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.
Saint John Paul II (+2005) when considering the “seeking what is true and good” reminds us that “true judgments of conscience” have their source in hearts “converted to the Lord and to the love of what is good.”
What does it mean to have a hearts converted to the Lord? In Matthew 4:17 we are told to “do penance” because “the kingdom of Heaven is a hand.” In Acts 3:19 we are told to “be converted” that our “sins may be blotted out.” The Greet terms epistrophe / epistrepho translate as “conversion” and “convert” occurring some twenty-two times in the Douay-Rheims. Whether the change is gradual or immediate, the goal is a complete turning away from sin, Satan, and the glamour of evil while turning toward the Lord God, His holiness, grace and will. The Greek term metanoia is used more frequently in Sacred Scripture and translates as “change of mind, repentance.” The crass worship of idols like the golden calf (Deuteronomy 9:7-29) (or Baal, Krishna, Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu, Nandi…) or more subtle forms of idolatry (lust, greed, pride…) must be forsaken in order to be converted to the Lord. Until our hearts are converted to the Lord they may be governed by demons (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:21; 2 Corinthians 6:15-16; Jeremiah 44:8). The alternative, of course, to loving what is good is a disordered “love” of what is evil, namely sin.
Converted hearts love what is good and render true judgments of conscience. The transcendentals (one, good, true, and beautiful) all flow from and lead to God, the First Being. To love what is good is to love God, who alone is Good (cf. Mark 10:18; Matthew 19:17; Luke 18:19). To love God who is Good, is to love the things of God, including His doctrine, including His moral doctrine, even about sin… (cf. Matthew 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22; John 7:16; Romans 6:17; 16:17; 1 Timothy 1:3, 10).
True judgments of conscience correspond to the Natural Law, the Decalogue, the Beatitudes and the like (cf. Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:6-12; Matthew 5:1-11). True judgements of conscience are not mere whims or trendy fashions but correspond to what is truly good, rejecting what is truly evil, wicked, bad. When the Lord Jesus came to save us from ourselves, from our sins, He insisted that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). He came teaching us the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, our nature, the truth about how we are to live, pleasing in His sight (cf. Matthew 5-7).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr