Moral
growth consists in the development of the threefold moral good, of
nature, of grace, and of merit. Man is born into this world with some
natural goodness. He is born to the supernatural life and clothed with
grace in holy Baptism. By persevering good will and fidelity to grace,
he eradicates the defects of temperament and passion, and Christianizes
the natural good that is in him. By prayer and fidelity to his good
intention he continually enlarges his capacity for grace — which God
ever gives to all of good will — and grows in merit and the practice of
virtue.
This
growth in goodness should progress with the lapse of time, if the good
will be lasting. In fact, growth in virtue is ever the infallible test
of a good will. "By their fruits," said the Savior, "you shall know
them." Hence, as life is necessarily a journey ever on- ward, so man's
moral development should correspond to his temporal progress.
As
life is activity, man cannot come to a deliberate moral standstill. If
he does not progress, he must recede. If he does not ascend, he will
descend. When our Savior, therefore, exhorted us to be perfect, He
emphasized a law that was already written in our very nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment