THE P RTAL
March 2014
Page 6
The A - Z of the Catholic Faith
by Fr Stephen Wang
N is for…
Natural Law
In moral thinking, the concept of ‘natural
law’ is often misunderstood. It does not mean ‘a law of
nature’, like gravity – as if you can base your morality
on the conclusions of natural science. It means,
instead, that every moral system must have some basis
in who we are as human beings and in the deepest
moral intuitions that we share with each other.
In other words, by reflecting on human nature in
its fullest sense, we discover that there are certain
things that lead to our genuine fulfilment (e.g. health,
education, family, friendship, freedom), and that it is
good to seek these things, and harmful to undermine
them for ourselves or for others. And at the same
time, by reflecting on our deepest moral instincts, we
recognise a call within us to do good and avoid evil,
to seek the truth, to love others, and to discover our
ultimate purpose in life.
The natural law is present in the heart of every
person as a gift from the Creator, and as a summons to
live a good life. It provides a foundation for the moral
life. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Ten
Commandments, revealed by God.
But the advantage of appealing to natural law is that
it is based on reason and not religious faith. All people
share in a common human nature; and all people
share in the same fundamental moral intuitions
(even though there are smaller cultural variations).
So people with different cultural and philosophical
presuppositions are still able to reflect together on
what is truly good for human beings.
Neighbour
Jesus gave us the twin commandment to love God
and to ‘love your neighbour as yourself ’ (cf. Mt 22:39).
And St Paul wrote: ‘the whole law is summed up in a
single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour
as yourself ”’ (Gal 5:14).
Your neighbour is whoever you are with at any
moment. It might be someone at home, or at work,
or at college; it might be someone in the street or in
the shop; it might be someone you are phoning or
emailing. You might be very close to this person, or
you might not know them at all.
Whoever they are, we are called to love them, to be
kind to them, to respect them, to support them, and
to pray for them. It may be that we cannot do much
to help them at this time. And it is perfectly natural
and good that we should care more about those we
are close to (family, relatives, friends, etc.) than about
those we hardly know. But the essential thing is that
we are trying to love our neighbour.
We are bound to fail sometimes, and there will be
situations where we have no idea why or how we
should love someone. But at least we know that this
person is my neighbour, and they deserve my love,
and we will not pretend they don’t exist or that they
don’t matter.
Non-Christians
Many people throughout the world do not know Jesus
Christ and have not entered his Church through faith
and baptism. The Catholic Church recognises a special
bond with the Jewish people, who were chosen before
all others to receive God’s Word, and who continue to
respond to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant.
There is an even more universal bond between all
people that comes from the common origin and
common destiny of the whole human race. All people
are created in the image of God, and all are called to
know him and love him and be with him for ever in
eternity – even though the knowledge of this call may
be very indistinct.
The Catholic Church recognises whatever is good
or true within human cultures and other religions as
something that comes from God and reflects his truth.
These ‘seeds of the Gospel’ help prepare people to
accept the Gospel message when they finally hear it,
and encourage them to find their deepest unity in the
Church of Christ.
Catholics believe that all salvation comes from
Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his
body. Those who, through no fault of their own, do not
know Christ or his Church, have the hope of attaining
salvation, if they sincerely seek God and strive to do
his will as far as they know it. This salvation will still
be through the redeeming love of Jesus Christ, but in
ways unknown to us.