Explanation of Catholic Morals | Page 3

this order are therefore above and beyond
his native powers and can only be met with the help of a force above
his own. It is labor lost for us to strive to climb the clouds on a ladder
of our own make; the ladder must be let down from above. Human
air-ships are a futile invention and cannot be made to steer straight or to
soar high in the atmosphere of the supernatural. One-half of those who
fail in moral matters are those who trust altogether, or too much, in
their own strength, and reckon without the power that said "Without
Me you can do nothing."
The other half go to the other extreme. They imagine that the Almighty
should not only direct and aid them, but also that He should come down
and drag them along in spite of themselves; and they complain when
He does not, excuse and justify themselves on the ground that He does
not, and blame Him for their failure to walk straight in the narrow path.
They expect Him to pull them from the clutches of temptation into
which they have deliberately walked. The drunkard expects Him to
knock the glass out of his hand: the imprudent, the inquisitive and the
vicious would have it so that they might play with fire, yea, even put in
their hand, and not be scorched or burnt. 'Tis a miracle they want, a
miracle at every turn, a suspension of the laws of nature to save them
from the effects of their voluntary perverseness. Too lazy to employ the
means at their command, they thrust the whole burden on the Maker.
God helps those who help themselves. A supernatural state does not

dispense us from the obligation of practising natural virtue. You can
build a supernatural life only on the foundations of a natural life. To do
away with the latter is to build in the air; the structure will not stay up,
it will and must come down at the first blast of temptation.
Catholic morals therefore require faith in revealed truths, of which they
are but deductions, logical conclusions; they presuppose, in their
observance, the grace of God; and call for a certain strenuosity of life
without which nothing meritorious can be effected. We must be
convinced of the right God has to trace a line of conduct for us; we
must be as earnest in enlisting His assistance as if all depended on Him;
and then go to work as if it all depended on ourselves.

CHAPTER II.
THE MORAL AGENT.
MORALS are for man, not for the brute; they are concerned with his
thoughts, desires, words and deeds; they suppose a moral agent.
What is a moral agent?
A moral agent is one who, in the conduct of his life, is capable of good
and evil, and who, in consequence of this faculty of choosing between
right and wrong is responsible to God for the good and evil he does.
Is it enough, in order to qualify as a moral and responsible agent, to be
in a position to respect or to violate the Law?
It is not enough; but it is necessary that the agent know what he is
doing; know that it is right or wrong; that he will to do it, as such; and
that he be free to do it, or not to do it. Whenever any one of these three
elements--knowledge, consent and liberty--is wanting in the
commission or omission of any act, the deed is not a moral deed; and
the agent, under the circumstances, is not a moral agent.

When God created man, He did not make him simply a being that
walks and talks, sleeps and eats, laughs and cries; He endowed him
with the faculties of intelligence and free will. More than this, He
intended that these faculties should be exercised in all the details of life;
that the intelligence should direct, and the free will approve, every step
taken, every act performed, every deed left undone. Human energy
being thus controlled, all that man does is said to be voluntary and
bears the peculiar stamp of morality, the quality of being good or evil
in the sight of God and worthy of His praise or blame, according as it
squares or not with the Rule of Morality laid down by Him for the
shaping of human life. Of all else He takes no cognizance, since all else
refers to Him not indifferently from the rest of animal creation, and
offers no higher homage than that of instinct and necessity.
When a man in his waking hours does something in which his
intelligence has no share, does it without being aware of what he is
doing, he is said to be in a state