Conscience

Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

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While at adoration Wednesday afternoon, I came upon the words of Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II from his encyclical On the Holy Spirit. I can't go into detail as to how and why I found this passage, except to say it was a stunning illumination, so to speak. Nevertheless, it was quite an ordinary grace since I am normally quite aware of conscience through the Ignatian practice of a sort of partial and particular or closer examine each day. One at noon, the other at bedtime. The Holy Spirit guides and consoles us in this form of prayer through His convincing concerning sin.
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"The Gospel's "convincing concerning sin" under the influence of the spirit of truth can be accomplished in man in no other way except through the conscience. If the conscience is upright, it serves to "resolve according to truth the moral problems which arise both in the life of individuals and from social relationships"; then "persons and groups turn aside from blind choice(s) and try to be guided by the objective standards of moral conduct". A result of an upright conscience is, first of all, to call good and evil by their proper name..." - Dominum et Vivificantem
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I understood this is why contemporary culture is so anxious to normalize immoral behaviors and lifestyles, in order to dull the conscience of individuals and society, blocking any "convincing concerning sin". And this is a cause for concern precisely because it can lead to the most unforgivable sin of all, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
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"If man rejects the "convincing concerning sin" which comes from the Holy Spirit and which has the power to save, he also rejects the "coming" of the Counsellor - that "coming" which was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery, in union with the redemptive power of Christ's Blood: the Blood which "purifies the conscience from dead works". - Dominum et Vivificantem