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$n Giving
Moral ddvice
By IAMES Ir. KEENAN
O STUDENTS PREPARjIIC for priesthcxrd and lay minisay, I
te|Lh of rnnral theology at Weston Jesuit School of
Ll')r dreaded subject
T'he.:logy in Cambridge, Mass. These sudents are inteUigent, articulate
and in love with their respective v<rations. But they arc demanding.
'l'hey insist that what I teach be releyant to their future pastoral work^
The caller begins Thi:-v have made me a better leacher and theologian by directing me
toNaid allvays integrating theory and practice.
a complicated {.}ne of the basic tasks that they and, in fact, all of us face has ro do
with moral advice. ln making moral decisions, we all eidrcr consult or
explanation af ar.c ir:nsulted. Since that moral ta^sh above all others, integates theory
an(i practice, let me indicate l3 fundamental hsights that I have acquired
anri have lbund helpful in the grving of moral advice.
the background. i . I..istt' . l frequently get cals from people of conscience wanting to
hnd our whedrer their way of deliberating about a particular rnatter is
I stand in fvigltt right. 'the caller begins by explaining something about bookkeeping,
gcnelic structures, surgical devices, legal appeals or union balloting.
and wonde.r, .Aiter cne minute, I stand in fright and wonder, "Whal on earti is this
perrorr going to ask?" At that moment I realize again how litde cnmpe-
krce I have.
'What on enrth li's a commonplace to criticize priests for knowing notlting about sex
aori orarriage. Some remark: "Why talk to priests about sex and marriage
is this persln \rllcIr they know nothing about it1" I mar-vel that the charge srops therel I
a|ir irrompetent in most professic.nal areas, but people still ask my
going ta ssk?' ad',i.e about all solts of miittcrs, im:luding sex and marriage. This may
tr Lrccause I've leamed lo iister tlnd fo rccognize how comperent my
o,!!lcr'-{ themselves are not on!} alxrvt accounting, molecular biology ;urd
!.(,rts. bLrt also about moral reasoning. And they, like so many people.
d
wiilri solneone whose reasoning and iistering they trust as well.
lrr 1983, alter my first year of gradu;ite studics in moral theology, my
dad s folrncr panncr in the New 1'ork City Police Department called nre.
Hiii two nieces had been in a car accident a year earlier. One walked away
I:
IAI\{ES F. KEENAN, S.I"/ is the author of GoolheJs and Rightness in
'l')tr.'ntas Aquinas's " Summu Theologiae" (1992) and coeditor with
'Ilrrrrnas
A" Shannon af The Context of Casuistr!^ (1995).
' 1.1:;,:
14
AMEA,ICC MARCI I 2, 199d
Huck's own too easy ond sitn-
(:xperience chal- ple. Pat answers
lenges the "con_ are usually in-
rcience" of the accurate. Simply
crommunity and glidirg over cir-
prompts him to cumstances with
rlct as his own soms gencral prin-
Inan. ciple is not hclp-
7.Remenber ful- Remember,
the parable of the too, Aquinas's
llood Samaritan. important insight:
(.ioncretely, this General principles
parable accentu- apply generally.
r.tes the difflculty Nothing more,
rve feel w hile nothing less. None
rushing to ow jobs are worse on
?nd passing home- this topic th.n the
l:ss people asking media, who love
for handouts. reminding their
On one leYel the listeners that any
Frarable never lels serious issue they
r.s feel comfort- i^. 'tt'ttt1lr
" "
Present. is "very
able. It reminds :.I complicate4" but
Llsthat we haYe who insist that
rnany neighbors the solutions be
in need. The para- describable in a
t,le never lets micro-sccond.
r.s fall into self- Taking a per-
comPlacency, but son off a life suP
ralh€r calls us to port system usual-
p,reater vigilance ly does not mean
and atlentiveness. killing that per-
Iror this reason, son, but letting
tre great contem- him .or her die-
p'orary American ethicist, Stanlc) Ilaucrv,,:r.,, rcrninds us 'lblling a person who is tl.l.V-positive and refuses td
tlrat Christians must always be $c1chful. (-)n rr)11\tar)t alert abstain lir)m scxuai relations that he should use a condom
i\ not pr,llDot,nF <crual activity, but protecting.tbe.con-
mon good. lol('raling a moralty wrong activity is qd$g,
N ANOTHER LEVEL wc 5ee lhe irry srrrprising sanle as daing rhe wrong aclivity. If moratiry ii abriiri
answer to the question originally poscd to Je:rus. "Who is undeFtanding who we are and what we ought to do, thed,
rry neighbor?" What is the answcr? lsn l jt.'ii1e one who Ior starters, ir c ought to bc. careful how we describe what
showed mercy?" Too ofl.en, whcn we thiqk ,rf ihe parable, u'e do. Sioppv descriptions do not help in moral advice,.::.
v/e believe that the neighbor is someorc \r'ir1r !eed\ lo be 9. Re rtspons[hle with church teacrzing. Rome is com-
helped: but in the Gospel. .Icsus lc!che,, us ri,iri ()ui ncigh- plicated; irs hisrory is complex. There is nothing disre-
Lor is the one who sirows mercv. Ir nr', rrL,,r iile- I know spectlul rit serking accuracy, whether about the way tlre
the importance of having ueigi;bor; iir:.- inc Gond church e:<crcrses its i'uthority lt a given momeut or about
S amaritan. One fiierd of rnine rs a pa:;ror in ., pi',rr neigh. the historical ciairDs ri makes lor a particular teaching. .As
borhood in Boston who routincll fi1crs tl),, icrlihl. bur- niniste$" v.'e ;ire passing on a tradition that is not the dead
dens of working with lhe poor Arroth.r rs ;: je5urt physi- faith of tlrc Uving, bur the livilg faith of the dead. 'that
cian $'ho has [orked for l0 ycars i! r]i,: ,\.!DS llllil i]t- living histu|ic:rl lrir(liiior rnust l}e handed on wilh integd.
tioston City Hospital and is pr.parinu ior llork in ly. Morcovci hisrory concerns the progress of humanity,
lJganda. As I work and teach in (':rrnbnr|,c. I n*ctl lricnds and in thcr pro-qrcss titete is growth. Thus, on moral mat-
and neighbors like that. We all do. ters our perspectivo develops and even changes- For
8- Be attentive to distinclions.ll rs a grcai J.iuit legacy cxample, a wisc rcctor in Rome rernarked to me that if in
t,l recognize and heed the clainrs ot distinctions. We are vitlo fertilization wcrr available irfthe lTth century, rhat
correct to stress lhem, because often !'/hcr, i.\,e hear that is. if they had rhen had rhe technology by which a woman
n.toral issues are complicated, wc seei $()lotii-rns tbai are could conc'eive a chilij witlout sex, the chuch would have