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, 94
Saint John Paul II (+2005) when considering the “Martyrdom, the exaltation of the inviolable holiness of God’s law” in chapter III reminds us that “the voice of conscience has always clearly recalled that there are truths and moral values for which one must be prepared to give up one’s life.”
The Ten Commandments are not mere suggestions (cf. Exodus 20:2-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21). They are part and parcel of Divine Revelation and are presupposed by the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5:1-7:28). These aspects of Sacred Scripture help us to well form our conscience. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) was promulgated a year before Veritatis Splendor. In treating the Eighth Commandment of God, to not bear false witness, martyrdom is identified as “the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith” (cf. Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20; CCC, 2473).
Moral values have been addressed by many (e.g. Ignatik, Grzegorz. Person and Value: Karol Wojtyla’s Personalistic and Normative Theory of Man Morality, and Love. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2021; Popovic, Petar and Maj, Piotr “The personalistic value of the human act in the philosophy of Karol Wojtyla” Anthropotes 32:2 (2016) 357-384; Ratzinger, Joseph. Values in a Time of Upheaval. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius, 2006; Slipko, Tadeusz. “The Concept of Value in the Ethical Thought of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla” Forum Philosopicum 11 (2006) 7-28). There are, of course, various values. Some value gold or crypto-currency or dollars as the most valuable things out there. Others value fame or power or pleasure. Believers keep God and His holy will first and foremost in their value-system. Grace, as God’s power at work in the world, ourselves included, is high on the scale of values for believers. Mortal sin not only disfigures us morally, but also removes us from a state of grace, ordinarily regained by God’s grace and mercy in Baptism and Penance.
Over the centuries there have been countless martyrs who have died for the truths and values of the faith. Among the martyrs on the Roman calendar observed in the month of June we recall Justin (1), the Ugandan Martyrs (3), Saint Marcellinus and Peter (2), Barnabas (11), Saints John Fisher and Thomas More (22), Saints Peter and Paul (29), Martyrs of Rome (30). The Maccabee Martyrs died some hundred and fifty years before the Incarnation under the ruthless Antiochus Epiphanies for refusing to participate in idolatrous practices and spurning the kosher laws (cf. 2 Maccabees 7:1-42; Leviticus 11:7-8). Are we willing to live or die for Christ?
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr