Freedom is something magnificent, yet it can also be dissipated and lost. Moral education has to do with cultivating freedom through ideas, incentives, practical applications, stimuli, rewards, examples, models, symbols, reflections, encouragement, dialogue and a constant rethinking of our way of doing things; all these can help develop those stable interior principles that lead us spontaneously to do good. Virtue is a conviction that has become a steadfast inner principle of operation. The virtuous life thus builds, strengthens and shapes freedom, lest we become slaves of dehumanizing and antisocial inclinations. For human dignity itself demands that each of us 'act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within'293 (Pope Francis, 2016 Amoris Laetitia ). In talking about moral decision making it is important to clarify what is meant by freedom. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that 'freedom is an exceptional sign of the image of God in humanity' (Gaudium et Spes, 17). Our freedom to make choices about moral issues is part of what makes us like God. Moreover, God wants us to make these choices, embrace our moral responsibility and grow and mature in moral wisdom. By acting in this way we are able to live whole-heartedly. In the light of the above it is helpful to note with O'Neil and Black (2003, p.58), that freedom can be understood in two senses: 'freedom from' and 'freedom for'. When we talk about freedom in the sense of 'freedom from', we are referring to freedom from limitations that prevent us from doing what we want. It is the limitless freedom that is often associated with individualistic cultures and the belief that individuals have a right to whatever they want. More positively, however, this 'freedom from' can be understood as freedom from those limitations that prevent us from fulfilling our vocation to live whole-heartedly. For example, if you lived in a society in which you were persecuted for your race or your sex or your religious beliefs, this would limit your freedom. But there is also a richer aspect of freedom in what is termed 'freedom for'. This is not simply about being free to choose to do whatever we like. Rather, it is about being able to make choices that might seem like limits on our freedom in order to direct our lives to what is truly good, towards a destiny centred on God. Think about how a person might choose not to eat ice-cream (and ice-cream is good because it tastes good and makes you feel happy in the short-term) because that person is trying to lose a few kilos so that she can be fitter and healthier. Or the person who pushes through the exhaustion of a physical exercise routine (the rest would be a good thing in the short term because it would provide immediate satisfaction) so that she will be able to perform better at her sport and be able to represent her country.

Now, when we talk about what is truly good and what 'freedom for' means in the Catholic sense, we are referring to the freedom to choose to direct one's actions towards the fostering of one's relationship with God and towards the flourishing of the community as a whole. This outwardly focused, altruistic understanding of freedom does not preclude one's own flourishing. Rather, it affirms that as beings made in the image of God, and hence as social and relational creatures, human beings flourish with others. Our flourishing is intimately tied up with the flourishing of others. When we use our freedom in this way, we respect not only the dignity of all human beings, but come closer to realizing the kind of just, peaceful and joyful community that God wants for humanity. What is truly good, in Catholic terms, is that which God wills. How do we know what God wills? Through revelation and through the use of our human reason to understand the order of the universe the way God has made it so that we can cooperate with God in making judgements and choices. Using these two sources of revelation and reason, we have already seen how we can affirm the good of every human being, their human dignity. We have seen how we can affirm the good of the body and the positive value of human sexuality expressed through procreation and conjugal love. We have seen how we can affirm the good of love, of intimacy, of being free of shame and of living whole-heartedly in a community of love, peace and justice with others. Thus, when it comes to moral reasoning about human sexuality and relationships, being able to answer basic questions about what is truly good means that our consciences are already well-informed about the starting point of our moral reflection. We come to understand such questions have answers both on the authority of God and the evidence of our own critical thought, reflection and feelings. What is said above constitutes the focus for what we should ultimately wish to achieve in all our moral decisions and use our freedom to work towards through our moral-decision making. What is discussed here provides a framework for helping us to think through what the right thing to do is in any given moral situation, especially in the context of human sexuality and relationships.

The Church believes there are objectively right and wrong answers to moral dilemmas. The process of moving from absolute values to general norms to specific case judgments requires the virtue of prudence, the ability to exercise sound judgment in practical matters, in order to arrive at moral certainty in one's judgments' (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1991).

In the Catholic tradition, some rules apply in every situation. Reflection on these in light of the steps of moral decision making highlighted above should make it clear why these apply: 'One may never do evil so that good may result from it; The Golden Rule (from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount): 'Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them' Charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbour and his conscience: 'Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience…you sin against Christ.' Therefore 'it is right not to…do anything that makes your brother stumble'' (Catholic Bishops of Ontario, 2011 p. 325).

When we look at the Catholic perspective on particular moral issues related to sexual activity, it is easy and tempting to reduce the perspective to a list of rules: do not masturbate; do not have sex outside of marriage; do not use contraception of any form; use only natural family planning methods to regulate the birth of offspring. But such reductionism, whilst seemingly expedient, is really quite useless. Let's face it, for many people, 'rules are made to be broken'. But reducing moral issues related to sexuality to a list of rules is useless for another, far more important reason. It reduces morality to certain actions or the avoidance of certain actions and removes such actions from the deeper context of meaning for which these morals norms (rules) have been developed. It removes moral actions from the wealth of experience of generations of human beings and societies and from the reflection on human experience by some of the greatest minds to have lived. Also, it removes ways of acting from the context of their deeper spiritual and religious significance. As with the rules of the road that exist to keep us safe on the road and to ensure that we don't accidentally kill one another, the moral norms concerning sexual practice serve both to protect us and our societies from the undesirable consequences of irresponsible behaviour, and to help us to achieve the fullness of the good things for which we were created, that is to live wholeheartedly in a community of love and justice. In other words, there is little point in simply telling someone not to do something. We need to explain the reasoning behind the prohibition. We also must offer goals for what one should be doing. Put simply, masturbation, sex outside of marriage, and contraception are proscribed in the Catholic perspective because there are much better ways to live out our sexuality, ways that are better for us and for others. The prohibitions exist not because sex and sexuality are bad but rather precisely because sex and sexuality are good. The Catholic perspective wants human beings to experience the goodness of sex and sexuality in the best way. So, knowing what these better ways are and why we should aspire to them is essential to the formation of conscience. With this knowledge, we are better informed to make free choices about how we behave and the moral meanings of our behaviour. The theoretical background to these 'better ways' has been laid out in detail in previous sections, particularly the idea that human beings are made in the image of God, have inherent dignity and are sexual and relational beings called to form communities of love reflecting God's Trinitarian love in the world. Please refer to these previous sections for more information on the background to what follows.

The rhetorical questions below will help to reveal what is better. Focus for the moment on the actions themselves rather than the circumstances. What would you rather do: i. masturbate by yourself or make love to another person? ii. make love to another person using a condom or without one? iii. ingest chemicals to prevent unwanted pregnancies or do so without the need for such chemicals? iv. have to face the choice of having an abortion, or not have to face that choice at all? v. have to tell someone that you have a sexually transmitted disease, or not have such a disease at all? vi. be in a relationship characterized by fear and doubt, or one characterized by trust and mutual respect? If we are honest with ourselves, the second option in each of the above questions is the more desirable one. The Catholic perspective thinks so too, and suggests that the way to realise the relationship of mutual trust and respect in question (vi) is by avoiding masturbation and by making love without contraceptives in the context of permanent marital bond. The regulation of childbirth can be achieved by natural family planning.