How do you reconcile matters of concience with church law?

[Liberanosamalo]

ive read two books on marian devotion and ideas now and i find it so hard to accept some of it, I feel uncomfortable with most of it…

so the church would accept that even though I have trouble with these things, that I should accept that the church has a higher knowledge than me, and just keep trying to understand something?

what if a person never understands something?

Good questions, and they are all kind of linked, actually. The question here is formation of conscience. There is vincible ignorance and invincible ignorance. If you don’t know something is wrong and you had no way of knowing, and you followed your conscience, that is one thing. But if you chose not to find out and you went and did what you wanted, even though you suspected it might be wrong, you can’t claim ignorance as an excuse. (The fact we even question one of our actions is a sign of a functioning conscience that suspects that there is more to the truth than we know.)

We are obligated to form our conscience in accord with God’s law. The same as if we must form our driving abilities in accord with the laws of physics. We can ignore what the experts have found out over years of study and decide for ourselves what laws of physics apply to us. And so we may think we know better and may do it “our way” but eventually we’re going to hit something hard going way too fast and suffer the consequences. When our lives are in alignment with all truth, then we know we’re on the right path. I’ll never fully understand physics. But I’m content just to follow the basic rules that I’ve been told about. Gravity, acceleration, two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, etc. It keeps disaster at bay.

A good movie about formation of conscience is “A Man for All Seasons.” I like the Charlton Heston version better than the Paul Scofield version myself, but either one will do. The Anglicans here might find it interesting how the topic of following one’s conscience even to death dominates that movie and was a prime reason St. Thomas More became a saint.

As for Mary… no, she would be the last to ask anyone to be devoted to herself. She wants us to be devoted to her Son, as she was. And like any mother, she’ll help us to know her Son if we only ask. Look upon her in that way, and just ask her help and in her own hidden and loving and humble way she will bring you to a tremendous love of Christ. That is her job. To bring Christ to us, and then to help bring us to Christ. And to set a motherly example of how to live in the Truth. Everyone, whatever denomination or religious stripe, can identify with that, I’m sure.

 

[Abira]

many thanks to the recent posts, I’ve read through thema few times and they’ve helped me out a bit… you reminded me of:

Romans 2:12-16

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

so the kind of morality the posts spoke of was within our human nature?

Why do some people not hear their own conscience when it is written on their heart?

S

 

[fix]

many thanks to the recent posts, I’ve read through thema few times and they’ve helped me out a bit… you reminded me of:

Romans 2:12-16

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

so the kind of morality the posts spoke of was within our human nature?

Why do some people not hear their own conscience when it is written on their heart?

S

Here is what the CCC:

1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin."59 In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.

1792 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.