Category Archives: Ethics and Morality

Defense of Marriage — Follow up

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Deacon Bob

I want to thank one reader for challenging me on my post several days ago regarding the defense of marriage. I responded to his message, which you can read below, but I want to essentially bring that message to the … Continue reading →

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St. Basil the Great on Virtue and Vice

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Deacon Bob

I ran across great definitions of virtue and vice in today’s Office of Readings. Here is what St. Basil the Great said (my translation of the Italian text): “In fact, the definition of vice is this: the evil use, alien … Continue reading →

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Quote for the Day

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Deacon Bob

“The truth is not afraid of your questions. The question is, are you afraid of the truth?” — Christopher West

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Chastity

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Deacon Bob

The virtue of chastity is often misunderstood. For many, it has a negative connotation and references a lot of “noes” to this or that regarding sexual activity. For others, chastity applies only to priests or religious men and women who … Continue reading →

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The Basis for Morality

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Deacon Bob

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a colleague about the Church and moral teaching. If I understood correctly his position, he thought the “rules” that the Church teaches about moral behavior, especially in regard to homosexuality, are the creation … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics and Morality | 4 Comments

More on the Pope’s Comments

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Deacon Bob

In my November 30 post on “Random Thoughts”, I commented on the Pope’s remarks about the development of conscience, using the example of a male prostitute’s use of a condom as a first sign of taking moral responsibility for his … Continue reading →

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Random Thoughts

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Deacon Bob

Can’t seem to find much I think is worth blogging about in the news recently. The big hubhub of course is the book that came out about Pope Benedict XVI, the result of an extensive and informal interview he gave … Continue reading →

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Update on NFP Post

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Deacon Bob

In case you haven’t read the comments on my recent post about doctors and NFP, Karen has provided us with the following  link to an expert in the field of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of family planning.  www.sph.unc.edu/?option=com_profiles&Itemid=6388&profileAction=ProfDetail&pid=7123235232 Thanks again, … Continue reading →

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Papa Luciani on Role of Conscience in Moral Decisions

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Deacon Bob

Back on August 1, 1978, shortly before he was elected Pope, Cardinal Albino Luciani gave an interview in which he expressed his initial response to the then recent news of the birth of the first “test tube baby.” In it, … Continue reading →

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Why Do So Many Catholic Doctors Hesitate to Promote Natural Family Planning?

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Deacon Bob

It would seem that a great majority of Catholic physicians fail to promote Natural Family Planning (NFP) with their patients. Why? Perhaps for many reasons. The Catholic News Agency reports the following which they reprinted from NFP Outreach: Most doctors … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics and Morality, Marriage and Family | 3 Comments

Ignorance of Sin Damages Our Children

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Deacon Bob

Bishop Anthony Taylor of the diocese of Little Rock said this during his homily a couple of weeks ago: “Over the last 45 years our society has become very permissive — anything goes! This leaves us and especially our children … Continue reading →

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The Loss of Moral Vocabulary

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Deacon Bob

I spent most of the day today in a conference on ethics in clinical social work.  The presenter was a nationally known professor, clinician and author. To his credit, he did a wonderful job keeping us on track, presented some … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics and Morality, General Interest | 6 Comments

“The True Measure of Humanity….”

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Deacon Bob

Pope Benedict XVI wrote the following in his encyclical Spe Salvi, “The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer… A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to … Continue reading →

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Wisdom of our Elders

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Deacon Bob

I was listening to a television rerun last night.  The scene was a room full of nursing home residents who had been essentially “dumped” into the facility by family. A few of them commented, “People treat animals better than us. … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics and Morality, Human Development and Life | 4 Comments

Marriage of One Man and One Woman — “Ideal” or Foundational?

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Deacon Bob

There seems to be an increase in the notion that the union of one man with one woman into which children are born and nurtured is simply an “ideal” and not fundamental to the definition of marriage. Proponents will be … Continue reading →

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