This document discusses the importance of conscience and moral formation. It addresses that humans are relational beings, and our identity is defined by the values that give us direction in life. It also notes that conscience is where we hold ourselves accountable, and is our capacity to recognize right from wrong. The document outlines that conscience develops through participating in one's faith community and can be misinformed if not properly developed. It is important to consider others in our actions and seek moral guidance to ensure our conscience leads us to do good.

1. CONSCIENCE
pp. 41- 59

2. A. The Importance of Others
“Am, I my brother’s keeper?” –
Genesis 4:9 Cain (to God)
Are you responsible for other
people?
Why should you care about the
other?

3.  According to Levinas, the human person is
relational.
 It is important to consider “with whom” or
“against whom” an action is undertaken.
 Our actions are motivated by others, involve
others and are done with (or against) others.
 The “other” is central to your search for good.

4.  In Western culture, we often see others as an
obstacle to personal freedom, plans and
initiatives.
 Western culture focuses on the human person
as an individual (emphasis on autonomy,
independence and freedom)
 We sometimes think we can be a full human
being and free without other people.

5.  The “other” makes it possible for us to become
our true selves – individuals in freedom.
 Why was she still able to celebrate her
brother’s success? What is life-giving about
sacrifice for the good of others?

6. The Danger of Narcissism
 Recall the Greek myth of Narcissus.
 A healthy, mature personality must find a
balance between self-love and a love for
others by working on relationships with others.
 A narcissus refuses to look beyond the self to
achieve this balance. They are self absorbed
to the point of excluding others.

7. B. The Importance of Having
Direction in Life
 Knowing who you are, means knowing where
you stand on the great issues of life, and for
whom you stand.
 As humans, we have a moral orientation in our
lives that forms part of our identity.
 Our identity is defined by the values that give
us our fundamental direction in life. It is
complex and multi-tiered.

8.  Our name or statement of social role usually
tells us where we stand and defines our
identity.
 Recall the ideas of Charles Taylor. In his book
Sources of the Self, he recognizes the need
for a new spirituality. He says the current
purely humanistic and secular understanding
of self is not able to sustain important values,
like carrying for others.

9. C. The Importance of
Communication and Language
 We are initiated into personhood by being
initiated into language.
 We first learn our languages of moral and
spiritual discernment by those who brought us
up. Later, we develop our own way of
understanding which might sometimes be
contrary to that of our family.
 Language contains and shares common
experiences and commitments with others.

10.  Knowing the dictionary meaning of terms is not
the same as understanding a term’s meaning
within the Catholic tradition.
 There are 2 distinct meanings of the word
“person”. They both grew out of the Christian
notion of Trinity – the God is a union of 3
distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. They live in love and are the
perfect example of community.

11. The Trinity

12. 2 Meanings of Personhood
a) A person is an individual who bears rights
and responsibilities. A person is one of a kind,
autonomous, distinct and conscious of his or
her actions.
b) A person is also an outpouring of love toward
the other, just as the Trinity is bound together
by love. We are made from love and to love
(we are made in God’s image)

13.  Formation of character is part of the moral
human self. Our actions are embodied in us
and shape our character.
 Character, refers to the way our actions tend
to become fixed in our bodies over time.
 This why we need to practice and develop
character traits and virtues in ourselves.
D. The importance of Character
and One’s Body

14.  The choices you make day after day are often
a product of what you believe and value, as
well as the habits you have formed over the
years.
 It is important that we pay attention to the
formation of our own moral character as it
determines how we interpret what we see and
how we respond to what we see.

15. E. The Importance of
Conscience
 Conscience is where we hold our selves in our
hands. It is an inner voice that calls us to love
what is good and to avoid evil.
 Conscience is also a law inscribed in human
hearts by God.
 Conscience is different than Freud’s superego
because it is our action in loving response to
the call to uphold the values of God.

16. 3 Senses of Conscience (see
chart on pg. 55)
1) Capacity to recognize right and wrong.
Conscience as a capacity defines the essential
identity of the human.
2) Conscience as a process of moral
reasoning. We must seek out what is right and
wrong in each situation. It is a life-long process
of learning.
3) Conscience as judgment. Our conscience
also calls us to act after making a decision or

17. F. Development of One’s
Conscience
 Conscience develops as we mature. It
becomes refined with time and develops when
we follow the norms, values, virtues and
commandments of our Church’s tradition.
 It develops through participation in Eucharistic
life, sacramental life and prayer. It helps us to
grow in the virtue of humility and helps us to
deal with sin and moral failures.

18.  Conscience can also be malformed by
immoral actions, faulty reasoning, faulty value
structures and misinformation received from
others in society.
 We have a responsibility to properly inform our
conscience.
 See pg. 57 for Symptom of a Misinformed
Conscience.

19. Please view these clips and
sites:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvbgOTG
m7g
Fr. Barron’s commentary on conscience and
morality
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNuccWV8
HtA
Fr. Barron’s commentary, “What is conscience?”
 http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/