CONSCIENCE: Catechism of the CATHOLIC Church Second Edition

LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE

MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER ONE

THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

ARTICLE 6

MORAL CONSCIENCE

1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."⁴⁷

I. THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE

1777 Moral conscience,⁴⁸ present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil.⁴⁹ It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.

1778 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:

Conscience is a law of the mind; yet [Christians] would not grant that it is nothing more; I mean that it was not a dictate, nor conveyed the notion of responsibility, of duty, of a threat and a promise. . . . [Conscience] is a messenger of him, who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.⁵⁰

1779 It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection:

Return to your conscience, question it. . . . Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness.⁵¹

1780 The dignity of the human person implies and requires uprightness of moral conscience. Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality (synderesis); their application in the given circumstances by practical discernment of reasons and goods; and finally judgment about concrete acts yet to be performed or already performed. The truth about the moral good, stated in the law of reason, is recognized practically and concretely by the prudent judgment of conscience. We call that man prudent who chooses in conformity with this judgment.

1781 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth of the good, at the same time as the evil of his particular choice. The verdict of the judgment of conscience remains a pledge of hope and mercy. In attesting to the fault committed, it calls to mind the forgiveness that must be asked, the good that must still be practiced, and the virtue that must be constantly cultivated with the grace of God:

We shall . . . reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.⁵²

1782 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."⁵³

II. THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

1785 In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path,⁵⁴ we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.⁵⁵

III. TO CHOOSE IN ACCORD WITH CONSCIENCE

1786 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.

1787 Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law.

1788 To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Spirit and his gifts.

1789 Some rules apply in every case:

- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;

- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."⁵⁶

- 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."⁵⁷Therefore "it is right not to . . . do anything that makes your brother stumble."⁵⁸

IV. ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT

1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.

1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin."⁵⁹ In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.

1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.

1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.

1794 A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith."⁶⁰

The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective standards of moral conduct.⁶¹

IN BRIEF

1795 "Conscience is man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths" (GS 16).

1796 Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.

1797 For the man who has committed evil, the verdict of his conscience remains a pledge of conversion and of hope.

1798 A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. Everyone must avail himself of the means to form his conscience.

1799 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.

1800 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience.

1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.

1802 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.

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a6.htm

LOSING Grip and walking away..far far away

Time gets so slow at times for some and when things don't happen as planned, they get really sour and unfortunately makes one lose interest in anything. Inconveniences are natural occurrences and sometimes they are just too much especially  when they all come at once. Occasionally these are the dealings we have with the devices we use in our daily lives as phone, computers or just the net connection. These stuff exist supposedly to provide comfort and more capabilities of  performing more actions and saving time. But in times when they go wrong, they really do ruin ones day especially when there's no way of making a thing  better or at least works.

I'm not sure if it is similar to how the rest react to the kind of tech drags but it does really wear me out. I can still remember the number of times I hit my notebook due to the annoyances which obviously gave me a lesson expense wise. It's just unfair to have these stuff for help yet at times they offer the other way we never desire to. Worst, if one is catching up with time to accomplish some work  or just fulfilling an  essential commitment.

I have to admit  we have now a  lot of better things giving the credit to modernization, it's just fascinating that no matter what, we cannot deny the fact that they do, too if not often let one down. And in such situation one would want to just walk away and go back to the woods and deal with nothing. At least for a moment there're ease and peace.

Guess this is of  both emotional and mental struggle when one has set the mind to do a thing yet the feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment is aborted. Making one hopeless or just in a struggle to take other options for the desired result though at times there's no other else to do but accept the fate and turn the attention to anything that makes one feel better at least. Smelling the roses perhaps helps. :))

Lighthearted

No, this day hasn't been that ordinary as the past days. This started with an amazing scene when I had breakfast. On the other table an old man perhaps of late 70s was preparing a meal for his wife. Later, the wife asked for the man to get some food from her plate and added them to his. The moment was touching really for me looking at them as  they ate at the same time sitting side by side. I was impressed more as the woman was busy taking care of her restaurant and the old man, too was assisting her in every way and despite the situation, they still managed to have their meal together.

Later in the evening, I opted to go to this Thai restaurant that  offers dimsum food in a shopping center near my place. I couldn't read the menu and I get used to just point the photos for my order and so I did. The attendant smiled and pointed another picture, absolutely she remembered my orders  even I haven't visited the restaurant for quite a time already, this made me smile and again felt glad in some way.

I went to KFC for a scoop of twirl ice-cream after. While waiting for my twirl a child maybe of five years old went next to where I was pointing each KFC ice cream photos one by one while saying.."this is not delicious, not delicious", not delicious!". Hahahahaha..of course not all of the photos were directed. ;)

Such moments! Anyway, I bought something for me later and then  a big bottle of drinking yogurt and my mineral water.  The day has been loaded at least of  cheerful breathings.