Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Conscience (Part 1)

What is conscience?
"Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law


How can we have a well-formed conscience?
"The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed."

On the supremacy of conscience...

"Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters."

However...

" (1) One may never do evil so that good may result from it; (2) the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.", (3) charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbor 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.""

1 comment:

Magdalene-Sophie said...

celestinian! :P
i like your last post. me too. i worried (past tense) about the future. :)

i came across a quote by someone (it might've been Mother Theresa, i really can't remember) that God doesn't care what we're going to do tonight, He only cares what we're doing Now.

there's also this song in Sing Your Praise to God (i know, it's pretty old lol) that goes "Do not worry over what to eat, what to wear or put upon your feet. Trust and pray, go do your best today, then leave it in the hands of the Lord, leave it in the hands of the Lord."

we'll take it one day at a time eh :)