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, 36
Saint John Paul II (+2005) cites Gaudium et Spes, 40, 43, in addressing issues of personal conscience and the natural moral law, which we are able to know via reason (cf. VS, 36.2). Our will is obligated to do good and avoid evil directed by reason, our human intelligence. The Holy Father mentions “reason” (our natural intelligence) more than eighty times in Veritatis splendor and six years later would devote an entire encyclical letter to the relationship between Faith and Reason, Fides et ratio (14 September, 1998) with nearly two hundred references to “reason.”
There are two main powers of the human soul, to know and to love. The will is expressed here as love. The Gospel relates that we are to love God and neighbor (Mark 12:30-31). This is the New Law or Law of the Gospel. Among the criteria for Mortal Sin we take into account not only the object, intention and circumstance, but also the gravity, our knowledge, and our freedom. If the object is not good, then the best of intentions or the worst of circumstances cannot change the evil of the deed. Similarly, even if our knowledge is deficient or our freedom is hindered cannot change gravity of any disordered deed.
There are more than six hundred mentions of “law” in Sacred Scripture. The first fiv books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus Numbers, Deuteronomy) are together called “The Law.” Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (+1274) in his Summa Theologiae I-II Q. 90-108, addresses the essence of law, the various kinds of law. The Eternal Law is de Deo, of and in God, as a type of Divine Wisdom. The eternal law is the type of the Divine government of the universe and all that exists. The Natural Law is inscribed by the Creator in the nature of things. The Natural Law is the Eternal Law in each of us individually. Positive Law is law written down, enacted. There are divine positive laws (e.g. Decalogue), ecclesial positive laws (e.g. Canon Law), civil laws (Tennessee Code Annotated. The Commandments given by God to Moses are an instance of Divine Positive Law.
Our lives are to conform to the eternal, natural law, reflected in divine positive law. Attempts to discard these are aberrations which thwart any authentic formation of conscience. When our individual conscience wherein we recognize the good that we should do and the evil we should avoid overlap the eternal, natural and divine law a great harmony occurs, even a tranquility of order. Sin introduces discord.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr