2. CONSCIENCE

3. Answer in your notebook  What do you think conscience is?  When you speak of “following your conscience,” what do you mean?  Do you think a person’s conscience can ever be wrong?  How can you tell whether your conscience is directing you toward right?

4. Conscience  “Con”- With  “Science”- Knowledge

5. Conscience is NOT…  The little voice  A feeling  A hunch  The angel or devil on the shoulder  Following the crowd

6. Plug in the computer Turn it on Memory and Chips

7.  Come to life  Memory and Chips  Memory: ability to create  Chips: our free will, our ability to think, to chose, to reason

8. Computer has to be programmed Programs can either be installed in the factory or at home

9. 2 + = 25 22 2

10. 2 + =24 22 2

11. Vs.

12. You are the computer  When you are born  Memory  Chips

13. Parents

14. 4 Programs

15. Knowledge of Right and Wrong  Hitting is wrong  Sharing is right  When in those situations you remember hitting=wrong, sharing=right

16. Values and Principles  Dad says, “Honesty is good…”  Grandma says, “Family is important…”  Life, love, honesty, trust, equality, justice, mercy, compassion, forgiveness

17. Ability to Freely Choose  Free will  Choose love  Choose what is good and right

18. Desire to do Good  Sometimes difficult to choose the real good  However we desire what we see as good  Must put in good information

19. Therefore Conscience…  Develops from childhood until death

20. Nature of a Conscience  Knowledge of Right and Wrong  Values and Principles  Ability to Choose Freely  The Urge to do what is Good

21.  Can a person do what is bad yet his/her conscience sees it as a good?

22. 5 Types of Conscience

23. Certain Right  Sees good as good  Bad as bad

24. Certain Wrong  Good as good  Bad as bad  Sometime bad as good

25. Doubtful  Unsure whether good or bad

26. Lax  Know what is good and bad  Aren’t sure what they want to do  Lazy about making decision

27. Scrupulous  Legalistic  Sees good things as bad  Mental disability  Fear they are always wrong

28. Church says about conscience…

29.  You must follow your conscience  You must act with certain conscience  You may not act with doubtful conscience  You are very responsible if you act with a lax conscience  Not wrong if you act with certain wrong or scrupulous

30. What do you do to change a doubtful conscience to a certain one?

31.  Check scripture  Ask what would Jesus do?  Ask parents what they would do  Ask an authority  Check Church teaching  Pray

32. How do you know if your conscience is being well formed?

33. Child’s Conscience  Performs actions for approval and acceptance  Is mainly interested in own goodness  Repeats actions without growing or changing

34.  Responds to the order of an authority figure  Isolates each act from others  Is concerned with the past and how it fixes past mistakes

35. Adult Conscience  Acts out of love for people involved and self respect  Is mainly interested in protecting the value at stake  Functions creatively in each situation

36.  Responds to values whether or not an authority figure is around  Connects each act to a large pattern of living  Is concerned with the future and how to grow more capable of judging.  Determines the amount of guilt by the harm done to the value.

37. What does it mean to use our conscience?  Use our head  Trying to do the most loving and least harmful thing in a situation

38. Making Conscientious Judgments  Must make moral decisions freely  Catholic teaching tells us  When we act according to our conscience, we are living in good faith  We must form our conscience correctly, and then follow it  Catholics must base decisions of conscience on prayer, study, WWJD, Church teaching

39.  Conscientious: thorough and careful about doing what is right  Learn from our experiences and the experiences of others  Follow a well informed conscience and the truth as we see it

40. The Church and Individual Conscience  Pope and other church leaders  Guide Catholics in understanding and applying Jesus’ message  It is not to make decisions for us  We have an obligation to seek what is right and true  God has given us free will and the ability to use it by reasoning and acting according to truth

41. Church teaching and morality  Church leaders are obligated to study and teach about matters of faith and morals  Jesus, through the Church, has given pope and leaders authority to teach religious truths we need to live by in order to achieve salvation  Teaching is developed through Creed, Lord’s prayer, law of love, Ten Commandments

42.  In forming our conscience we need to attend to the sacred doctrine of the Church  All who are baptized are called to teach about religious truth as well  We worship God not just in church but in how we live

43. Infallibility  Catholics believe that God will not let the entire community be mistaken regarding beliefs about matters essential for salvation  Bishops and church leaders have responsibility to interpret the gospel and the moral law for the Church

44. Infallibility  Limited in its nature scope and implications  Applies in matters essential for salvation  Magisterium may use it to defend faith  Highest teaching authority, the pope and the bishops in union with him

45.  Applies to what it means not how it is said  Does not apply to every matter  Look to leaders to help in matters of faith and morals  Consult church for help in forming our conscience  Must act freely