Given from the Catholic Broadcasting Station 2SM Sydney Australia
Choose a topic from Vol 4:
Catholics certainly want their children brought up with sound moral ideals. But they have a higher motive even than that for wanting the Catholic religion taught to their children. They want it taught because it is the truth revealed by God.
To a limited extent, moral convictions are possible without religious faith. There is a natural moral law discernible by human reason; and conscience, declaring that good must be done and evil must be avoided, is part of every man's make-up whether he pays attention to it or not. But merely natural morality and its ethical demands are quite inadequate for a Christian. In addition to the natural moral virtues, the Christian must ; have the supernatural and God-given virtues of faith and hope and charity, i Moreover, these supernatural virtues must lift the merely natural virtues J to a higher level, so transforming them that they become different not ; only in degree but in kind. They, too, must derive their significance from our relationships with God and not only from our relationships with our fellow human beings'. Christian morality, therefore, differs from merely natural morality, and is dependent upon religious faith.
We can recognize moral values of a kind without belief in God; but not moral values of the kind required of Christians. As for the recognition Of their claims upon us, that recognition becomes less and less efficacious as men grow out of tlTE idea of a moral law imposed by God. The more secularized a society becomes, without belief in God, hope in God, or love of God, the more it tends to abandon the conviction that morality is binding and objective, even though it does not suddenly reject all the ethical principles previously held on religious grounds. And it is a simple fact that the moral aspirations taught in the name of independent and nonreligious ethics have not inspired anything like the same intensity of devotion found among those who believe in a holy and personal God whom they have felt constrained to love and serve.
True. But that is no reason why a Christian child should not be taught that it ought to be good, why it should be good, and how it can be good in a Christian way.
To frighten a child by fear of punishment or to cajole him by hope of a reward are not the only alternatives open to those who teach religious motives. Christianity stands first and foremost for the love of God and love of all that God loves - a love which, as St. Paul says, casts out fear, and which of its very nature rises above all mercenary motives. The Catholic Church teaches, and will continue to teach, that God is holy and therefore loves what is good and hates what is evil; that He is not to be mocked with impunity; and that He will bestow a special love and the richest heavenly blessings on those who try to be good as He is good. Christ Himself bids us: "Be glad and rejoice, for your reward will be very great in Heaven." Matt. V, 12. To work for the reward with no love of God would, of course, be simply self-love and would not lead to the reward in any case. But it is a very different thing to love God for His own sake, to serve Him because we love Him, and be happy also in the thought of His future goodness to us. Certainly it is no tribute to God to despise all that He tells us He has prepared for those who love and serve Him.
Let me ask you two questions. Is it better for professing Christians to be faithful to their duty of public worship offered to God, or not? A recent Gallup Poll showed that more Catholics attend their Church regularly here in Australia than all Protestants taken together. That surely shows that religious schools are better at turning out people faithful to their religious duties than are the public schools. Now for my second question. If there is no evidence that better people come from religious schools than from public schools, why do Protestant Church leaders declare the secular school system defective; complain that they are at a disadvantage compared with the Catholic Church by not having their own religious schools in which to train their children?
You do not say of what nature the private schools were that you attended. However, the value of your judgment would really depend on how you would define the word "better." If you are thinking only in terms of natural goodness and virtue, I am willing to let that go, though without granting it. But you claim to be a Christian, and a Christian is not allowed to think in terms of merely natural goodness and virtue. The New Testament conception of a moral life is derived from and is dependent upon one's spiritual relationships with God. There is an immense difference, not only between good and evil, but also between good and good. There has to be a spiritual quality about the goodness of a Christian You do not say of what nature the private schools were that you attended. However, the value of your judgment would really depend on goodness of the good pagan. This aspect of the subject I am sure you have completely overlooked.
I certainly would not have to say all of them! Your puritanical ideas include a whole lot of things genuine Christian standards do not demand at all. As regards the things Christian standards do demand, I can and do say that a greater proportion of Catholics educated in Catholic schools conform to them than the proportion of children educated in the public schools. But further discussion of this subject would be fruitless until after we have arrived at agreement as to what are the really typical Christian moral and spiritual standards.
"THAT CATHOLIC CHURCH
A Radio Analysis"
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