DP 326 [8]
. . . goodness of life, or living rightly,
means refraining from evils
because they are contrary to religion,
thus contrary to God . . ..
To it we will add only this,
that if you do good works in abundance
if, for example,
you build churches, adorn them and fill them with offerings,
contribute money to hospitals and shelters,
give alms daily, aid widows and orphans,
diligently observe the sanctities of worship,
indeed think, speak and preach these from the heart
and yet do not refrain from evils as sins against God,
then all those good works are not good.
They are either hypocritical or merit-seeking,
for evil is still inwardly present in them,
inasmuch as everyone's life is present in each and every thing that he does.
Good works, on the other hand,
become good only by the removal of evil from them.
It is apparent from this
that to refrain from evils because they are contrary to religion,
thus contrary to God,
is to live rightly.
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