Moral Theology: Rudder of Faith and Helm of Reason

Moral Theology: The Rudder of Faith and the Helm of Reason

Pope St. John Paul II defined Moral Theology as the Church’s moral reflection conducted in the light of Christ which accepts and examines Divine Revelation while responding to the demands of human reason.  Moral theology studies the Good News: God revealed what man could never know through natural reason – the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, the Second Person of the Trinity incarnated to redeem man from Original Sin and concupiscence. Jesus respects human nature and elevates it; He invites all to share in His Divine Nature. In the Barque of Peter, God provides two tools by which people can reach beatitude: under the hull, the rudder of Faith, acceptance of Divine Revelation as coming from One who is Truth; and within our hands the helm of Reason, which discovers Him in creation, in natural law, and with the assistance of moral theology. Throughout Fides et Ratio, this Pope advised that scientific work based on reason should be informed by the Faith, as science can lose sight of the Creator as they discover and manipulate creation. The Pope describes the moral theologian’s vocation in the Church as at the service of faith seeking understanding. Theologians help Catholics to learn the Faith, internalize it, love it, and live it. As Moral Theology delves into the Good News, it provides the faithful with a rudder in the rough seas of modernity to assent to mysteries in faith and to pursue the Truth through logic and natural law.

In the Gospels, we meet the most sublime moral theologian: Jesus Christ. He outlined a counter-intuitive path to happiness: the Beatitudes. He taught His disciples how to pray with the Lord’s Prayer. He spun parables tailored to His audience’s lived experiences. He enlightened the minds of His disciples on the road to Emmaus by opening the Scriptures to them. He proclaimed the Kingdom of God in His words and deeds. The Gospel teaches true doctrine and beckons man to his intended destination: eternal beatitude with God. It proclaims God’s mercy, which preserves men from despair by offering absolution, and speaks clearly about sin to instruct and admonish sinners. Pope St. John Paul II presented morality clearly and in charity, omitting nothing from salvific doctrine: adamant against sin but merciful towards sinners. The knowledge of our inclination to sin highlights the beauty of forgiveness; Catholics can then appreciate God’s grace and the liberating truth of His love. Jesus’ profession in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life comes into sharper focus as moral theology clarifies the Truth of the Gospel as the Way to eternal Life.

Jesus advises: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments,” that is, the natural law, the Decalogue, and the New Covenant (MT 19:17).  As people sought His healing, He prescribes the Beatitudes (LK 6:20-38). He then invites: “Come and follow Me.” (MT 19:21) Our RSVP to His invitation entails leaving the boat to walk on rough seas to Our Lord in the faith that He will save us (MT 14:28-31). We must imitate Him in all things; we must love as He loves – selflessly, sacrificially, even unto death. Man cannot accomplish this supernatural task with our own natural strength; but with the grace of God, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. Jesus abides with us always, in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, in the holy Catholic Church, and within the hearts which welcome Him.

As Pope St. John Paul II teaches, the Gospel is the wellspring of sound moral teaching which moral theologians assist the faithful to discover and understand. Once the Truth has been revealed, man undertakes a grave moral obligation to adhere to it, steering by it to eternal communion with God. Man is accountable for his actions, as long as they are rational and free, conscious and deliberate.  The faithful form their moral conscience by constantly looking to the Lord Jesus as to a polestar. Contemplate the Crucified to grasp the helm of self and guide it to the service of God and neighbor. Bishop Barron alluded to Aquinas: “Christ Crucified is the perfect exemplification of the Beatitudes; He is a picture of freedom, of joy, of blessedness. He loved doing His Father’s Will.” He experienced joy in suffering because of the good it accomplished, mapping the route for us to follow.

Moral Theology reflects upon human happiness and freedom: what fulfills us complies with human nature. We are rational beings with the capacity to understand, choose, and love, endowed with free will so that we may freely choose the blessing or the curse; life or death (DT 30:19). With our reason, we pursue truth: as a spiritual capacity, our reason is satisfied only with Truth Himself: God. The will, another spiritual capacity, longs for purity and integrity. With our will we choose righteousness itself: God. Emotions can support what reason perceives and our will desires to choose or can work against them. Freedom of will, a manifestation of the Divine Image in man, prompts us to chart our path back to our Creator and participation in His nature. Our cooperation with God’s Divine nature (grace) shines forth in our good works. Human acts are moral acts; they reveal the goodness (or lack thereof) of the individual performing them. When man’s deeds are righteous, his Likeness to God develops and grows. In this manner, human reason and will collaborate with God’s wisdom and providence: theonomy.

Compiled by expert theologians, the Catechism provides man with knowledge of the virtues, holy habits by which we can shape and control our emotions to steer us toward “the good life.” Supernatural goods such as the theological virtues and grace enable man to seek first the Kingdom of God (MT 6:33). Diligent practice of the moral virtues strengthens our wills to choose rightly and moderates our emotions; we obtain rational control over our actions. The virtues form and harmonize our reason, will, and emotions. Catholics cooperate with God’s grace to grow in virtue, conforming themselves to Christ and disciplining themselves to tear out evil inclinations and build up virtuous dispositions. Moral theology empowers man with the tools to arrive at beatitude: knowledge and understanding of the Faith; awareness of sin and grace; and how the virtues develop our moral muscles so that our emotions are at the service of our reason and will. The moral life is the good life when we serve God and others, reaching the goal of the virtuous life: harmony with one’s self, with others, and most importantly, with God.

God infused the light of understanding in us. Through this Divine Light imprinted within, and through reason and the natural law, we recognize the unchanging Truth. Moral Theology helps to unpack and explain this Truth.  While the Magisterium authentically interprets Scripture, Moral Theology’s reflections upon this interpretation are the rudder for those in the Barque of Peter to accept God’s self-revelation and the witness of the evangelists. God’s Holy Spirit inclines us to take our spiritual helm in hand, living our faith in love and obedience to Jesus’ Great Commandment: “love God with all your heart and love one another.” The Good News proposes a Way to be followed, carried out not only through the gift of the Word proclaimed but also of the Word lived. Moral theologians, as they break open the Word, nourish the faith which works through love.

Moral Theology, reflecting upon the Good News by the North Star of the Lord, equips the faithful to respond to God by uniting their rational nature with their emotions and wills to arrive at beatitude. As Jesus preached, so does His Church, presenting morality without concealing its demands.  Moral theologians, inspired by the Holy Spirit, proclaim the Truth; direct us to a vision of a loving God; and explain how with the tools of grace, our natural gifts, and the virtues, the rudder of faith in Divine Revelation works with the helm of reason as it reveals man’s destiny and steers us towards it.

Bibliography
2011. Catholicism. Directed by Matt Leonard. Performed by Fr. Robert Barron.

II, Pope St. John Paul. 1981. "Familiaris Consortio." Papal Encyclical. Vatican City: The Vatican, November 22.

—. 1998. "Fides et Ratio." Papal Encyclical. Vatican City: The Vatican, September 14.

—. 1993. "Veritatis Splendor." Papal Encyclical. Vatican City: The Vatican, August 6.

Servais Pinckaers, O.P. 1995. The Sources of Christian Ethics. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic Universty of America Press.

United States Catholic Conference. 1997. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, English Translation. Washington, D.C.: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.