Freedom & Conscience

Freedom & Conscience

1. human freedom

   • limited by the unique circumstances of each person's life
   • true freedom is not doing whatever you want, but whatever you ought
   • good moral actions make us freer, bad moral actions make us a slave to sin
     • a moral act involves both deliberation and choice, has a moral content, and affects the character of the person
       • a moral act is an action that results from a deliberate choice between good and evil
   • if love is taken or required, it is no longer free

2. conscience

   • practical application of the objective moral law to concrete circumstances
   • the reality of conscience is witnessed in both sacred scriptures and through human experience
   • we both have a right and a duty to exercise our moral conscience
   • a good conscience applies moral truth; not create it
   • conscience fails when the objective moral law is ignored
   • conscience is not an infallible guide and can be ignorant/blinded
   • how is conscience formed?
     • practice and frequent self examination
       • frequent reception of reconciliation
         • when repeatedly ignored, becomes numb to wrongdoing and ceases to function as it should
     • every christian is called by baptism to be a saint
   • contrition - sorrow for our sins
     • purpose of amendment - intention to avoid sin in the future
     • spiritual direction