Part Three Section One Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit - Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person

02-26-2023Compendium

The Virtues

383. What is temperance?

Temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures, assures the mastery of the will over instincts and provides balance in the use of created goods.

384. What are the theological virtues?

The theological virtues have God himself as their origin, motive and direct object. Infused with sanctifying grace, they bestow on one the capacity to live in a relationship with the Trinity. They are the foundation and the energizing force of the Christian’s moral activity and they give life to the human virtues. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being.

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Part Three Section One Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit - Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person

02-19-2023Compendium

The Virtues

377. What is a virtue?

A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. “The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa). There are human virtues and theological virtues.

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Part Three Section One Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit - Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person

02-12-2023Compendium

The Moral Conscience

372. What is the moral conscience?

Moral conscience, present in the heart of the person, is a judgment of reason which at the appropriate moment enjoins him to do good and to avoid evil. Thanks to moral conscience, the human person perceives the moral quality of an act to be done or which has already been done, permitting him to assume responsibility for the act. When attentive to moral conscience, the prudent person can hear the voice of God who speaks to him or her.

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Part Three Section One Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit - Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person

02-05-2023Compendium

Man's Freedom

368. When is an act morally good?

An act is morally good when it assumes simultaneously the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances. A chosen object can by itself vitiate an act in its entirety, even if the intention is good. It is not licit to do evil so that good may result from it. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself. On the other hand, a good end does not make an act good if the object of that act is evil, since the end does not justify the means. Circumstances can increase or diminish the responsibility of the one who is acting but they cannot change the moral quality of the acts themselves. They never make good an act which is in itself evil.

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