Freedom and conscience

Freedom and conscience

1. Love

   • Love is free and should not be taken or required
   • Self giving of love is often difficult and may take overcoming what gets in the way
   • True love is a free gift of oneself that leads to self-mastery

2. The Moral Act

   • We all face moral decisions and are responsible for our own moral acts
     • Involve both deliberation and choice
     • Has moral content
     • Affects the person who acts
   • True freedom is not doing what you want but what you ought

3. Freedom + Responsibility

   • More knowledge=more responsibility
   • No freedom independent of responsibility
   • Origin of moral evil is the decision to reject God's moral law

4. Conscience is the practical application of the objective moral law to concrete circumstances

   • Conscience can be wrong and we have the duty to form our conscience

5. Human freedom is limited by the circumstances of each person's life

6. Grace increases freedom and helps us see the truth more clearly

   • We must continually seek God's grace and respond to the actual grace working within us

7. Conscience

   • Formed through frequent and honest self-examination
   • Can become numb to wrongdoing; not an infallible guide
   • A good conscience applies moral truth