Day 240: Erroneous Judgment of Conscience

Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct. CCC 1792

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses erroneous judgment of conscience. The source for this can be one of those quoted above, or even come from what is called "invincible ignorance" (CCC 1793), but "such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt" (CCC 1801). Regardless, we have to seek the proper formation of our conscience, as the Catechism notes:

The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed. (CCC 1802)

The Catechism Compendium gives this summary on erroneous judgments made by moral conscience:  

A person must always obey the certain judgment of his own conscience, but he could make erroneous judgments for reasons that may not always exempt him from personal guilt. However, an evil act committed through involuntary ignorance is not imputable to the person, even though the act remains objectively evil. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience. (#376)

Finally, the Catechism Companion, Vol II has some commentary on this:

Someone who purposely does what his conscience tells him is wrong "would condemn himself" (CCC 1790)... Sin can also deaden our conscience. God is the one who helps us see and hear... Even if we did not know, an evil action is still evil, and we must continue in the process of forming our conscience. All of us are called to become virtuous because we are called to be free. (p. 244)

Day 239: The Formation of Conscience

In the formation of conscience, the Word of God is the light for our path, we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church. CCC 1785

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the formation of conscience. It can be a lifelong process of forming our conscience through education and making judgments formulated by reason (CCC 1783). Such "education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart" (CCC 1784). In short, we can educate ourselves through Scripture and the teaching of the Church. All of us will face some moral conundrums at some point in our lives, making our "judgment less assured and decision difficult" (CCC 1787). In all such cases, these rules apply as summarized by the Catechism Compendium:

There are three general norms: 1) one may never do evil so that good may result from it; 2) the so-called Golden Rule, “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (Matthew 7:12); 3) charity always proceeds by way of respect for one’s neighbor and his conscience, even though this does not mean accepting as good something that is objectively evil. (#375)

The Catechism Companion, Vol II has some good commentary on this:

We also are born with broken hearts and dimmed intellects, so the formation of conscience is very important because sin pulls us toward wanting to follow our own way. We are to learn what the good is, what God's law tells us about the right way to live, but then we have to actually choose it in our day-to-day life. It is not just an information transfer, but a transformation. (p. 242) 

Day 238: Our Moral Conscience

Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters." CCC 1782

Today's reading from the Catechism is about our moral conscience. That is, the interior voice we all have calling for us "to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil" and where we are "alone with God whose voice echoes in [our] depths" (CCC 1776). Those who truly exhibit a lack of conscience would be a sociopath or psychopath, something I presume the Church would classify as being disordered. 

The Catechism Compendium summarizes what a moral conscience is:

Moral conscience, present in the heart of the person, is a judgment of reason which at the appropriate moment enjoins him to do good and to avoid evil. Thanks to moral conscience, the human person perceives the moral quality of an act to be done or which has already been done, permitting him to assume responsibility for the act. When attentive to moral conscience, the prudent person can hear the voice of God who speaks to him or her. (#372)

I know that CCC 1782 quoted above has been used and abused by some folks to challenge Church moral teachings, usually erroneously citing the "spirit of Vatican II" or some such nonsense. Yet, as the Catechism Companion, Vol II notes:

Just because we have a sense that something is right or wrong does not make it so. Our conscience can be malformed, numbed, or deafened. God wants us to have a well-formed conscience... Conscience reminds us that we need to seek to be forgiven and that there are good things to be chosen. (p. 240)

If we wish to become virtuous, we need above all "a well-formed conscience" (p. 241). 

Day 237: The Morality of the Passions

In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is visible in the Lord's agony and passion. In Christ human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude. CCC 1769

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the morality of our human passions. We are not Vulcans, like in the television show Star Trek, but human beings with emotions that tend to govern or at least influence our actions. These passions are part of how we are created and help make us who we are.  "In themselves passions are neither good nor evil... effectively engage reason and will [and should] be governed by reason" (CCC 1767).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes what these passions we have are:

The passions are the feelings, the emotions, or the movements of the sensible appetite - natural components of human psychology - which incline a person to act or not to act in view of what is perceived as good or evil. The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger. The chief passion is love, which is drawn by the attraction of the good. One can only love what is good, real, or apparent. (#370)

Back to the Vulcans of Star Trek, while they made fascinating fictional characters for the show, one of their goals of which was called kolinahr, or the complete purging of emotions from the mind, is not what we as Christians are called to do. No, we are to govern our passions by reason, and chief among them, love, we should have for God and our neighbor (Mk 12:30-31). 

The Catechism Companion, Vol II puts it like this:

The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us bring the passions, intellect, and will together to form a person who is holy. Freedom is found when not only our intellect apprehends the true and our will is choosing the good, but also when our desires and passions are oriented toward the good and we want to actually do the right thing. The goal is not to eliminate our desires but to reorient and transform them. (p. 238)

Day 236: The Morality of Human Acts

It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it. CCC 1756

The Catechism discusses the morality of human acts in today's reading. Since human acts are freely chosen, they "can be morally evaluated" and thus "good or evil" (CCC 1749). Too often in modern society, whether something is "good or evil" is stripped down to ideology, preference, or utility. Objective truth and morality are discounted. Whether an act is morally good depends upon "the object itself;  the end in view or the intention; [and] the circumstances of the action" (CCC 1750). All of those must be morally good for the act itself to be morally good. 

I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II, puts it:

For example, for a book to be good, it needs good writing, well-developed characters, and a good plot. If one of those is missing, it falls short and is not good. (p. 236)

The upshot is that "the end does not justify the means" (CCC 1753) and "one may not do evil so that good may result from it" (CCC 1756). The expression that "the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions" expresses this too, because a bad intention can make an act morally evil.

Day 235: Human Freedom in Salvation

Freedom and sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's plan of love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. This first alienation engendered a multitude of others. From its outset, human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom. CCC 1739

The Catechism discusses human freedom in the economy of salvation in today's reading. We have the freedom to choose God or to reject Him. Our eternal destiny hinges upon the choices we make in this life. Too often in modern culture, we confuse freedom with the "right to say or do everything" we wish, apart from God, focusing only on our interests, which leaves us "imprisoned within [ourselves], disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth" (CCC 1740). We can freely choose the abuse of our freedom that God has given us, and live a life in sin, or turn to God and embrace true freedom in Christ, "for freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal 5:1).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes the place human freedom has in the plan of salvation:

Our freedom is weakened because of original sin. This weakness is intensified because of successive sins. Christ, however, set us free “so that we should remain free” (Galatians 5:1). With his grace, the Holy Spirit leads us to spiritual freedom to make us free co-workers with him in the Church and in the world. (#366)

The Catechism Companion, Vol II has some good commentary on this:

Due to the Fall, there was a darkening of the intellect, so we can know, but we do not always know fully or clearly. There was also a weakening of the will, so we can choose, but we do not always choose with strength... By our nature, we are still good and still retain God's image, yet that image has been marred and broken. Our freedom has become wounded... The moral law is not a straightjacket as much as it is a set of good guideposts that give us the ability to live with freedom and joy... We need God's grace and the power that comes from him. This corresponds with our freedom, giving us the capacity to do what we ought to do. (p. 234) 

This painting by Rembrandt shows St. Paul held in prison. The real threat to human freedom is not physical chains but sin, and thus in Christ, St. Paul is free indeed (see CCC 1740). (p. 235)

Day 234: Freedom and Responsibility

Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will, one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude. CCC 1731

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the Church's understanding of what true freedom is and the responsibility it entails. For many modern Americans, focused on freedom, the responsibility that comes with it can be overlooked. As Christians, we believe that the more we choose to respond to God and do good in our lives, "the freer one becomes," because "true freedom [comes] in the service of what is good and just" (CCC 1733). We have the freedom to choose to do good and also to do evil. Yet choosing the latter "is an abuse of freedom and leads to "'the slavery of sin'" (Rom 6:17).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes the understanding of the relationship between freedom and responsibility:

Freedom makes people responsible for their actions to the extent that they are voluntary, even if the imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or sometimes cancelled by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, inordinate attachments, or habit. (#364)

The Catechism Companion, Vol II has some good commentary on this:

Who we choose to be earlier in life is who we ultimately end up becoming later in life. There is sin on earth because we have the capacity to say yes or no to God. In heaven, our freedom has been perfected... If we are going to exercise our freedom, we also have to be willing to take responsibility. (p. 232)