THE APPLICABILITY OF CHRISTIAN MORAL
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Christian morality is based on the evangelical proposal of Jesus and immerses us in his mercy showing us that the purpose of moral norms is to provide good to humanity;Safeguard man through exhortation but also of mercy. Moral theology is then involved in its essence for being something applicable in all human realities, otherwise it would not make sense, therefore the Church has always wanted to instruct us in this field of faith. Pope San Juan Paul II in the Encyclical Veritatis Splendor teaches the entire Church, but especially the essential foundations of morals.
As a first essential element we must make it clear that Jesus Christ is the truth and there is no freedom outside of the truth, that is:
Jesus Christ, "Light of Peoples," illuminates the face of his Church, which is sent by Him to announce the Gospel to every creature. Thus, the Church, the people of God in the midst of nations, while watching the new challenges of history and the efforts that men perform in the search for the meaning of life, offers everyone the response that springs from the truth of the truth ofJesus Christ and his Gospel. (John Paul II, 1993, P.two).
Therefore it is Jesus who gives the light and truth to all the realities of man, and this truth must be announced to all peoples.
In the background, only in front of Christ can we solve our questions, He has an answer for each of them. In confrontation of the text of the young rich, (Matthew 19, 16-21) the Polish saint tells us that it is the question that every man is asked for the meaning of life (John Paul II, 1993). And this is ultimately the other element of morals;mean life. "She (the Church)" wants to serve only for this purpose: that every man can find Christ, so that Christ can travel with each one the path of life "(John Paul II, 1993, p.5). This is key in the exercise of moral theology, to recognize that Jesus Christ through his law of love and his norms comes to fully give the life of man.
Seeing Christ as the truth that makes us free and leads us to the meaning of life, we realize that it is the work of the abundant love of God, that love is a free gift but is demanding, moral theology demands parameters of norms andbehaviors that will give signal of the good Christian;The third element of morals is the decalogue of the ten commandments of God’s law.
The delivery of the decalogue is promise and sign of the New Alliance, when the law will be written again and definitively in the heart of man, to replace the law of sin, which had disfigured that heart. Then "a new heart" will be given because in Him he will inhabit "a new spirit", the Spirit of God. (John Paul II, 1993, P.8).
The New Decalogue Alliance is given to get sin and that in this way man has a new spirit that drives him to lead a life guided by Christian morals, this path is demanding so much that sometimes not even fulfilling all the commandments enough,as the case of the rich young man, but it is necessary to part with everything and have an abandoned heart in Jesus. All of the above should not be imposed, because love and life according to the Gospel is a gift that heals, heals and transforms the heart of man through his grace. (John Paul II, 1993).
In summary of what we carry on this route, Christian morality includes a triple law;of love, grace and freedom. It is the love of God towards me and my love for God who will give me the impulse of wanting to follow him and thus live in his principles, mainly recognizing that it is grace, and that without her my freedom would work outside the truth, ceasing to be authentic.
The encyclical of John Paul II gives us those main elements of moralChrist through the members of his Church.
Now, how are we going to apply Christian morality to the new social realities of man? Although the encyclical dates from 26 years ago, it does not propose anything distant from what we live today and remains a flag document for the execution of social projects from morality.
In the first place we can apply moral theology from your teaching and that will be the basis that supports the execution of the other applications;since through education we will enter into moral conscience, guided under the guidelines proposed by the Church. The scientific exhibition of the fueled moral theology of the biblical foundation illuminates the vocation of the faithful of Christ. (John Paul II, 1993). This lighting is accompanied by teaching where the main thing is to understand that God is good and that human freedom and moral law are totally related, where it prevails to educate the autonomy of man according to Christian morals to make good use of his free will.
In dialogue with morality it is not possible to rule out the natural law whose author is the same and authentic God, linked at all times to the positive law. Man must be directed by these laws and thus live true freedom, “in this design there is no threat to the true freedom of man;On the contrary, the acceptance of this design is the only way for the consolidation of such freedom ”(John Paul II, 1993, p.30). This design is the gift of natural law to man, which as we read is the way to consolidate freedom.
It is necessary to keep in mind all of the above to talk about the moral act, which will be the basis of theology to base by work everything expressed before. It is not possible a doctrine that separates the moral act of the corporeal, since it is the body who performs the act, it is the proof that freedom and nature come together to do good. (John Paul II, 1993). With this we can understand that our actions must always be accompanied by the knowledge of the law, to worship God, help someone, honor parents, etc. unite the common good of men.
The relationship between the freedom of man and the law of God is hidden in the heart, it is known as moral conscience, which is the tabernacle of man, of this will sprout some elements of morality such as judgments and decisions, which they mustbe oriented to give good acts. Indeed, all this emphasizes the idea of the fundamental option, which is the firm decision to act good, and that sometimes it can be stained by the deliberate elections, which is the result of the lack of a specific commitment,This must be the great step of every person in the face of Christian moral.
Obtaining a commitment to God is to compromise your freedom radically before God, this is framed in obedience, faith and charity. This commitment will be reflected in the specific acts, which is what we will present later on how to apply moral theology, and also reflects the importance of having a fundamental option.
The concrete acts are mentioned within the moral act, at this point it should be noted that man is not enough to have good intentions, it is necessary that the object of the act this ordered, but, what is the object of the act?, "An act is good if its object is in accordance with the good of the person in respect for morally relevant goods for her" (John Paul II, 1993, p.51). The above means that the reason why an act is carried out, the end of that act must be directed by the moral good, and not by philanthropy or good intention, very similar to what Pope Francis mentioned about theCharity of the Church when he said that we are not an NGO (Francisco, 2015).
We already talk that a way of applying moral theology was the teaching of all its elements that we develop previously, it is now necessary to highlight that we must walk in the light, this means flooding testimony in all social spheres;House, work, friends, etc., in this way we will show the true face of the Christian faith, which in some places is disfigured and sad.
Certainly today, there are many social realities in which moral theology must be light, situations such as gender ideology, abortion, extreme poverty, then I will dare to give lights from moral theology for these three realities that frame ouractual society.
In the first scenario, with gender ideology it is a dialectical combat but that has its reason from the same philosophical anthropology. Moral theology in the face of attacks against morality that proposes this ideological movement, must counteract with the truth and without fear, arguing that God has created with love to humanity, and has made them;male and woman. And that pursuing the wrong idea of changing gender and living the life of something that I was not called to be, is the result of bad decisions, unfocused by a messy freedom, where the truth is separated.
Our second scene shows us the reality of abortion, something very problematic, since everyone gives their reason over the immeasurable gift of life. The belly child can be the result of a rape, have some malformation, cause death to the mother or simply in the most secular case to be unwanted, these are not suffering motifs to end the life of another person. In our truth, we profess that there is life from conception and moral theology invites us to be facing these debates by bringing our truth as a flag. Not even in cases where the child will grow in bad conditions, such as poverty, malnutrition, in short, in any case abortion is a homicide.
And we have extreme poverty as a last episode, where there is certainly a lot of work to do. Moral theology must be applied in this reality, permanent, continuous and perpetual. Since the poor do not need food or money, but company, love, tenderness, to Jesus whole. Here it is evident to carry out a job supported by the social doctrine of the Church, together with a social pastoral and other organisms that can provide aid to these people to improve their conditions of quality of life and have access to basic services to survive.
In conclusion, moral theology invites us to be free, respecting the truth, fulfilling the law, not as imposition, but with love, that helps our moral conscience to educate what is good to make good use of the free will connected toThe fundamental option to develop moral acts with good objects, capable of changing social realities in a positive way, showing the applicability of faith from teaching and education, ethics, the testimony of life, that we simply be light in the darkness oftoday.
César David de León Zambrano
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Jerusalem Bible. (2009). Bilbao: Bruwer’s Def.
- Francisco. (2015). Homily of February 5, 2015. Recovered from: https: // is.Ring.Org/2015/02/05/Pope-Francisco-ATENCION-LA-RE
- John Paul II. (1993). Veritatis Splendor. (1st. Ed.). Bogotá: San Pablo.
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