Before life reached the conscious stage, creation seems to have advanced randomly from one leap to the next.  Some parts of creation made the leap.  Others did not; they remained where they were.  Individual life forms did not possess the freedom to choose to make the leap or not.

Now all this has charged.  God gives to each human being the power and the freedom to choose to make the leap to eternal life or not.  It is against this background that we must view Christian morality.

Imagine that the deterioration of the environment made it impossible for human beings to survive on earth beyond another ten years.  What would we do?

We would begin a frantic search to find another planet capable of supporting life.  Suppose we found one.  Suppose, further, that it was very different from earth; but with drastic modifications in how we live, we could adapt ourselves to the new planet.

Engineers would reproduce here on earth the conditions that we would encounter on the new planet.  Under simulated conditions, we would learn to live under the new conditions.

This fanciful exercise helps us understand what Christian morality is all about.  Old age and illness make it impossible for human beings to survive indefinitely on earth.  Jesus has revealed; however, that there is another planet so to speak, beyond this one -- heaven.

Life in heaven is totally different from life on earth.  Yet, it is within our capacity to adjust to this new life and prepare for it while still in this world.

This brings us to Christian Morality, which has to do with preparing to make the quantum leap to "new life" in heaven -- eternal life.  It has to do with freely choosing to prepare for and participate in the "fullness of life" that Jesus revealed.

We may describe Christian morality as responding to God's invitation to live in such a way on earth as to prepare for and participate in eternal life in heaven.  What Moses said to the Israelites, God says to each human being:

Our job in this world is to respond to God's invitation.  Our job is to plant the seeds that will yield the harvest of eternal life.  Listen to Saint Paul:
 

You will reap exactly what you plant.  If you plant in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you plant in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives . . .  The Spirit has given us life . . . [and] must also control our lives.  Galatians 5:16, 25

Thus, borrowing Saint Paul's imagery, our job in this world is to "plant in the field of the Spirit" the seeds that will yield the "harvest of eternal life" in the next world. 

Paul's vision (planting in the field of the Spirit) involves seeing everything in this life as being related to eternal life.  It means involving ourselves totally in God's re-creation of this world.  More specifically it means working for peace, justice, and harmony in every area of human society and at every level of human existence.

Next, we present a more personal way of describing Christian morality.
 

At the Last Supper Jesus washed the feet of his apostles.  When he finished, he said:

Thus, a more personal way of describing Christian morality is  choosing life and accepting Jesus' invitation to live and love as Jesus did.  It means seeing God's work on earth as our own work.  It means seeing every activity on earth as being related to God's kingdom -- just as seeds are related to plants.
 

Christian Morality Is A Tremendous Challenge

Living and loving as Jesus did is not an easy task.  This is because original sin has flawed the human intellect and will.  As a result, we are not always able to do what we would like to do.  Paul speaks for all of us when he writes:
 

Even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.  I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do . . . .  Who will rescue me from this body -- that is taking me to death?  Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! Romans 7:18, 24-25

As such, Christian morality is a challenge.  We can meet it only by remaining united with Jesus, who said:

Christian Moral Growth Begins With One's Self

Moral growth is an ongoing process that continues all our life.   One attempt to describe it was formulated by Soren Kierkegaard.  It involves three growth stages:
 

• self-centered,
• other-centered, and
• God -centered.
   

Self-Centered Stage

During the self-centered stage we live largely by our senses and emotions.  Our main concern is our own enjoyment and needs.  At this stage we are basically selfish.  We want to be free to do whatever we want.  We do not realize it, but we are anything but free.  We are slaves of our passions and prejudices.

We see God's law as a restriction (to our freedom).  It forbids us to do what we want to do.  It is something that cramps our style.  We see sin as a violation (of a restriction).  As long as we remain at this stage we are doomed to unhappiness.  We pursue one fleeting pleasure after another.
 

We progress to the other-centered stage when we begin to change our focus from ourselves to other people.  We do this by assuming social obligations, such as friendships and commitments.  By accepting these responsibilities, we take a giant step toward personal freedom.  We become free by abandoning our self-centeredness and relating to others.

At this stage we see God's law as a guide (to growth).  It has value.  And we view sin as infidelity (to personal growth).  It is living irresponsibility.
 

We progress to the God-centered stage when we discover our personal relationship with God.  This discovery grows out of an awareness of our identity (we are God's children) and our destiny (we are called to eternal life).

We discover Jesus and why he came into the world: to communicate to us the "fullness" of life " -- eternal life.  At this stage we discover the true relationship between law and love.  Law is an invitation to love God.  Jesus said:

In this God-centered stage we see God's law not as a restriction (to freedom) or a guide (to growth), but as an invitation (to love).  And we see sin not as a violation (of a restriction) or infidelity (to growth), but as an invitation (to love).  And we see sin not as a violation (of a restriction) or infidelity (to growth), but as a refusal (to love).  It is saying no to God's invitation to "choose life".
 

Just as we see law and sin according to the stage of our moral growth, so we see the sacraments in a similar way.  Take the sacrament of Reconciliation.

At the self-centered stage, we see the sacrament of Reconciliation in an impersonal way.  It is a distasteful task of confessing our sins to another.

At the other-centered stage, we see the sacrament as a valuable tool to help us grow as persons.

At the God-centered stage, we view the sacrament as a celebration of reconciliation: a restoration of friendship between ourselves, God, and our brothers and sisters.

The three stages of moral growth can be summed up as shown in the following table: