catechesis
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Anger/Wrath
Unreasoned anger, willing injury or damage to the object of one’s anger, unreasoned either due to the object of the anger or the mode of the anger. Scriptural/Doctoral “Let all indignation and anger be put away from you.” Ephesians 4:31 St. Gregory: “zealous anger troubles the eye of reason, whereas sinful anger blinds it.” Daughters Continue reading
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Envy
Sorrow for another person’s good. (Looking at things the wrong way.) A spirit of competitiveness rather than brotherly love. The object of both charity and envy is our neighbor’s good, but by contrary movements, since charity rejoices in our neighbor’s good, while envy grieves over it. Scriptural/Doctoral “self-inflicted pain wounds the pining spirit, which is Continue reading
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Avarice/Covetousness
Inordinate love of possessing external goods that are useful for an end but are not ends in and of themselves. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” (Ex 20:17) It is excessive love of possessing riches. Remembering that the goodness of things relates to a due (just) measure, evil results from either an excess or Continue reading
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Lust
Inordinate desire, especially venereal pleasures. The order of reason consists in its ordering everything to its end in a fitting manner. When the lower powers are strongly moved towards their objects, the result is that the higher powers (reason and will) are hindered and disordered in their acts. Scriptural/Doctoral it is listed among the “works Continue reading
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Gluttony
Inordinate desire for physical pleasures. Can be deadly (to our immortal souls) when a person lets his concupiscible appetite run amok to the point that the pleasures of gluttony become his end and he will disobey God to obtain those pleasures. Can be something other than simply too much: “Hastily, sumptuously, too much, greedily, daintily.” Continue reading
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Vices and Virtues
I will add the text, but for now I will just add the slides. We talked about what a virtue is and how we categorize some as natural virtues because we can make sense of them by our own human powers. We categorize some as theological virtues because they operate above our natural reasoning abilities Continue reading
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Catholic Thinking
Today, I want to introduce another important aspect of our Catholic Faith that distinguishes us from our non-Catholic brothers and sisters, and also from the pagan secular world. One can think of it as the “toolbox for thinking about things” or the analytical framework for philosophical inquiry and discussion. This may not be your absolute Continue reading
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Mary and the Incarnation
The teachings about Mary are ultimately about her Son, Jesus, and December is a great month, full of feasts, to bring our hearts and our minds to the utterly awesome — but difficult — teaching on the Incarnation. And, once we are thinking about the Christian claim that God became Man, there are derivative claims Continue reading
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Two Sacraments for Protestants
Non-catholics traditionally only claim two sacraments: baptism and ‘the Lord’s Supper’ because they are the only two instituted by Jesus during his earthly ministry. Marriage existed before Jesus, and his miracle at Cana and his preaching on marriage only clarified and consecrated a pre-existing social institution. Something like that might be the explanation for eliminating Continue reading
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Sacraments of Service
Holy Orders is the means that Christ uses to provide the faithful with true shepherds after His own heart; this Sacrament imprints in the soul a character, a certain spiritual and indelible Sign, and is received only once, but in three degrees: deacon, priest, bishop. The Pope is both a bishop and the leader of Continue reading
Bound in Love 