Christian Morality

SECTION 3 : OBEDIENCE, HONESTY, AND JUSTICE

Christian Morality

Part 1: The Fourth Commandment: Respecting Authority

The final Seven Commandments all deal with loving your neighbor.

The Fourth Commandment tells us to honor our Father and our Mother, yet it goes beyond respecting just our family members, but also those in seats of authority, such as police officers, teachers, priests, etc.

Families are the most basic building block in God’s plan for communal life, being the place where children grow in faith and in Christ’s love.


In Biblical times, the extended family, as opposed to the immediate family, was the center social institution in which grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins all lives under one roof or close to one another.

In such households, fathers worked hard to support the family while mothers stayed home and cared for the children, showing each member had a social role.

Daughters would work with their mothers and sons would take up the trade of their father, as Jesus became a carpenter like Joseph was, his “stepfather.”


Besides faithfulness to God, being loyal to one’s family was the strongest value in biblical cultures.

A way to show such loyalty was honoring thy father and mother.

God connected the Commandment to respect one’s mother and father, their family, with the Covenant by saying to have a long life in the Promised Land, one must honor their parents.

Jesus respected and loved Mary and Joseph, yet Jesus sought to delve deeper into the Fourth Commandment.


Jesus left the family trade of carpentry to teach about the Kingdom of God, which in itself was a questionable action to take when one was to honor thy father and mother.

Part of Jesus’ mission was to form a new “spiritual family” of brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers of Himself by doing the will of God.

Loyalty to God was more important than blind loyalty to family, said Christ.


Jesus called us to deeper understanding of the Fourth Commandment since people were respecting their family only because of custom and obedience, not because they truly did so.

In the New Covenant of Christ, we are called to respect our mother and father, as well as all followers of Christ, not because of blind obedience, but because they are our brothers and sisters in a new spiritual family.

Those who listen and do the will of God form the Body of Christ, the Church, and Christ’s new spiritual family.



The most basic meaning of the Fourth Commandment is to respect, love, and honor one’s parents, yet with further and deeper reflection, shows a meaning of respecting all people God place in our life that has authority.

The New Law takes the Fourth Commandment further by telling us to love all family members as God, our Father, loves us.

Parents also have a duty to their children, which is to love, protect, and raise them in the faith.


To honor one’s parents does not just mean a list of obligations; the Church defines it as the attitudes that lead to specific actions, specifically the attitudes of: Respect Gratitude Obedience Assistance

Respect is the foundation of any healthy relationship.The Fourth Commandment requires us, even when we

disagree with our parents, to listen patiently to their view point and see a situation through their eyes (even when we know we are right).


Gratitude is due to parents, from birth to college and throughout all of life, since parents sacrifice so much of themselves through time, finances, and wellbeing to make sure their children prosper and have the best in life.

Obedience is one of the obligations teenagers and young adults hate to hear when it comes to dealing with parents.

The Fourth Commandment helps us to understand that sometimes we need to trust out parents, even if we do not see eye to eye with them, unless they are demanding us to do something that we know is wrong, i.e. cheating.


Children must assist their parents throughout their life, not just as children doing chores, but caring for their parents in old age and ill health, which shows true honor and love to one’s father and mother, who took care of their children and now may need their children to care for them.

Parents tend to know what is right for us, as we sometimes realize after we disobey them in hindsight.

Parents do not want to prevent us from living life, but they want to assure we live life properly, with faith, love, and responsibility.


Parents not only provide for physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, but also for our intellectual needs as teachers for us in the home.

Parents are a child’s first catechist, or person called by God to the ministry of the education and formation of Christians by teaching others the essentials of Christian doctrine and forming them as disciples of Jesus Christ.

This is why the home is called the “domestic church.”


As we grow older, it is true parents must give us some space so we can make our own choices, become responsible, and learn first hand right from wrong.

This can be difficult for parents, as it was for Mary and Joseph when they found Jesus in the temple at around age 12, telling His parents He was doing the business of God, something Mary had to ponder.

We must find out what vocation, or a calling from God to embrace holiness as a member of His Church (in this case it means job), we want to pursue, and our parents should be there to support us and help us decipher what we are called to be in this life.



Our faith should strongly influence our public life.

The Fourth Commandment also applies to our public life, such as organizations we belong to like sport teams and clubs, since these groups usually have an influence on public life.

The natural law, based on human reason, should be the basis of all public groups, since the natural law calls for the respect of all people and the protection of their God given rights of freedom, respect, and the common good.


The Holy Trinity calls Christians to be part of public life.

The Father sent the Son to teach us how to live the Beatitudes and be in communion with God; the Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life of faith and holiness that is defined as a Christian life.

No public group or organization perfectly reflects God’s will of moral law; however, it is Christians who should participate in such groups to help bring about God’s moral law more clearly.


If a sports team’s members play together, respecting one another, their coach, and their opponents, they will succeed in fulfilling the team’s purpose; however, when a teammate lacks respect and is selfish, then team can fall apart, lose sight of success, and suffer greatly.

This is what happens when public organizations do not line up with God’s Eternal Law: they cannot achieve the success meant for their organization.


Many times throughout history however, public organizations, such as governments, have allowed slavery, unjust wars, and injustice to flourish.

When this happens, Christians are called to be “in this world, but not of this world.”

This means we must be in this world and around people who do not always share our beliefs and values so that we can challenge them with God’s values, which means we are not of this world when we live God’s values.


Being in this world but not of this world is extremely difficult since it puts us in a position to stand out against choices that some people, even many people, may agree with.

However, if we stand firm in what we believe and understand why we are right, we will gain a sense of great joy and peace at having brought God’s values to a world that is slowly losing sight of God.

Civil authorities are leaders of public groups that are not religious; they carry great power and should be in this world, but not of this world, in their views.



Faithful citizenship has a dual meaning, firstly in that we are to be active members of our country and political system, but also that as active citizens, we must be faithful to God to be informed by our faith when voting and making political choices.

A basic moral principal is that the state exists for the citizen, and not the other way around.

The state exists to protect the common good of all its citizens, such as food, water, housing, and medicial care.


Making sure all people are cared for requires patience, sacrifice, and solidarity.

Solidarity is the union of one’s mind and heart with all people; leads to just distribution of goods, creates bonds between opposing groups, and leads to spiritual goods like prayer and friendship.

If a state does not use patience, sacrifice, and solidarity, the state with degenerate into rich and poor, where the poor have power through violence, and the rich by withholding goods from the poor.


Some of the most important values the state must support and give to its citizens are: Protect basic freedoms, many of which are listed in

the 1st Amendment Provide education for citizens Allow people to form social justice groups, such as

political parties Provide stability and just order that comes from

peaceful and secure societies Develop international laws so people from one country

are not exploited by another


Solidarity has grown strong in today’s world as people from different nations unite in the causes of protecting the environment, monitoring economics, and assuring all people live a life of dignity due to everyone, rich, poor, and in between.

We are also called to show spiritual solidarity, a commitment to the principle that every person is a child of God, our spiritual brothers and sisters, that deserve the rights God set forth in the order of the universe at the time of Creation.


Governments and civic groups are part of God’s plan to create communities that achieve the common good for His people.

We also must be active citizens then of such groups and our government to assure God’s plan is properly being fulfilled.

Unless a law is truly unjust, all people must abide by the laws set forth by their government.

If a law is morally wrong, we are obliged not to follow it, since it is contradictory to the common good and the will of God.


Civil Disobedience is deliberate refusal to obey and immoral demand from civil authority or an immoral civil law.

As citizens of the United States, we are blessed to have the opportunity to vote on laws before they go into affect, fighting against the one’s the hurt people, and assuring the passage of those that support the common good.

As Christians, we are called to be active citizens that are responsible for making civil laws reflect those of God’s moral laws.

Part 2: The Eighth Commandment: Reality versus Illusion

The Eighth Commandment tells us to “not bear false witness against our neighbor.”

Since God is the source of all truth, for us to be in communion with Him, we need to tell the truth too.

We lie to ourselves to make everything seem okay in the end when its not; we lie to others to avoid being caught in an act that we know is wrong.

The danger of lying is that we begin to lose sight of reality and live in a illusion-filled world based only on our lies; God does not live in illusion-based worlds.


Lies destroy trust, they hurt, may lead to other crimes, and are a direct contradiction of the truth, meaning they are a direct contradiction of God.

God is Truth because of the following logic: What is true is also real Creation is real God is the Creator of all reality

Conclusion: If God is the origin and Creator of all reality, the He is also the origin and basis of all truth.


Truth

Real

Creation

God


This is why Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life..”

So when we lie, even if it’s a little lie, we are essential going against the truth, and then logically, against God.

The Johannine Writings, which consist of the Gosepl of John and the three Letters of John, compares light and darkness with spiritual truth. “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” “I am the light of the world.”


God calls us to live in the light, the truth, and not in the darkness that is spawned from our lies.

The danger of lies is that we can actually begin to believe them ourselves, even when we make the lies up on our own.

Satan is the root of lying, going back to the Garden of Eden where Satan lied to Eve telling her she would not die, like God said, if they ate of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. From the one lie came the downfall of all humanity.


The truth that should have the highest priority in our life is the truth the Father revealed for our salvation.

We are to testify to this truth, that God sent His only Son, Christ, to redeem man from that first lie in the Garden of Eden and to bring an end to the reign of lies, sin, and death.

Many martyrs have died proclaiming the truth of God’s love for us by following in the footsteps of Christ and giving up their own lives to further spread the “truth” that we are called to proclaim today.



When we feel guilty of sinning, we want to make amends for something we did wrong that caused harm to another person or led to loss, which is called reparation.

One of the greatest gifts God has given us is our conscience, which is the inner voice of a person and a God given sense of moral law.

Our conscience makes us realize we are responsible for our actions and tells us it is better to do good than evil.


To make good judgments, one must have a well-formed conscience.

Trust is one of the most important values when it comes to any relationship, whether in marriage, dating, or close friends.

Honest builds personal integrity (acting or speaking honestly), which it turn builds up trust.

We, as humans, are inclined to tell the truth to gain trust, so to lie means we must have a motive.


Sometimes we lie to avoid telling an uncomfortable truth, yet this is still not morally right, because in the end usually the person finds out and is now hurt by the truth and by your lies.

Any form of deception, whether cheating, lying, etc., all weaken our ability to be trusted and form stable relationships with people.

When Cain murdered Able in the Bible, Cain tried to cover it up from God, yet God saw Cain’s actions, as He will see ours too when we lie, whether telling a small “white” lie, or digging ourselves into a 12 foot deep hole.



Perjury (lying under oath) is a sin against the Second, Fourth, and Eighth Commandments.

Telling a lie is the most direct offense against the Eighth Commandment.

Public lies, such as by large businesses and companies, can be disastrous since they can affect a large population of people.

Public lies can also be deliberately withholding important information from the public; not giving relevant information is just as bad as lying.


Detraction is another sin against the Eighth Commandment, also known as gossip, which is unnecessarily revealing something about another person that is true, yet harmful to their reputation.

Calumny, or slander, is ruining someone’s reputation by lying or spreading rumors.

Rash Judgment is when we assume the worst about someone before possessing all the facts, which in turn, does harm to a person’s reputation if we talk about them based on illegitimate facts.


To avoid gossiping, slandering, or judging others, we should put ourselves in their position, see how we would feel if someone said the same thing about us behind our backs, so we will avoid doing such things to other people.

Adulation is excessive flattery, praise, or admiration for another person.

If we praise someone for stealing their parent’s car, then that’s a sin because we are encouraging another person to act against their conscience’s call to do good, so we become an accomplice to the sin.


Boasting or bragging is a sin against the Eighth Commandment because it often involves the misuse of truth so as make one appear greater than they actually are.

We must act with humility, not pride, to gain trust from others.

Making fun of another person to humiliate them is the misuse of truth in the worst sense, especially today, where teenagers commit suicide due to being harassed on Facebook and Twitter for no reason whatsoever.

We need to be people of integrity and act honestly not just for our own sake, but for the betterment of our relationships with others all around us, who are all our brothers and sisters in Christ.


We should only reveal the painful truth about someone, not to detract from their reputation but protect them and other people, to proper authorities in situations such as:

If someone commits a serious crime If someone intends to cause any type of harm to other

people If someone is abused in anyway, shape, or form If you not speaking up puts you in danger and make

you a criminal accomplice to a crime



The Eighth Commandment has an important “social” dimension that should guide us when using social media, such as when writing posts, message, tweets, or comments.

Media, whether print, online, or televised, must be fair and balanced, presenting only the truth to its viewers without any bias that can sway people from making decisions based on their morals.

Art is a form of media too in that it conveys a message of truth about the image, artist, and subject matter. When icons are created, they are not drawn, they are “written.”


Art that portrays the realities of life can either be beautiful, reflecting God’s goodness as Creator, or dark and bleak, showing us the effects of sin in this world.

Sacred Art evokes faith by turning our minds to the mystery of God through depictions of the Bible stories, Tradition, and the lives of Christ, Mary, and the saints.

Whatever form of media we speak about, media should be based on the truth, not on speculation or exaggeration, since it is the place we gain information about the world we all share together, locally, nationally, and globally.

Part 3: The Seventh and Tenth Commandments:Justice versus Injustice

The Seventh Commandment, “Thou shall not steal,” and the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s property,” can be sinned against due to laziness, greed, envy, and jealousy.

Stealing through phony tax return forms, planarization, or misleading information all go against the Seventh Commandment.

Both Commandments point to a deeper reality: God has given the entire human race the resources it needs; however, the rich take all they want and leave the poor with nothing, going against God’s will for the common good and taking care of the poor.


Having the most things materially, whether numerically or financially, does not mean that we are going to be given just as much or more after we die.

The Old Law points to this principal about material possession: That God has given the human race the Earth and all its resources to care for and enjoy.

God gave man “dominion” over all creatures for their enjoyment and sustenance.

Even though we are to all share God’s gifts to us, we also are allowed to have private property, like clothing, food, and shelter for survival.


The most fundamental law regarding private property is the Commandment that tells us not to steal.

Theft brings chaos and injustice, upsetting the order and fairness that societies need to survive.

The right of private property however is subordinate to just and equal distribution for the common good of all people.


The Jubilee Law found in the Book of Leviticus tells of how the Israelites, every 50 years, had to return any land bought to the original landowners at a fair price so as to avoid the cycle of poverty occurring over long periods of time by redistributing land.

Jesus taught that wealth was not a sign of God’s blessing, as society had thought; instead, Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that those who are rich now will be hungry later and those that are hungry now will be filled later (later meaning in God’s Kingdom).


Detachment from wealth is key to entering the Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught to not build up treasures on Earth which decay and rot with time; rather, build up treasures in Heaven which will never vanish.

Where your treasure is, so will your heart be.Jesus used parables, or stories rooted in daily

life that use symbolism as a teaching tool and which usually had surprise endings, as ways to teach about material possession.


One cannot serve God and mammon, or the Hebrew word for wealth/property.

Jesus taught that:

Poverty is not a sign that God is displeased with someone

God has preferential concern for the poor Lust for wealth is a danger for our spirit Wealth is to be shared with others, especially those in

most need


When a rich young man asks Jesus in the Gospels about how to achieve eternal life, Jesus tells him to keep the 10 Commandments (which the rich young man does already) and to sell all he has and give the money to the poor, which made the man upset since he had many possessions.

God loves both the rich and the poor equally, yet calls the rich to share with the poor since they have so much and the poor have so little.


Another Gospel account involves Zacchaeous, a wealthy tax collector, who tells Jesus (out of nowhere) that he will sell half his possessions and give the funds to the poor, along with paying back anything he may have extorted four times over.

Jesus told the man that salvation had come to his home that day.

Zacchaeous practices commutative justice, which is justice that calls for fairness is agreements and contracts in which goods, money, and services are exchanged equally.


The New Law of Jesus teaches us through the Seventh and Tenth Commandments that wealth that comes from hard labor should be fairly distributed to all people for the achievement of the common good.

No person should have tons of excess when there are poor people around the world suffering and dying because they literally have nothing but the dirt under their feet.

Greed, a capital sin, comes from a passion for wealth that goes beyond just supplying for our basic needs; it becomes the passion in life reserved only for God.


We, as Christians, are called to both focus on our personal morality and relationship with God, as well as caring for the poor and working for social justice.

We must work for love of God and love of our neighbor throughout our lives.

A human is composed of body and soul, so the Church is concerned for both a person’s spiritual, as well as material needs.

The New Law of Christ mandates the Church to speak out against social injustices by using its moral authority.


Social Doctrine is the body of teaching by the Church on economic and social matters that includes moral judgments and demands action in favor of those who are being harmed.

Corporal Works of Mercy (Corporal = Body) are charitable actions to respond to people’s physical needs and show respect for human dignity, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, etc.

Many social doctrines have been conciliar, or something that is connected with an official council of the Church.


There are several key themes to all Catholic social doctrine, which are:

The life and dignity of a human person The call to family, community, and participation Rights and responsibilities The option for the poor and vulnerable Then dignity of work and the rights of workers Solidarity God’s call to care for Creation


A just society is based on the principal that all human life is sacred with an innate, God-given dignity.

From womb to tomb, from conception to natural death, life is to be defended and protected.

The equal dignity of people also means that equal distribution of the Earth’s resources and goods should occur across the planet, not be solely focused on developed countries while developing countries suffer in poverty.


Human beings were made to be social creatures, which is why marriage and families are the foundational of societal institutions.

A community has the responsibility to work for the common good of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable in their area who are in most need of care.

Society must safeguard people’s rights to food, clothing, housing, education.

The most fundamental human right is the right to life, from conception to natural death, and must be protected at all costs.


A just society takes care of its poor and vulnerable, even if it is at their own personal comfort, because Christ teaches us we are to love both rich and poor, not just those who are beautiful and popular.

Economics exists to serve people; not vice versa.

All people have the right to dignified work to support themselves and their families, meaning the rights of works, such as fair wages, the right to organize as unions, and the right to start new businesses must be respected.


As human beings, whatever race, creed, nationality, etc., we are all interconnected in this world as one solid entity called the human race.

We must live together in peace and love, not war and hatred, since we are all of the same global community, or global “village.”

God calls us, from Adam and Eve in the Garden , into today times for us all, to protect His creation from harm, a creation that is endangered by technology today that may destroy the beauty of our world for future generations, i.e. global warming.



A principal at the heart of social doctrine is that man is himself the author, center, and goal of all economic and social life.

A primary value of all work should be that we work to live, not that we live to work; the goal of work is to better and benefit society by our jobs.

Works have an important responsibility to their employers in light of the Seventh Commandment telling us not to steal, both of money and of time, i.e. coming in late to work, being lazy and rude, and not doing your utmost best to benefit society.


Companies and employers also have responsibilities in light of the Seventh Commandment, specifically:

Providing quality goods that benefit, and not harm, society

Manufacturing process does not harm workers or the environment

Fair wages for all employees with benefits All people have a chance to be hired without

discrimination Never ask their employees to do anything that is

immoral or illegal


Workers and employers should never fall into violence when disputes occur, hence why there is the right to organize and join labor unions.

Negotiations, not striking, should be the first attempt to make amends between workers and employers in times of disputes.

Slavery is still a relevant problem around the world today and goes against the moral law when people are forced into prostitution, forced labor, and work in totalitarian governments without basic rights.


We must protect God’s Creation to us, the Earth, from manufacturing and man made processes that pollute the environment, especially overgrazing land, cutting down rainforests, and destroying animal species.

We are called to understand what effects our actions cause to our planet, teach about loving Creation and not destroying it, create policies that sustain the world for future generations to come, and take action to stabilize and fix the world we share.


We live in a truly global economy; just look at the items you buy, such as clothing or electronics, usually made from outside the United States.

It is estimated that half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day, meaning that nations are not treating each other fairly when it comes to economic values.

The richest 20% of the world’s population makes ¾ of the entire world’s income.

Rich countries should be supporting poor countries fairly, not force them to suffer through high interests rates on international loans or buying from companies that do not support just wages around the world.


When nations help one another to grow economically and socially, the entire internationally community is bettered and grows.

True development is not just concerned with the almighty $$$ dollar, but rather with the development of an entire population with their God given rights.

The Church and the Body of Christ, you and me, are called to strive for justice and peace of all people around the world, because we are blessed to have those things and now must share it with the “poor” nations of our world who have their rights stolen from them daily.



Two primary sins against the Tenth Commandment are envy and greed.

Envy is a capital sin; resentment or sadness because of another’s good fortune.

Greed is another capital sin; desire to accumulate earthly goods beyond what we need.

These sins usually precede sins that would go against the Seventh Commandment, such as theft and fraud.


We are usually content with the things we have until we see another person with a new fashionable item; they usually look so happy with it.

We want to be happy too and think we need the item now, planning how to buy it, or even steal it if one cannot afford it, which is the sign when envy takes over and your conscience has the backseat.

Greed is the cousin of envy and when we are greedy, there is no limit to the amount of something we want, whether money, power, stock, etc.


The greedy heart as a thirst that is never quenched as it takes more and more, a new high, to achieve the ideal level wanted of the item.

Envy and greed are capital sins because they are usually the root of so many others since, as mentioned before, like theft and fraud.

Feeling envy and greed from time to time is not sin; it is part of human nature due to concupiscence. When we act upon envy and greed and let it consume us, it is then that they become and foster sin.


We can combat the feelings of envy and greed by: Trusting in Providence, or guidance, material goods,

and care provided by God that is sufficient to meet our needs. Trust that God will give you just what you need each day

Have goodwill toward others and be happy for what they have and makes them happy, turning the focus away from your wants to the happiness of others (Goodwill is the opposite of envy)

Be humble and do not think we are owed anything because someone else has it that may not be as “powerful” as us (sin of pride)



The Gospel teaches us to live simply in an age where heavy weight is placed on accumulation of material goods, power, and wealth.

People gather up for themselves more than is needed, in a world where there are enough resources for all people, which leads to people who have more taking away the resources from those who are poor and vulnerable, who truly need it the most.

Jesus, as God, could have been born to rich parents and led a wealthy life is He chose, yet He taught us about voluntary poverty, or living simply so others too can live simply.


Jesus taught poverty of heart, also called spiritual poverty, which is the recognition of our deep need for God and the commitment to put God above everything else in life, especially material wealth.

There is no amount of material wealth that can replace the need of God in our life, or the whole left in our life if we decide we do not need God.

Jesus did not own a home or have material possession throughout His three years of ministry, relying on the goodness of others to eat and finance His mission,


Christ calls us to follow His steps of being unattached to material possession, for those who give up such things will be given one hundred times more in eternal life.

However, not all Christians are called to the radical poverty Jesus taught; it is extremely difficult it today’s time to live as such.

Some cultures define living simply different as well, leading to different understandings of what is too much and what is just enough.


Living simply tends to lead to using less of the world’s resources, which means the poor of the world now have a better chance to gain the dignity all people have and deserve.

Less money is spend as well, which can be used for almsgiving, or freely giving money or material goods to people who are needy to an organization that serves such people.

Such acts of justice are pleasing to God and lead us away from sinning against the Seventh and Tenth Commandments.

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