Morality III

March 5 & 12, 2008

Before Class

• Read Chapter 28-34 in U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
• Start preparation for exit requirement (if applicable)

Homework

• Prepare for exit requirement (if applicable)

To Make Up an Absence

If you are unable to attend this class, please submit at the following class written responses to at least one question from each section below, for a total of eight questions. Each response should be 2-3 paragraphs in length and address the question completely. Please include the question that you are addressing at the top of each answer.

Chapter 28. The Fourth Commandment: Strengthen Your Family

1. Why do we call the family the domestic church? How does this challenge families to grow in love and holiness as an icon of the Trinity? What are the responsibilities of parents as the first and primary educators of their children?
2. Why is the family the basic unit of society? How is this view challenged in our culture? What are the effects on society of disintegration of family life? Give examples. How can we strengthen and enrich family life?
3. What are the obligations of civil authorities with respect to the family? Give examples of how civil authorities in the U.S. have succeeded and failed in meeting these obligations. How are we as citizens called to respond to these failures?

Chapter 29. The Fifth Commandment: Promote the Culture of Life

1. How are moral relativism, denial of God, and weakening of conscience at the heart of the culture of death? How can we act to counter these elements of our society to promote the value of human life in all its stages?
2. Choose two examples of "life issues that confront us" from this chapter. For each example, present a commonly-held point of view in our society that is contrary to the Church's teaching on that issue. How would you explain and defend the teaching of the Church in this matter to someone with this point of view?
3. What is the sin of scandal, and how is it a violation of the Fifth Commandment? Cite Scripture in your response (see CCC, no. 2284 and following). Give some examples of the sin of scandal from our society and show how they lead others to do evil.

Chapter 30. The Sixth Commandment: Marital Fidelity

1. What is chastity, and how does its living out differ according to one's state in life? How is chastity related to human freedom? Choose four examples of sins against chastity from p. 406-407 and explain how the virtue of chastity counters them.
2. Why are both artificial contraception in marriage and in vitro fertilization morally wrong? What is natural family planning, and how does it respect the bond between the unitive and procreative aspects of marriage?
3. What is the nuptial meaning of the body? How does this understanding of the body combat the exploitation of sexuality for commercial gain and other violations of chastity and marital fidelity in American culture?

Chapter 31. The Seventh Commandment: Do Not Steal—Act Justly

1. How does the Seventh Commandment guide us to respect and care for property that is not our own, that belongs to others, or that is public property?
2. Choose three examples from among the major themes of the Church's social teaching (p. 421-424). How is each "rooted in the fundamental principle of the sacredness of human life and the fundamental dignity of every single individual" (p. 421)? Describe a current issue in our society for which this theme of the Church's social teaching is relevant, and how.
3. What is meant by the preferential option for the poor? Why does our faith require this? How does caring for the poor proclaim the Gospel?

Chapter 32. The Eighth Commandment: Tell the Truth

1. How do elements of American culture, particularly in the media, oppose the reality of objective truth? Describe some practical consequences of a denial of objective truth. How can we as Christians witness to the truths of our faith?
2. How is the right to know the truth not absolute? How do we discern whether to reveal the truth in concrete situations? Give examples. How is detraction an offense against truth?
3. What is the relationship of art to truth and beauty? How can art lie, that is, fail to tell the truth? Give examples.

Chapter 33. The Ninth Commandment: Practice Purity of Heart

1. What is modesty? How does the virtue of modesty protect and foster true human freedom?
2. Why is it important to be as vigilant about our interior attitudes toward sexuality as we are about external acts? Cite other examples of links between inner attitudes and external behavior.

Chapter 30. The Tenth Commandment: Embrace Poverty of Spirit

1. Why are greed and envy considered capital sins? What is poverty of spirit? How does the virtue of humility counter envy?
2. What is the Christian call to stewardship? Why does stewardship require detachment from material posessions, pleasures and worldly success?