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, 61.
Saint John Paul II (+2005) when considering the “judgment of conscience” reminds us that “the truth about moral good, as that truth declared in the law of reason, is practically and concretely recognized by the judgment of conscience, which leads one to take responsibility for the good or the evil one has done.” Of course, for believers there is no consideration about the truth without reference to John 8:32 “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” and John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life.” These passages of Sacred Scripture were known and believed by the Holy Father.
We can know the truth about moral good and evil. Contrary to skeptics and skepticism, we are able to not only know the difference between truth and falsity in general, but even in moral specifics. The Decalogue or Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and the Cardinal and Moral Virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice; Patience, Diligence, Generosity, Humility, Temperance, Chastity, Brotherly Love respectively) all include specific content concerning moral goodness and evil (cf. Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21; Matthew 5:1-12).
We can know the truth declared in the law of reason. The phrase “law of reason” used here by the Holy Father is another way of speaking about the Natural Law which is knowable or accessible to the human intelligence and mind thanks to the diligent use of reason. While consideration of the Natural Law or the law of reason has been appreciated by believers like Saints John Paul II, Thomas Aquinas (+1274) , even virtuous pagans like Aristotle (+322 BC) in his Nicomachean Ethics and Plato (+347 BC) in his Symposium (204e-205a) and Republic (344e, 361d, 367c, 591b-d) would be sympathetic to the approach. There are more than forty references to “Natural Law” and more than one hundred references to “law” in the volume Reason in Wojtyla / John Paul II (Orr, JA Charleston, SC: Createspace, 2014).
Truth is recognized by the judgement of a well-formed conscience. The corollary is also true: error is recognized by the judgment of a well-formed conscience. To the extent that the conscience is not well-formed it will not recognize the truth or error at hand.
We are responsible for good or evil done. This is a major “take away,” why we might even consider conscience at all. If we are not responsible for the good or evil we have done (or not done) any reward or punishment would seem to be arbitrary and out of the question.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr