Agenda: Sunday, September 21st

11:00am: Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church 440 E. Elliot Rd. Gilbert, 85234

1:00pm: Desert Monks Brewing Company 1094 S. Gilbert Rd. #101, Gilbert, AZ 85296

Announcements: 2025 Jubilee Year Pilgrimage at Our Lady Undoer of Knots Shrine Mt. Lemmon Friday Oct. 24-26

Ice Breaker: Heroes are usually depicted as exhibiting exceptional qualities. Can you think of an example of someone real or fictional that has shown virtue that has stuck with you? (you can use examples from real life, movies, shows or books).

Discussion Topic: The Body and Soul of the Human Act 

Sources: Man’s Desire for God, Ch.4

Supplement: Body and Soul (Aquinas 101), The Fonts of Morality (Aquinas 101) – YouTube

Suggested: Veritatis Splendor (6 August 1993) (Ch. 2, 28-83), Pope St. John Paul II – Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth), Ch. 2 | Catholic Culture Audiobooks

Prompts for discussion: The following are just to aid discussion…

1. Is morality something we make up or is it something that we discover? And what leads you to arrive at this conclusion?
2. Is natural reason sufficient for discovering moral laws?
3. How do exterior acts perfect my soul so that by my free choice I can arrive at heaven?
4. What does it mean to be “both servant and free?” and what are some examples that illustrate this point?
5. What issues arise when we divorce body and soul from moral actions and why is it difficult to gauge truth when we separate the two?
6. Why is consequentialism a problem? (the tendency to interpret all actions as morally indifferent), and can an act ever truly be evil under this view? Can you cite any examples of this in society? (hint relativism)
7. According to Mullady Ch. 4 “There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstance and intention, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object.” Can you think of some examples of what acts we can determine as always being evil? And why?
8. What effects does separating morals from human nature have on Catholic doctrines such as grace and salvation?
9. What sort of ramifications do you think societies face when we remove the concept of natural law?

Next Meeting: TBD

3:00pm: End