Conscience
Conscience is not an emotion or an intuition or a hunch about moral concerns. Conscience is a reasoning process that applies a doctrine to a specific situation in order to make a specific choice. Every human being, whether he is a believer or not, has a conscience. The non-believer reasons from “principles” rather than doctrines in order to make a moral choice.
Conscience can be correct or mistaken. It can make a right choice or an erroneous choice; it can come to a true conclusion or a false conclusion. Therefore conscience must be formed or educated by acquiring Catholic doctrine as the reasons for our conclusions. The formation of conscience also needs Reason, e.g., accurate information, the advice of competent people, etc. It can be greatly helped by a spiritual director, but good spiritual direction never contradicts Catholic doctrine.
Someone who is not aware that his conscience is in error and that his choice is bad is not guilty or at fault for his wrong conclusion and the sin he commits. However, when an action is bad, it is bad. Lack of awareness of an act’s sinfulness does change the nature of the act. We can still be growing away from God even when we are not aware that we are growing away from Him. Conscience allows us to grow closer to God and to avoid growing away from Him. (For more on conscience, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1776-1802.)
An Examination of Conscience
Each question below expresses a specific Catholic doctrine. As you conduct this examination of conscience, keep in mind three things. First, the following questions get at what a good Catholic should try his or her best to do. A good Catholic cannot be perfect, otherwise only God could be a good Catholic. Fidelity to doctrine is a life-long challenge, for which God has provided the Sacrament of Confession. Second, to one extent or another, everyone finds Catholic doctrine challenging. The problem is not the doctrine but our fallen human nature. Third, it is never too late to start becoming faithful to a doctrine.
- Do I seek the objective truth about all things?
- Do I recognize and appreciate objective truth, goodness, and beauty outside the Catholic Church as revelations or reflections of the one true God?
- Do I live to be in union with the one, true God Who is three Divine Persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and to share in Their perfect love?
- Do I accept that the one, true God has most fully revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, Who is God the Son?
- Do I accept that Jesus Christ has most fully revealed Himself in His Death and Resurrection?
- Do I accept that Jesus Christ is best known or revealed in the Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church, which Christ Himself founded?
- Do I accept that only the Magisterium has the God-given authority to interpret Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition and thus to define the Catholic Faith in doctrines that are always and everywhere true?
- Do I accept the doctrine and discipline taught by the Magisterium while knowing that I do not have to agree with the Magisterium’s social analysis and prudential judgments?
- Do I respect the office of the Magisterium even when it is held by sinful men?
- Do I accept Catholic doctrine about salvation: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Judgment?
- Do I accept that the Catholic Faith alone has the fullness of the means of salvation—the most complete creed, worship, morality, and prayer?
- Do I try to act according to Catholic moral doctrine, which is based on the Two Great Commandments of the New Testament and the Ten Commandmentsof the Old Testament? Do I love God more than anything else? Do I love others by treating them as I should want to be treated? Do I obey the Ten Commandments?
- Do I worship according to Catholic liturgical teachings, especially by participating in Mass every week on the Lord’s Day and on Holy Days of Obligation (or their vigils) and also by going to Confession regularly?
- Do I pray daily and try to discover the many forms of prayer in the Catholic Faith?
- Am I developing a unique personal relationship with God that never contradicts Catholic doctrine?
- Do I support the Church, especially a parish, to the degree my time, talent, and treasure allow?
- Am I Catholic twenty-four hours a day? Is my Catholic identity what most defines me—more than race/ethnicity, economic class, gender, sexual orientation, culture, family, personality, physical appearance, job, or anything else?
- Do I try to convert/invite non-Catholics to the Catholic Church, while respecting the religious freedom of others, by proposing and not imposing what can only be known by Faith?
When Does Lent End?
Two traditions in the Church give us two different conclusions for Lent:
The first tradition considers Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter as the Easter Triduum (as in CCC, 1168), which, therefore, makes the Wednesday before Holy Thursday (“Spy Wednesday”) the last day of Lent.
The second tradition considers Lent to be forty days in length (as in CCC, 540), which makes Holy Saturday the last day of Lent. It relies on the calculus of Lent as forty days in length by not counting any of the Sundays but by considering Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday as days in Lent.
These traditions are examples of tradition with a small “t” in the Church—as distinguished from the Sacred Tradition through which God reveals Himself. God has not revealed when Lent ends, so let us continue to examine our consciences even after Lent (whenever that is!)
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