A NEED FOR MORALITY

For the biggest problem in morality of society today is the lack of spiritual life.

            As human persons, we are social beings, relational by nature. We live in society together with many other people, our very lives and sustenance are in some way dependent on other people. If we do not grow our own food, we depend on others to till the soil. We depend on others to supply us with cloth for our clothing, with clean water for drinking, with construction materials so that we can build our homes. And life goes on and on … in the same way our spiritual life development is almost entirely dependent on others as we grow from childhood to maturity. We learn about God from the family, the community, the church and the state. People must come together in community to strengthen and nourish our morality.

            According to Nancy Russel Catan and Pascuale Giordano in “Living the Moral Life Today”,

“there can be no “moral life” without a companion “spiritual life” and vice versa”. Therefore, one nurtures the other. Authentic spiritual development must occur at the same time as one’s moral development.

            Living a moral life demands living and growing in prayer, being strong and courageous enough to directly confront the sins in our life and overcome it. In this sense, morality is a call, a vocation, rather than a law, a vocation to be concerned with life as part of Divine nature, a calling to be responsive in making the world a friendlier and more caring place in which to live.

            As clearly stated, approximately two thousand years before the Westerners discovered “philosophy”, us, Easterners already developed our own definition of the word itself. The process is all about morality alone that deals with religion and as a system by problems in religion and God. Therefore, looking in spiritual sense is the biggest problem in morality today. In order to achieve our goals as beings, we must subject ourselves to four kinds of laws: Natural law, Divine Law, Canon Law and Civil Law. Natural law is the Eternal law of God written in our hearts. This is perceived by our human reason. Divine law refers to those laws given us by God through Revelation, the Ten Commandments and the New Testament Commandments of love. Canon law is the governing law of church while Civil law is the governing law of society.

            Man’s relation to God is the most basic factor in his moral life. To further aid mankind in its search for the good and the truth, God inspired many men over hundreds of years to put his words and actions into readable form.

            Moral living is not simply following a set of “do’s” and don’ts”. It is a way of life, a way of living out our faith and walking with God throughout our journey of life. Living a moral life is allowing us to grow in love and holiness, to throw away our masks and become authentic believers.  Living a moral life commits us to the ongoing process of liberating and transforming men and women. With our moral attitudes, decisions, words and acts, we influence those around us to live in love, justice and peace, bringing about authentic social transformation.

            The process of moral education and development of virtue involves three steps; discipline, personal progress/development and maturity. The more we develop our natural inclinations and nourish the seeds of virtue that the creator has planted in our hearts, the more we grow in freedom and in truth.

ava marie guinto