Review
Questions in Moral Theology
1 1. For each of the following situations,
indicate whether it describes a sin against faith, a sin against hope, a sin
against charity or a sin against religion. Then identify the specific type of
sin within that category.
a. Shirley does not go to Mass or pray
very much at all. When her friends asked her why, she tells them: “God is supposed to be all about love and
mercy. If he really is that loving and merciful, he would not sent anyone to
Hell. In fact, I will bet that hell does not really exist. Everyone ends up in
Heaven.”
b. Ethel prays to God for all the things
that she wants in life – a good career, a nice home, and general success. When
she does not feel that God is hearing her, she gets angry with God. She never
takes time to consider all the gifts that God has given her, so she never even
thinks of thanking God for anything.
c. Although they consider themselves
members of Sacred Heart Parish, Gemma and her parents do not make it to Mass
every Sunday. Once or twice a month is all they seem to be able to handle.
Gemma’s father says that Sunday is his only day off, and so he would rather
rest, watch football games, and spend time with the family.
22. What is the difference between
wearing amulets or good luck charms and wearing devotional medals such as the
Scapular or the Miraculous Medal? What is the difference between divination
with the dead and prayers to the saints?
33. Evaluate the following situations and
indicate whether they are oaths or vows, stating the kinds of oaths or vows
they are. If they are such, are they acceptable according to the Second
Commandment?
a. Bettina tells Charlie, her younger
brother: “If you touch my bike again, I
swear to God I’ll slug you.”
b. Cherry tells God: “I’ll pray the rosary everyday for a month if
you help me pass my exams.”
c. Mia tells her mom: I promise to wash the dishes just as soon as
I get home from the game.”
44. Are the following oaths or vows
obligatory? Explain why.
a. Mark’s sister Carrie recently married
Allen, her boyfriend of 4 years. Things appeared to have been going well until
Mark accidentally discovered one day that Allen had concealed from his sister
the fact that he had been previously married and is the father of a 6-year-old
child. The situation is further complicated when Mark learns that Allen has not
obtained a legal divorce or a declaration of nullity from the Church. This
means that his sister’s marriage is invalid. When Mark confronted Allen about
this information, Allen denied the charges, and a terrible argument ensued. The
next morning, Allen was gone. Mark feels that his family’s honor has been
destroyed by Allen’s actions, and has personally vowed to take revenge on him.
Does this vow bind Mark? Why, or why not?
b. Peter promised to give his friend
Sara a ring that he won in a contest and she liked very much. Although he
believed the ring to be of little value, he later discovered that it is
actually worth quite a lot of money. Now he does not want to give Sarah the
ring. Must he?
c. Because he had been only an average
student for the first 3 years of high school, David found it difficult to be
accepted to the extremely competitive premedical program at the college he had
chosen at the beginning of his senior year. His family was poor and could not
afford to send him to the school, and it was not very likely that he was going
to get a scholarship because of his past academic performance. But David had
thought and prayed about it, and wanted to be a doctor.
He worked hard during his senior year, and had succeeded in
earning straight A’s both semesters. In addition, he had gone to a local
community college for one year, where he had also earned straight A’s.
The entire time that he was working on his lately-developed
dream of attending medical school, he had prayed to God to help him and to
grant him the favor of becoming a doctor. At one point, after careful
consideration, he had even vowed that if God would help him gain admittance to
medical school, he would devote his first 2 years as a doctor to serving as a missionary
doctor with a lay volunteer program in a poor country in Asia or Africa.
Now that he has graduated at the top of his class from
medical school, David has been offered a position at one of the most
prestigious research hospitals in the US. He remembers the vow that he made,
but this is a chance that he may not get again for a long time. What should he
do?
5
a5. Catherine is a college student at St.
Anne’s University. During the school year, she likes to attend the Mass that is
held in the campus chapel at 8 pm on Sundays –the latest Mass in the city.
After the vacation, when she moved back into her dorm on the Sunday just before
classes began again, she planned to attend the 8 pm Mass. When she got to the
chapel, she saw a note that there would not be a Mass that evening. The
schedule change had been announced before vacation, but Catherine did not hear
about it. Was she excused from attending the Sunday Mass?
66. Formulate a response to these common
objections:
a. “I don’t want to go to Mass every Sunday because I don’t get anything out
of it.”
b. “I think that a person can pray just as well at home as in Church.”
