Penang Diocese holds session on Morality

Fifty-five participants from 11 parishes in the diocese of Penang — Kedah, Perlis, Perak and Penang attended a one-and-a half-day session on Morality conducted by Fr Dr Clarence Devadass at Domus St Anne.

Sep 25, 2014

By Lucille Dass
Fifty-five participants from 11 parishes in the diocese of Penang — Kedah, Perlis, Perak and Penang attended a one-and-a half-day session on Morality conducted by Fr Dr Clarence Devadass at Domus St Anne.

Fr Mark Michael, Head of the Catechetical Commission, Diocese of Penang, briefly introduced the topic by saying that morality is an invitation to a life of love offered by God for us to bring it to its desired fullness. Such a belief helps the Christian to form a healthy conscience.

The session itself was grounded in Part Three of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) – Life in Christ. Fr Clarence’s choice of five core topics collectively conveyed the essential components of this third part with morality as its pivot. The topics were: Historical Development of Catholic Morality; Morality – a New Perspective; The Human Person and the Human Act; Sin, Conversion, and Moral Conscience, and The Ten Commandments Beginning with the historical development of the CCC, Fr Clarence pointed out how the “Fidei Depositum” (the deposit of faith) has to be articulated anew for all generations – hierarchical clergy and laity — to help them understand it on their own terms. The objective is the desired renewal of the whole church as envisioned by Vatican 11 with its distinct purpose to serve as an authentic reference for teaching and deepening one’s knowledge.

Talking about the historical development of Catholic morality, he referred to the Biblical covenants in the Old and New Testaments (OT/NT) pointing out both their convergent and divergent thinking. The emphasis on morality and teachings of the early church Fathers dwelt heavily on the need to keep God’s law or face the consequences. While keeping God’s law remained the focus in the NT, with Jesus Christ the central message in the initial call to morality had to do with repentance and conversion of the heart (cf.Mk1:15). This was characterized in the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes defining the seven stages of living a Christ-centred life, leading to the kingdom of heaven.

A new perspective of morality does not easily lend itself to an objective definition because of a multiplicity of perceptions that affect it. However, natural law dictates that morality should have a universal nature with its clearly defined features. Morality is not simply defined by one’s external behaviour alone but takes into consideration one’s interiority and one’s relationship with others and its consequential effect. Apart from talking about misconceptions of morality, he also spoke about models of morality, leaving us to ponder on “Why be Moral?” After enlightening us on “who is a Moral Person” and that “…moral growth is a process-gradualness,” he ended with what he began …Christian Morality is “A call/vocation (cf. Lk9:59);” “A response (cf. Lk18:18-27);” “A following (cf. Lk9:23);” “Discipleship (cf. Mt23:7-8);” “An animation (cf. Jn13:15).”

We were asked to ponder awhile on the concept of the human person – “Who am I?” Our response had its Biblical basis in Gen 1:26, with our dignity firmly rooted in this image. The essence of this image is fulfilled with the help of grace as human persons grow in virtue as defined by CCC1700. He also spoke on the Biblical, Theological and Anthropological concept of being human. Made in the image and likeness of God, the human action must respect this dignity that has been bestowed on us and which is the essence of our intrinsic nature.

As for the human act, Catholic morality teaches us how to choose good and avoid evil. Our faith empowers us in our act. The CCC1750 and CCC1755 teach us to exercise our freedom to act in accordance to catholic teachings.

CCC1849 tells us how sin impacts humanity, while CCC1850 defines sin. Sin is always a personal act and a personal responsibility. The concept of conscience is fundamental to Catholic morality. To help us grasp its beautiful concept, the Fathers of the church variously describe it in enchanting terms: “the spark of the Holy Spirit,” “the sacredness of man,” “the sanctuary of God.” Conscience is neither a feeling nor a mere theory, it is a practical judgement of whether an act is right or wrong from an ethical point of view (refer to CCC1778). Since it is a judgement of reason, it must be made by the intellect, and since it is rooted in truth about humankind, law, good and evil, it must respect truth. Conscience is the inextinguishable light given to us by God as part of our human nature. Since we are born without knowledge, our conscience must be formed through the knowledge of Christian life and doctrine. This is every person’s duty – to seek the truth for conversion.

The early part of the commandments (1-3) deal with our relationship with God while the rest deal with our relationship with others. Christian morality has new elements –foundations and principles – that are not founded on human reason alone, but are given by revelation. The Ten Commandments in the OT and the ethical commandments of the New Law (Beatitudes) in the NT (CCC2072) tell us how these are “engraved by God in the human heart.” While the Beatitudes emphasise basic attitudes and dispositions in life and do not coincide exactly with the commandments, there is no separation between them as they both refer to the good; to eternal life.

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