“The Christian moral life begins and ends in Christ.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1698)
A moral theology instructor, Joe Michalak, wrote that the moral life “is an adherence to neither a doctrinal system (though there is an indispensable one) nor to an ethical code (though there is an essential one). It is a matter of discipleship, of a personal following of Jesus Christ..not..an external association but..an interior transformation..Following Christ is not merely an outward imitation, since it touches man at the very depths of his being. Being a follower of Christ means becoming conformed to him who became a servant even before giving himself on the Cross….For the earliest Christians the most basic source of morality was not primarily the sayings of Jesus, but ‘the very Person of Jesus himself, who is the center-point as well as the end-point of the relationship between God and man.’ (Lobo, Guide to Christian Living: A New Compendium of Moral Theology, p.111)”
The Christian moral life, then, is a converted, discipled life, a life lived in imitation of Christ. It is not only, “What would Jesus do?” (so popular a question nowadays), but more deeply, “Who is Jesus and how do I live my life in conformity with his?” The former question can be one of association; the latter a question of identity and transformation.
If one’s conscience is to be properly formed, one needs to make good use of reason, the natural law, ecclesiastical law, and a faith knowledge of divine revelation. One needs to study the vehicles of that revelation, Sacred Tradition and Scripture. But Tradition and Scripture are only the vehicles through which God’s self-revelation is made known to us who have come after the death of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. A properly formed conscience requires a relationship with, and a conversion to our Lord. That is why the saint is our moral model and guide.
Let us know the Scripture. Let us know Sacred Tradition. Let us appreciate well natural law grounded in reason. Let us study thoroughly Church doctrine and discipline. Let us above all know Jesus and conform our lives to him always and everywhere.
