to follow their conscience, they have a prior duty to form their conscience well. He writes:
“But it can very well be wrong to have come to such askew convictions in the first place, by having stifled the protest of the anamnesis of being. The guilt lies then in a different place, much deeper—not in the present act, not in the present judgment of conscience, but in the neglect of my being that made me deaf to the internal promptings of truth.”
The man with a poorly-formed conscience must follow his convictions, but his convictions may well be based on something erroneous. This leaves the man with the erroneous conscience in a difficult place, as Cardinal Ratzinger explains:
“Certainly, one must follow an erroneous conscience. But the departure from truth that took place beforehand and now takes its revenge is the actual guilt, which first lulls man into false security and then abandons him in the trackless waste…”
“In truth it is his fault that his conscience is so broken that he no longer sees what he as a man should see.”
A conscience can be broken; indeed, even many Christian consciences are broken. But it is also important to recognize that not all consciences are broken; in fact, some are beautifully intact, possessing a wonderful integrity.
How do we know the difference between the two? As Saint Thomas explains to us, truth is that which is accord with reality. Conscience functions the same way. As Cardinal Ratzinger writes:
“Conscience is seen to be valid precisely because it incorporates the inner truth of things in accord with reality, which is after all the voice of the Creator.”(57) If one’s semblance of conscience leads him to believe that there is nothing wrong with such things as conducting extramarital affairs, performing abortions, blasphemy, lying, cheating, and stealing, his conscience is clearly damaged, illustrated in the fact that it does not conform to divine law.
His conscience is in need of healing.
Cardinal Ratzinger writes that conscience is a blessing, not a curse. And like many blessings, it must be fostered and nurtured. He writes:
“Conscience is an organ, not an oracle. It is an organ because it is something that for us is a given, which belongs to our essence, and not something that has been made outside of us. But because it is an organ, it requires growth, training, and practice…..(F)or it to become what it is, it needs the help of others. Conscience requires formation and education.”
Our Creator endowed man with a set of lungs that direct oxygen to him. That Creator endowed man with a heart that directs blood to him.
And that same Creator endowed man with a conscience that directs man to God. Though some people lament conscience and its pangs, conscience is actually a great gift, drawing us back to the Source of all goodness, all happiness, all love.
A wonderful gift, indeed.