Making

Moral
Decisions
Presented by: group 4

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 S
HOW DO I MAKE GOOD
DECISIONS?
 Making good decisions
• We make moral decisions every day.
• Our friends even ask us to help them in
making important decisions.
• Often, It seems that we make moral
decisions almost automatically, and
there are occasions when we need to
make moral decisions more carefully

During such times:

1. The COURAGE actually choose what is
good.
2. To FOLLOW the concrete good that our
conscience urges us to do.
3. To EDUCATE or FORM our conscience so
we can rightly judge the nature of the
act, the intentions involved, and the
circumstances.
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DIFFERENT WAYS
PEOPLE MAKE MORAL
DECISIONS
 DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE MAKE
MORAL DECISIONS
• We are shaped by our choices. Every moral choice we make reveals
the kind of person we are and forms the kind of person we become
• Making Good Decisions Different ways by which people make moral
decisions “toss coin” decisions, “bahala na”, “ene-minie-mienimo”

St. Ignatius Loyola(Patron of retreats and prayers)

01 Is best known for The Spiritual Exercise, Developed a manual or
guide for the Spiritual Exercises for prayer and discernment in the
context of a30-day retreat
Bible cutting/ randomly
opening the bible to a verse and interpreting its message as God’s will – it
02
isolates the written text of Sacred scriptures from its stages of formation,
its intended purpose, its proper use and interpretation and the over-all
Christian message
There are those who make decisions while falling to realize we are all
persons-in-community. Such persons are are either:

Extreme individualist
- consider only their self-centered perspective without listening to
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the wisdom of moral norms, church teachings and others
- People who have individual mindset that only focus on those
elements of the moral situation that support their bias.
- This can lead to the danger of “rationalizing away”(excusing)
even clearly morally evil acts

Passive Conformist
- decide merely based on what other people say, often compromising
their good personal values and beliefs.
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- leave the decision-making to his/her barkada or other authority figures ,
sometimes disregarding the very prompting of his/her own conscience
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CHRIST, OUR COMPANION
AT LIFE’S CROSSROAD
 Authentic Christian decision making is not merely following a series of steps or principles. It is making moral
decisions in relation to a person.
 As Filipinos, we consider good relationships (pakikipagkapwa) with our families and friends central to who we
are. Because of this, we strive to be good sons or daughters, companions, or students because we value our
families, friends and classmates.
 We make genuine love and concern for those closest to us.
 Jesus’ life and teaching help us discern what is good for us as well as for others.
 Christ is our companion in making good moral decisions, he is our source of the strength to make good moral
choices.
 In a similar way, we may be faced with difficult crossroads every day. We look to Christ’ example and His
indwelling spirit to guide us in facing our own moral dilemmas.
 As Christians, we believe that Christ, who knows suffering, pain, death but more importantly love, is our
companion at our own crossroads.
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IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN
MAKING MORAL
DECISIONS
Investigate the facts of the
Moral act
 Good decisions can be made only when we
have clear awareness and assessments of
reality.

Three dimension of every moral

act:
1. The object or nature of the act.
2. The one’s intention or doing the act.
3. The circumstances surrounding the
act
Three dimension of every moral act:
1. The object or nature of the act
- Concerns the fundamental question What is the act
involved?
- Refers to what one has actually done or considering
doing.
2. Intention of the act (subjective aspect)
- Important to ask “why are you doing the act?” or “why
did you commit the act”
- Refers to the person’s intended goal for commiting the
act.

One important thing in moral decision making is

expressed as follows:
- A good end does not justify a morally evil means

3. Circumstances of the act

- Act by asking, “what are the other important factors
involved in the act?”
- It is necessary to understand the particulars of the
moral act in order on facts rather than on whim mere
sentimentally.
 INQUIRE about the moral
norms affecting your act
• The decisions we make affect not only ourselves but
also others.
• Seeking the guidance of others does not take the place
of our own effort at deciding responsibility.
• As persons-in-community, we realize that our moral
norms, expressed in various divine, church, and civil
laws are an important source of truth and wisdom.
• To live a good moral life, we need to understand and
correctly apply these universal norms in our particular
individual acts.
 IMAGINE alternatives and
consequences
1. Because of our reason, we
have the capacity to imagine
both the possibilities and
3. In a analyzing the possible
consequences of our actions.
effects of our acts, we need to
know the immediate/short-term
and the long-term
consequences.

2. Whenever we are confronted

with a difficult decision, we need to
4. To be truly responsible in
ask “What can happen if I choose to
our actions, we should
do this?” or “What should I do
consider both the short-term
instead as an alternative given the
and the long-term
limitations of my situation?”.
consequences of our choices.
 INTROSPECT listen to your
emotions
• Many people believe that feelings are
impediment to an objective, rational way of
making moral decision.
JESUS
Today, we recognize that emotions can help us
grasp the full reality of the actions intended.
They can actually help us be more objective and
responsible. LOVES
• We can be desensitized to violence or injustice YOU
to the point that we become indifferent to or
even delighted by suffering bloodshed.
• We need then to reorient our emotions to “love
light instead of darkness”
 Educating or orienting our feelings
entails the following:

1. Being aware of our emotions as we experience

them;
2. Striking a healthy balance between repressing them
and giving them free rein;
3. Ordering our impulsive and motivations reasonably;
4. Becoming sensitive to other people’s emotions; and
5. Nurturing our relationship.
IMPLORE God’s help
in prayer
• According to St. Teresa of Avila, prayer is an “intimate
conversation with God, who we know loves us.” At the heart of
authentic prayer is our personal loving relationship with God.

• As Filipino Catholics, prayer is about reciting/memorizing the

basic prayers learned from our childhood (Lord’s prayer, Hail Mary,
Glory Be, etc.) However, we need to understand and appreciate
how prayer is an essential dimension of our entire lives.

A - Adoration/ Praise

C - Contribution/ Penance

T - Thanksgiving

S - Supplication
In following Christ, our prayer then must permeate the whole process of our decision
making. There are many ways to pray other than saying our basic prayers. We can grow
more in our life of prayer by doing the following:
Reading and Praying using the bible
- Sacred scripture is a rich treasury of Christian prayer.
- We may turn to a Bible narrative that allows us to understand the moral decision we need
“Do not let to make and imagine that we are one of the characters Jesus is speaking to
your hearts be - We can also read certain passages the same way we might read a love letter, keeping in
troubled. Trust mind that Scripture is the narrative of God’s love for us.
in God; trust
also in me”.
Visiting the blessed sacrament
- Aside from saying the usual prayer to the Blessed Sacrament, we can discover the
“heart” dimension of prayer by simply offering all our joys, triumphs, fears, and
trouble to Christ, who Is truly, sacramentally present before us in the Eucharist.

Exercising the Examen of Consciousness

- Through the consciousness examen, we can see how God’s Spirit is active in our daily
experiences. By prayerfully looking back at the events of our day, we can discern moments
of consolation and desolation.
“And know that
I am with you Journaling
always; yes, to - Meditatively reflecting on our experiences and putting our insights and feelings in
the end of time.”
writing allow us to discover new things about ourselves and the way we relate to God
and others.
- Apart from making our usual “dear journal” entries, we can record our experiences
creatively by writing letters to God or other people.
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Growing in Virtue
Growing in Christ
VIRTUE

Sow a thought, reap an WHAT SI VIRTUE?

action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.  MORAL CHOICES
Sow a habit, reap a virtue. SHAPE MORAL
Sow a virtue, reap a CHARACTER.
character.  MORAL CHARACTER
Sow a character, reap a SHAPES OUR FUTURE
destiny. JUDGEMENTS AND
DECISION.
7 CLASSIC
VIRTUES
CARDINAL VIRTUE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUE
∙ PRUDENCE • FAITH
∙ FORTITUDE • HOPE
∙ JUSTICE • LOVE
∙ TEMPERANCE
CARDINAL VIRTUE

The word cardinal is from the latin

word cardo, which means “hinge”

they are called cardinal because

all other virtues emanate from them.
 1. PRUDENCE
- Is the virtue of good moral judgement or wisdom.
- A prudent person is able to discern what is truly
good in every circumstance.

2. FORTITUDE
- Virtue of moral strength and moral courage.
- Has the capacity to resist temptation and pursue
what is good.
- Sacrifice to do what is good.

3. JUSTICE
- Is the firm to give persons their due.
THE CARDINAL - Genuinely respects all persons.
VIRTUE - Has a firm sense of responsibility

4. TEMPERANCE
- Is the virtue of moderation or self-mastery.
- A person who can manage his or her own
emotions.
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUE
Direct to god immediately.

Deepen our relationship with god

 1.FAITH
- It is a virtue in believing in God and
seeking to know and do His will.

2. HOPE
-is
the virtue by which we desire inactively
The Theological
await the promise of God’s kingdom and our
Virtue own sharing in God’s eternal life

3. LOVE
- Sometimes called the mother of all virtue
- Is the primary source of and the motivation for
growing in all the other virtue.