The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 256: The Natural Moral Law

Episode Date: September 13, 2023

Together, we begin the section on moral law, starting with natural moral law. Fr. Mike begins by emphasizing that we need both the law that guides us and God’s grace that sustains us in order to live out our call to beatitude. He also unpacks how natural moral law is written in the soul of each and every man to help him discern between good and evil. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1949-1960. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to The Catechism in a Year Podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our Heavenly Home, this is day 256. We are reading paragraphs 1949 to 1960. As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the

Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting AscensionPress.com slash C-I-Y. And you can click follow or subscribe on your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications so you don't miss a day or come in this episode. And we are just launching into the next section, chapter three. In fact, God's salvation. We're talking about law and grace. And so today we're going to be talking about the moral law and how there are various kinds of laws. They're all connected, but we're gonna begin with the natural moral law.

So the natural moral law is what the church is classically called natural law. It's not called natural law because it's like the law of nature. Sometimes people will confuse that and say, well, the law of nature is, you know, kind of like a, we live in a doggy dog world, that kind of thing when it comes to the law of nature.

This is the natural law, which is the moral law, the obligation to do some things and to avoid other things that every person finds in the human heart. Every person finds in themselves to some degree there are laws written, not in some book somewhere, but written on the human heart. Romans chapter 1 talks about this, but also the church has for 2,000 years, has talked about the natural moral law that every person inside of them. Again, not that we all see this clearly, not that we all necessarily even agree on every point of this natural moral law, but there are certain things that all virtually always

and everywhere that every civilization, culture, thought, history, human beings have said, okay, this is the thing we're obliged to do and these are the things we're obliged to avoid doing. And so we're going to talk about that, also of course, not of course, but maybe you don't know this. Today we're starting with the moral law. Tomorrow, with quite a few paragraphs, we're going from 1949 to 1960,

but tomorrow we're gonna talk about the old law, and then we move on to the new law or the law of the gospel. So it's just this first little article, article one, on what is the moral loss? We're talking about that today, and so in order to ask the Lord, in order to talk about this, and actually let it change our hearts and change our minds, we'll approach our God who is so good, the God who is the source of all truth, the God who is source of all beauty

and the source of all goodness who has given us. In the depths of our hearts, the moral law, we're also given through Scripture, the moral law, who's also given in Jesus Christ, the moral law. So we, that's the God we're approaching right now. And so we say we pray, Father in heaven, you are the source of all goodness, you are the source of all grace, you're just, you are the source of all truth. We ask that you please unveil your truth in our lives, unveil your truth in our hearts so that we can know you more clearly and follow you more closely.

Lord God, whatever your law is, reveal it to us. Especially break through our sinful tendencies, the way in which sin clouds our judgment and clouds our intellect. We ask you please, please break through those things. We can know what it is you will us to do with clarity and then to do it with great courage. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. And the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It's day 256. We're reading paragraphs 1949 to 1960. Chapter 3. God's salvation. Law and grace. Called to be attitude, but wounded by sin, man stands in need of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him

and the grace that sustains him. As St. Paul's letter to the Philippians states, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Article 1, the moral law. The moral law is the work of divine wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It describes her man, the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised be attitude. It prescribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God in his love. It is at once firm in its precepts and in its promises worthy of love.

Law is a rule of conduct, enacted by competent authority for the sake of the common good. The moral law presupposes the rational order, established among creatures for their good, and to serve their final end by the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. All-Law finds its first and ultimate truth in the eternal law. Law is declared and established by reason as a participation in the providence of the living God, Creator and Redeemer of all. Such an ordinance of reason is what one calls law. Tertullian wrote, Olohn, among all animate beings, man can boast of having been counted worthy to receive a law from God.

As an animal endowed with reason, capable of understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using his freedom and reason, in obedience to the one who has entrusted everything to him. There are different expressions of the moral law, all of them interrelated. Eternal law, the source in God of all law, natural law, revealed law, comprising the old law and the new law, or law of the gospel. Finally, civil and ecclesiastical laws. The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in person the way of perfection. He is the end of the law for only he teaches and bestows the justice of God.

St. Paul wrote to the Romans, for Christ is the end of the law that everyone who has faith may be justified. The natural moral law Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense, which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie. Pope Leo the 13th wrote, The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human Pope Leo, the 13th wrote, submitted. The divine and natural law shows man the weight to follow so as to practice the

good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to Him who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one's equal. Its principle precepts are expressed in the decalogue. This law is called natural, not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature. St. Augustine wrote, Where then are these rules written? If not in the book of that light we call the truth. In it is written every just law. From it, the law passes into the heart of the man

who does justice, not that it migrates into it, but that it places its imprint on it, like a seal on the ring that passes on to wax without leaving the ring. St. Thomas Aquinas stated, The natural law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God. Through it, we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God has given this light or law at the creation. The natural law present in the heart of each man and established by reason is universal in its precepts, and its authority extends to all men.

It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties. Cicero stated, for there is a true law, right reason. It is in conformity with nature, is diffused among all men, and is immutable and eternal. Its orders summon to duty, its prohibitions turn away from offense. To replace it with a contrary law is a sacrilege, failure to apply even one of its provisions is forbidden. No one can abrogate it entirely.

Application of the natural law varies greatly. It can demand reflection that takes account of various conditions of life according to places, times, and circumstances. Nevertheless, in the diversity of cultures, the natural law remains as a rule that binds men among themselves and imposes on them beyond the inevitable differences, common principles. The natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history. It subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. The rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the

heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies. St. Augustine stated, Thest is surely punished by your law, O Lord, and by the law that is written in the human heart. The law that iniquity itself does not efface. The natural law, the creator's very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices.

It also provides the indispensable moral foundation for building the human community. Finally, it provides the necessary basis for the civil law with which it is connected, whether by a reflection that draws conclusions from its principles or by additions of a positive and juridical nature. The precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. In the present situation, sinful man needs grace and revelation, so moral and religious truths may be known by everyone with facility, with firm certainty, and with no end mixture of error. The natural law provides revealed law and grace

with a foundation prepared by God and an accordance with the work of the Spirit. Okay, so there we have it, day 256, paragraph 1949 to 1960, kind of a long reading today, but also kind of profound as well. Maybe not just kind of profound, maybe quite profound. Let's where have we been? Remember we talked for a good chunk of time about human dignity. We talked about the goodness,

I'm talking about virtue. We talked about these things that were made for, and also again, remember, we talked about the fact that our moral sense in so many ways, yes, is revealed to us by God, but our moral sense in so many ways, yes, is revealed to us by God, but our moral sense in so many ways has human nature and the dignity of human nature as our basis for moral decisions in so many ways. Obviously, there's also divine nature that becomes a basis for moral decisions, but human dignity as that foundation. Because remember,

we have freedom. Because we have freedom, we have responsibility, responsibility for our own actions. And then we just talked about for about a week or a little over a week, how we are responsible also for the common good, right? We're responsible for the people around us. Now, what is the good? That's the big question. So paragraph 1949, as we launch into salvation,

talking about like pursuing the good life, 1949 says, called to be attitude, right? We're called to live forever with God in heaven. But wounded by sin, that's us. Man stands in need of salvation from God. So absolutely in this whole section on salvation, this chapter three on salvation, we need that from God because we're made for God, but we're wounded by sin. So we stand in need of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him from in Christ through the law that guides him and the grace that sustains him. So we need both. We have both law and grace. And so keep that in mind when it comes to talking about salvation.

If anyone's going to say that you don't need the law or that you don't need grace, those that would be false. As member of the Catholic both and we need both law and grace, the law that guides us and the grace that sustains us, the grace that gives us the power actually to do what we can to on our own. That's why St. Paul's working so that we can even choose and act for his good pleasure. So all of this is just to begin chapter three and to highlight for us that were made for God but wounded by sin. Therefore we need God's help. We need God's not just a little assistance. We need all the assistance. We need salvation that comes from Him. And so we have to cooperate with that.

So keeping that in mind, the law that guides us and the grace that sustains us, here's Article 1 on the moral law. Now keep in mind, all of morality is connected. Paragraph 1952 highlights this. Different expressions on the moral laws, all of them interrelated. So there's the eternal law, the source in God of all law. So God himself is, this is a really interesting thing that Catholic philosophers and Catholic theologians

have unpacked for us, that God reveals himself as being good, all right? Not just that God does good, but God is the source of all good. So that's a big difference. You can ask the question, is something good because God decrees it or does God decree it because it's good? And in one way, it's simply will the power, right?

That's good only because God says it. So God says that life is good, but He could easily say that death is good, right? There's something that's good because God decrees it. That's irrational because God could easily say, well, how about murder? Murder is good, right? There's something is good because it got to crease it. That's irrational. Because God could easily say, well, how about murder? Murder is good. If it simply is good because God decrees it, then there's a problem there. Again, it'd be go against reason. At the same time, wait, is it, does God declare something good because it is good? That would imply that there's a law above God that here's the Lord God who says that faithfulness is good because faithfulness is good.

So you know what I'm saying? That he decrees it to be good simply because it already is. In that case, here is God who is beneath a law. There's a law that's above him. So how do you figure that out? Is something good because God decrees it or does God decree it because it's good. Those Catholic theologians, those Catholic philosophers have figured this out and it's so powerful. It's that God is good, that God is truth, that God is reason, that God is love. So this isn't like

a will to power kind of situation where God simply decrees something to be good therefore it's good, but he could arbitrarily say it's not good? No. Love, life, goodness, beauty, truth, that is part of the character of God. And so when he decrees it, can it's not a law above him and it's not merely a law, merely because he's said so, but it's because God is the source of all good. So he commands goodness. God is the source of all life. So he commands life.

God is the source of all, you know, all love, all these things, things that God is reasonable, right? God is reason itself. Therefore, he makes this world in accordance with reason. Not because reason is a lot above God, but because God is reason, but God is reason. Therefore, everything he commands is connected. So that's the first thing. All of these laws, moral laws, are interrelated.

First, the eternal law, the source in God of all law. And then what we've been talking about for a little bit here, natural law, then revealed law through the old covenant and the new covenant, right, the Old Testament and the new testament, the law of the gospel, you know, in the New Testament, and finally we have, you know, civil laws, we have church laws, ecclesiastical laws, and so all of them are meant to be connected. They're meant to be coherent and consistent, and so again, the law that comes from God, the eternal law, is consistent with the natural law that we find in our hearts, and that's consistent with the old covenant laws. And those are consistent with the new covenant law, law of the gospel.

And then hopefully our civil laws and hopefully our ecclesiastical laws are consistent with all of those. So they're all meant to be interconnected and in form of another. So what's an example of this? Well, one example is equality of people. We've talked about that yesterday the day before that human beings are equal. Where do we get this? Well, this comes from the very law of people. We've talked about that yesterday, the day before, that human beings are equal. Where do we get this? Well, this comes from the very law of God, in the old covenant. We hear, you know, this is not something necessarily

that is immediately obvious, right? We recognize oftentimes the differences that we have with each other and not necessarily the equality and dignity. And yet, if we read Genesis chapter one and chapter two, what do you get? You get this truth that's revealed to us that God made man in his own image and likeness. Male and female, he created them.

And so that sense of, okay, wait a second, if every human being, male and female are created in God's image and likeness, therefore, our church laws, our civil laws, the way in which we live, how we interact with each other, that should reflect that truth. So they're all meant to be connected. Now, when their civil laws are our church laws, don't reflect that truth, then there's any consistency, and that would be a lack of justice, a.k.a. that would be evil, right? That would be unjust, and therefore evil. Now, we had this quote here in paragraph 1951 by a guy named Tertullian. And Tertullian was one of the early church fathers.

He's not a saint, there's a reason behind that, but we're not gonna get into that right now, but just his name's Tertullian. And he says this, and it's so powerful, because again, it goes back to the fact that here we are as rational beings. He says this, alone among all animate beings,

man can boast of having been counted worthy to receive a law from God. As an animal endowed with reason, again, we have capable of understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using his freedom and reason. You know, obedience to the one who has entrusted everything to him. And so, we have this obligation, because God made us free, because God gave us an intellect, because we have reason and freedom. God made us free because God gave us an intellect because we have reason and freedom.

We have this obligation and the obligation is to obey the law that we find in our hearts, to obey the law that is revealed through scripture and tradition, and to obey civil and ecclesiastical laws. So the first of those that we discover is begins in paragraph 1954, the natural moral law. As I said, tomorrow we'll talk about the old law, the day after that we'll talk about the law of the gospel. But first we have this, the natural moral law. And what is this? The natural moral law expresses the original moral sense that enables us to discern by reason, the good and evil, truth and the lie. So we all have this inside of us.

This law written in the human heart, in fact that's what Pope Leo the 13th said, he said, the natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man because it is human reasoning or dainning him to do good and forbidding him to sin. Now keep that in mind. Is that the very basis of natural law? Is that it's deep in our hearts that we have this sense of there is an obligation I have to do good and there's an obligation I have to avoid evil. Now, this is really fascinating. In the book, Miracrescianity by C.S. Lewis, which we actually began as radio broadcasts on the British broadcasting system. C.S. Lewis talks about moral law as proof of God's existence. And he

points to this, he says, we don't simply fight, we argue. And it makes this argument based off of the reality that we don't merely fight, we do fight, but we don't just fight, we also argue. An argument is, okay, you've done something wrong. And not just something wrong in the sense that it's something I don't like, but you've done something that we all agree is wrong. Or you didn't do the thing that we all agree is right. And so every one of us, when we're talking with each other, when it comes to some of these arguments, typically we appeal to a greater law that all of us find in our hearts. And it could be something as simple as this. Even uses the example of,

he says, this doesn't even have to be something that hurts me or something that I don't like. He says, we can still argue or be upset with someone, even if they simply try to step on our toe, even if they don't succeed at it, they don't hurt us at all. But the fact that they tried to step on our toes, tried to step on our foot, right? That we can say, that's wrong. You shouldn't have done that. And again, it's such a small, right? Isn't that just like the craziest, very, very minor

and very tiny example? And yet, it's a very true example because again, it reveals, wait a second, I would point to that, I would say, wait, you shouldn't do that. But I didn't do anything wrong. Well, you a second, I would point to that, I would say, wait, you shouldn't do that, but I didn't do anything wrong. Well, you didn't, there was no result, like my toe is not hurt, my foot is not damaged, but the very fact that you wanted to, the fact that you attempted to step on my foot, there's

something wrong about that. And this is, it goes back, you know, such a small, could really kind of pedestrian example, but a very true example that reveals that there's something in the human heart that says, this is good and must be done, and this is evil and must be avoided. So going on, paragraph 1955, it says, the divine and natural law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. And this is so key.

It's so important. I mean, we obviously disagree on some of those points, but here is, this is so unique. In the middle of paragraph 1955, it kind of buried here. It says this. It says, it's principle precepts are expressed in the decalogue, right? The decalogue or the Ten Commandments. So the principle things that we all know to bes are expressed in the decalogue, right? The decalogue are the 10 commandments. So the principle things that we all know to be true are expressed in the decalogue. So when people say, wait a second, you know, you have these commandments in the Old Testament

and New Testament, but in other ancient documents, they also have things that are very, very similar. And they'll point to those things as an argument against Christianity. And I think, wait, wait, wouldn't you want Christianity or Judeo-Christianity, the Jewish tradition and Christian tradition, wouldn't you want some harmony between Judaism, Christianity, and many other people throughout the world? I think that that actually points to the fact that there is a commonality in the human heart. There is a commonality in this moral law.

It goes on to say, yep, it's expressed in the decalogue, expressed in the Ten Commandments. This law is called natural, not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature. As I mentioned before, this is not the law of nature, like the rule of the jungle or something like this. This is like, oh, you find this in nature, like the rule of the jungle or something like this. This is like, oh, you find this in nature, therefore, that's why it's right, that's why it's good. No, you find, we find a lot of things in nature

that as human beings who would say, oh, that's not good, that's not right. For example, there are a number of creatures in the wild who the mothers eat their young, just because that's found in nature, just because that might be the law of nature, does not make it part of the natural laws. That makes sense. So natural law is not the same thing as the law of nature. The natural law is rooted in reason and in freedom. And as St. Thomas Aquinas says here, at the end of paragraph 1955,

it's nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God. Through it, we know what we must do and what we must avoid. And God has given us from the very, very beginning. Now at the same time, while this extends to everybody, this is everyone it needs to must follow the natural law. At the same time, there's application of that law can vary greatly, right? Over times and civilizations, over situations and circumstances, the application of that natural law can be all over the place. Nevertheless, it still binds us together.

We still find a common thread in the human heart that says you must do good and must avoid evil. It is immutable and it's permanent at the same time, paragraph 1960, the last thing here. At the same time, the precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. Why? Because remember, if we said at the very beginning of this, we're made for God, we're made for heaven, we're made good, but we're broken. So remember one of the consequences of original sin, the darkening of the intellect. So yes, I can grasp truth. But at the same time, I only, many times, see truth dimly.

I don't fully understand it. I don't fully grasp this. So the presupposition of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. In fact, I mean, think about some of the great philosophers, some of the great Greek philosophers back in the day who were pre-Christian, we're not Jewish, but like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, some of those people, they were grasping at something that they found to be true, but

all of them, also we're looking around at the Greeks around them and we're highly critical of the fact that well, not all the people, I'm living among, not all of them are pursuing goodness the way I want them are pursuing goodness, the way I want to be pursuing goodness. They're not all pursuing truth in the way that I feel called and moved as pursuit truth. And so we recognize that there are some people among us who perceive more clearly and more immediately the natural law than others. And some of us are a little bit slower in when it comes to perceiving the natural law clearly

or immediately. In the present situation it says here, in the present situation, sinful man needs grace and revelation, so moral and religious truths may be known by everyone with facility, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error. That's what we're going to talk about tomorrow. We're going to talk about how in this world where there is natural moral law that's in the human heart, God speaks even more clearly. That he confirms what we find in our human heart and then he builds on it when it comes to the old

law and then fully builds on it when it comes to the new law or the law of the gospel. Well, you guys, I think I've said the word law about 375,000 times today. So we're going to take a break now. I let you know you guys, you know this. I am praying for you every single day. Please pray for me. My name is Father Michael. And I wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.