Catholic (Christian) Morality

"The first line in the Catechism's section on morality speaks volumes. It is not, 'Give up everything you really want and follow all these miserable rules or you're going to hell." It is 'Christian, recognize your dignity.'"

That statement jumped off of the page at me today.  I've been (rather slowly) working on reading Theology of the Body for beginners by Christopher West.  It is "A Basic Introduction to Pope John Paul II's Sexual Revolution."  I've tried to read a chapter each Sunday, when I take a little more time for prayer, refreshment of the soul, and study of God than I'm usually able to do during the rest of the week.  I just finished chapter 8 (of 9, so I'm almost done).  Once I actually finish the book, I'll run through the important points of the whole in a sort of review.  Hopefully that will happen next week...

This statement, however, just cried out to me as something I wanted to talk about TODAY..."The first line in the Catechism's section on morality speaks volumes. It is not, 'Give up everything you really want and follow all these miserable rules or you're going to hell." It is 'Christian, recognize your dignity.'"

What a great way to summarize why we should follow the rules and how we should decide a course of action in difficult situations.  We need to make our moral decisions based on our own dignity and the dignity of our fellow human beings.  A few applications of this statement:

• Sexual intimacy...that's (obviously) the main focus of the Theology of the Body...the dignity of the "one body" union of marriage and the beauty of sacrament that it is.  More about this when I actually finish the book.
• Language...this is an area I've slipped up in recent years.  I kept my language clean through college, but since I graduated, I've let quite a few words slip into my "at home" language that my younger self would be ashamed of.  I'm making a commitment, right here, right now, to clean it up...I know I can - I keep it 100% clean at school.  Keeping one's language clean shows that you recognize your own dignity and respect the dignity of those around you.
• Media consumption...there's so much garbage out there, on TV and the radio.  I don't need to elaborate, you've already thought of several examples of your own.  Do we really respect our own dignity by watching or listening to it, regardless of whether or not we think it has an effect on us?  Do we respect the dignity of those who work in the industry by reinforcing the notion that "sex sells?"  Can we even do anything to change it?  (That's the toughest question).  The way the industry is going these days, we have to weigh the good with the bad and make a decision on a case by case basis, but I'd like to try to work harder to not take the easy way...choosing the movies and music that the commercials tell me I should like, but finding out if there are other options that reflect our dignity better and supporting those.  I love country music, for example, but so much of the music is about drinking and sex that I've changed to choosing my country song by song on iTunes and listening to Christian radio instead of the local country station...more control that way.
• How we care for our bodies...most things are good (or at least fine) in moderation, but how hard is it to find moderation these days?  The upper Midwest (and very "country") mentality of "it's not a good time unless you are too drunk to remember it" certainly does not reflect the dignity of the human person.  Along with much of the country, I struggle with my weight.  I'm not morbidly obese, but I ought to lose 40 lbs or so to be healthy and taking care of my body the way I should.  It's something I try very hard to do...perhaps something else to blog about.  My state has finally enacted a state-wide smoking ban.  (Praise God!)  So many are upset about it ("The government shouldn't be telling us what to do!"), but if we won't respect the health of the people around us, someone should make us!  Many of those working as bar tenders have no choice in their profession (and in this economy, who can afford to quit their job?).

I'm not trying to get on a soapbox and do any preaching here...these are just thoughts that came to mind...any others?  Please share in the comments!