Conscience, The Light of the Soul

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

We're told in St. Luke, “Your eye is the lamp of your body...therefore, be careful lest the light in you be darkness” (Luke 11:34-35).

“He who follows me will not walk in darkness” (John 8:12).

We can say that our conscience is the light of the soul. Conscience has been defined as the judgment of reason about whether what we are about to do is right or wrong.

It's not a feeling; it's a judgment. It involves our intellect.

Conscience throws a light then on all of the actions, the aspects, of our life.

Our conscience can be deformed; it can be hardened. We're told in the Psalms, “O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts” (Ps. 95:7-8).

The liturgy repeats this to us. Each day, in very different ways, God speaks to the heart of each one of us.

Pope John Paul II said, “Our prayer aims at awakening consciences, at making them sensitive to God's voice. … In fact, the numbing of consciences, their indifference to good and evil, their deviations, are a great threat for man. Indirectly, they are also a great threat for society, because, in the last analysis, the level of morality of society depends on the human conscience” (John Paul II, Angelus, March 15, 1981).

Our conscience is the light of the soul. Therefore, it is very important that we form our conscience—and form our conscience well, with good ideas, good truth, good doctrine, because it's very easy to end up with wrong ideas—wrong ideas like “freedom to choose.”

To find the truth of the slogan, you've got to finish the slogan. Freedom to choose what? Usually, it means freedom to choose murder, freedom to choose to kill.

But we're not free to choose to kill. We're free to choose to do good.

If we're all free to choose whatever we want, we can be free to choose to rob a bank. We could have an organization called Catholics for Robbing Banks.

Or we could be free to choose to kill politicians. We could have an organization called Freedom to Choose to Kill Politicians.

So it’s very important that we must form our conscience well with the truth. It's the light of the soul, the light of what is deepest in man's being; and if this light is put out, man is thrown into darkness and can commit the most terrible abuses against himself and others.

If you look at the horrors of past wars, you see how men's consciences can easily be darkened. If you look at the way the media promotes certain wrong ideas, you can see how easily the whole of society's conscience can be darkened.

Children can grow up with wrong ideas, thinking certain things are right and certain things are wrong, when in fact they may not be.

“Your eye is the lamp of your body,” says the Lord (Luke 11:34). Conscience is the lamp of the soul, and if it's well-formed it lights up the way, a way which leads to God, and man can make progress because of it.

Someone said once, the softest pillow to sleep on is a tranquil conscience.

Therefore, a very good thing to say to young people, to give them a guiding light for their life, is: try never to do anything that is wrong. Because when you do something wrong, your conscience bothers you. Maybe not immediately, but over time.

It's a terrible thing to listen to the tears of a woman at forty who was ligated when she was thirty, or a woman at thirty-five who had a quick abortion at twenty-five and now realizes she's done something wrong. That situation is not going to change for the rest of her life.

Although man may weaken and fall, he can raise himself and continue onward. But someone who has allowed their interior sensitivity “to drowse” or “to die” to the things of God is now without signposts and is lost.

That's why sometimes we have to trust our noses. If something tells us that there's something not right about this conversation or that movie or this TV program or this idea, trust your sensitivities. Back away from situations that may lead you into darkness, because we have been entrusted with the light.

One of the great misfortunes in this life that can befall a soul is that they fall into that darkness by not taking care of their formation or their spiritual life, or drifting away from the sacrament of Confession, where our conscience can get formed about right and wrong; the sacrament of Holy Communion that nourishes our soul; or through that example from people around us—bad company, bad practices, the bad atmosphere in society.

The Book of Isaiah says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa. 5:20).

Scripture is very clear about certain things that are wrong. So those things that are wrong should never become law in any country.

The purpose of the law is not just to legalize the way that some people live, but rather to teach people how to live, to give some guiding principle about what is right and what is wrong, so that we all don't end up living like barbarians.

Our Lord compares the function of conscience in our life to that of the eye. “When your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it's not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore, be careful,” we're told in St. Luke, “lest the light in you be darkness” (Luke 11:34-35).

“God is light” (1 John 1:5) and He wants His light to be reflected in each one of us, in our words, and our actions, in the daily example that we give to other people, in that powerful example that you give to your family of integrity in all situations.

I heard a father once who was going into a playground. He had a seven-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. He asked at the entrance how much it was into the playground, and the guy said, “For children under five it's free. And for children over five, it's such and such. For adults, it's something else.”

The man said, “I have a child who's seven and who's six.”

The guy at the reception said, “You know, sir, if you told me that your two children were five, I wouldn't have known the difference. They would have got in for free.”

The man said, “Yes, we would have got in for free, but my children would have known that I was telling a lie.”

Give a good example, even when it may cost us something. Live that virtue of honesty in all situations, lest there might be something bad in our conscience.

A sick eye doesn't see, or it distorts reality. It deceives its own subject, and he can come to think that events and people are in fact as his defective vision views them.

A badly formed conscience can come up with wrong conclusions. It can end up thinking that certain things are right when in fact they may be very wrong.

We need to be careful because it's so easy to compromise with evil. In spite of all the education we might have, it's so easy—in every single profession, in business, in law, in architecture, in construction, in medicine.

A writer in the States says that a surgeon who performs an abortion is a technically skilled barbarian.

The purpose of our education is to form us to be Christ-like. We don't spend money on our education and formation in order to become a barbarian.

When we make some mistake in our ordinary life, if we falsely interpret the facts, it can lead to problems and difficulties which, at times, may be of little importance.

But when the error refers to matters regarding eternal life, it’s the kind of consequences that have no limit.

Our conscience can be deformed through our not having used the means to get to know our faith, or through an ill will dominated by pride, sensuality, and laziness.

That's one of the reasons why we have to be careful to receive regular spiritual direction. We should never be afraid to consult, to be prudent, and to consult those who know, those who will tell us the truth even though that may be difficult or painful. It’s a great service.

When Our Lord complains that the Jews were not receiving His message, He particularly notes the deliberate nature of their decision. We’re told in St. John, “They did not want to believe” (John 10:38).

He in no way accepted that the cause lay in a difficulty outside of the will. This is a consequence of their refusal, freely chosen.

“Why do you not understand what I say?” we’re told in St. John. “It's because you cannot bear to hear my word” (John 8:43).

Passions and a lack of sincerity with ourselves can come to force the intellect to think in a way more easily adapted to one's way of life, or to some defects or bad habits that we don't want to give up. The mind can easily come to believe what we want to be true.

We read in Genesis, Chapter 3. We find the devil told Eve certain things, and she came to see that apples were needed to make one wise. Whoever heard that apples make you wise? But if we want it to be true, we can make it true. Or we can think it to be true.

Good habits formed at an early age, or bad habits corrected early, are a great help to leading a good Christian moral life.

In such a case, there is no good will. The heart is hardened, and conscience begins to drowse, for it no longer points in the right direction, the direction which would lead it to God.

This is why occasionally we need wake-up calls. We need to hear good things—expose ourselves to good ideas in Church, in good books that have been recommended to us, in articles, in all sorts of ways.

When you hear good ideas, they can wake us up from your drowsiness, because all the other things we may hear in the course of a day or a week or a month or a year can serve to dampen that lamp in our soul that we have, so the light is not as strong as it should be.

The heart is now like a broken compass, which not only disorients its owner but can also affect others.

If that person with an unformed or wrongly formed conscience is in charge of a family, of an organization, of a country, of some important role in that country, then you can see the damage that a badly formed conscience can make.

That person ends up giving a sub-optimal service in the role that they're supposed to perform. It's not a fruit that will last.

“The man whose heart is hardened,” says John Paul, “and whose conscience is degenerate, even if he is in full possession of his strength and physical capacities, is sick spiritually, and everything must be done to restore him to health of soul” (John Paul II, Angelus, March 15, 1981).

If you look carefully or read into history about the minds of people who have waged some of the greatest wars in history, you come to see they must have had a deformed conscience to permit the amount of suffering, destruction, the horror that they managed to bring about.

In our prayer, it's a good time to ask Our Lord to help us form our consciences well, and first examine ourselves to see whether we are being radically sincere with ourselves, with God, and with those people who in His name have the mission of advising us.

It can be a very good thing to call things by their name. A lie is a lie. We should try and have a resolution in the whole of our life: never to tell a lie; and as a result of this meditation, to make a resolution never to tell a single lie for the rest of my life.

If we always speak the truth, other people can trust us, and trust builds loyalty: loyalty in marriage, loyalty in the family, loyalty in society, loyalty in the Church.

The light which is in us does not spring up from within ourselves, from our subjectivity, but from Christ, who is “the light of the world.”

Our Lord has told us this: “I am the light of the world, and he who follows me will not walk in darkness” (John 8:12).

Therefore, how relevant it is that every day of our life, we try and read some words coming from that light.

The light of Christ brightens our consciences; and even more, it can turn us into a light that will illuminate the lives of others.

The Lord said, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Every day we have to shed light around us with our words, with our examples.

The power of good example can be enormous. The power of good example of a mother and a father who try to live as great human persons is something that is never lost in their children, and in their formation, and in the formation of their character.

The Lord has put us Christians in the world, so that with the light of Christ we can point the way to others.

That's why the Second Vatican Council, enshrining the spirit of Opus Dei, talks so much about the role of the laity in the middle of the world: in the media, in politics, in law, in medicine.

In every aspect of human life, we have to try and bring Christian principles there, and we have to bring that light of Christ, particularly through our conduct and behavior, in all situations—professional, family, social—giving good example of what it means to be a good professional person.

St. Thomas More gives us a great example of a lawyer who was not willing to bend his conscience. He was not willing to do something wrong, even if he was promised the whole world.

He is a good person to talk to your children about, and some time watch the two movies available, The Man for All Seasons, to remind ourselves of those powerful principles and the example that we have received from people who went before us. Such a great example of integrity, which sows wonderful seeds for the future of society.

The Christian is grateful for clear sign-posting, although those pointers may, at times, indicate a narrow path through more difficult terrain. The Christian will steer well clear of routes which, although seeming to be quicker or less arduous, can lead nowhere—or to a precipice.

In the professional associations and meetings, we have to try and be present, to be that voice of conscience speaking the truth. We have plenty of examples in the 20th century of situations where perhaps Christians were not as vocal or as active as they could have been in the middle of society.

That leads us to have a great desire to form our conscience well. We might have little time to read, and so it’s very useful to make sure we are reading good things, that we’re not reading rubbish. Get good advice.

And for children, the same thing. Read good books. Get good ideas in there, because it is that light that enables us to distinguish good from evil. It allows us to seek forgiveness and find our way back to the true path if we have lost sight of it.

The Church offers us the means, but she doesn't exempt us from the effort required to use those means responsibly.

A very good thing is to read a little bit of the Catechism of the Catholic Church from time to time, particularly the parts of marriage and the family, which is an absolute jewel, but also, other ideas. Even one point at a time. Digest in the course of our lifetime all that wonderful formation that is there.

The same thing to the Encyclicals that the Holy Father produces from time to time, or that our local bishops may come out with—bishop’s pastoral letters.

We could ask ourselves: Do I dedicate sufficient time to my spiritual formation and doctrinal formation, or do I allow myself to be absorbed by the other things that fill the day?

Sometimes we have to make decisions. Do I need to read this article in the newspaper? Or this particular author? Or even this particular newspaper? Or do I need to read this particular message on WhatsApp or social media that comes to me?

Have I a plan for reading, reviewed in spiritual guidance, which will help me make progress in my doctrinal formation, according to my age and background?

Am I faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, knowing that there I find the light of truth, rather than the contradictory opinions that I can often come across in matters of faith and social teaching?

As to the good shepherds, we have to listen. We have an abundance of material coming from those good shepherds. Do I try to get to know the teachings of the Popes and to make them known? Do I respect them with piety and docility?

Do I frequently rectify my intention, offering up all my actions to God, taking into account our tendency to seek applause, recognition, and praise for what we do?

Am I constantly aware that this is often where the deformation of our conscience begins?

We need light and clarity, both for ourselves, and also for those around us. This is our big responsibility.

If the truth about the problems of the world about marriage and the family doesn't come from the Catholic Church and her doctrines, where are they going to come from?

We are told the Christian has been placed by God as a lamp to light up for others the way towards God.

We ought to educate ourselves “to face the rush of people who are going to press upon us the specific and urgent question: ‘Well then, what must I do?’” (Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, Point 221).

Children, relatives, colleagues, friends~—~they all look at our behavior, and we have the responsibility of leading them to God, of having a firm resolution in my life: I will not do anything wrong despite my weaknesses and my miseries, no matter who asks me.

Even if the roof is going to fall down on top of me, I lose my job, I will not do anything wrong. I’ll look for other means to sustain my life and my family.

In St. Matthew we are told, “And so that the blind person’s guide is not himself also blind” (cf. Matt. 15:14), it is not enough to have second-hand knowledge or mere hearsay.

To lead our friends and relatives to God, a vague and superficial knowledge of the route is not enough. We need to have walked it ourselves.

It is essential for us to have closer dealings with Our Lord, to get to know His doctrine better, to struggle against our own specific defects. In a word, it means making progress ourselves, in interior life and example.

“Whoever has the mission of proclaiming great things,” says St. Gregory, “is also under the obligation to practice them” (Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care).

We should try to know very well the limits beyond which we cannot go concerning our honor and Christ’s morality. We should become aware of the good we can do and are doing, knowing clearly how an honest professional and a good Christian cannot permit himself to act, and avoid any such action.

If we’ve made a mistake, we should know how necessary it is to seek pardon, to make amends for it, and reparation also, if such is needed.

The mother of a family, who has the running of her home as her sanctifying task, ought to ask herself in her prayer if she is exemplary in fulfilling her obligations towards God, if she lives sobriety, if she’s managing to dominate any tendency to ill humor, if she dedicates the necessary time to her children and to the home.

The businessman ought frequently to consider whether he is using all the means necessary to get to know the social doctrine of the Church, whether he makes the effort to put this teaching into effect in his business dealings, whether he pays just wages.

Christian life is enriched when the teachings Our Lord conveys to us through His Church are put into daily practice. Doctrine then assumes all its inherent power. Doctrine and life are realities for a well-formed conscience.

We are told in Scripture that Our Lady “kept all these things carefully in our heart” (Luke 2:19).

We have to try and keep many things in our hearts, in our intellect, in our conscience, in our reason, so that we can produce all the fruits with our actions that God is expecting from our Christian moral life.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

MVF