My dear parishioners,
Peace! In other bulletins (4 December, 2016-11 June, 2017) we have considered the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on “conscience.” We then turned to Saint John Paul II’s encyclical letter Veritatis splendor (6 August, 1993) which addresses fundamental moral issues, including “conscience” more than one hundred times. These reflections were begun earlier (6 April, 2018-30 May, 2018). Here we now consider a passage from Veritatis splendor, 64.2.
Saint John Paul II (+2005) when considering the “seeking what is true and good” reminds us that the Church is “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 (Ephesians 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.”
Mother Church is at the service of conscience. Even as the Son of Man came to serve and not to be served, so too His Bride and Mystical Body (cf. Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). Even as the Lord Jesus Himself calls us to repentance, so too does Mother Church (cf. Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15). By reminding any and all of the sad reality of sin in the here and now, Mother Church provides a chance for repentance and conversion and growth in grace and holiness.
Mother Church seeks to help us avoid human deceit in matters of conscience. Among the various deceits must be counted the loss of the sense of sin. Popes from Pius XII through to Francis have denounced the loss of the sense of sin (cf. Radio Message, 26 October, 1946; Paenitentiam Agere, 1 July, 1962; Dominum et Vivificantem, 18 May, 1986; Angelus, 13 Mary, 2011; Homily, 31 January, 2014)
Mother Church helps us avoid uncertainty of conscience. One of the sad consequences of Original Sin is ignorance. As a remedy, the Good God has given us not only divine revelation but also Mother Church to help keep us on course, on the straight and narrow way that lead to Heaven (cf. Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24). Because Mother Church is the pillar and bulwark of truth she can lead us to all truth, including the moral truth upon which conscience rests (cf. John 16:13; 1 Timothy 3:15).
Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is timeless, good for his day and for ours, inspired as it is by the Holy Spirit. Which are the errors of our day? Marxism, liberalism, libertinism, collectivism, radical individualism, atheism, agnosticism, syncretism all come to mind, each of which have moral implications, each of which can cloud our vision or cause a tragic shipwreck (see Joseph Ratzinger, “Homily” 18 April, 2005). How blessed are we to not only know of Noah’s Ark or the Barque of Peter, but to belong on board, even as we are lead to the safe-harbor of Heaven.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr