Conscience and Truth

Do not quench the Spirit!

Something from John Paul II.

In their desire to emphasize the "creative" character of conscience, certain authors no longer call its actions "judgments" but "decisions" : only by making these decisions "autonomously" would man be able to attain moral maturity. Some even hold that this process of maturing is inhibited by the excessively categorical position adopted by the Church's Magisterium in many moral questions; for them, the Church's interventions are the cause of unnecessary conflicts of conscience.

56. In order to justify these positions, some authors have proposed a kind of double status of moral truth. Beyond the doctrinal and abstract level, one would have to acknowledge the priority of a certain more concrete existential consideration. The latter, by taking account of circumstances and the situation, could legitimately be the basis of certain exceptions to the general rule and thus permit one to do in practice and in good conscience what is qualified as intrinsically evil by the moral law. A separation, or even an opposition, is thus established in some cases between the teaching of the precept, which is valid in general, and the norm of the individual conscience, which would in fact make the final decision about what is good and what is evil. On this basis, an attempt is made to legitimize so-called "pastoral" solutions contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium, and to justify a "creative" hermeneutic according to which the moral conscience is in no way obliged, in every case, by a particular negative precept.

No one can fail to realize that these approaches pose a challenge to the very identity of the moral conscience in relation to human freedom and God's law.

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Christians have a great help for the formation of conscience in the Church and her Magisterium.As the Council affirms: "In forming their consciences the Christian faithful must give careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is by the will of Christ the teacher of truth. Her charge is to announce and teach authentically that truth which is Christ, and at the same time with her authority to declare and confirm the principles of the moral order which derive from human nature itself ".¹¹¹ It follows that the authority of the Church, when she pronounces on moral questions, in no way undermines the freedom of conscience of Christians. This is so not only because freedom of conscience is never freedom "from" the truth but always and only freedom "in" the truth, but also because the Magisterium does not bring to the Christian conscience truths which are extraneous to it; rather it brings to light the truths which it ought already to possess, developing them from the starting point of the primordial act of faith. The Church puts herself always and only at the service of conscience, helping it to avoid being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine proposed by human deceit (cf. Eph 4:14), and helping it not to swerve from the truth about the good of man, but rather, especially in more difficult questions, to attain the truth with certainty and to abide in it. - Veritatis splendor

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Veritatis splendor is always in my sidebar.  In the absence of Pope Francis speaking less ex cathedra and talking more ex cuff on Catholic moral teaching, perhaps it is a good idea to re-examine the Magisterial teaching contained in the encyclicals of Bl. John Paul II, as a moral compass in these days of confusion.  It could also be a wonderful way to prepare for the canonization.

The temptation to give in.

I didn't see that coming.

Yesterday's SCOTUS decision really hit me hard. 

Reading other blogs and commenters, I'm struck by how not a few Catholics seem to believe Church teaching on sexuality and marriage must change - in fact, they predict it will change.  They refer to the hierarchy as the old men in the Vatican with outmoded ideas and morality.  They say that Church teaching is too negative, too prohibitive, and so on.

(I mean, come on, do you even believe - and I am paraphrasing, that infertile couples... heterosexual couples, leave themselves open to procreation, though imperfectly." I mean, come on, anyone over 50, that is pretty imperfect, or that hetero couples using contraception make themselves "neutered,"??..that's theo-babble, to support teachings the Church, well more accurately - the creaky older male leadership, wont turn away from. )

Now that society has made homosexuality respectable, and is generally accepted as equal to heterosexuality - that is pretty much what has happened BTW - I was surprised by a new temptation to 'give in'.  The thought came to me: 'I could be married.  I could have a lot of benefits.  I could get my name on the deed.'  The temptation had me questioning my life-long struggle.  I came face to face with the temptation to give up.  I felt abandoned and more alienated than ever before in my life.  It seemed if I had been plunged into the deepest darkness.  As if all charity was zapped from my heart.  It was scary.

No damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life: the unity of the Church is damaged not only by Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the Gospel. - Veritatis Splendour

I prayed my rosary, went to bed, and this morning Our Lord's words came to me, "... due to the increase of evil, the love of many will grow cold." Matthew 24:12

On my way to Mass I kept ruminating the Word I received upon waking.  Very often a particular scripture spontaneously comes to mind each day, without my preparing for it the night before - sometimes it is a passage from the daily readings - today it was not.  This morning it began with, "the love of many will grow cold" and then I recalled the actual verse: "... due to the increase of evil, the love of many will grow cold."

I mention it because it appeared as a light in the darkness for me.  Yesterday I also read comments of people, disappointed as I was, saying they felt like giving up.  That is a temptation.  Especially when we hear how joyful the Christian ought to be and we find ourselves discouraged.  It is a temptation.  We need to remember that joy is sometimes unfelt - yet it is deep in the soul, sometimes enlightened by Christ in His Word, in the Word made flesh - the Eucharist.  The temptation is to think it must be felt, to look for success or approval or affirmation when we find ourselves dejected.  The temptation is to give up when all seems against you.  "Father let this cup pass from me - but not my will but thy will be done."

Dissent, in the form of carefully orchestrated protests and polemics carried on in the media, is opposed to ecclesial communion and to a correct understanding of the hierarchical constitution of the People of God. Opposition to the teaching of the Church's Pastors cannot be seen as a legitimate expression either of Christian freedom or of the diversity of the Spirit's gifts. - Veritatis Splendor

"Due to the increase of evil, the love of many will grow cold."  They will give into temptations against faith and fall away.  Little by little.  They will be persuade to no longer 'love the truth' - hence the love of many will grow cold.

Today, however, it seems necessary to reflect on the whole of the Church's moral teaching, with the precise goal of recalling certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which, in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or denied. In fact, a new situation has come about within the Christian community itself, which has experienced the spread of numerous doubts and objections of a human and psychological, social and cultural, religious and even properly theological nature, with regard to the Church's moral teachings. It is no longer a matter of limited and occasional dissent, but of an overall and systematic calling into question of traditional moral doctrine, on the basis of certain anthropological and ethical presuppositions. At the root of these presuppositions is the more or less obvious influence of currents of thought which end by detaching human freedom from its essential and constitutive relationship to truth. Thus the traditional doctrine regarding the natural law, and the universality and the permanent validity of its precepts, is rejected; certain of the Church's moral teachings are found simply unacceptable; and the Magisterium itself is considered capable of intervening in matters of morality only in order to "exhort consciences" and to "propose values", in the light of which each individual will independently make his or her decisions and life choices.   

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In particular, as the Council affirms, "the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether in its written form or in that of Tradition, has been entrusted only to those charged with the Church's living Magisterium, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ".⁴¹ The Church, in her life and teaching, is thus revealed as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" ( 1 Tim 3:15), including the truth regarding moral action. Indeed, "the Church has the right always and everywhere to proclaim moral principles, even in respect of the social order, and to make judgments about any human matter in so far as this is required by fundamental human rights or the salvation of souls". -Veritatis Splendour

Our Father... lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.