Exercising Christian

Conscience
 His Word
Luke 10: 29-37
The Parable
of the
Good Samaritan.
• Who were the Characters present
and describe their status in society
that time
• What was the scenario in the
story?
• How did the characters respond to
the victim?
• Why did the characters respond in
such a way?
• What kind of consciences do
you think they have presented?
• If you were the victim, what
would you feel after being
ignored?
• If you were the victim, what
would you feel after being
cared for?
Robbers Priest

“...They stripped
and beat him and
went off leaving
him half-dead.”
Robbers Priest Samaritan
“A priest happened to be going down
that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on
the opposite side. Likewise a Levite
came to the
place, and when he saw him, he passed
by on the opposite side.”
Robbers Priest Samaritan
But a Samaritan traveller who came upon
him was moved
with compassion at the sight. He
approached the
victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds
and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up
on his own animal,
took him to an inn and
cared for him
 Conscience is for
all, regardless of
culture and religion
NATURAL LAW
 NATURAL LAW
• A inner law in
human nature that
tells us to avoid
evil and do good.
Romans 2: 14-16
“For when the Gentiles
who do not have the law by
nature observe the
prescriptions of the law,
they are a law for
themselves even though
they do not have the law.
Romans 2: 14-16
They show that the demands of
the law are written in their
hearts, while their conscience
also bears witness and their
conflicting thoughts accuse or
even defend them on the day
when, according to my gospel,
God will judge people’s hidden
works through Christ Jesus.”
 DEFINITION
• “In the depths of his conscience,
man detects a law which he does
not impose upon himself, but which
holds him to obedience. Always
summoning him to love good
and avoid evil, the voice of
conscience when necessary
speaks to his heart: “Do this shun
that.”
 KEY WORD
• DETECTS a LAW
• “Do This, Shun that”
 DEFINITION
• Conscience is the most secret
core and sanctuary of Man.
There he is alone with God,
whose voice echoes in his
depths. In a wonderful manner
conscience reveals the law
which is fulfilled by love of God
and neighbour.” (GS 16)
 KEY WORD
• Secret core where
man talks with God
 DEFINITION
• More concretely it refers to applying
objective moral norms to our
particular acts: the voices of
conscience can when necessary,
speak to our hearts more specifically,
‘do this, shun that.’ As such,
conscience acts as the proximate
norm of personal morality for
discerning good and evil.” (CFC 701)
 KEY WORD
• Conscience guided
by Objective Moral
Norms
• Acts as our
Proximate Norm
 DEFINITION
• From the level of Moral
tendency to the actual
practical judgment is a
process whereby
conscience discerns and
judges. Discernment is
likewise part of the
dimension of conscience,
is a prerequisite of moral
behavior.” (PCP II 285)
 KEY WORD
• Moral tendency and
Practical Judgment
• Discernment
 DEFINITION
• The truth is that freedom of conscience
carries with it a corresponding duty to
respect the same freedom in others.
Each person has the right, original in
human nature, to be recognized and
respected as a free and responsible
being.
 KEY WORD
• Conscience like
freedom is social
and relational
 DEFINITION
• Moral obligation, then, far
from destroying authentic
freedom, pertains only to our
free thoughts, morals and
deeds, and guides them toward
true, genuine freedom.
 KEY WORD
• Moral obligation
leads to genuine
freedom
 DEFINITION
• Whenever we try to free
ourselves from the moral
law and become
independent of God, far
from gaining genuine
freedom, we destroy it.
(CFC 703)
“Father, not my will but
yours be done.”
 DEFINITION
• The truth concerning good and
evil is recognized in a practical
and concrete manner by the
judgment of conscience, which
leads to the acceptance of
responsibility for the good
accomplished and evil committed.
 KEY WORD
• RESPONSIBILITY in
action committed
 DEFINITION
• Consequently in the practical
judgement of conscience, which
imposes on the person the
obligation to perform a given act,
the link between freedom and
truth is made manifest.
 KEY WORD
• Truth and freedom
are connected in
exercising
conscience
 DEFINITION
• Conscience expresses itself in
acts of judgment which reflects
the truth about the good and
not in arbitrary decisions.”
(CSD 139)
DIMENSIONS of Conscience
 Subjective
is the person’s (subject’s) norm of
judging moral good or evil.
– by “subjective”, we do not mean that
the judgment of conscience is
relative, or that it depends only on
what a person thinks (the kanya-
kanya mentality)
 Subjective
– “subjective” means simply means
that the individual’s conscience is
his or hers.
An individual’s conscience has a
unique role that nothing or no one
else can perform.
 Subjective
–It judges what one must do or avoid
by creatively applying objective moral
laws to concrete moral acts. Because
no moral law or commandment
applies itself, there is absolute need
for the action of conscience
 Objective
This means that our conscience,
while intimately ours, is formed by
the universal values and norms
we learned. Since our conscience is
not “a law Unto itself” but our moral
reasoning power as Members of
our community, there is a need for
Objective moral norms.
 Objective
Our conscience is guided
By fundamental human
values enshrined in laws
that govern our social
relationships.
 Formation
of
Conscience
Formation of Conscience
• But our conscience is not something
automatic. It is gradually shaped through
all the many and complex factors that enter
into our growth to Christian maturity. Family
upbringing, basic education and catechesis
in the faith, our cultural attitudes and values,
the friends we grow in school, and the larger
social environment of the community – all
influence the development of conscience.
 KEY WORD
• Conscience is not
automatic
• Formation is gradual
• Conscience is
educated
 Formation of Conscience
• Our ongoing moral experiences, within which
our conscience gradually take shape, are
never isolated, but rather always involve
countless interactions with parents,
guardians, relatives, friends, neighbours,
teachers, religious and priests, within the
social groupings of family, school, parish
and community. (CFC 704)
 KEY WORD
• Conscience is formed
through people
 Formation of Conscience
• When the circumstances of life challenge us
with difficult choices, we become more
aware of the need to form a right
conscience. In complex modern conditions,
with new sensitivities (e.g. solidarity, social
justice, peace), new demands and hopes
(equal rights, liberation movements,
feminism), moral judgements are more
difficult and less certain.
 KEY WORD
• Conscience is formed
through different
circumstances in
society, especially, the
difficult and sensitive
ones
 Formation of Conscience
• In such cases, where there are often
legitimate differences among
Catholics, we must be careful not to
identify our opinion with the authority
of the Church. Rather, our conscience
therefore needs to be both
enlightened and informed. (CFC 705)
 KEY WORD
• Conscience needs to
be enlightened and be
informed that it may
be based on truth and
not on opinion
 Formation of Conscience
• But to form the conscience of a disciple of
Christ, the key is obviously Christ and His
Spirit, experienced within Christ’s
community, the Church. The formative
process takes place in faith and through
prayer, by attending to the Word of God
and the teachings of the Church and by
responsiveness to the gifts of the Holy
Spirit.
 KEY WORD
• And this truth is
founded on Christ and
His Church
• The Holy Spirit as an
agent
 Formation of Conscience
• Critical reflection on the events
and experiences of our life helps
us in forming moral judgments. It
is in living out the faith that we
form our Christian conscience.
Types of Formative factors
• Heart Factors - such as
reading and reflecting on
Jesus’ teaching and actions,
and our affective and
sacramental life wherein we
encounter the Risen Christ.
Types of Formative factors
• Mind Factors- attending to the
sacred and certain doctrine of the
Church, whose duty is to
authoritatively teach that truth which
is Christ himself, and also to declare
and confirm those principles of the
moral order which have their origin in
human nature itself. (CFC 707)
Levels of Conscience
 Levels of Conscience
1.) Instinctive level (Fear
Conscience)
A person makes a judgment
based on the possible reward
or punishment of his/her
actions.
 Levels of Conscience
1.) Instinctive level (Fear
Conscience)
He/she is not focusing on the
objectivity of the goodness of an
action rather focuses on the
possible outcome to himself/herself.
(This is applicable to young children
and sometimes adult)
 Levels of Conscience
2.) Philosophical-Ethical stage
The person makes a judges
and acts according to the
universal human values
(related to Natural law). Doing
it since it is ethical
 Levels of Conscience
3.) Christian or Religious level
The person bases his/her judgment
and actions according to his/her
faith in God and in Jesus Christ
teachings and actions. It’s not just
asking “what is the right thing to
do?” Rather, with the given situation
“what would Jesus do?”
• “At other times we experience
feelings of guilt – when we are
bothers by having acted
against some norm or rule.
These guilt feelings can be a
result of an authentic Christian
Conscience – when we have
acted contrary to the Gospel.
• But the guilt feelings could also
be a result merely of shame on
breaking some social or
cultural ‘taboo.’ Formation of an
authentic Christian conscience
here means clarifying the
difference between moral guilt
and psychological guilty
feelings which do not necessarily
involve any moral fault.”