how did peter become disciple
Chapter 13 – Living as Disciples of Christ
What I just did was to give you an example: as I have done, so you must do. (Jn 13:15)
But only God, who created man to His own image and ransomed him from sin, provides a fully adequate answer to [mans basic] questions. . . revealed in Christ His Son who became man. Whoever follows after Christ, the perfect man, becomes himself more of a man. (GS 41)
OPENING
674. For Christians, moral living is simply following Christ. Yet when morality is mentioned, the first thing we often think about is laws, commandments, a series of donts, and dire punishments if we fail. But Christian Faith is more than a set of truths to be believed; it is the way of Christ which leads to life (cf. CCC 1696). It is the Gospel of Christ believed and lived which will decide our destiny as Christians. Fullness of life here on earth means that, in all the innumerable actions, events and problems of daily life, we walk with Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6).
675. Christian moral life, then, is about the Gospel. It is about growing in love and holiness. It is the process of becoming authentically human (cf. RH 14). The Christian moral person is one who experiences the liberating and transforming presence of Christ, through the grace of his Spirit (cf. 2 Cor 3:17; Jn 8:32). From this experience, Christians commit themselves, in their moral attitudes, decisions, and acts, to the ongoing process of liberating and transforming men and women into disciples of Christ. For Christ is he from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our journey leads us (LG 3). Thus the world may be filled with the spirit of Christ and may more effectively attain its destiny in justice, in love and in peace (LG 36). This is developed in the PCP II in terms of social transformation (cf. PCP II 256-74, 435-38).
676. But we soon find that this following of Christ is not easy __ life is full of challenges. From the very dawn of history human beings, enticed by the evil one, abused their freedom. They set themselves against God and sought to find fulfillment apart from God. . . . Their senseless minds were darkened and they served the creature rather than the Creator (GS 13; cf. CCC 1707).
677. Left to ourselves, we have no power to fulfill Christs command: Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). Yet God strengthens us by letting us share the life of Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit received in Baptism (cf. Rom 6:4). This Spirit, in uniting us to Christ, our risen Savior, as members of his Body, the Church, liberates and empowers us with new life to respond in our daily words and deeds to Gods love (cf. CCC 1742). Thus, as disciples of Christ, mutually supporting one another through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we come to exercise responsible freedom according to Gods loving design, as grasped by our gradually formed Christian conscience.
678. This chapter proposes the constitutive elements of personal Christian moral living: the moral agent, human persons; our basic dignity in freedom and in personal moral responsibility; governed by our conscience, the inner guide for moral growth in virtue, through the example of Christ, the grace of the Spirit, and the Fathers loving mercy (cf. CCC 1700-9).
CONTEXT
679. We, Catholic Filipinos, constituting more than 82% of our population, are rightly proud of our Christian faith. We are especially fond of religious processions, novenas and numerous devotions to Christ our Savior, to Mary and the other Saints. Our churches are crowded on Sundays and special fiestas. Moreover, recent religious movements in our country such as the Cursillo, the Charismatic renewal, the Focolare, and the like, have clearly shown a widespread yearning for closer union with Christ. A great number of Filipinos are seeking ways to draw closer to Christ their Lord.
680. Yet this yearning for spiritual intimacy with Jesus often does not seem to touch the daily words and actions of some devotees. Their piety frequently fails to produce acts of loving service, forgiveness and sacrifice. How can many pious Church-members continue to act as abusive landlords, usurers, oppressive employers, or unreliable employees? Why do many graduates of our best Catholic schools turn out to be corrupt government officials, unfaithful husbands and wives, or cheating businessmen? There seems to be a serious gap between external ritual expression of Christian Faith, and authentic discipleship: following Christ in action.
681. Genuine Christian piety, of course, inspires true Christian witness and service. But in the Philippines today, the challenge of authentic Christian witness demands two things: a) interiorly, that Filipino Catholics break through external ritualism and social conformism to interiorize their devotional prayer and sacramental worship deeply into their very selves (kalooban); b) exteriorly, to commit themselves to Jesus Christ and to all he stands for, in daily practice of the faith according to Catholic moral principles and the guidance of the teaching Church.
EXPOSITION
I. Moral Agent: The Human Person
682. Christian moral life is simply the call to become loving persons, in the fullness of life-with-others-in-community before God, in imitation of Jesus Christ. The key to moral life, then, is the human person, considered in the light of both reason and faith. All human rights, personal and social, all moral duties and responsibilities, all virtues and moral character __ all depend directly on the answers we give to the questions: who am I as a person in community? as a disciple of Jesus Christ, in his Church? In the words of PCP II: How to live as Filipino Christians in our situation of lights and shadows? (PCP II 35)
683. This sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man (DH 1). The inviolable dignity of every human person. . . is the most precious possession of an individual, [whose] value comes not from what a person has as much as from what a person is (CL 37). Hence the pivotal point of our total presentation will be the human person, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will (GS 3). But just who or what IS the human person according to reason and Christian Faith?
684. Persons in Christ. For Christians, the answer can only be grounded on Jesus Christ himself. In Christ and through Christ, we have acquired full awareness of our dignity, of the heights to which we are raised, of the surpassing worth of our own humanity, and of the meaning of our existence (RH 11). For by his incarnation, the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every person (GS 22).
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685. Christ reveals how the essential dignity of all persons is grounded directly on their origin, meaning and destiny. We believe all persons are created by God in His image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom everything was made and through whom we live (1 Cor 8:6). We believe all are redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), and are sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor 6:19). We believe all persons are called to be children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), destined for eternal life of blessed communion with the Father, His Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 1692).
686. But, despite their firm belief in these basic truths of the Christian Faith, many Catholics do not realize how these truths touch their day-to-day moral attitudes, acts and choices. Only if these credal truths are linked directly with the Filipinos experience of themselves as persons, will they influence their moral living. Hence, we have to relate these Christian truths to the common experience of being a Filipino person. Although we tend to take these characteristics of our own person for granted, we nevertheless need to become more conscious of them to gain a true knowledge of self and of our relationships to others and to God.
II. Persons in Experience
687. Persons are open and relational by nature. No man is an island; we grow into our full selves as persons only in relating to others. We Filipinos are outstanding in this regard: it is said Filipinos are never alone. We realize being a person means being by others (our conception, birth, upbringing), being with others (our family, friends, neighbors, business associates), and being for others (love, service). This is how we have been created by God __ as social beings. This is how we have been redeemed by Christ __ as a people. This is how the Holy Spirit works not only within but among us as the people of God, journeying toward our common destiny in God.
688. Persons are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts. We possess this self-awareness through our knowing and free willing (cf. CCC 1704-7; GS 14-17). Thus we image in our small way the Creators infinite knowing and loving. This is the basis for our moral life.
689. Persons are embodied spirits. This stresses the unity between our body and soul. Our bodies are an essential part of our being human, not merely an instrument we use according to our whims. Contrary to those who look down on the body, and make it the source of all evil, Christian Faith regards the body as good and honorable since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day (GS 14). Moreover, God the Son further dignified the body through his Incarnation __ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). And St. Paul admonishes us: You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within __ the Spirit you have received from God. . . . So, glorify God in your body (1 Cor 6:19-20). All our relationships with others and with God are expressed through our bodies, which are the natural sacrament of our spiritual depth.
690. Persons are historical realities. We are pilgrims on-the-way, who gradually, through time, become our full selves. In exercising freedom, we decide for ourselves and form ourselves; in this sense we are our own cause. We develop as persons in discernible stages, described in great detail by modern psychology. Salvation history narrated in the Bible shows the dynamic interplay between good and evil, success and failure, within the lives of the great biblical figures. It recounts how God progressively brought His Chosen People to a clearer understanding, and higher moral vision, of their own being and of God Himself.
691. Persons are unique, yet fundamentally equal. Despite physical differences as well as differing intellectual and moral powers, we instinctively realize that as persons, in some basic way, we are all equal. This is what our Faith explains: All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in Gods image; they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality between all men (GS 29). Yet, each of us is called to image God in a unique way __ no one can take our place, as it were. To each of us Christ says: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine (Is 43:1). Thus, within the fundamental equality of all persons, we recognize the unique identity of each person.
692. This fundamental equality of all individual persons also grounds the participation and solidarity of all peoples. Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all people, we are all called to be brothers. Therefore, if we have been summoned by the same destiny, which is both human and divine, we can and should work together to build up the world in genuine peace (GS 92).
III. Human Freedom
693. Throughout the world today there is an unprecedented drive for freedom, for breaking out of all the old structures of political oppression, racial prejudice, economic injustice, and constricting cultural mores. The demand is increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of duty (DH 1). Since the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of freedom and a force for liberation (ITL), we recognize here an authentic sign of Gods presence and purpose . . . for authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man (GS 11, 17).
694. But it is so easy to confuse human freedom with simply doing what I want. Authentic freedom is not the right to say and do anything, but to do the good (cf. CCC 1740). It is not my own individual private possession, but a shared freedom with others in community. It is not found in prejudice, deceit, or ignorance, but in truth. Christs words, the truth will set you free (Jn 8:32), set truth as both the condition for authentic freedom and a warning against every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world (RH 12). Lovers of true freedom [are those] who come to decisions on their own judgment and in the light of truth, and govern their activities with a sense of responsibility, striving after what is true and right (DH 8). The pillars of this freedom are the truth about Jesus the Savior, the truths about the Church, and the truth about man and his dignity (ITL, XI, 5).
695. Freedom from Authentic human freedom has many aspects. Ordinarily we become sharply aware of the value of our freedom only when we are forced to do something against our will. Then we realize how much we long to be free from things imposed on us. But this freedom from all restraints can often result in following selfish inclinations or blind prejudices rather than seeking what is truly good. So St. Paul warns us:
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It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time! My brothers, remember that you have been called to live in freedombut not a freedom that gives free rein to the flesh. Out of love, place yourselves at one anothers service. My point is that you should live in accord with the spirit and you will not yield to the cravings of the flesh (Gal 5:1,13,16).
And St. Peter adds: Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cloak for vice. In a word, live as servants of God (1 Pt 2:16).
696. Authentic freedom, therefore, involves first of all freedom from everything that opposes our true self-becoming with others in community. Such, for example, are interior obstacles like ignorance, or our disordered passions, fears, personality defects, bad habits, prejudices or psychological disturbances, and exterior forces, such as violent force or even the threat of violence. These impediments to authentic freedom are commonly traced to three sources: biological, which include inherited handicaps and defects as well as external substances like drugs; psychological, or interior compulsions, including those originating in the unconscious; and social pressures such as the many economic, political, and cultural obstacles which impede the right to freedom (cf. ccc 1740)
All these factors diminish our freedom and thus moral imputability and our responsibility (cf. CCC 1735). But the greatest single obstacle to authentic freedom is SIN. Liberation to true freedom means first and foremost liberation from the radical slavery of sin (Instr. on Christian Freedom and Liberation 23).
697. Freedom for. But this freedom from is obviously directed towards a second freedom, the more important freedom for. Beyond being liberated from all the obstacles to authentic freedom is the freedom for growing as full persons and children of God, sharing in the life of Christ our Liberator through his Spirit. It is the freedom found in authentic love. Of this many-sided freedom we treat only of the personal dimension here; its social dimensions are explained in the next chapter.
Two levels of the individual persons freedom for stand out: 1) the freedom of choice by which I direct my moral acts, and 2) the fundamental freedom of my very self. In the first level, we have the freedom to choose to act in this or that way, to do good or evil. But by consistently choosing to do the good, we gradually become free loving persons, the second level (cf. VS 65-68). This shows how our personal freedom for is both a process and a task. Through our free choices, striving to overcome the obstacles from within and without (task), we gradually grow (process) towards authentic, mature fundamental (self) freedom.
698. Freedom of the Children of God. The goal of this process and task of personal freedom is to be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:21). Christ has freed us by giving to everyone the power to conquer sin and to recover the meaning of our freedom and so attain the good and accomplish our calling as children of God (cf. CCC 1741). Freedom to attain the good simply means to act as Jesus did __ to mirror in life the Fatherhood of God as the Fathers adopted sons and daughters in Jesus, the Son, and through Jesus indwelling Spirit. Promised by Christ, the Holy Spirit is within us creating space for our freedom and making us alive. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17; cf. CCC 1742).
699. Thus it is the power of Christs Spirit within us that liberates us from sin, the law and death (cf. Rom, chap. 5), for a life of loving service of our fellowmen, wherein we find our true selves by imitating Christ Jesus, our Lord. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22f).
700. Exercise of Responsible Freedom. But how do we learn to exercise our freedom responsibly? As Christians, we come to know what is moral good in the light of the Gospel and human experience. For faith throws a new light on everything and manifests Gods design for our total vocation, and thus directs the mind to solutions that are fully human (GS 11). This new light regarding our moral life works through our conscience, the most secret core and sanctuary of a man, where he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths (GS 16). Moral conscience is the expression of the divine law, defining what is good and what is evil. It impels us to do the good and to avoid evil. It judges our behavior, approving what is good, condemning what is evil (cf. Rom 1:32; CCC 1778). Thus, it is our conscience that indicates for us how, in our daily thoughts, words and deeds, we are to love God and our neighbor.
IV. Conscience
701. For most Filipinos, conscience is understood as a kind of inner voice (tinig ng budhi) which guides us in our moral life. This can mean our basic tendency toward the good, the voice always summoning us to love the good and avoid evil. More concretely it refers to applying objective moral norms to our particular acts: the voice 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 (VS 60) for discerning good and evil (cf. CCC 1796).
On our part, we perceive and acknowledge the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all our activity we are bound to follow our conscience faithfully, in order to come to God, for whom we were created (DH 3).
To obey conscience is our very dignity; according to it we will be judged (GS 16; cf Rom 21:15f).
702. A common misunderstanding arises here. How can I be free if I am bound, morally obliged, to follow the moral law and dictates of conscience? This complaint is based directly on the misconception of freedom as doing what I want. Our built-in tendency toward self-centered use of freedom is so deep that only the liberating grace of God can help us work against this abiding inner effect of original sin (cf. GS 17).
703. 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 (cf. CCC 1931; GS 27). Moral obligation, then, far from destroying authentic freedom, pertains only to our free thoughts, words and deeds, and guides them toward true, genuine freedom. Whenever we try to free ourselves from the moral law and become independent of God, far from gaining genuine freedom, we destroy it.
Vatican II admirably captures this apparent paradox of freedom and moral obligation co-existing: God calls us to serve Him in Spirit and in truth. Hence we are bound in conscience but stand under no compulsion . . . we are to be guided by our own judgment and to enjoy freedom (DH 11).
704. 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 with in school, and the larger social environment of the community __ all influence the development of conscience. Crucial to correct understanding of our conscience is its essential relational dimension. Our ongoing moral experiences, within which our consciences gradually take shape, are never isolated, but rather always involve countless interactions with parents, guardians, relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, religious and priests, within the social groupings of family, school, parish and community.
705. 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 judgments are more difficult and less certain. 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 (GS 43). Rather, our conscience therefore needs to be both enlightened and informed (cf. CCC 1783-85).
706. Levels of Conscience. We realize that the education of 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 (CCC 1784).
Due weight being given to the advances in psychological, pedagogical and intellectual sciences. Children and young people should be helped to develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual qualities. They should be trained to acquire gradually a more perfect sense of responsibility. . . . Children and young people have the right to be stimulated to make sound moral judgments based on a well-formed conscience and to put them into practice with a sense of personal commitment (GE 1).
707. Forming a Christian Conscience. But to form the conscience of a disciple of Christ, the key is obviously Christ and his Spirit, experienced within Christs 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. Critical reflection on the events and experiences of our life helps us in forming moral judgements. It is in living out the faith that we form our Christian consciences. Two types of formative factors, are stressed: 1) heart factors such as reading and reflecting on Jesus teaching and actions, and our affective prayer and sacramental life wherein we encounter the Risen Christ; and 2) 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 (DH 14).
708. Types of Conscience. St. Paul distinguishes good people from the bad, according to their faith and good or bad consciences. He admonishes Timothy: Hold fast to faith and a good conscience. Some, by rejecting the guidance of conscience, have made shipwreck of their faith (1 Tim 1:19). He warns against the hypocrisy of liars with branded consciences (1 Tim 4:2), and those defiled unbelievers . . . [whose] minds and consciences are tainted (Ti 1:15). This manifests the critical importance of conscience for becoming an authentic person and disciple of Jesus Christ.
709. But even within sincere believers, conscience at times can be erroneous __ we mistakenly judge something that is really evil to be good, or something good to be evil. Conscience frequently errs from invincible ignorance without losing its dignity (GS 16; cf. CCC 1791-93). Forming a Christian conscience, therefore, includes correcting any errors in conscience by instruction in the relevant moral values and precepts which provide a correct vision of Christs moral witness. The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the objective standards of moral conduct (GS 16).
710. At other times we experience feelings of guilt __ when we are bothered 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 the result merely of shame over breaking some social or cultural taboo. Formation of an authentic Christian conscience here means clarifying the difference between true moral guilt (a true guilty conscience) and psychological guilty feelings which do not necessarily involve any moral fault. The [genuine] sense of sin disappears when it becomes identified with morbid feelings of guilt or with the simple breaking of rules or precepts of the law (RP 18).
711. Work of Conscience. Chapter 15 takes up moral norms which our consciences use in discerning good from evil. Here we wish to treat only of what makes our acts good or evil. What does conscience have to decide on?
Traditionally three dimensions of every moral act have been highlighted: 1) the act chosen, 2) the intention, and 3) the circumstances (cf. CCC 1750-56). The three are dimensions of the one moral act; hence they must always be considered together to make an adequate moral judgment. For to focus only on the act chosen would forget the personal agent and the context. To stress only the intention neglects the objective nature of the moral act: a good intended end does not justify using means that are evil. Finally, considering only the circumstances would be to close ones eyes to the objective nature of the act chosen, and all moral norms.
INTEGRATION
712. The doctrines grounding the intrinsic dignity of every human person, and thus of the Christians whole moral life, were sketched above (cf. # 684-91). We Filipinos naturally think of God as Creator, and in some way as the final destiny of all. Yet for many of us, both truths seem very far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday moral activity. A more direct and personal experience and motivation is needed. For this, something like Pauls personal experience of the Risen Christ in his moral life is needed: I speak the truth in Christ: I do not lie. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit (Rom 9:1). If the truths of the Creed are allowed to remain abstract and impersonal, they will prove powerless to motivate the constant personal effort needed to follow Christ faithfully as an authentic disciple one who has gradually learned how to love in deed and in truth, and not merely talk about it (1 Jn 3:18).
713. This essential need for motivation brings out the intrinsic place of prayer and sacramental worship for Christian moral life. Knowing what is good and evil is not the same as doing good and avoiding evil. Again Paul is our example: he clearly showed that the Law was incapable of giving the power to be faithful to it. Only Christ through his Spirit can free us from sin and death, for true life. Hence without a personal relationship to Christ our Lord begun, nourished, developed, and sustained through prayer and sacrament we have no power to live as children of God.
714. This chapter has presented the basic dimensions of the follower of Christ in the light of reason and of Faith. To live as a disciple of Christ is to respond to God as:
a) a human person: a conscious, historical, unique, relational embodied spirit with innate dignity __ created, redeemed, graced now for eternal life hereafter;
b) a free self, called from all enslavements to an authentic Christian vision and character, responsible in pursuing true good, as discerned by
c) a Christian conscience, formed by directing ones freedom to the person and message of Jesus Christ, the center of the Christians self-becoming and identity.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
715. What is moral life for the Christian?
Christian moral life is the following of Christ:
in all our daily free actions, values and attitudes,
empowered by Christs liberating and transforming presence,
through the grace of his Spirit,
within the Christian community.
It is simply responding to the Gospel call to become loving persons, in the fullness of life-with-others-in-community before God, in imitation of Jesus Christ.
716. What problems does moral life commonly raise?
We all experience numerous pressures and temptations both from inside ourselves and from without, against exercising our freedom responsibly. Strangely enough, we find it difficult to consistently do good and avoid evil.
717. How does Christian Faith help us understand this situation?
Scripture and Church teaching help us recognize this situation as the universal human condition resulting from the Fall at the origins of our race.
Hence our personal moral problems have a foundation that goes deeper than anything we can handle by ourselves, without the redeeming power of Christ.
718. What is the key to Christian moral life?
The key to Christian moral life is our dignity as human persons, created by God, redeemed by Christ, sanctified by the Spirit, and destined for eternal life with God.
719. How do we experience ourselves as persons?
We experience ourselves as embodied spirits, conscious of our historical process of growing up and developing, in constant relation with others with whom we are fundamentally equal, yet unique in ourselves.
720. What is authentic human freedom?
Authentic human freedom is a shared capacity with others in the community for choosing __ not anything at all __ but what is the good, in order to become our true selves.
It involves both:
freedom from whatever opposes our true self-becoming with others in community, and
freedom for growing as full persons before God and our fellow human persons, in authentic love.
721. How is human freedom experienced?
We experience freedom most naturally in our free choices to act or not to act, to do or not to do something. We accept responsibility for these acts.
Beside our individual free acts there is the freedom of our very self formed gradually by our free acts. Often called fundamental freedom or option, it is not primarily a psychological term, but rather refers to our moral being as a human person.
722. What is meant by freedom of the children of God?
It means the freedom we share by the power of Christs Spirit within us, that liberates us from the enslavement of sin, the law, and death, for a life of loving service of our fellowmen.
This does not mean that
we have no sin, no laws to obey, and we will never die;
but that the grace of God offers us the real possibility of:
breaking out and overcoming the slavery of sin,
living in true freedom as guided by law, and
transcending our physical death by sharing in Christs eternal life.
723. What is Conscience?
Conscience is the proximate norm of personal morality, our ultimate subjective norm for discerning moral good and evil, with the feeling of being bound to follow its directive.
It is the inner voice:
summoning us to love the good and avoid evil, by
applying objective moral norms to our particular acts,
and thus commanding: do this, do not do that!
724. If we are morally obliged by our conscience to do good, are we any longer free?
We are exercising authentic freedom in obeying moral laws and our consciences. The objection is based on the common erroneous idea of freedom as doing what I want.
725. How are our consciences formed?
Our consciences are formed gradually through the natural educational agents of our family upbringing, our school training, parish catechesis, and the influence of friends and social contacts.
726. How do we form a Christian conscience?
A Christian conscience is formed gradually in faith and through personal and ecclesial prayer-life:
by attending to the Word of God and the teachings of the Church,
by responsiveness to the indwelling Holy Spirit, and
by critical reflection on our concrete moral choices and experiences of daily life.
Heart factors include reading and prayerful reflection on Jesus teaching and actions, and our own prayer and sacramental life.
Mind factors refer to a deepening in understanding of Sacred Scripture and Church teaching, especially Catholic moral principles, and sound moral guidance.
727. What types of conscience are there?
Many different categories are used to describe the exercise of conscience, but the most functional is:
correct conscience corresponds to objective moral values and precepts;
erroneous conscience, one which mistakenly judges something as morally good which is objectively evil.
Our moral responsibility is to develop a properly informed conscience, and to correct any erroneous conscience we may have had.
728. What must our consciences decide on?
To judge the good or evil of an act, our consciences must decide on its three essential aspects:
the nature or object of the act,
our intention as agents or doers of the act, and
the circumstances which affect the morality of the act.
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