1. Your Life In Christ (YLIC) Introduction pg. 7 WHAT IS LIFE IN CHRIST?

2. Chapter Overview pg. 6  Hearing God’s Voice  What is Morality?  Living a Moral Life  Character and Virtue  Nine Steps for Living a Moral Life  (These are also the subheading for the different sections of the chapter!)

3. Colossians 3:12-17 Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on LOVE, that is, the bond of perfection.

4. Hearing God’s Voice Asking Questions…Why do humans ask questions? Are there any particular ages in which we tend to ask more questions? If so, why? Probably 1 of the most asked questions is: “What is the meaning of life?” What other questions of this type might people ask? Mk 10:17 “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Not just happy for life but happy for all eternity. As Christians the essential First Step to happiness is to work on your relationship with God. The Second Step is to follow what God/Jesus have taught us.

5. What is Morality? MORALITY IS NOT!  A label of what is wrong.  How you feel after you do something.  Following what everyone else is doing. MORALITY IS!  A knowing of what ought to be done!  This is true for humans as individuals and as societies.  Name all the societies to which you belong.

6. What must I do? Or What must we do? “the science of what humans ought to do by reason of who they are.” We acquire knowledge on the subject of how we should act as humans. How do we do this? 3 Main Sources of Knowledge (as Catholics)  Human Reason (our God-given intellects)  Human Experience (the collective wisdom of others, living and dead)  Divine Revelation (the teachings of God as found in the Scriptures and the Traditions [teachings of the Church])

7. HUMAN BEHAVIOR Human behavior should flow “by reason of who they are.” Therefore, morality hinges on a correct view of the human person. We must understand humans as precious children of God who have incalculable dignity. They are expected to act with FREEDOM, DIGNITY, AND RESPONSIBILITY! Understand this is critical to understanding the moral way to respond!

8. Response to God Our quest to become RESPONSIBLE  Having the ability to respond…  Requires freedom and intelligence  To make right choices and to engage in right actions Catholic Point of View:  Morality is a response to a God who loves us.  We are not good so that we can earn points for Heaven.  We ARE GOOD because God created us out of love and goodness from the very beginning.

9. Intelligence & Freedom Help of the Holy Spirit Support of the Church Help of the Magisterium Help of Jesus Christ MORALITY IS A KIND OF KNOWLEDGE BASED ON HUMAN EXPERIENCE, REASON, AND GOD’S REVELATION THAT DISCOVERS WHO WE OUGHT TO BE AND TO DO TO LIVE FULLY HUMAN LIVES.

10. Living a Moral Life To decide and then act according to God’s plan for us. Being responsible and cooperating with God’s grace to live a fully human life. What keeps a person (or a group of people) from doing the right thing? “Being Bad” … what does this mean? Why does this sometimes feel good?

11. Mark 10:17-23 Pages 12 and 13 of the text book. Can I have a volunteer read the passage out loud!?! The theme of this passage is to “Let go; and Let God” Why?

12. The word “Good” comes from the word “God” People sense a connection between doing good and our eternal destiny. Humanity is born with a desire to be good, loving and moral. Goodness has its source in God. Everything that is good is of God. God is good because God is love. Why is wrong to say to a 5 year old at Mass that if he doesn’t behave Jesus is going to be upset with him? We should obey the Word of God and grow in the knowledge that it is important to respond to God with our own free will.

13. Character & Virtue  42% of teenagers believe that a person sometimes has to lie or cheat in order to succeed  Shop lifting accounts for a $33 billion loss in revenue for stores annually  The “business” of pornography is bigger than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined!  55% of births for mothers between ages 20-24 are unmarried

14. Our free choices and our actions, which are outward expressions of our choices, form who we are. “Character is what a person is in the dark.” Anonymous

15. Character  Our “Yes” or “No” to Christ’s invitation to friendship.  Very experience of our lives (positive and negative) helps to form our character.  Good moral character makes us loving and fully human people.

16. CCC 1804 – What does the CCC say about Virtues? Virtues are the heart of moral life. Good habits Healthy habits

17. Virtues THEOLOGICAL 1.Faith 2.Hope 3.Charity (Love) CARDINAL 1.Prudence 2.Justice 3.Fortitude 4.Temperance

18. 9 Steps for Living a Moral Life 1. Appreciating the gift of being human. 2. Using your intellect. 3. Looking to the law to guide your freedom. 4. Imitating Jesus 5. Forming, informing, and following our conscience. 6. Repenting and seeking forgiveness. 7. Loving God above all. 8. Loving yourself. 9. Loving your neighbor.

19. Always write the “Summary Points” at the end of a chapter into your notes area of your Binder!!!!!!!