Catholic Moral Life and Decision Making Facilitator s Guide

Transcription

1 Catholic Moral Life and Decision Making Facilitator s Guide OPENING PRAYER: Read Romans 6:1-11 Share the implications of this reading to the topic. DEFINE WORDS: Have groups of participants read the definition then make a cartoon or symbol to tell what the term means. (Check worksheet of definitions) MORALITY MORAL IMMORAL AMORAL GRACE CONSCIENCE SIN VIRTUE How did you learn about morality? STEPS IN MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Look at charts and review. Where are your students? GOAL OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Put together the puzzle pieces and read the Scripture passages to discover the goal of moral development Share with group: John 10:10 Romans 7:19-20 Matthew 21:28-31 John 6:38 Matthew 5:48 (Abundant life) (Let God guide you) (Do what is good) (Know and do God s will) (Be like God) THE FOUNDATIONS FOR CATHOLIC MORAL VALUES: In your group look up the following Catechism paragraphs and be ready to share the main ideas with the large group. Begin with those in bold. A. #306, 308, 872, B. #1705, 1730 C. #1803, 1804 D. #1755, 1756 E # , , , 1780, , (Human Dignity) (Free Will) (Virtue) (Sin) (Conscience) STANDARDS FOR MORAL BEHAVIOR: What is the value today of the: Commandments CCC # 2056, 2057, 2060, 2061, 2067, 2069 Beatitudes CCC # 1716, PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SIN: Gather in grade level groups. Look in the Catechism to find the Catholic Church s teachings on sin. Refer to Kohlberg s stages of moral development and relate this to your students. Present Catechism teaching on sin. Group applies to grade level teaching. Personal sin: (1440, ) Offense against God. Destroys communion with God and the Church. A failure in love for God or neighbor. A personal act. Mortal sin wipes out all love Social sin: ( ) Personal sin causes situations and institutions that are contrary to divine goodness. Social sin does not occur without personal sin. Every sin harms the communion of the Body of Christ and thus has a social aspect. MORAL DECISION MAKING - look at the STOP method. Search, Think, Others input, Pray SUMMARY: Catholic teachings support good moral development in spite of the society in which we live. That makes Catholics counter culture in many instance

2 Catholic Moral Life and Decision Making Participants Guide Session Description: This session examines Catholic moral principles through which we are called to live in relationship to God and one another. Focus of the Session: Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are called to learn henceforth a life Worthy of the gospel of Christ. They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1692). OPENING PRAYER: Read Romans 6:1-11 Share the implications of this reading to the topic. DEFINE WORDS: Read the definition then make a cartoon or symbol to tell what the term means. MORALITY MORAL IMMORAL AMORAL GRACE CONSCIENCE SIN VIRTUE How did you learn about morality? STEPS IN MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Look at charts and review. Where are your students? GOAL OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Put together and read the Scripture passages to discover the goal of moral development Share with the large group: John 10:10 Romans 7:19 Matthew 21:28-31 John 6:38 Matthew 5:48 THE FOUNDATIONS FOR CATHOLIC MORAL VALUES: In your group look up the following Catechism paragraphs and be ready to share the main idea with the large group. Begin with those in bold. A. #306, 308, 872, B. #1705, 1730 C. #1803, 1804 D. #1755, 1756 E # , , , 1780, , STANDARDS FOR MORAL BEHAVIOR - What is the value today of the: Commandments CCC # 2056, 2057, 2060, 2061, 2067, 2069 Beatitudes CCC # 1716, PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SIN: Gather in grade level groups. Look in the Catechism to find the Catholic Church s teachings on sin. Refer to Kolberg s stages of moral development and relate this to your students. Personal sin: (1440, ) Social sin: ( ) MORAL DECISION MAKING - look at the STOP method. Discuss how it can help us to make good choices in our lives. SUMMARY and CLOSING PRAYER:

3 Foundation of Catholic Morality The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraphs , summarizes the Church s teaching on morality. In the first of these paragraphs, the Church offers us moral guidance. 1. Christian morality starts with human dignity. We can know good from evil because we are made in the image of God ( ). 2. Christian morality is a free response to God s goodness. We shape our lives by our free choices. Because we are free, we must accept responsibility for our actions ( ). 3. Freedom and dignity are injured through sin. By refusing to love God we deceive ourselves and become entrapped in the web of sin. It is only through grace that we regain our freedom ( ). 4. The morality of human acts depends on (a) the object chosen, (b) one s intention, (c) the circumstances. A morally good act presupposes that the object, intention, and circumstances of an act are good. Evil purposes can corrupt good acts, and evil acts cannot lead to good ( ). 5. Through the moral conscience, every person is called to do good and avoid evil. Conscience bears witness to the supreme truth and judges the moral quality of an act. It is conscience that allows us to take responsibility for our actions. People have a right to act in conscience and freedom. They cannot be forced to act against their conscience ( ). 6. Conscience is informed and enlightened in accordance with reason and divine will. Conscience is shaped from the earliest age through love, obedience to law, and learning to live the virtues ( ). 7. Decisions made in conscience are not always moral. A conscience acting in error can lead one astray ( ). The Catechism continues on in its teaching of morality for nearly 800 more paragraphs. It offers in many of those pages a full treatment of the Ten Commandments as moral guides for our consciences.

4 Morality Definitions Morality Moral Immoral Amoral Grace Conscience Sin Virtue - rightness or wrongness of an action - character of being in accord with the principles or standards of right conduct. - capable of making the distinction between right and wrong. - good or right in conduct or character - not in conformity with accepted principles of right and wrong behavior - neither moral or immoral - without moral sense or principles - the unmerited love and favor of God toward humankind - the abiding presence of God in the human person and in the world - a knowledge or sense of right and wrong (moral judgement) - the experience of ourselves as persons responsible for our actions - an offence against God - any deliberate infidelity to the will of God - moral excellence, right action and thinking - a disposition or attitude that moves one to accomplish moral good

5 Catholic Moral Life and Decision Making Goal of Moral Development John 10:10 abundant life Romans 7:19 Matthew 21:28-31 do what God wants rather than doing what I do not want to do. do what is right even when I say I won t John 6:38 do God s will Matthew 5:48 be like God

6 Eras and Ages Erikson Emotional Stages of Human Development Piaget Kohlberg Cognitive Moral Westerhoff Faith Fowler Faith Infancy 0-1 ½ Early Childhood 2-4 Play Age 4-6 School Age 7-12 Adolescence Young Adulthood Adulthood Mature Adulthood 60 - death Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust Hope Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Will Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose Industry vs. Inferiority Competence Identity vs. Identity Confusion Fidelity Intimacy vs. Isolation Love Generativity vs. Stagnation Care Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom Sensorimotor Pre-operational or Intuitive Concrete Operational Formal Operational Heteronymous Morality - Right and wrong depend on anticipated punishment and reward Instrumental Exchange - able to differentiate self perception and others interests, rule dependant, and eye for an eye Mutual Interpersonal Relations - able to see from another s perspective, right conforms to expectations of significant other Social System and Conscience - incorporates interpersonal modes into a wider social system, law and order Social Contract, Individual Rights - right behavior based on basic human rights not society s norms, laws are relative Universal Ethical Principles - committed to Justice and universal principles Pre Faith - develop belief that God loves and cared for them Experienced Faith - imitate the visible faith of their parents, ritual is important, questions are constant Affiliative Faith - desire to belong and take on faith of their group Searching Faith - developing their own values as they develop abstract reasoning skills Owned Faith - based on free choice of values developed during searching stage Imaginative, Intuitive, Projective Faith - children reflect the visible faith of their parents Mythic, Literal Faith - child takes on beliefs of persons other than their parents Synthetic, Reflective Faith - conform to their group, synthesize life s increasing complexities Personal, Reflective Faith - focus on adult responsibility for their own commitments ans beliefs Conjunctive, Mystical Faith - integrates traditional positions with own views and the views of others Universal, Sacrificial Faith - identifies beyond self with God and the well being of others