Christian Morality

Intro to Catholicism

Directed Reading Worksheet

Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life    


Directions: As you read through the chapter, fill in the information below. All the questions run sequential to the chapter. If a true or false statement is false, correct it.


Guidance

1. Why did God give us the Ten Commandments? 

He did so for the purpose of our overall well-being



Called to Happiness

2. God created us to be happy in this world and the next and implanted in each of us a deep hunger for happiness and fulfillment that only God himself can satisfy. 


4. What is Jesus’ “blueprint” for happiness? What is our part?

We are to keep his commandments and live the Beatitudes. For our part, we must accept the gift of happiness God freely gives to us by living upright, moral, and Christlike lives so that we are fully able to embrace God’s love 



Love God: The First Three Commandments 

14. The first Three commandments show us how to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, strength and mind. 



17. How does the virtue of religion helps us?

The virtue of religion helps us give to God what is his just due—that is, reverence, love, and worship



18. What are ways to exercise the virtue of religion? 




19. True or False?

The virtue of religion enables believers to keep their vows, especially the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 



23. Identify these sins against the First Commandment:


idolatry : worship of false gods



34. What are ways we make the Lord’s day holy?


receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, staying away from unnecessary work and business activities, relaxing activities, spending time with our families, reading, enjoying the outdoors, serving others in need, and doing anything that helps to refresh our minds, hearts, and spirits




Love Your Neighbor: The Fourth through Tenth Commandments 

35. How does Saint Paul summarize the Ten Commandments in his letter to the Romans? 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”



36. God created the family as the primary unit of society and the Fourth Commandment stresses that charity begins at home. The family is called the domestic Church, a community of faith, hope, and charity that teaches virtue, respect, and love. 


37. What are some of duties of parents?


respect their children as persons with dignity, educate them, especially in the Catholic faith, provide them with a loving home, encourage their children to respond to the Lord if he should call them to serve and give their children unconditional love



38. What behaviors are required of children?


they are to thank their parents for the gift of life, show gratitude by respecting and honoring their parents throughout their lives, obey their parents as long as they live in their home, and honor parents when their aged parents are sick or lonely



39. In what circumstance could one properly oppose civil law?

When societal laws conflict with God’s will or God’s law, then we must obey God, even if this leads to personal suffering



44. What are four conditions of a just war?


(a) the damage inflicted by the aggressor is lasting, grave, and certain; (b) it is truly a last resort; (c) the prospects of success are serious; (d) the use of arms will not produce evil graver than the evil to be eliminated 


45. What are five other actions forbidden by the fifth commandment?

direct abortion, intentional euthanasia, suicide, scandal, immoral medical procedures


47. Chastity helps us integrate our sexuality with all aspects of who we are. Jesus calls everyone to live chastely according to their state in life. This virtue requires life-long self-control.



49. What are examples of sinful abuses of God’s gift of sexuality?

masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, non-marital sexual activity



51. What should a Christian marriage be like?

God’s permanent covenant of love and fidelity


52. What are the two purposes of sexual intercourse in marriage?

(a) the unitive purpose is the bonding of husband in wife as lifelong partners; (b) the procreative purpose is cooperating with God in bringing new life into the world (249).



53. True or False?
The use of natural methods of regulating births are in accord with God’s will, but artificial means of birth control are unnatural and contrary to God’s law.


57. Identify the type of justice described below:

legal: concerns our duties as citizens and what we owe the government

distributive: the obligations the community has to its citizens 

commutative: regulates relations between individuals 


58. What is social justice? 

Social justice applies the teachings of Christ and the Church to the political, economic, and social orders

The Ten Commandments:

  1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.

  2. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

  3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.

  4. Honor thy father and mother.

  5. Thou shall not kill.

  6. Thou shall not commit adultery.

  7. Thou shall not steal.

  8. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

  9. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife.

  10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods.