Sacraments and Morality Spring Chapter 1 Study Guide

What are two reasons why people must care for the environment responsibly?

(1) Because all of creation comes from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness. (2) Another reason is that the earth proclaims its maker. God's glory shines through his creation. Creation reveals God.

What are two ideas that the common good requires of both individuals and societies?

(1) Respect the basic, inalienable rights of each human being; and (2) Promote the social well-being and development of various social groups.

What examples does the author give of how we may have individually learned and improved following mistakes and sins? What about humanity collectively?

(a) Maybe when we were younger, we were rude and hurtful to our parents. Witnessing the negative impact on ourselves and them, we may now have adjusted your behavior to act in a more caring and loving way. Or perhaps you have grown more sensitive and responsive to a lonely classmate after putting yourself in his or her position. (b) For centuries slavery was tolerated as acceptable. However, the Gospel message and its implication of the dignity of all people began to take root. This helped to change the thinking of individuals and entire societies to conclude that slavery is an intolerable evil that destroys human dignity. Today, all civilized societies ban slavery.

What are five truths we learn about God in the first creation account in the Book of Genesis?

... the Book of Genesis (see Genesis 1:26-31) teaches clearly that: • humans are made in God's image. • God is the Creator. He freely created humans out of love. • God has put humans in charge of the rest of creation. • God created humans male and female. • God saw all that he made and found it very good.

How does the author define love?

Choosing to do good for other people, even to the point of personal sacrifice, defines love.

Concupiscence

Disordered human desires resulting from Original Sin that produce an inclination to sin, also expressed as "the rebellion of the 'flesh' against the 'spirit'" (CCC, 2515). Concupiscence remains after Baptism.

True or False? Because of our instinct, human beings are able to make free choices, to make ourselves good or bad.

False. Because of our free will, human beings are able to make free choices, to make ourselves good or bad.

True or False? Catholics gain new life in the Holy Spirit through acts of selfless charity whereby the stain of Original Sin is wiped from their souls.

False. Catholics gain new life in the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism whereby the stain of Original Sin is wiped from their souls.

True or False? God created most of us with both a body and a spiritual and immortal soul and these together make each of us a single, unique person.

False. God created each of us with both a body and a spiritual and immortal soul and these together make each of us a single, unique person.

True or False? Personhood is based on genetic makeup.

False. Personhood is based on our uniqueness which includes genetic makeup, but is not limited to that makeup.

True or False? The Church teaches that not all people have the right or duty to participate in the various societies to which they belong.

False. The Church teaches that all people have the right and duty to participate in the various societies to which they belong.

True or False? The Genesis accounts of creation accurately reflect the philosophy of nihilism.

False. The Genesis accounts of creation do not accurately reflect the philosophy of nihilism.

True or False? The Sacrament of Reconciliation imparts the life of Christ, erases Original Sin, and turns a person back toward God.

False. The Sacrament of Baptism imparts the life of Christ, erases Original Sin, and turns a person back toward God.

Angels

Spiritual creatures, created by God with intelli-gence and will, who surpass humans in perfection. They are personal and immortal creatures.

Common Good

The "sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily"

How does the CCC define salvation?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines salvation as "the forgiveness of sins and restoration of friendship with God, which can be done by God alone

Solidarity

The Christian virtue of social charity and friendship.

Soul

The name for the innermost spiritual principle of human beings. The soul and body together form one unique human nature. The soul is created immediately by God. It is immortal.

Original Holiness and Original Justice

The original state of human beings in their relationship with God before sin entered the world. Original holiness was the state of Adam and Eve in which they shared in the divine life. Orig-inal justice was their state of inner harmony, harmony between man and woman, and harmony between the first couple and all creation.

Original Sin

The personal sin of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, by which they disobeyed God's com-mandment and chose their own will over God's will. As a result, they lost the grace of original holiness and original justice, they became subject to death, and sin entered the world. Original Sin also describes the fallen state of human nature, which affects every person and from which Christ came to redeem the world.

Subsidiary

The principle of Catholic social teaching that holds that a higher unit of society should not do what a lower unit can do as well or better.

The author says that the complementary and sacramental relationship between man and woman has been confused in recent times as an attempt to define and normalize same sex relationships as marriage. Explain.

The question here is not primarily about a person's right to love whomever he or she wishes, but about God's institution of marriage since the creation of the world as a sign and sacrament of the love that he wishes to share with humankind. Because marriage is a sign and sacrament of God's love, rooted in natural law, its definition can never be changed.

Paschal Mystery

The saving love of God most fully revealed in the life and especially the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and glorious Ascension of his Son, Jesus Christ.

What makes our actions either moral or immoral?

When you exercise your freedom and make choices in accord with God's eternal law, you are being moral; when you don't, you are being immoral.

Explain the importance of the gift of free will.

With the gift of free will, you have the capacity to make choices among alternatives. More importantly, you have the ability to direct yourself to true goodness and to define yourself in terms of that choice.

Sin

"An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience" (CCC, Glossary). The basic cause of sin is love for self over love for God. Sin wounds both human nature and the solidarity of the human race. Sin was most intense at Christ's Passion, as witnessed by the hatred of Jesus' enemies for the Son of God. However, Christ's sacrifice on the Cross opened the way for God's forgiveness and mercy.

Free Will

"The power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility"

Nihilism

A philosophy that denies there is any mean-ing in existence or religious beliefs. A nihilist maintains that the only thing that comes after life is nothingness, annihilation.

True or False? To say that God created humans as incompatible beings means that males and females needs and completes the other, that neither are superior to the other, and that they combine to bring out the best in one another.

False? To say that God created humans as complementary beings means that males and females needs and completes the other, that neither are superior to the other, and that they combine to bring out the best in one another.

What examples of the subsidiarity are provided by the author?

For example, the federal, state, or local governments must not subvert the authority of parents to raise their children in a particular religious faith. On the other hand, if a lower-level community (such as parents in a family) is found guilty of withholding education from or abusing a child in any way, the higher levels of society have a duty to step in to protect the child from harm.

Why did God create us in his image and likeness?

God created us in his image and likeness because he wanted to share his love freely with us—and because he wanted us to have the capacity to freely receive his love, to share in it, and to choose to return our love to him.

What were the unfortunate consequences of the loss of original holiness and original justice?

Humans became subject to ignorance, suffering, and death, and became inclined to sin—a condition called concupiscence. But Original Sin did not totally corrupt human nature.

What realities are given to us by our human souls?

It gives you incomparable dignity. Your soul gives you a share in God's life. It identifies you as "most especially in God's image" (CCC, 363). It causes you to be unsatisfied with living a merely physical existence in the here and now. It leads you to imagine a life beyond earth. It prompts you to ask ultimate questions like these: • What am I here for? • Why do I exist? • What happens to me after I die? • What is the meaning of life?

Explain what the U.S.C.C.B means when they say that marriage is never just a "private" issue.

Marriage has public significance and public consequences. One only has to think of the connection between fatherless families and young men in jail to know that this is true. In addition, the proposal to "redefine" marriage to include two men or two women is really a proposal to "redefine" the human person, causing a forgetfulness of what it means to be a man or a woman. This is a basic injustice to men and women, children, and fathers and mothers.

What is the vocation of every person?

Our vocation is to express the love of the communion of Divine Persons in our own relationships.

Theology of the Body

Pope John Paul II's integrated vision of the human person—body, soul, and spirit—which he expressed in a series of 129 Wednesday audi-ences from 1979 to 1984. Drawing mostly from Scripture, Pope John Paul II taught that the body is a true gift from God. The talks highlight how sexuality is a beautiful gift from God intended to be a means for self-giving love.

Theological Virtues

Three important virtues bestowed on a person at Baptism that help the person relate to God; they are faith (belief in and personal knowledge of God), hope (trust in God's salvation and in his gift of the graces needed to attain it), and charity (love of God and love of neighbor).

In what way is Jesus the Savior?

Through the Paschal Mystery of his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus has delivered humanity from the clutches of sin and the evil one, Satan.

True or False? All of creation is sacred, including our bodies, belong to God and should be treated with reverence.

True

True or False? Catholics should help to eliminate sinful inequalities of wealth and social status.

True

True or False? Choices build a person's moral character: good choices build it up and bad choices tear it down.

True

True or False? Having dignity means all people living on this planet have worth and value; it is a characteristic that we do not earn.

True

True or False? Only through the committed union of a husband and wife in marriage can the natural procreation and education of children take place in a setting that is secure, nurturing, and consistent with what God intends.

True

True or False? Pope John Paul II observed that only the human body is capable of making visible what is invisible or spiritual.

True

True or False? The Holy Spirit - sent by God the Father and God the Son - unleashes his power and graces on the world so that everyone is capable of living holy and moral lives.

True

True or False? We are endowed with Godlike qualities to choose, think, love, and related to others.

True

Explain how human dignity is inherent, inviolable, and inalienable.

• Dignity is inherent or inborn because it is an essential characteristic of being human. • Dignity is inviolable because no one has the right to violate or profane it. • Dignity is inalienable because it cannot be taken away by anyone. Even a person's own sinfulness cannot cause his or her human dignity to be lost.

Using the sidebar on human development in the womb before birth, identify the correct period with each of these descriptions: The baby can swallow and open and close his or her mouth The baby weighs about 2 - 2.5 pounds and can open his or her eyes and more arms and legs freely The baby's organs develop enough to function on their own. The baby can hear sounds, can kick, cry, or hiccup The child's gender, hair color, and eye color have been determined and the heart has begun beating.

● End of third month (p. 18); ● End of Seventh month (p. 19); ● End of ninth month (p. 19); ● End of sixth month (p. 19); End of first month