emotions: catechism

Re: Emotions, Psycho-spiritual Viewpoint
Fr: Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) # 1762-1775. (underscore mine)

• Definition
“Feelings or passions are emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil” (# 1763). They “form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the sense and the life of the mind” (# 1764).

• Classification
“The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness and anger” (# 1772).

(a) Attraction to Good
“‘To love is to will the good of another’” (St. Thomas Aquinas) (# 1766). “The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good” (# 1765). “All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good” (#1766). Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed (# 1765).

(b) Aversion to Evil
“The apprehension of evil causes hatred, aversion, and fear of the impending evil; this movement ends in sadness at some present evil, or in the anger that resists it” (# 1765).

• Morality
“In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will, (# 1767) i.e., insofar as they engage reason and will, there is moral good or evil in them” (# 1773).

• Principles
 “The human person is ordered to beatitude by his deliberate acts: the passions or feelings he experiences can dispose him to it and contribute to it” (# 1762).
 “Passions are said to be voluntary, ‘either because they are commanded by the will or because the will does not place obstacles in their way’” (St. Thomas Aquinas) (# 1767). “The upright will orders the movements of the sense it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them” (# 1768).
 “It belongs to the perfection of the moral or human good that the passions be governed by reason” (Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas).”
 “Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case” (# 1768).
 “Emotions and feelings can be taken up in the virtues or perverted by the vices” (# 1774).
 “In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is visible in the lord’s agony and passion. In Christ human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude” (# 1769).
 “Moral perfection consists in man’s being moved to the good not by his will alone, but also by his sensitive appetite, as in the words of the psalm: ‘My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God’ (Ps 84:2) (# 1770).”

moral principle: basic

re: "good acts and evil acts"
"a morally good act requires
-- the goodness of the object,
-- of the end, and
-- of the circumstances
TOGETHER."
- ccc # 1755.

morality: elements

Re: Morality, Elements
Fr: Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) # 1750-1755.

The morality of a human act depends on:

[a] primary elements

1. the object chosen
-- “Objective norms of morality express the RATIONAL order of good and evil, attested to by CONSCIENCE.” (# 1751)

2. the subject’s intention
-- A good intention does not make a bad act good. “The end does not justify the means.” (# 1753)

[b] secondary element

3. the circumstances (including the consequences)
Circumstances can increase or diminish the moral goodness or evil of human acts and/or the subject’s responsibility, but cannot change the moral quality of acts themselves. (# 1754)

NB: Basic Moral Principle
“A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together.” (# 1755)

7 capital sins: lust: ss

re: "dying and rising with christ" (rom 6:1-14)
v12 "therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal BODIES, to make you obey their PASSIONS."
v19 "... for ust as you once presented your members as SLAVES TO IMPURITY and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification."

re: daniel ch 13: susanna and the two lustful elders
vv7-14,19-21,32,56 "when the people left at noon, susanna would do into her husband's garden to walk. [8] every day the tow elders used to see her, going in and wlaking about, and they began to LUST for her. [9] they suppressed theier CONSCIENCES and turned away their eyes from looking to Heaven or remembeing their DUTY to administer justice. [10] both were overwhelmed with PASSION for her, but they didnot tell each other of their distress, [11] for they were ashamed to disclose their LUSTFUL desires to seduce her. [12] day after day they watched eagerly to see her.
"[13] one day they said to each toher, 'let us go home, for it is time for lunch.' so they both left and parted from each toher. [14] but turning back, they met again; and when each pressed the other for the reason, they confessed their LUST. then together they arranged for a time when they could find her alone."
"[19]"when the maids had gone out, the two elders got up and ran to ther. [20] they said, 'look, the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us. we are BURNING WITH DESIRE for you; so give your consent, and lie with us. [21] if you refuse, we will testitfy against you that a young man was with you, and this was why you sent your maids away.'
"[32] as she was veiled, the scoundrels ordered her to be unveiled, so that they might feast their eyes on her beauty.'
"[56]"...'you offspring of canaan and not of judah, beauty has beguiled you and LUST has perverted your heart.'"

Re: "Concerning Adultery" (Mt 5:27-30)
vv27-28 "'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' [28] But I say to you that everyone who LOOKS AT A WOMAN WITH LUST has already committed adultery with her in his heart.")

human acts: morality

re: "the morality of human acts"
"...human acts, i.e., acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE, can be morally evaluated. they are either good or evil."
- ccc 1749

personal responsibility

"his deliberate acts properly belong to him."
- ccc # 1745

7 capital sins: greed: ss

re: "the parable of the rich fool" (lk 12:13-21)
v15 "...'take care! be on your guard against all kinds of GREED; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.'"

human faculties: ss

re: "god's wisdom seen in creation" (sir 16:24-17:24)
vv3,6-8,11-12 "he endowed them with STRENGTH like his won, and made them IN HIS OWN IMAGE. [6] DISCRETION and tonge and eyes, ears and a mind for THINKING he gave them. [7] he filled them with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, and showed them good and evil. [8] he put the FEAR OF HIM into their hears to show them theh majesty fo his works. [11] he bestowed knowledge upon them, and allotted to them the law of life.

[12] he established with them an eternal covenant, and reveald to them his decrees."

free will: ss

Re: Free Will, SS
Fr: Sirach 15:11-20

“Freedom of Choice”

• Principle

[14] It was he who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own FREE CHOICE.
[16] He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
[17] Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given.

• Human Experience

[11] Do not say, “It was the Lord’s doing that I fell away”; for he does not do what he hates.
[12] Do not say, “It was he who led me astray”; for he has no need of the sinful.
[20] He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

temptations: antidote: prayer

re: "freedom and grace" (ccc 1742)
"the grace of christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the TRUE and the GOOD that god has put in the human heart.
on the contrary, as christian experience attests especially in PRAYER, the more DOCILE we are to the promtpings of GRACE, the more we grow in INNER FREEDOM and CONFIDNENCE during trials, such as those we face in the pressrues and constraints of the outer world. by the working of grace the HOLY SPIRIT educates us in SPIRITUAL FREEDOM in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the church and in the world:

'almighty and merciful god,
in your goodness take away from us all that is harmful,
so that, made ready both in mind and body,
we may freely accomplish your WILL.' (missale romanum, 32nd sun, opening prayer)

tithing: ss

re: "jesus denounces pharisees and lawyers" (lk 11:37-54)
vv42 "'but woe to you pharisees! for you TITHE mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of god; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others."

lying: statistics

fr: james b. simpson (1988). simpson's contemporary quotations. c/o http://www.bartleby.com/63/41/2941.html

"people tell about 2 lies a day, or at least that is how many they will admit to."
- bella DePaulo, psychologist, univ of virginia, c/o a study in which participants kept a daily diary of lies. NY times (1985 feb 12).

homosexuality: ss

re: "the guilt of humankind" (rom 1:18-32)
vv26-27,32 "for this reason [suppression of truth (v18) and exchanging it for a lie (v25) & worshiping & serving the creature rather than the creator (v28)] god gave them up to DEGRADING PASSIONS. their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, [27] and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were CONSUMED WITH PASSION for one another. men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
"...[32] they know god's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die -- yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them."

sin: nature: ss

re: "the guilt of humankind" (rom 1:18-32)
v25 "because they exchanged the TRUTH about god for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the CREATOR...."

sin: effects

re: "human freedom in the economy of salvation"
"... by deviating from the MORAL LAW man
- violates his own freedom,
- becomes imprisoned within himself,
- disrupts neighborly fellowship, and
- rebels against divine truth."
> ccc 1740

sin: imputability

"imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by
- ignorance,
- inadvertence [unintentional],
- duress [forcible restraint],
- fear,
- habit,
- inordinate attachemnts and
- other psychological or
- social factors."
> ccc 1735

re: "the faithful or the unfaithful slave" (lk 12:41-48)
vv47-48 "that slave who KNEW what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. [48] but the one who DID NOT KNOW and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.
from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."

freedom: definition: ccc

"the more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. there is no TRUE FREEDOM except in the service of what is good and just. the choice to disobey and do evil is an ABUSE OF FREEDOM and lead to 'the slavery of sin' (cf. rom 6:17)*."
- ccc 1733
---------
*rom 6:17 "but thanks be to god that you, having once been SLAVES OF SIN, have become OBEDIENT FROM THE HEART to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted."

"but the exercise of freedom does not entail the putative right to say or do anything."
- ccc 1747

commandments: summary: ss

re: "the parabel of the good samaritan" (lk 0:25-37)
vv25-28 "just then a lawyer stood up to test jesus. 'teacher,' he said, 'what must i do to inherit eternal LIFE?' [26] he said to him, 'what is written in the law? what do you read there?' [27] he answered, 'you shall love the lord your god with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' [28] and he said to him, 'you have given the right asnwer; do this, and you will LIVE.'"

bad influence: ss

re: "the conquest of canaan promised" (ex 23:20-33)
v33 "they shall not live in your land, or they will make you sin against me; for if you worship their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."