Akiya Faith Plaza

Grade 12 – Bouvet A

Mr. Francis Manuel

September 18, 2022

Synthesis Paper

As I look back on the lessons that this course taught me, there are a lot of lessons that I learned
but there is one lesson that will remain to live in my heart and mind rent-free. It is to be more of
a human towards others to be a human for God.

I want to start with the aspects that made this realization knock upon me.

To be morally upright.

To be authentically free.

To be genuinely loving.

Genuine humanity comes with morality, freedom, and devotion.

Morality is not just in behavior but also in character. Moreover, Christian morality is not there to
be set as rules but to be our loving response to God. To put it in another way, we should not
characterize being and doing good because that is what we think is required but to be and do
good because we love and believe in God.
Freedom is pivotal for us to be and to do good. For us to do and be good, we ought to be free
from the tempting riches that may hinder us from choosing to do and be good. And we must be
free to be responsible towards our neighbors.

Responsibility towards your neighbors indicates your responsibility as a disciple of God. Love
our neighbors as how much we love God. And care for our neighbors as how much we care for
ourselves.

With all this being said before we could recognize ourselves as sincere disciples of God, we need
to be morally upright, authentically free, and genuinely loving. We cannot be just morally
upright without being genuinely detached from the things that prevent us from doing and being
God. And we cannot be completely free without being sincerely loving towards our brothers and
sisters. In short, we need to possess these three aspects before we could claim ourselves as
disciples of God.

If I were to act as a ten-year-old version of me, I would probably do and be good because it is
what I thought to be obligated in the eyes of God. I would probably claim to love God but hate
my brothers and sisters. And I would probably be free but irresponsible.

And if I were to express my emotions right now, I am beyond delighted for being able to learn
and understand these lessons before it was too late for me. And to tell you honestly, I was not
that kind towards others. I was selective about whom to be kind to and whom to respect. I was
not proud of it, but up until this moment, I am regretful of whom I was before. And I know to
myself that these lessons will be with me until the last moments of my life.
References:

Catholic Church. The Bible and Morality Biblical Roots of Christian Conduct. 11 May 2018.

https://www.vatican.va/romancuria/congregations/cfaith/pcbdocuments/
rcconcfaithdoc20080511bibia-e-moreleen.html

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,

1997.

Brittanica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Rerum Novarum”. Encyclopedia Brittanica., 15 May

2022. https://www.brittanica.com/topic/Rerum-Novarum