In the very beginnings of sacred scripture we read of the Lord creating. Each step of creation ended a similar way with the words by describing their goodness. In Genesis 1:31 God had just finished creating man and commanded them to procreate and exercise dominion over the Earth. Genesis 1:31 states, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (NRSV).
Humanity was created uniquely different than the rest of creation. God created humans with the ability to reason, with five senses to help us learn, and free will. The combination of these work together to help us live in harmony with each other, in harmony with our creator, and assist us finding true happiness. The intellect we were blessed with helps us rationalize. Our intellectual knowledge originates in the five senses and internal sensory powers of common sense, estimation, memory, and imagination.
This intellectual knowledge that develops helps us form our will. The purpose of the will is to direct action and direct the concupiscible and irascible appetites. The concupiscible appetites are things like love, joy, desire, and sadness. They work together to help us seek what is good and reject evil. The irascible are attributes such as hope, courage, despair, and fear. These attributes assist us in avoiding evils in which we may find compelling. Together the concupiscible and irascible appetites are known as the sense appetites, and work to help us understand what is good and what is evil. They help us establish the parameters in which we exercise the freedom which God has given us. Regarding this freedom Servais Pinckaers writes, “It is the power to engage in excellent actions, actions that are true and good, even though the agent may in fact fail and do evil” (Pinckaers 68).
Looking back on my life I can see how these senses led me in the right direction. How they allowed me to see what was right, what was the right path, and how I ignored it. I think of an incident from my childhood in which I wanted a piece of candy at a store and was told no. I wanted the candy and ate it in the middle of the store without paying. I knew it was wrong and the senses mentioned above were telling me it was wrong. However, I ignored them and partook in larceny to have that which I longed for.
This ignoring of what was supposed to be done made matters worse. This is the effect of sin on the individual. Every sin wounds the communion that we have with our creator. Mortal sin goes a step further in that it ruptures the relationship completely. For something to be a mortal sin it must meet the following three criteria: It must involve grave matter, the individual must have full knowledge that it is sin, and there must be a deliberate consent to the act. This is obviously not God’s will, and it is by doing God’s will that we find the happiness that we long for. This is what James Keenan means when he writes, “Not only does love look for union, it also moves us toward freedom and truth. Love then makes possible our search for a freedom for greater love and a truth to love rightly” (Ostrowski 27).
Works Cited
Ostrowski, Thaddeus ed. Primary Source Readings in Christian Morality. Saint Mary’s Press. Winona, MN: 2008. Print
Pinckaers, Servais. Morality: The Catholic View. St. Augustine’s Press. South Bend, IN: 201. Print.
William Hemsworth-The Bible Catholic 
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