Confirmation Class 2025 Introduced to Moral Choice According to the Guiding Principle of Aquinas
Bro. Jason Thavaraj, who completed 12 years of formation at St. Anthony Mary Claret College in Quezon City, is currently awaiting approval for his deaconship. Bro. Jason explained that the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor (OFMCap) is a religious community distinct from diocesan priests. He recently visited the Confirmation class to share insights from his thesis on Moral Theology titled “Aquinas’ Notion of Moral Virtues as a Guiding Principle in Making Moral Choice.” He was accompanied by Fr. Dom, the catechism teacher, who further elaborated on the topic.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ 1st principle of moral choice is “Good is to be done and pursued, and evil avoided.” Aquinas asserts that the guiding principle for all moral actions -the ultimate goal (telos) is happiness; not in terms of fleeting pleasures, but as eudaimonia—true fulfillment, perfection, and well-being. While moral choices lead to happiness; immoral choices destroy conditions that safeguard their well-being.
According to Aquinas, moral choice is rooted in Natural Law, which stems from God’s Eternal Law. God created human beings with both the desire and the capacity to seek what is good through reason. We have within us a moral intelligibility that is universal to do what is good. Morality as such is not subjective but has objective value that enhances human well-being.
St Paul, Jeremiah and Moses tell us that we know this natural law because it is written in our hearts. As such, humans participate in God’s Eternal Law by discerning and choosing the good.
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them. Rom2: 14-15 :
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach…. No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deut 30: 11-14
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. Jer 31:33
According to Finnis, who expanded on Aquinas’ ideas; explains that we are naturally inclined towards the basic goods and the human laws and system support this natural law universally. The basic goods are:
- Life – preserved through laws against murder, and supported by systems like healthcare and traffic regulations.
- Procreation and education of children – valued through systems that support families and education.
- Knowledge – upheld through education and efforts against misinformation and superstition.
- Play and aesthetic enjoyment – pursued through arts and recreation, increasingly important in a technocratic society.
- Sociability – the human need for connection and community, which can be undermined by digital over-dependence.
- Religion – a natural orientation toward the transcendent; fostering religion supports this basic good, while modern secularism can lead us away from it.
These goods are objectively valuable and thus moral choices should align with these basic goods, which promotes human flourishing while avoiding what undermines them.
Why then do people choose what is evil instead of good?
Fr. Dom explained that people’s conscience have become numb through habitual sinning. That is why, formation of conscience through prayer and the word of God is essential.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church( 1792),a person chooses evil when a person’s conscience has become disconnected from the truth. There are several root causes:
- “Ignorance of Christ and His Gospel,
- Bad example given by others,
- Enslavement to one’s passions,
- Assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience,
- Rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching,
- Lack of conversion and of charity.”
“The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings” (ccc 1783).
Today, the world confuses “conscience” with feelings and passions and thus advocates “if it feels good, do it.” A properly formed conscience is doing what God wants of us and abiding by the law written in our hearts and mind. If our wills and intellect are not firmly rooted in the moral law, the noise and distractions of this world can cloud our reasoning. It is in such confusion, the danger lurks- passions and feelings assume the role of conscience. SR
References:
The role of conscience in moral decision makinghttps://www.hli.org/resources/what-is-the-role-of-conscience-in-moral-decision-making/
More Than a Feeling: What it Means to Follow Your Conscience (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7827)
Thomas Aquinas and Natural Law Theory
John Finnis -natural law- a quick summary
https://rsthomastallis.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/6/7/23674516/johnfinnis.p