Chapter 15 Notes: Morality and Salvation
Morality and Salvation
God's love is a pure gift, not earned, and unconditional.
Free will is a gift from God to accept His love.
Conscience helps discern morally right and wrong actions.
Grace assists in making decisions to live as followers of Jesus, positively affecting ourselves and others.
Activity: Understanding and Respect
The provided scenario involves Mark, a boy with cerebral palsy who faces teasing and exclusion due to his condition.
The activity suggests discussing respectful treatment in media or reflecting on the moral wrongness of excluding those who seem different.
People often make fun of or exclude someone because they lack an understanding of the person's situation.
Trivia: Christian Denominations
The Protestant Reformation led to the establishment of new Christian denominations.
There are over 300 Christian denominations in the United States today.
Quotable Scripture
Psalm 106:1: "Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose mercy endures forever."
Scripture Background
Eucharistic Prayers Among Early Christians
All four Gospels recount Jesus' final Passover meal with the Apostles, where he gave new meaning to the Jewish Passover at the Last Supper.
The prayers of the Eucharist are based on the actions and words of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper and proclaim the Paschal Mystery.
Formal Eucharistic Prayers were developed by the Church in the third century.
Mark 14:12-26 contains one Gospel account of the Last Supper.
Through the Week
This section includes a prayer for openness, honesty, and courage to do what is right.
It suggests expressing thanks to God during Mass for various blessings.
Links to online resources are provided.
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Catherine of Siena dedicated her life to God from a young age and lived a life of solitude.
At 23, she had a vision that commanded her to enter public life.
She played a role in restoring the papacy to Rome after its residence in Avignon, France, for twenty-seven years.
Her feast day is April 29.
Morality and Salvation
James 2:26: "For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Share: Pope John Paul II in Greece
In 2001, Pope John Paul II visited Greece to retrace the footsteps of Paul the Apostle, who spread the Gospel in the Mediterranean region starting in 51 AD.
The Pope met with Archbishop Christodoulos, leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, in a historic meeting.
This was the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church since the Schism of 1054, when the Church divided into East and West.
The Schism was intensified when Crusaders from the West overthrew Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade.
Pope John Paul II apologized for past and present sins of Catholics against their Orthodox brothers and sisters and prayed the Lord's Prayer with Archbishop Christodoulos.
The Lord's Prayer remains a point of unity for all Christians.
Activity: Responding Peacefully to Conflicts
The activity poses the question: How can we respond peacefully to conflicts?
It prompts reflection on how the Church has responded to conflict and division in the past.
Hear and Believe Witness
The Choice of Heaven
By the mid-16th century, the Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther, gained many supporters across Europe.
John Calvin (1509-1564) was a strong voice in the Protestant Reformation.
Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) defended Catholic doctrine against Calvin's teachings.
The passage includes a meditation from Francis de Sales' Introduction to the Devout Life, prompting the reader to imagine being between Heaven and hell.
Awareness of being between Heaven and hell, each open based on one's choices.
Realization that earthly choices have eternal consequences.
God desires one to choose Heaven and offers graces and help through a Guardian Angel.
Jesus Christ and Our Lady invite one to everlasting rest and salvation.
Saved by Faith Alone?
John Calvin, born into a devout Catholic family, later joined the Protestant Reformers.
Like Luther, Calvin believed salvation comes by faith alone and that Christian teaching should be guided only by Scripture.
Calvin taught predestination, the belief that God decides who will be saved before they are born, contradicting Catholic teaching.
The Catholic Church believes in free will and the grace to respond to God's gift of salvation.
When Francis de Sales became bishop of Geneva in 1602, many churches were Calvinist; he ministered from Annecy, France.
His writings impressed Protestants and led some to return to the Catholic faith.
Defending Catholic Doctrine
During the Reformation, the Church used the Inquisition to defend its doctrine.
Pope Gregory IX established courts in the 13th century to investigate those teaching heresies.
Punishments included fines, imprisonment, or excommunication.
Faith Words
Predestination: The teaching that God determines whether someone is saved or damned before birth.
Free Will: The ability to choose between morally right and wrong actions.
Excommunication: A penalty for grave offenses against the Catholic religion, excluding one from the Eucharist, Sacraments, and Church ministries.
Activity
List five ways people can use their free will to cooperate with God's desire to save them.
Hear and Believe: Choosing the Path of Salvation
In 1534, King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England after the Pope refused to annul his marriage.
English citizens were required to take the Oath of Supremacy acknowledging the English monarch as head of the Church.
Practicing or teaching the Catholic faith was made a crime, known as recusancy, punishable by law.
Despite hardships, English Catholics remained true to their faith.
Blessed Margaret Pole, godmother to Henry VIII's daughter Mary, opposed the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn and was banished from court.
Her son, Reginald, a cardinal, spoke and wrote against the King, leading to Margaret's arrest and imprisonment.
Margaret was condemned to death and executed on May 28, 1541, at age 72, after two years in the Tower of London.
Her last words were, "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Margaret Pole was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and is honored as Blessed Margaret Pole, with her feast day on May 28.
We Believe
Grace is a gift from God, and along with our conscience, helps us know and choose what is right.
Our Church Teaches
God reveals His will in the Ten Commandments.
Disrespect for Sacraments, sacred objects, or people dedicated to God is forbidden by the First Commandment.
Knowingly and freely choosing evil is sin.
Following God's will increases our freedom.
Conscience helps us distinguish between good and evil.
We should follow our conscience and choose what is true, good, and beautiful.
Wrong choices can result from errors in judgment or improperly formed consciences.
We can form our consciences by learning Church teachings, listening to Sacred Scripture and Tradition, seeking advice, and praying for guidance.
Activity
Blessed Margaret Pole followed her conscience.
What or who helps young people form and follow their consciences?
Examples include parents, religion class, and Sacred Scripture.
Pie Chart Activity
Divide a circle into sections representing sources influencing conscience.
The size of each section indicates the amount of influence of that source.
Include at least five categories (e.g., parents, friends, media).
Respond: Doctors of the Church
Doctors of the Church are Catholic writers whose work helps people understand Church doctrine and faith.
Examples include Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) and Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380).
Saint Robert Bellarmine
Born in Montepulciano, Italy.
Became a Jesuit priest in 1570, a cardinal in 1599, and an archbishop in 1602.
Examined theological controversies and heresies for the Church.
Warned Galileo not to defend Copernicus's theories, which were incorrectly believed to conflict with Scripture.
Defended the faith against Protestantism.
Canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931.
Feast day is September 17.
Saint Catherine of Siena
Born in Italy in the fourteenth century.
Had visions of Jesus Christ as a young child.
Became a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic (Dominicans) at 16.
Traveled across Italy, known for peacekeeping between cities and within the Church.
Persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome in 1377 after 74 years of the papacy residing in Avignon, France.
Respected for her wisdom in answering theological questions and for her spiritual writings, such as The Dialogue of St. Catherine.
Canonized in 1461 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Feast day is April 30.
ACTIVITIES
The Doctors of the Church helped others understand the Church's faith and doctrine. Who in your everyday life helps you understand and follow Catholic teachings? How?
Saint Francis de Sales wrote about the need to always make a conscious choice to follow Jesus. What temptations do you face that make this difficult? Name one, and then list three choices you can make to avoid that temptation.
How important are the following freedoms? Rate each item by marking an X under Very Important, Somewhat Important, or Not Important. Discuss the reasons for your responses as a class. (Freedom to pray, tell others, confess, learn about religion, read the Bible, learn about saints, discuss moral questions.)
A Prayer for Trust
Saint Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Ávila) described mental prayer as friendly conversation with Jesus.
She wrote, "If you are happy, look upon your Risen Lord….If you are sad… look upon Him bending under the weight of the cross."
She urged us to simply be with Jesus.
Saint Teresa's Prayer
Translation:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you;
All things are passing;
God never changes!
Patient endurance
Gains all things;
Who possesses God
Needs nothing else;
God alone is enough.