986)

1. LAW ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (ST, Ib, Q-90-108)

To guide man in his journey from God back to God, some principles are deemed
necessary in order to focus the attention on things which are essential and useful, not only to
things of this world but of things spiritual and heavenly as well, thus the laws. Some believe that

44
laws are in place in order to restrain and restrict man’s exercise of his/her freedom but in the real
sense of it laws were conceived to aide man in achieving genuine freedom.

In theology, laws are considered not only to be guides but ways to promote the
betterment and welfare of the people and the society in general. According to St. Thomas
Aquinas, law “is an ordinance of reason promulgated by competent authority for the sake of the
common good.”

‘Ordinance of reason’125 means that it contains a decisive command to perform.

Ordinance comes from the Latin word ordinare which means to put order. It is an internal
command in the person, anchored on the dictates of conscience, to follow what is good and shun
evil. Therefore, a good law is a product of serious deliberation and discernment and it should not
be based on whim, emotions or sentiments of an individual or political groups.

Law is a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced to act or is restrained
from acting: for "lex" [law] is derived from "ligare" [to bind], because it binds one
to act. Now the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first
principle of human acts, as is evident from what has been stated above; since it
belongs to the reason to direct to the end, which is the first principle in all matters
of action, according to the Philosopher (Phys. ii). Now that which is the principle
in any genus, is the rule and measure of that genus: for instance, unity in the
genus of numbers, and the first movement in the genus of movements.
Consequently, it follows that law is something pertaining to reason.126

Properly Promulgated127 refers to the clear communication of the law to all the people
concerned. There is a saying that ignorantia juris, neminem excusat which translates as
ignorance of the law is not an excuse. In the Philippines, whenever a bill is filed in Congress,
different groups would issue their own statements and stands regarding the soundness of the bill.
When it becomes a law, its promulgation takes effect after its publication on major broad sheets
and websites of government agencies. And since the bills usually undergo three readings both in
the congress and the senate before it is approved to become a law, modifications and revisions
are added until it becomes more acceptable and suitable in the culture and values that the nation
upholds and live by.

As stated above, a law is imposed on others by way of a rule and measure. Now a
rule or measure is imposed by being applied to those who are to be ruled and
measured by it. Wherefore, in order that a law obtain the binding force which is
proper to a law, it must needs be applied to the men who have to be ruled by it.
Such application is made by its being notified to them by promulgation.
Wherefore promulgation is necessary for the law to obtain its force’.128

125
ST, Ib, Q. 90, 1.
126
Ibid.
127
ST, Ib, Q. 90, 4.
128
Ibid.

45
 By competent authorities129 explains that the people with legitimate authority have the
power to create, propose, suggest, legislate and implement laws for their respective communities.
Being competent also implies that the one who will legislate and promulgate the laws are those
who are knowledgeable, well versed and have spent their whole lives studying and executing the
laws. By principle of subsidiarity, those who represent the people must have lived and
experienced the lives of those they represent in order to properly address their concerns through
the legislation of appropriate laws. Try to examine the different countries’ congress and
parliament demographics if the people who are sitting as legislators are competent authorities in
matters legal, because if not, the people and the nation might suffer the consequences of having
ineffective and inadequate laws which will result in a very slow pace of progress, human
development and achievement of the common good.
A law, properly speaking, regards first and foremost the order to the common
good. Now to order anything to the common good, belongs either to the whole
people, or to someone who is the viceregent of the whole people. And therefore,
the making of a law belongs either to the whole people or to a public personage
who has care of the whole people: since in all other matters the directing of
anything to the end concerns him to whom the end belongs.130

For the sake of the common good131 pertains to the good that the law hopes to achieve.
Common Good, according to the Second Vatican Council132 and the Compendium for the Social
Doctrine of the Church133, ‘is the sum total of social conditions which allow people either as
groups or individuals to reach their fulfilment more fully and easily’. Common Good must create
a society that is concerned for the welfare of everyone. It presupposes the promotion and respect
for the dignity and true freedom of each person. It must also foster the well-being and authentic
development of the community itself. In short, laws must make the lives of individuals easy. And
as to reaching a person’s fulfilment, laws must be able to aide individuals in honing and
developing their God-given talents and skills in order to be of help to alleviate the sufferings of
others.

As stated above, the law belongs to that which is a principle of human acts,
because it is their rule and measure. Now as reason is a principle of human acts,
so in reason itself there is something which is the principle in respect of all the
rest: wherefore to this principle chiefly and mainly law must needs be referred.
Now the first principle in practical matters, which are the object of the practical
reason, is the last end: and the last end of human life is bliss or happiness, as
stated above. Consequently, the law must needs regard principally the relationship
to happiness. Moreover, since every part is ordained to the whole, as imperfect to
perfect; and since one man is a part of the perfect community, the law must needs
regard properly the relationship to universal happiness. Wherefore the
Philosopher, in the above definition of legal matters mentions both happiness and
the body politic: for he says (Ethic. v, 1) that we call those legal matters "just,

129
ST, Ib, Q. 90, 3.
130
Ibid.
131
ST, Ib, Q. 90, 2.
132
Gaudium et Spes 26.
133
CSDC 164.

46
 which are adapted to produce and preserve happiness and its parts for the body
politic": since the state is a perfect community, as he says in Polit. i, 1’.

Thus, in summary, laws must not serve individuals but seek what is good for the people
and the whole welfare of the community in general. Laws must not only serve the lifestyle of the
few but search for what will promote the betterment of the lives of people especially the poor
and those who cannot help themselves.

There are different kinds of laws which by Christian doctrine must agree with the will of
God. All laws must in one way or another be a reflection of how God decreed things to be.

2. KINDS OF LAWS

a. Eternal Law

The plan of God made in eternity before creation. Long before anything existed, these
were the things that exist in the mind of God, the Trinity. Everything flows from the eternal law.

b. Natural Law

This is the reflection of the eternal law. Everything that we see in nature is the reflection
of how God wants creation to be. The way nature, the universe and even our own biological
processes are a reflection of how God designed its operation. Thus, when man goes against the
natural law, he/she becomes arrogant and usually falls into chaos. From natural law comes the
discovery of the other supporting laws. These are:

1) The Scientific Laws

These laws are the ones governing the universe such as gravity, the water cycle, the
formation of molecules and the biological make-up of humans. The Church firmly believes that
the discovery of the scientific laws is not only a discovery but the unveiling of the order that God
intended the universe to follow. Sadly, sometimes men tend to believe that they can manipulate
scientific laws, thus, disrespecting the order that God has put in place in order for the universe to
operate properly according to how God willed it to be.

2) The Moral Laws

These are the laws that govern the actions of men. The summary of moral laws is do
good, avoid evil. But there are some mitigating factors and constricting elements that constitute
morality. The different circumstances and contexts of people require a lot of investigations and
considerations before arriving at the election of doing an action. Moral Laws guide the ethical
foundation and study of morality. Through the teachings of the Scriptures especially of Jesus
Christ, the counsels of the saints, the Magisterium of the Church and the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, moral laws are avenues as well in attaining salvation.

47
 c. Divine Law

Laws that are totally dependent upon human narrators and closely related to different
cultures; they may vary in human perceptions through new ways of expressing it, however,
divine laws are eternal and constant, not subject to change. Usually divine laws are those which
are found in the scriptures and have helped shaped the Israelites’ culture especially in the way
they perceive and follow the Laws of Yahweh, say, the six hundred thirteen laws which gave the
provisions on how to fulfill each commandment of the Decalogue. When Jesus came, the Old
Testament laws were altogether summed up in the two greatest commandments which are to love
God and neighbour. Though divine laws are biblical, the Christian interpretation of it is
dependent on Jesus Christ: his teachings and actions.

d. Human Law

Divided into Civil Law and the Ecclesiastical Law. Civil laws are the laws on which the
state operates. The highest of which is the constitution which serves as the bulwark and hallmark
of national identity. The constitution reflects the values that the nation upholds and the ideals that
its people are willing to fight and die for. But then, these laws are subject to change since people
in power are periodically replaced. Human laws are also dependent on time which makes it
subject to evaluation and scrutiny as time goes by while society and culture continue to evolve.
The Ecclesiastical Law/Canon Law on the other hand, is the codified set of laws which the
Church follows. It comprises of different provisions on the validity of the sacraments, the powers
of the Church hierarchy and the requirements pertaining to Church governance and affairs. The
canon law has undergone several revisions starting from Pope Gregory VII in 1073 who ordered
the church laws be codified, then in the council of Trent in the 16th century, then in 1917 under
Pope Benedict XV and last in 1983 under Saint John Paul II. Aside from the Canon Law, part of
the Ecclesiastical Law is the ‘Commandments’ of the Church or usually referred to as the
Precepts of the Church. They are:

• You shall attend mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation.

• You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
• You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter
Season.
• You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.
• You shall help provide for the needs of the Church.

These laws are made not to restrict man’s freedom but to help actualize it. If laws prevent
man from becoming more human and freer, then laws do not fulfill its aim in guiding man to
genuine freedom.

C. MAN’S SANCTUARY: CONSCIENCE

1. THE MEANING OF CONSCIENCE

48
 One God-given capacity and attribute of man is the conscience. This is the inner ‘voice’
of God that guides man toward the election of the good and obliges him/her to be faithful to
his/her dignity. Conscience is one of the many ways through which man is assisted in the journey
back to God. And it must not be taken as a feeling of guilt only whenever a person did something
that is not morally, socially and ethically acceptable. Usually, people are taught that conscience
is the voice of the angel and the devil as if confusing those who are torn in doing and not doing a
certain action. Therefore, some misconstrue conscience to be an external reality that operates in
man whenever there is a need to choose between the good and the bad.

Conscience has been a controversial idea, if not a concept, in the Catholic doctrine.
Though controversial and sometimes misunderstood, the Church stands firmly that it has a huge
influential role in the lives of the faithful. Given the many distractions that obscure people from
what is good and what is not, conscience is present to help the Christian in navigating his/her
way back to God.

To start, let’s have a working definition of what conscience is and one by one, let us
unveil the necessary principles needed to shed light on this very controversial yet very profound
teaching of the Church.

First, there are some references in the sacred scriptures that point to conscience and its
influence on how it is understood today.

From the Book of Deuteronomy134 “For this law which I am laying down for you today is
neither obscure for you nor beyond your reach. It is not in heaven...nor is it beyond the seas...No,
the word is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart for you to put into practice.”

Another can be located in the book of the prophet Jeremiah135, it states: “But this is the
covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord, I will place
my law within them, and write it upon their hearts: I will be their God and they shall be my
people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord.”

And in the New Testament, St. Paul counsels in the Letter to the Romans136 that: “They
can demonstrate the effect of Law engraved on their hearts, to which their own conscience bears
witness; since they are aware of various considerations, some which accuse them, while others
provide them with a defence.”

Second, from the teachings of the Second Vatican Council conscience is referred to as the
following: From the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, conscience "as
man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his
depths. By conscience, in a wonderful way, that law is made known which is fulfilled in the love
of God and one's neighbor".137

134
Deuteronomy 30:11.
135
Jeremiah 31:34.
136
Romans 2:15.
137
Gaudium et Spes No. 16.

49
 The Council added that, "Through loyalty to conscience, Christians are joined to other
men in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems that arise both in
the life of individuals and from social relationships. Hence, the more a correct conscience
prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the
objective standards of moral conduct".138

In its Declaration on Religious Liberty139, the council went on to say that, "It is through
his conscience that man sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law. He is bound to
follow this conscience faithfully in all his activity, so that he may come to God, who is his last
end. Therefore, he must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented
from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters". The above definitions
will be reiterated by John Paul II in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor but his addition will be that:
conscience is also a “witness” for man, a witness of God’s caring love that directs a person’s
activities toward his or her own flourishing (and ultimately toward union with God)140.
Lastly, from the Catechism for Filipino Catholics conscience is defined as “the norm of
personal morality, our ultimate subjective norm for discerning moral good and evil, with the
feeling of being bound to follow its directive. It is summoning us to love the good and avoid evil.
Also, conscience is taken as an objective moral norm to our particular acts. And to agree with GS
16, conscience gives the command of do this, don’t do that.”141

2. CONSCIENCE ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

From St. Thomas Aquinas, his views on conscience can be found in Summa Theologiae
Ia, Q. 70, art. 12 and 13. The summary are as follows:

Properly speaking, conscience is not a power, but an act. This is evident both
from the very name and from those things which in the common way of speaking
are attributed to conscience. For conscience, according to the very nature of the
word, implies the relation of knowledge to something: for conscience may be
resolved into "cum alio scientia," i.e. knowledge applied to an individual case.
But the application of knowledge to something is done by some act. Wherefore
from this explanation of the name it is clear that conscience is an act.142

The same is manifest from those things which are attributed to conscience. For
conscience is said to witness, to bind, or incite, and also to accuse, torment, or
rebuke. And all these follow the application of knowledge or science to what we
do: which application is made in three ways. One way in so far as we recognize
that we have done or not done something; "Thy conscience knoweth that thou hast
often spoken evil of others" (Eccle 7:23), and according to this, conscience is said

138
Ibid.
139
Dignitatis Humanae No. 3.
140
Cf. Veritatis Splendor no. 54-64.
141
Catechism for Filipino Catholics, No. 723.
142
ST, Ia, Q. 70, 13.

50
 to witness. In another way, so far as through the conscience we judge that
something should be done or not done; and in this sense, conscience is said to
incite or to bind. In the third way, so far as by conscience we judge that something
done is well done or ill done, and in this sense conscience is said to excuse,
accuse, or torment. Now, it is clear that all these things follow the actual
application of knowledge to what we do. Wherefore, properly speaking,
conscience denominates an act. But since habit is a principle of act, sometimes the
name conscience is given to the first natural habit—namely, 'synderesis': thus
Jerome calls 'synderesis' conscience (Gloss. Ezech. 1:6); Basil [*Hom. in princ.
Proverb.], the "natural power of judgment," and Damascene [*De Fide Orth. iv.
22] says that it is the "law of our intellect." For it is customary for causes and
effects to be called after one another.

3. Conscience and the Superego

Before delving deeper into the complexities of conscience, we must first differentiate
conscience from how psychology has viewed it. From the recent studies, conscience can be
paralleled to what we call the Superego. This idea is rooted in the concept of personality
structure of Sigmund Freud where he used the iceberg to demonstrate the different ways by
which a person’s perspective is shaped and influenced. This iceberg analogy, wherein only a
small portion (the tip) of the iceberg is exposed to the world and a big chunk of it is submerged
into the waters. The different parts are as follows: First, he identified the libido. According to
Freud, this is the instinctive basic, unconscious, sexual energy in each individual. This libido is
housed in the Id and is commonly known as the ‘Pleasure Principle’ which always pushes for the
immediate gratification. So when a person is hungry he/she eats; when he/she is thirsty, he/she
drinks, and so on. These two aspects are subconscious and can influence a person’s actions by
being controlled by them if not tempered, especially the libido.143

Next is the ego which is the portion of the personality that organizes, plans, and keeps the
person in touch with reality. Language and thought are both ego functions. Freud calls this the
‘Reality Principle.’ Ego is usually expressed through the language we use and is affected by the
reactions we incite from others. The way we express ourselves through language can definitely
elicit various reactions from the people around us144. Thus, when we do not get the responses we
want and when people disagree with our ideas, we say: tinatapakan mo ang ego ko. This ego is
greatly influenced by what Freud called as the superego. He defined this as the ‘conscience’ part
of the personality, which contains the parental and societal values and attitudes incorporated
during childhood. Thus, tagging it as the ‘Ought Principle’ and from here starts that confusion
between the superego and the conscience145.

To further understand the difference of the superego and the conscience, we consult
Richard Gula, a Sulpician Priest who dedicated an entire article entitled: Conscience and

143
cited from Richard M. Gula, SS, “Conscience” (Chapter 9), Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of
Catholic Morality (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1989), 125.
144
Ibid.
145
Ibid.

51
Conscience Formation, to pin point the variation of the two and how they are to help each other
in leading the person toward the pastoral-ethical life. In his discussion, he proposed that before
digging deeper into the study and formation of conscience, one must first distinguish superego’s
role in the person’s personality structure. According to him, the superego is like an attic where
all our childhood experiences are stored. Subconsciously, those experiences somewhat become
the ‘voice’ that tells the person to do and believe in something. For him, a person is following
his/her superego because it fills the empty chambers of his/her need to be loved and accepted146.
Guilt is its powerful weapon147. This is the reason why many of us listen to our superegos than
our consciences because it brings us the love and acceptance that we all frustratingly long for.
And through this, people are not aware and concerned whether following their superegos will
bring them harm or benefit; good and evil.
Fr. Gula suggests that in order to distinguish the superego and the conscience, one must
be courageous enough to revisit one’s childhood experiences, no matter how painful those might
be, and reflect on how those past events have moulded his/her perspectives in life. This very
much agrees with Freud’s proposition that the submerged part of one’s personality must be
brought into the light in order to have a holistic view of the person and identify the strong
influences which pushes him/her to think and act in a certain way. For if one acts only to gain
love and acceptance, then definitely, one is not faithful to one’s conscience.

Some examples worth mentioning are our need to be the center of attention, to be
successful and to be loved. The first need pertains to the attention that is given to us by the
people around us whether it is in the workplace, school, church or just even in casual dates with
friends. There are people among us who would monopolize conversations, do strange things,
compose well-structured sentences, or even utter out-this-world facts just to ensure that the
attention of the group never leaves them. In fact, some would even go the extreme of wanting to
be the topic of conversation. In the second need, we have among us who have offered themselves
up to their careers. They stay up late and wake up very early in order to rush to work and spend
the whole day in meetings after meetings. They face their phones and computers the whole day
trying to make sure that their professional life is on track. Sometimes we wonder where they get
all their energies to beat the deadlines and how in the world they are able to joggle between
social and professional life. But even then, all these are all in the name of money and success. In
the third need, we encounter people who will do everything just to be accepted and loved by the
people around them. They submit and never complain for they believe that through that,
consciously and unconsciously, they will gain the love they crave. These people sometimes are
very prone to be used and abused by those who take advantage of their submissiveness.

The three needs mentioned above can best be understood if one were to peek inside the
childhood experiences of those people exhibiting the said behaviours. In the first case, it may be
safe to assume that the person had either been a victim of indifference or was treated like a
prince or princess in their household while he/she was growing up. In the first instance, the
person might have experienced that the parents, grandparents, uncle, auntie or whoever was the
authority figure in the house had a favourite. All the attention was given to another person and
not to him/her. This developed in the person the need to be noticed and given attention so that is
why if the person sees an opportunity to shine and prove his/her self-worth to others, they grab it.

146
Ibid., 124.
147
Ibid., 125.

52
On the other hand, the opposite is also possible. The person may have experienced too much
attention while he/she was growing up. The person was treated as if he/she was the only existing
person in the world. All attention was given and all what this person’s wants were provided. This
kind of environment developed in the person a sense of entitlement that all the attention in the
world must only be his/hers. And whenever situations occur wherein other people are noticed
and praised, they resent.

The same holds true for the second case. The need to be successful was perhaps a result
of being belittled and underestimated by those who were supposed to uplift the morale of a
person. This experience may have inculcated in the person the idea that the only way to be loved
and be accepted is to be good at everything or well accomplished in a certain field. The opposite
is also possible, it might be true as well that the person might have been given too much praises
and sometimes exaggerated honorifics that while growing up the child thought that he/she is the
best person in the world. This on the other hand may have placed in the person the notion that
his/her worth depends only on what he/she can achieve. So, the person carries this need to
achieve, accomplish and be successful for he/she thinks that people’s appreciation, love and
acceptance depend on the work that is done.

So, can you speculate on the third case and how does this contribute to a certain attitude
and perspective in life? What kind of superego ‘voice’ will this produce in a person and how will
that affect the person’s relationship with the people around him/her?

The examples mentioned above are very limiting. There are a wide variety of experiences
that all of us would need to look into so that we can identify what and which voice we are
following. Is it the conscience or the superego? Maybe some of you might ask what is the
significance of having this differentiation between the conscience and the superego? The answer
is simple: awareness. If a person is not aware of the influences that surround his/her decision,
there is big tendency that the person is not faithful to his/her conscience. Furthermore, the inner
‘voices’ that we follow must be properly distinguished in order to know what the will of God for
us truly is. This is the way by which we are to fulfil what Freud proposed that we must be able to
bring to light to those aspects of our lives which are submerged beneath the waters so that we
will have the control over our passions and our urges.

To further deepen the discussion on the superego and the conscience, a comprehensive
presentation of the characteristics of the two is presented to us by Fr. Gula. In here, he presented
a chart148 differentiating the commands that come from both the superego and the conscience149.
This helps as a guide in knowing which ‘voice’ we follow when we are faced with minor and
major decisions in our lives.

Superego Conscience
Authority-figure oriented, commands that an Value oriented; responds to value regardless of
act be performed for the sake of approval. whether the authority has commanded for.
Is selfish; its main concern is to experience Conscience is other-oriented; its a radical

148
Some of the items in the chart can also be found in the work of Sister Felicidad Lipio, OP entitled
Conscience: A Catholic Filipino View.
149
Ibid., 127.

53
oneself as being lovable and accepted. invitation to love God in loving others.
Is static; does not grow and develop; cannot Is dynamic, creative, risk-taker, it develops and
function creatively in a new situation but grows; it is able to deal with new and
merely repeats a command. challenging situations.
Concerned with past acts and sometimes seeks Primarily concerned with the present and the
punishment in order to regain favour with the future. It seeks to make up for the past
authority figure. mistakes only as part of living out the value
and commitment in the present and the future.
Always looks backward with feelings of guilt Is always forward looking in order to improve
over past misdeeds. It tends to act the present and make the future brighter.
independently, without modification of reason
and experience.
It tends to act independently, without Acts with prudence based on reason experience
modification of reason and experience. in the light of faith.
Tends to look at the small actions as important. Looks at the small action in relation to a bigger
value in question.
Punishment is the sure guarantee of Reparation comes through structuring the
reconciliation. The more severe the future orientation toward the value in question.
punishment, the more certain one is being Creating a new future is also the way to make
reconciled. good the past.
The transition from guilt to self-renewal comes Self-renewal is a gradual process of growth
fairly easily and rapidly by means of which characterizes all dimensions of personal
confessing to the authority. development.
Often finds a great disproportion between Experience of guilt is proportionate to the
feelings of guilt experienced and the value at degree of knowledge and freedom as well as
stake, for extent of guilt depends more on the the weight of the value at stake, even though
significance of authority figure ‘disobeyed’ the authority may never have addressed the
than the weight of the value at stake. specific value.

4. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CONSCIENCE

a. As Moral Faculty

Now that we have laid down the difference between the superego and conscience, we are
ready to look into how the conscience arrives at its judgments. The process by which conscience
chooses and decides is called discernment. Discernment, according to Thomas Green is the
choice between two goods. Why two goods, because as mentioned earlier, evil has no place in
the Christian Life. As man is presented with so many options before him/her, everyday
discernment must be developed in order to mature in self-giving.

The process of discernment results in what we call the election. This term pertains to the
choice or decision of discernment. It is through the accumulation of man’s elections that his/her
destiny is decided before the throne of God150.

150
Gaudium et Spes No. 16.

54
 Discernment is simply finding the will of the Lord. We Christians believe that following
and fulfilling God’s will in our life is also the fulfilment of our being humans. Discernment aids
us in undergoing the search for God’s will and how we can follow it. The twofold functions of
the conscience according to Catechism of the Catholic Church are as a Moral Faculty and as a
Practical Moral Judgment. As for the first function, the Catechism has this to say:

Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the
appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices,
approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. It bears witness
to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human
person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his
conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.

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 all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to
be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the
prescriptions of the divine law:

Conscience is a law of the mind; yet [Christians] would not grant that it is nothing
more; I mean that it was not a dictate, nor conveyed the notion of responsibility,
of duty, of a threat and a promise.... [Conscience] is a messenger of him, who,
both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by
his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.151

And for the second function, it now becomes the fruit of discernment and the Catechism
states:

It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to

hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all
the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination
or introspection: Return to your conscience, question it...Turn inward, brethren,
and in everything you do, see God as your witness.

b. As Practical Moral Judgment

The dignity of the human person implies and requires uprightness of moral conscience.
Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality (synderesis); their application in
the given circumstances by practical discernment of reasons and goods; and finally, judgment
about concrete acts yet to be performed or already performed. the truth about the moral good,
stated in the law of reason, is recognized practically and concretely by the prudent judgment of
conscience. We call that man prudent who chooses in conformity with this judgment.

151
CCC 1777-1778.

55
 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits
evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth
of the good, at the same time as the evil of his particular choice. the verdict of the judgment of
conscience remains a pledge of hope and mercy. In attesting to the fault committed, it calls to
mind the forgiveness that must be asked, the good that must still be practiced, and the virtue that
must be constantly cultivated with the grace of God: “We shall…reassure our hearts before him
whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make
moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor
must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in
religious matters.152

To clarify more how discernment is undertaken, fulfilling the twofold functions of the
conscience, we turn to St. Ignatius of Loyola, who in his Spiritual Exercises counsels those in
good faith to practice what he calls the Discernment of Spirits. In his autobiography no. 8 (which
was written in the third person), he noticed some interior movements in him which somehow
made him happy and sometimes sad. Thus, after intense reflection, he concludes that those
interior movements are, some from the devil, and some from God. As much as possible, a good
Christian must always reject what is evil and follow the will of God because in there lies the
good future that the Lord has lovingly planned for us. Ignatius called these ‘spirits’ in
recognition of the spiritual dimension to which these movements belong.

After identifying the movements, Ignatius now proceeds to what he calls the Spiritual
Consolation and Desolation. Spiritual Consolation is an experience of being so on fire with
God’s love that we feel impelled to praise, love, and serve God and help others as best we can.
This consolation encourages and facilitates a deep sense of gratitude for God’s faithfulness,
mercy, and companionship in our lives. In consolation, we feel more alive and connected to
others.153 In contrast, Spiritual Desolation is an experience of the soul in heavy darkness or
turmoil. We are assaulted by all sorts of doubts, bombarded by temptations, and mired in self-
preoccupations. We are excessively restless and anxious and feel cut off from others. Such
feelings, in Ignatius’ words “move one toward lack of faith and leave one without hope and
without love”.154

The key question in interpreting consolation and desolation is: where is the movement
coming from and where is it leading me? Spiritual Consolation does not always mean happiness.
Spiritual Desolation does not always mean sadness. Sometimes an experience of sadness is a
moment of conversion and intimacy with God. Times of human suffering can be moments of
great grace. Similarly, peace or happiness can be illusory of these feelings are helping us avoid
changes we need to make.155

152
CCC 1779-1782.
153
www.ignatianspirituality.com
154
Ibid.
155
Ibid.

56
 In his rules of discernment, Ignatius tells us that the good and evil spirits operate
depending on the spiritual condition of the person. For people who have closed themselves off
from God’s grace, the good spirit disturbs and shakes up. It stirs feelings of remorse and
discontent. The purpose is to make the person unhappy with a sinful way of life. On the other
hand, the evil spirit wants such people to continue in their confusion and darkness. So, the evil
spirit tries to make them complacent, content, and satisfied with their distractions and
pleasures.156

For people who are trying to live a life pleasing to God, the good spirit strengthens,
encourages, consoles, removes obstacles, and gives peace. The evil spirit tries to derail them by
stirring up anxiety, false sadness, needless confusion, frustration, and other obstacles.157

Sometimes, while people are in the process of discernment, election and action they
experience the moments of conscience. These are the antecedent moment which is the
conscience in discernment and very much concerned where the movement of the spirit is leading
the person; then comes the concomitant moment which is then considered as the conscience in
action. In here, the conscience asks the question of whether he/she is following the spiritual
consolation during the act; lastly, the consequent moment wherein the person evaluates and
reviews the action done.

Discernment of spirits is a challenging task. It requires maturity, inner quiet, and an

ability to reflect on one’s interior life. Discernment takes practice. It is something of an art.
Ignatius Loyola’s rules for discernment provide a framework, not a program. We must be ready
to improvise and adjust because God works in each of us so uniquely. That is why most
counselors recommend undertaking discernment of spirits with the assistance of a spiritual
director.158

Perhaps to some, having a spiritual director is a new trend and is only done by those who
are discerning a life consecrated to God. But this practice has been highly encouraged by the
Church and has always been in place since time immemorial. Nowadays, having a spiritual
director is required when one is to make a life changing election. But with everyday elections,
the Church trusts the faithful is able to practice the discernment of spirits in order to follow our
consciences faithfully.

To explore further the conscience, it is imperative to be aware of the different types of

consciences that we are susceptible to follow. In distinguishing them, we are able to single out
which one is the superego, the provocation of the evil spirit and the one that draws us closer to
the movement of spiritual consolation.

5. DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONSCIENCES

156
Ibid.
157
Ibid.
158
Ibid.

57
 a. The Correct or True Conscience
This conscience judges what is really good as good and what is evil as evil objectively
according to the principles of morality, no questions asked. In the term of Thomas Aquinas, this
is called synderesis159. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that: “A good and pure
conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the same time ‘from a pure heart
and a good conscience.160 Example, a student, while walking along the street met an old lady
trying to cross the street. Without much thinking, the student immediately took the old lady by
the arm and slowly led her across the street. In this case, helping someone is truly and
objectively good. Wherever a person is, whatever the culture, helping is judged as good.
Therefore, the student followed the correct conscience which is duly based on the dignity of the
person. And the freedom exercised is true freedom which is for the good.

b. Certain Conscience

This conscience, unlike the correct conscience, bases its judgement on the state of
subjectivity of the person. Now, it must be clear that the certitude of the person is subjective
which can also exist in an objectively evil action. This type of conscience has excluded all fears
or error about rightness and wrongness of the act. Example, a woman refused a pack of food
from her friend’s wake because superstition says that people must not bring home food from
wakes because it brings bad luck and that the soul of dead will come with the person when
he/she gets home. Now, the family of her friend told her that the food will just be thrown than to
bring it home. The woman agreed just to throw the food away because her trust in the
superstition is stronger than the fact that food must not be wasted and thrown away. In this case,
the judgment of the woman is certainly incorrect though she thinks that it is good based on the
culturally accepted norm that food from wakes must not be brought home. The more serious
issue comes in when she agrees to just throw the food rather than having it brought home.
Perhaps she could have suggested to just give the excess food to some street children near their
area and let the kids benefit from them.

c. Doubtful Conscience

This conscience suspends judgment to an action. If possible, the action should be omitted
if the action should be necessarily performed. The person is out to examine more carefully the
circumstances involving the action, and the person takes time in consulting the experts in order
to arrive at a very sound election. Example, an engineer is half hearted whether to accept a
skyway project from a government agency. Since it is a government initiated project, he wants to
make sure that it is not tainted with corruption or any other illegal dealings. So he researches
about the project more and consulted other colleagues who did projects with the same
government branch. But the project head did not want to get other engineers because this

159
ST, Ia, Q. 79, 12.
160
CCC 1794.

58
engineer he’s eyeing is known for his work ethic and excellent outputs. Thus, the project
becomes idle for a while, waiting for the decision of the engineer. In this case, the engineer may
have good intentions in delaying his election of whether or not to accept the project. Perhaps he
can be given the benefit of the doubt that he does not want to participate in corrupt practices in
the government and that he does not want to condone the evil that is done to taxpayers. But while
the project lays idle, there are some urgent concerns such as maybe the project is aimed toward
the decongestion of traffic in a certain area and that immediate construction of the skyway would
decrease travel time of those transiting from far-off places. But then, we do not discount the very
good intentions that the engineer has if in the end he refuses to accept the project.

d. The False or Erroneous Conscience

This conscience is the one that mistakenly judges something as morally good which is
objectively evil. These are the things that appear to be good but actually in reality they are not161.
There are different types of False and Erroneous Conscience. The judgment of this must be
clearly demarcated in order to identify the intervention needed just in case there is a need to
correct the person.

1) Scrupulous Conscience

Is a type of erroneous conscience that for little or no reason, it judges an act to be morally
evil when in fact, it is not. It also tends to exaggerate the gravity of sin where it does not exist. A
person who has a scrupulous conscience can fall in to the paranoia of the fear of sinning. This
inclination can be very dangerous since all human beings are prone to sin due to concupiscence
which is a direct result of original sin. Example, an old woman who frequents the church
regularly makes her confession ten minutes before the mass. Whenever she sees the priest
preparing to leave the confessional, it’s her signal to approach the confessional box and make her
confession. The priest, a little annoyed, asked her why can’t she just confess her sins thirty
minutes before the mass, the woman answered: I’m afraid father that in the span of ten minutes, I
might commit another sin and be unworthy of communion. In this case, the woman obviously
has very sincere and good intentions of receiving the Lord in the state of grace. But her worry of
sinning again within the span of ten minutes is scrupulous since no man in the world is sinless.
Her idea of the perfect state of receiving the Holy Eucharist is laudable but then it is overly
exaggerated not to trust the graces that she previously received from her other pious practices
and also the fruits of her prayers.

2) Perplexed Conscience

161
CFC 727.

59
 This type of erroneous conscience judges wrongly that sin is committed both in the
performance or omission of an act. One fears that sin is committed whether it was actually done
or not. Though the gravity of sin is not of outmost concern of the perplexed conscience, it
focuses the attention more on the presence of the sin which is both in the action and in the
omission. Example, a street child is asking for alms. You are torn whether to give or not to give
to the child. In your mind, you think that all street children are part of a syndicate but in your
heart, you want to follow the Christian call to be charitable. In the end, you handed to the child a
ten peso coin. But then, on your way home, you are bothered whether you supported a syndicate
or not. In this case, it is blatant that the urge is to follow the Christian call to be charitable and
that is a good motivation. Now, the uneasiness whether you condoned with the syndicate is also a
valid concern. In the Christian tradition, once we have done good to others by extending love or
giving them what they need, we leave it at that. As long as we are absolutely certain that our
intention was sincere and honest then we leave it up to God. If we are to err, as Christians, we
are to err on the side of the good. We erred because we were too loving, too generous and too
forgiving. With regard to the children and the syndicate, God will have his way of dealing with
them. So the next time that circumstances like this happen, just give the children food and other
basic needs in order to appease perplexity that might arise from the action.

3) Lax Conscience

This type of erroneous conscience judges on insufficient ground that there is no sin in the
fact, or that the sin is not as grave as it is in fact. Also, this erroneous type of conscience pertains
to the insensitivity to a moral obligation in a particular area. Finally, lax conscience tends to
make excuses for omissions and mistakes. Example, a man who continuously gambles excuses
himself that it is just for fun. Anyway, he has retired and has the right to enjoy the fruits of his
labour. His wife continuously tells him that too much gambling is already a sin. He said that he is
aware of that and there are lots of people who gamble, so why concentrate on his deed alone. He
just told the wife that he will confess every two weeks in order to purge himself of the sin of
gambling. In this case, the man obviously does not feel guilty about the sin he continuously
commits. He even made confession a guarantee of cleansing himself of the sin. The laxity on his
part does not concern him whether his frequent gambling is a sin or not. And as he said, there is
confession anyway.

6. ON THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE

From all that was said, what is left to ponder now is how to properly form the conscience
because one may know the theories surrounding the idea but not knowing how to implement
them. First and foremost, as what was mentioned above, the result of freedom’s exercise is seen
in the advancement of the good. This can be proven if better relationships prosper and that the
people and the community aspire to be more loving, caring, concerned and involve with each

60
other. If one continuously submits himself/herself to the forging of new relationships with others,
its nurturance and growth, as what Jesus did, one can say that he/she is forming his/her
conscience in a Christian way. But to give some practical guides, here are some simple ways by
which conscience can be cultivated as it fosters and deepens relationships with God, others and
the community.

a. Search for the Truth

Truth here refers to the truth of God’s revelation through Jesus Christ inspired by the
Holy Spirit. These truths are the ones we find in the Sacred Scriptures both in the Old and New
Testaments and were expounded to us by the Church throughout its history by its teachings and
pronouncements. Plus, the rich heritage of our faith gives us the wealth of tradition, stories,
spiritualities, and practices that will let us comprehend even more or even deepen the truths that
God wants us to embrace. Thus, the need to study, explore, consult and research about these
truths becomes a necessity. Suppose the access to the study of these truths is not available, we
appeal to the laws that were imprinted by God in our hearts. Universal truths such as kindness,
goodness, generosity, respect, etc. are the truths that must govern our lives. It is because of our
dignity that these truths manifest. And when faced with the dilemma of election, we look inside
our hearts and we follow the truths that can be found in there, for the nature of man is
intrinsically good.

1) Think of Alternatives
In the best interest of our Christian lives, with its depth and breadth, the Church offers a
lot of options on how to form one’s conscience. There are different spiritualities that approach
life in various ways that fit the lifestyle of different persons. One can choose from the
Benedictine, Augustinian, Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite, Jesuit, and many other
spiritualities; all of which offer diverse ways on how to properly form one’s conscience. Others
can join movements such as charismatic groups, prayer sessions, outreach programs and other
options to experience how conscience can be formed pragmatically. Some would suggest doing
spiritual readings, participating in support groups, further studies and even considering
communal discernment. But whatever alternative one chooses, it must bear fruit in establishing
and fostering good relationships both with others and with God.

2) Discernment. Cf. Judgment of the Conscience

3) Pray

Finally, prayer is the most important of all the ways on how to form one’s conscience.
Since we started the discussion on dignity, the image, likeness and presence of God in us, we end
as well in the recognition of God in our lives through prayer. Many things have been said,
written and taught about prayer, but one thing is common: prayer is a relationship with God. One
cannot claim to know and experience God without having a prayer life. In prayer life, one

61
communes with God. And in that communion, the relationship deepens, one gets to know more
about God and his will. In finding God’s will, one is transformed to be more like God and
emulate how he thinks and acts especially in relating with others. Thus, through prayer, we
strengthen our connection to God making us aware of our dignity and how to exercise our
freedom very well. There many ways one can pray. It can be in the form of traditional prayers
such as the rosary, novenas, chaplets and the memorized ones. But as one matures in the faith, it
is highly recommended that a good Christian must learn silence meditatively and
contemplatively. For it is in silence that God speaks and it is in silence that one is face to face
with his/her own interiority and with God. In that silence, when God speaks, that is the ultimate
voice of conscience that all people whether a believer or not must bow to and follow.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

The Holy Bible

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism for Filipino Catholics

The Documents of the Second Vatican Council

Secondary Sources:

Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologiae.

John Paul II. Veritatis Splendor

Journal Articles:

Gula, SS, Richard M. “Conscience” (Chapter 9), Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of
Catholic Morality (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1989), 123-135.

Internet Sources:

www.ignatianspirituality.com

62
 UNIT IV
CALLED TO HOLINESS

Faith, nevertheless, does possess a moral content…

It means imitating Jesus even to the Cross.
Veritatis Splendor

INTRODUCTION

As we now come to the conclusion of our investigation about the human being redeemed
in Jesus Christ, let us now look at the end result which all of these topics anchor its objective:
holiness. In the Christian Doctrine, holiness is the ultimate vocation that all of us are called to
fulfill. This is the vocation in which specific and general vocations find their meaning. That in
everything we do, we have in mind the call to holiness as our ultimate goal as we journey toward
our destiny which is communion with God.

In the preceding units, we made an exposition about man’s sacred dignity brought to light
by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Then we tackled man’s pursuit of happiness and how
his/her actions are affected, influenced and impeded by the environment he/she is in. Following
that is our discussion on what helps man choose rightly through discernment and obedience to
one’s conscience aided by law. Thus, in this unit we will conclude our quest by realizing the
summit of our aim which is to attain and reclaim our God-like image which was distorted by our
opting to follow ourselves rather than God. For the entire work of salvation has God as its
beginning and its end. God’s action always comes before that of the human being. But God does
nothing supernatural in us without eliciting our free cooperation. In this way, God—the Author
of our salvation and the one who brings this work to its completion—associates us with Himself
in carrying out this task. Since it requires that we participate in the voyage to our salvation, the
vibrancy of our Spiritual life also rests in our hands.

63
A. FOLLOWING CHRIST AS THE PRIMORDIAL AND ESSENTIAL FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN
MORALITY

“The Church reminds us that holiness is not the concern of a privileged few, nor does it
pertain only to Christians of the past. Holiness is always in season; it is and always will be a call
to every Christian of every age, a challenge that remains current for anyone who desires to
follow in the footsteps of Christ. Pope Benedict XVI says: “Holiness…never goes out of fashion;
on the contrary, with the passage of time it shines out ever more brightly, expressing man’s
perennial effort to reach God”; And Mother Teresa of Calcutta wrote: “Holiness is not something
extraordinary; it is not the luxury of the few. Holiness is the simple duty for each one of us.”162

1. OBSTACLE TO FOLLOWING CHRIST: MAN AS DISFIGURED BY SIN

For sin does not consist in passing from the many to the one, as is the case with virtues,
which are connected, but rather in forsaking the one for the many.163

a. Nature of Sin (CCC 1849-1851)

In general, sin is our failure to live the Great Commandment to love God, others and self.
The Confiteor, which we pray at the beginning of the Mass, offers us a good description of sin:

I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters [a

recognition that sin is not only an offense against God but it also wounds the
Body of Christ and our church community], that I have sinned through my own
fault [I take responsibility for the wrong I have done], in my thoughts and in my
words, in what I have done [sins of commission], and in what I have failed to do
[sins of omission].

b. Degrees of Sin (CCC 1852-1864)

While all sin is serious and ought to be avoided, some sins are more serious than others,
just as some offenses between two people are more hurtful or damaging to the relationship than
others. Some offenses are so serious that they can kill a relation- ship.
So, it is with us and God.

1) Mortal sin
Fatally damages the relationship between us and God. The Catechism states that “mortal
sin destroys charity in the heart of man...it turns us away from God...” (CCC1855). Traditionally,
the Church has taught that for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present:

162
Joseph Ratzinger. Holiness Is Always In Season. ibook.
163
ST, I-II, Q. 73, art. 2

64
 a) Grave matter, e.g., murder, adultery, rape, torture.
b) Full knowledge: we clearly know that our action is gravely sinful.
c) Full consent of the will: we freely and under no duress choose to do the
evil.

Factors that diminish full consent are fear, compulsion, and addiction (CCC 1860). The
first of the above three elements of mortal sin is easy enough to determine since “grave matter is
specified by the Ten Commandments” (CCC 1858). But the other two conditions can be very
difficult to properly discern, even in oneself, much less in others. Hence, we should never
assume that someone is guilty of mortal sin (CCC 1861).

2) Venial sin
Wounds but does not destroy our relation- ship with God. “All wrongdoing is sin, but
there is sin that is not deadly” (1 Jn 5:17). All sin should be avoided for it weakens our
relationship with God. Ignoring venial sin is like ignoring a minor cancer that can become a
serious one. “Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal
sin” (C 1863). We know the truth of this statement as we consider how a gradual neglect of a
relationship can eventually lead to divorce.

c. Sources of Sin

1) The Seven Capital Sins

Some sins are called “capital” or “deadly”’ because they can lead us to other sins (CCC,
1866). They come from the writings of St. John Cassian who lived in the fourth century. The
seven capital sins are: pride, avarice (greed), envy, wrath, sloth, lust, and gluttony. An excellent
36-page book on the “Big Seven” is Liberation from the Seven Deadly Sins by Fr. Kevin Joyce
(www.SpiritSite.org).

2) Social Sin
In addition to personal sin, the Catechism also speaks about “structures of sin,”
sometimes called institutionalized sin, e.g., unjust political and economic laws that favor one
segment of the population over another.

2. GENUINE CONVERSION: FOLLOWING THE PATH OF LOVE

God’s Mercy. “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:18). We
cannot speak about sin without speaking about God’s mercy. His mercy is always greater than
our capacity to sin. One of the best ways to deepen our sense of God’s mercy is to meditate on
the wonderful mercy stories in the scripture (Lk 7:36-50,15:1-32, 23:39-43). But to receive
God’s mercy, we must first sincerely repent of sin. The above scripture readings are wonderful
stories about God’s mercy and about people turning from sin. Source: Fr. Eamon Tobin ©
Ascension Catholic Church Melbourne, FL

65
B. THE SPIRIT CONFIGURES THE HUMAN PERSON TO CHRIST

1. THE SPIRIT AS THE SOURCE AND MEANS OF MORAL LIFE: GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT

Only sincere dialogue, open to the truth of the Gospel, could guide the Church on her
journey: “For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). It is a lesson that we too must learn: with the different
charisms entrusted to Peter and to Paul, let us all allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit,
seeking to live in the freedom that is guided by faith in Christ and expressed in service to the
brethren. It is essential to be conformed ever more closely to Christ. In this way one becomes
really free.” Excerpt From: Joseph Ratzinger. “The Virtues.” Our Sunday Visitor Publ., 2010

2. THE DISPOSITION TO DO GOOD: VIRTUES

Faith, hope, and charity go together. Hope is practiced through the virtue of patience,
which continues to do good even in the face of apparent failure, and through the virtue of
humility, which accepts God’s mystery and trusts him even at times of darkness. Faith tells us
that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true:
God is love! It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds
the world in his hands and that, as the dramatic imagery of the end of the Book of Revelation
points out, in spite of all darkness he ultimately triumphs in glory. Faith, which sees the love of
“God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light, and
in the end, the only light, that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage
needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we
are created in the image of God.” Deus Caritas Est, No. 39

“By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy
Church proposes for our belief. (CCC 1842)

a. Virtue According to Saint Thomas Aquinas

What is a virtue? “A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good...the goal of a

virtuous life is to become like God” (CCC 1803). Simply put, a virtue is a good habit that helps
us to practice Christian ideals in daily life.

Cardinal and Theological Virtues (CCC 1803-1845). “Whatever is true, whatever is

honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is
any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil 4:8)

b. The Theological Virtues (CCC 1812-1813)

“Faith, hope and love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).
In the sacrament of baptism, each person is infused with special graces and gifts to help him/her

66
be a faithful disciple of Christ. Some of these graces have been called “infused virtues,” the most
important of them being faith, hope and charity. These virtues are called “theological” because
they have God as their origin and object. We acquire these gifts not by human effort but from
God. They help us to have an intimate relationship with God.

1) Faith (CCC 1814-1816)

Faith is the gift that enables us to believe in God and in what he has revealed. Through a
mature faith, we are able to commit ourselves totally to God. True faith expresses itself in good
works. St. James says “faith apart from works is dead” (Jas 2:26). We must be ready to
“confidently bear witness to our faith and spread it” (CCC 1816).

2) Hope (CCC 1817-1821)

Hope is the virtue that enables us to trust that God’s promises to us will be fulfilled. Faith
and hope enable us to relate to and deal with un- seen reality. “Only faith can guarantee the
blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities unseen” (Heb 11:1). One way to
distinguish faith from hope is to view faith as a “now virtue,” and hope as a virtue that enables us
to deal with the future. Faith and trust in God help us to deal with our present struggles. Hope
helps us to trust that God will save us or, more immediately, that there will be a successful
outcome to a present problem, e.g., sickness. Two sins against hope are despair (losing all hope)
and presumption (believing God will save us with little or no effort on our part).

3) Love (CCC 1822-1829)

Love is the greatest of all virtues (1 Cor 13:13), the greatest of the commandments (Mt
22:36-37) and it is the very nature of God (1 Jn 4:16). The Catechism states that “charity is the
theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as
ourselves for the love of God” (CCC, 1822).

c. Moral Virtues: The Cardinal Virtues

There are many human virtues but from ancient times, four of them have been considered
principal or cardinal virtues. The term “cardinal” comes from the Latin word cardo meaning
hinge. All human virtues are related to or hinged to one of the cardinal virtues. The four cardinal
virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Wis 8:7 reads: “If one loves justice, the
fruits of her works are virtues. For she [Wisdom] teaches temperance, prudence, justice and
fortitude.” We will briefly examine each one of these key human virtues.

1) Prudence (CCC 1806)

“The natural virtue of prudence assists people to organize their lives and activities in
order to achieve the goal of a happy life in this world... The supernatural virtue of prudence
helps us organize our activities, desires, possibilities, re- sources, and behavior in such a way that
we may come to eternal life. We may do many things that are imprudent from a worldly
perspective but are prudent for eternal life. The only time we need to be naturally imprudent for
the honor and glory of God is when the supernatural virtue of prudence contradicts the nat- ural.”
(The Virtue Driven Life, pp 30-32: see Chapter 1 of this book for an example on how the natural
and supernatural virtue of prudence may clash.)

67
 2) Justice (CCC 1807)
“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers” (Prov. 21:15).
The human virtue of justice calls us to be fair and honest in our relationship with God and others.
From a Christian perspective, justice must always be tempered with mercy. God is our model in
this regard. If God treated each of us as we justly deserved, who would be saved? The cardinal
virtue of justice calls us to fight injustice wherever we see it. A small way to bring justice into
our world is to be generous in tipping those who work for menial wages. Another way is to
advocate and vote for laws that will help the poor.

3) Fortitude (CCC 1808)

This moral virtue gives us the courage and strength to do the right thing even in the face
of difficulties and temptations as, for instance, when we lose our job or even when we face death
for the sake of justice, e.g., St. Thomas More.

4) Temperance (CCC 1809)

This moral virtue is sometimes called moderation. Temperance “moderates our appetite
for pleasure and secures the balance in created goods and helps us control our instincts and
desires in a Christ-like way” (This is Our Faith, p. 253).

Ways to acquire human virtues (CCC 1810-1811). All of us have heard the saying
“practice makes perfect.” Through frequent repetition of a particular act, we will acquire virtuous
behavior. As we seek to grow in virtue, we will need the help of the Holy Spirit and, when
possible, fellowship with people who are also seeking to live a virtuous life.

CONTRIBUTORS

ASSOC. PROF. ALLAN A. BASAS, PH.D.

ASST. PROF. LOUELL V. BALDOZA
MR. SER ALLAN BODORAYA
ASST. PROF. MARY ERIKA N BOLAÑOS, PH.D.
MR. SIR-LIEN HUGH T. TADEO

68