A rich young man asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Every moral question is really this question: How do I live a good and happy life? The Christian moral life is not first a list of rules, but a response to God's love and the path to the happiness we were made for.
Our dignity comes from being made in God's image, with reason and free will. Freedom is the power to act on purpose and to shape our own lives. But freedom is not just doing whatever we want. A kite flies because it is held by its string: true freedom is the power to choose the good, and the more we choose the good, the freer we become. Sin makes us slaves.
Every free act can be judged by three sources:
- The object: what is actually chosen. Some acts, such as murder or lying, are always wrong in themselves.
- The intention: why we choose it. A good intention cannot make a bad act good, but a bad intention can spoil a good act.
- The circumstances: they can increase or lessen responsibility, but they cannot make an evil act good.
This leads to a key principle: the end does not justify the means. Cheating to get into a good college, or doing evil so that good may come, is never right. A good act needs a good object, a good intention and fitting circumstances.
Passions such as love, anger, fear, joy and sadness are not good or bad in themselves. They become morally good when reason and will guide them toward the good, like a rider guiding a horse. Anger at injustice can move us to act; anger that is not controlled can destroy.
Jesus answered the young man with an invitation: “Come, follow me.” But the young man went away sad, for he had many possessions. The moral life is, in the end, about following a Person. Every choice is a chance to say yes to Him.