Conscience: The Sanctuary of Man

1. Conscience: The Sanctuary of Man Rob Agnelli January 2, 2009

2. The Primacy of Conscience • Adolf Eichmann— “I was following my conscience. I have believed in God. I obeyed the laws of war and was loyal to my flag. ” • Thomas More— “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

3. Freedom and Truth “The relationship between man's freedom and God's law is most deeply lived out in the ‘heart’ of the person, in his moral conscience.” Veritatis Splendor (VS),54

4. Freedomand Truth “Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness… For its part, authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man.” Gaudium et Spes (GS), 17

5. Freedomand Truth What is Freedom? Freedom from— “I can do whatever I want as long as I don’t violate your rights.” Freedomfor – “Truth, Goodness, Excellence….”

6. Freedomand Truth “Sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives us. We are supposed to use this freedom to love Him and love one another.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 388 “Sin is the failure to live freedom excellently.” George Weigel, The Truth of Catholicism

7. Freedom and Truth Who is the author of truth? “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32

8. Freedom and Truth “The moral law…prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love.” CCC 1950

9. Freedom and Truth Avenues to Moral Truth • Natural Law • Revealed Law • Scripture • Church

10. Freedom and Truth “The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin .” CCC 1954

11. Freedom and Truth “…moral principles are the same for all as to rectitude and as to knowledge.” Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (ST), I-94 “moral principles are right for everyone and everyone to some extent knows them.”

12. Freedom and Truth Man is fallen “Original sin…is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". CCC 405

13. Freedom and Truth What happened to natural law?

14. Moral Relativism “Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.” Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

15. Moral Relativism “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State. “ Planned Parenthood vs Casey

16. Where Relativism Takes Us “For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means…the power of some men to make other men what they please CS Lewis, The Abolition of Man

17. Freedom and Truth “God's plan poses no threat to man's genuine freedom; on the contrary, the acceptance of God's plan is the only way to affirm that freedom.” VS, 45

18. The Sanctuary of Man “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. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths.” GS, 16

19. The Three Parts of the Soul God Intellect Will Heart

20. Conscience as a Faculty of the Intellect “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” CCC 1778

21. Conscience and the Will “Moral conscience…enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil.” CCC 1777

22. Conscience as a Faculty of the Heart “…approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil.” CCC 1778

23. The Three Functions of Conscience and the Soul Intellect—Awareness of good and evil Will—A desire for good and avoidance of evil Heart—Feeling of peace at doing right and guilt at doing wrong

24. Common Errors in Understanding Conscience • Conscience is not just a feeling

25. More than a Feeling Remember that first and foremost conscience is a knowing about what is good and what is evil and that feeling is always a result of some other cause—in this case the act of reason known as conscience.

26. Common Errors in Understanding Conscience • Conscience is not just a feeling • Conscience is not infallible

27. Conscience is not Infallible “Conscience is not an infallible judge; it can make mistakes.” VS, 62

28. Obligations of Conscience “A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself.” CCC 1790 “Although each individual has a right to be respected in his own journey in search of the truth, there exists a prior moral obligation, and a grave one at that, to seek the truth and to adhere to it once it is known.” VS, 34

29. Erroneous Conscience • Vincible Ignorance—moral ignorance that can and should be overcome • Invincible Ignorance—ignorance you could not conquer and are not responsible for

30. Avenues to Moral Truth • Natural Law • Revealed Law • Scripture • Church

31. Church “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Luke 10:16

32. Common Errors in Understanding Conscience • Conscience is not just a feeling • Conscience is not infallible • Not merely negative but positive

33. Is Conscience a Referee or a Coach?

34. Moments of Conscience • Conscience as Knowing and Desiring the Good • Conscience as discerning the particular good • Coming to the time of judgment of “do this, shun that”

35. Conscience as Knowing and Desiring the Good “…Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality …” CCC 1780

36. Conscience as Discerning the Particular Good “…their application in the given circumstances by practical discernment of reasons and goods; …” CCC 1780 • Gather information about the particular situation • Seek Counsel • Personal Reflection

37. Conscience at the Time of Judgment “…finally judgment about concrete acts yet to be performed or already performed.” CCC 1780

38. “4th” Moment of Conscience “A clear conscience is usually a good sign of a bad memory.” Steven Wright

39. Qualities of a Good Examen • Total sincerity—requires radical humility • Concrete and specific—with whom and when is the failure expressed • Deep—we must get to the root cause • True contrition • Trusting in God—stems from the experience of His mercy

40. A Case Study in Conscience: Contraception “My wife and I have 4 children under the age of 6 and my wife is burdened heavily with the care of our children. Should we contracept to avoid additional ‘burden’ or attempt Natural Family Planning? Our priest tells us it is a matter of conscience.”

41. Questions??? If you would like a copy of this talk or have additional questions: Email: alli_rob@bellsouth.net