Class will be not meeting next Sunday.
Our next class meeting will be January 20.
Last time, the class met with Mr. Kevin Doran to discuss the fifth chapter of Theology of the Body for Teens: "Truth and Freedom." There was an equipment snafu because someone had borrowed the TV / DVD cart and not returned it. Kevin soldiered on and worked creatively around it. Thank you, Kevin!!
Key points:
- There is absolute moral truth. Relativism is false -- it's self-contradictory. We also all know that some thing are just wrong -- e.g. honor killings, Hitler's concentration camps, slavery -- even if they are legal.
- What is freedom (libertas)? It is the ability to desire and to choose the good.
- Freedom is not merely the ability to do whatever we want; that is merely license (licentia), which leads to selfishness and takes away from love. Thus, freedom is only possible in choosing the good.
- We have been given the gift of free will in order that we might be able to love.
- The 5 characteristics of authentic marital love:
- freely chosen
- self gift
- with knowledge
- permanent
- open to life
- If we don't meet these requirements, love turns to use.
- Freedom requires free will, but free will alone is not sufficient for freedom.
- Freedom also requires truth because we cannot choose freely without knowing what is true -- i.e. what is real -- about ourselves and others.
- External constraints are outside factors, rules, or laws that limit our choices to some extent.
- Internal constraints are things within us -- sinful desires -- that prevent us from freely choosing good.
- Only the virtuous are truly free. (If your desires are good, then you are truly free because you need no rules / laws – you will choose the good because you want to.)
- Thus, when we allow Christ to transform / purify our hearts, we experience more and more freedom. (Gal 5:1 - see below for the quote)
Quotes to ponder:
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." – Gal 5:1
"If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:32
“Freedom exists for the sake of love.” – John Paul II
“Either you will control your passions or your passions will control you.” - Jason Evert
"The more that one does what is good, the freer one becomes." - CCC 1733
Read and discuss at home:
- Digging Deeper: "Sometimes Truth Hurts" on pp. 76-78, stopping before the "Truth Quiz."
- Live it Out: "The Truth Sets Us Free" on p. 79
- meditate on the Bible verses in the Live it Out section
If you missed missed class or want to review: Please read from workbook Chapter 5, pages 67 - 71 (to just before "Freedom of the Heart") and 74 - 75. Also see the assignment above.
Local event: FYI - The annual Roe v. Wade Memorial Rally and March for Life is happening next Saturday, January 19, 2019, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. See the ORTL website for details.
Future class dates:
January
20 TOB Chapter 6: Language of the Body
February
3 TOB Chapter 7: Free, Total, Faithful, Fruitful
17 TOB Chapter 8: Marriage
Blessings!