Episode Transcript  

One

The Right to Act in Good Conscience

In this series, we have given the basic principles to know right from wrong. These are the three tests of a good act. The act itself must be good. The intentions must be good. The circumstances must be good. However, some actions are evil no matter what. Actions like sleeping with a person we are not married to, or contraception, or sterilization by tubal ligation or vasectomy to avoid pregnancy, or artificial insemination and in-vitro-fertilization, or homosexual acts, or lying or theft, or abortion and murder, or euthanasia, which murders people to put people out of their suffering.

Many people do not agree with this because they don’t want to accept that some actions are wrong, are evil, regardless of a good intention, regardless of the hoped-for good outcomes, and regardless of the difficulty of the circumstances. 

Every person has the right to act in conscience and in freedom. However, faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the teaching of Jesus or a wrong judgment that departs from reason and the teaching of Jesus handed down by the Church.

Two

What Conscience is and is not

Conscience is about applying your knowledge of right and wrong to concrete situations. The word conscience comes from the Latin words cum and scientia. Which means “with” and “knowledge.” Following your conscience is literally just acting with knowledge. Conscience means doing what is right according to reason and the teaching of Jesus.

Conscience is different from compassion. Compassion also comes from two words cum and passion, meaning with emotion. Compassion is to act with feelings or emotions. We must be careful not to mistake conscience with compassion. Oftentimes, when a person rejects one of the hard moral teachings of the Catholic Church, they are not rejecting it out of knowledge, research, and careful thought. They are rejecting it out of compassion, out of emotions.

Knowledge of right and wrong based on reason and the teachings of Jesus handed down by the Church should determine actions. Not feelings or emotions. Allowing our wants and desires, our passions or emotions to dictate behavior over reason and the teaching of Jesus is always dangerous. 

Three

Forming your conscience: educating yourself about right and wrong

It’s not enough to just do what you feel is right. We have to do what is right according to reason and the teaching of God. Romans 12:2  says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

We spend so much time watching, reading, and listening to what the world thinks about what is good and what is evil. How much time do we spend learning which actions are good and which actions are bad from the Word of God, learning about what God has taught us about His design for the human person? We’re talking about Scripture, the teaching of the Church, and the examples of the saints.

The best synthesis or summary of the teaching of Jesus on moral questions is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Simply stated, we must conform our minds to the mind of Christ as presented in the Catechism. If we reject the teachings in the Catechism, then we have chosen to conform our minds to the world and not to Christ.

Four

The only way to really know how something is supposed to work is to ask the person who made it. 

The only way we could ever truly know how we are supposed to work is if God Himself told us. And in Jesus Christ, that is exactly what God came and did. In Jesus, God explained what is right and wrong. Then the Holy Spirit inspired certain men to put that teaching in writing in the Scriptures. But Jesus gave us something far greater than a book.

Jesus remains with us as The Teacher. In a totally unique way, Jesus remains with the Pope and the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles to teach through the Catholic Church. It’s why He told His Apostles, “Whoever hears you, hears me,” and “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When the Church teaches in its official capacity, it is Jesus teaching through it. And the best synthesis of Jesus teaching through the Church is found in the Catechism. To follow the teaching of the Catechism is to follow Jesus. To go against the teaching in the Catechism is to go against the teaching of Jesus. It’s that simple.

Five

Truth before Personal Preferences

As a resolution, if there are moral teachings of the Catholic Church you do not understand or do not agree with, then take the steps to learn why the Church teaches what it does. Form your conscience. 

For example, when it comes to topics like contraception, Natural Family Planning, homosexual sexual actions, reproductive technologies, either search our website, schooloffaith.com, because we have done a Rosary meditation on all of these, or read the book by Christopher West entitled The Good News About Sex and Marriage. Or go to Christopherwest.com. Or search Christopher West on any of these topics on YouTube.

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