Conscience

1. Conscience

2. Answer in your notebook • What do you think conscience is? • When you speak of “following your conscience,” what do you mean? • Do you think a person’s conscience can ever be wrong? • How can you tell whether your conscience is directing you toward right?

3. Conscience • “Con”- With • “Science”- Knowledge

4. Conscience is NOT… • The little voice • A feeling • A hunch • The angel or devil on the shoulder • Following the crowd

5. Plug in the computer • Turn it on • Memory and Chips

6. Come to life • Memory and Chips • Memory: ability to create • Chips: our free will, our ability to think, to chose, to reason

7. Computer has to be programmed • Programs can either be installed in the factory or at home

8. 2 2 2 2 2 5 = +

9. 2 2 2 2 2 = 4 +

10. Vs.

11. You are the computer • When you are born • Memory • Chips

12. Parents

13. 4 Programs

14. Knowledge of Right and Wrong • Hitting is wrong • Sharing is right • When in those situations you remember hitting=wrong, sharing=right

15. Values and Principles • Dad says, “Honesty is good…” • Grandma says, “Family is important…” • Life, love, honesty, trust, equality, justice, mercy, compassion, forgiveness

16. Ability to Freely Choose • Free will • Choose love • Choose what is good and right

17. Desire to do Good • Sometimes difficult to choose the real good • However we desire what we see as good • Must put in good information

18. Therefore Conscience… • Develops from childhood until death

19. Nature of a Conscience • Knowledge of Right and Wrong • Values and Principles • Ability to Choose Freely • The Urge to do what is Good

20. Can a person do what is bad yet his/her conscience sees it as a good?

21. 5 Types of Conscience

22. Certain Right • Sees good as good • Bad as bad

23. Certain Wrong • Good as good • Bad as bad • Sometime bad as good

24. Doubtful • Unsure whether good or bad

25. Lax • Know what is good and bad • Aren’t sure what they want to do • Lazy about making decision

26. Scrupulous • Legalistic • Sees good things as bad • Mental disability • Fear they are always wrong

27. Church says about conscience…

28. You must follow your conscience • You must act with certain conscience • You may not act with doubtful conscience • You are very responsible if you act with a lax conscience • Not wrong if you act with certain wrong or scrupulous

29. What do you do to change a doubtful conscience to a certain one?

30. Check scripture • Ask what would Jesus do? • Ask parents what they would do • Ask an authority • Check Church teaching • Pray

31. How do you know if your conscience is being well formed?

32. Child’s Conscience • Performs actions for approval and acceptance • Is mainly interested in own goodness • Repeats actions without growing or changing

33. Responds to the order of an authority figure • Isolates each act from others • Is concerned with the past and how it fixes past mistakes

34. Adult Conscience • Acts out of love for people involved and self respect • Is mainly interested in protecting the value at stake • Functions creatively in each situation

35. Responds to values whether or not an authority figure is around • Connects each act to a large pattern of living • Is concerned with the future and how to grow more capable of judging. • Determines the amount of guilt by the harm done to the value.

36. What does it mean to use our conscience? • Use our head • Trying to do the most loving and least harmful thing in a situation

37. Making Conscientious Judgments • Must make moral decisions freely • Catholic teaching tells us • When we act according to our conscience, we are living in good faith • We must form our conscience correctly, and then follow it • Catholics must base decisions of conscience on prayer, study, WWJD, Church teaching

38. Conscientious: thorough and careful about doing what is right • Learn from our experiences and the experiences of others • Follow a well informed conscience and the truth as we see it

39. The Church and Individual Conscience • Pope and other church leaders • Guide Catholics in understanding and applying Jesus’ message • It is not to make decisions for us • We have an obligation to seek what is right and true • God has given us free will and the ability to use it by reasoning and acting according to truth

40. Church teaching and morality • Church leaders are obligated to study and teach about matters of faith and morals • Jesus, through the Church, has given pope and leaders authority to teach religious truths we need to live by in order to achieve salvation • Teaching is developed through Creed, Lord’s prayer, law of love, Ten Commandments

41. In forming our conscience we need to attend to the sacred doctrine of the Church • All who are baptized are called to teach about religious truth as well • We worship God not just in church but in how we live

42. Infallibility • Catholics believe that God will not let the entire community be mistaken regarding beliefs about matters essential for salvation • Bishops and church leaders have responsibility to interpret the gospel and the moral law for the Church

43. Infallibility • Limited in its nature scope and implications • Applies in matters essential for salvation • Magisterium may use it to defend faith • Highest teaching authority, the pope and the bishops in union with him

44. Applies to what it means not how it is said • Does not apply to every matter • Look to leaders to help in matters of faith and morals • Consult church for help in forming our conscience • Must act freely