What is conscience and conscience formation…..conscience is that mental and emotional aspect of our mind which reflects what the Lord has written in our hearts. A gift of the Holy Spirit which connects the transcendental through the transformative powers of love, adoration, and the acceptance of His gifts into our ego driven world of people and ideas. It literally means, “with science”, meant to take the experience of the Presence of the Lord into the formative realm of healthy psychology. In the structure of the human mind we have the foundational precepts of the Scientific Method, recognized as a standard for inquiry, investigation, and observation. Through this process, we can discern what is definition, description, and experience of concepts such as morality, social justice, righteousness and the like, making conscience formation a continuing conversion through the acceptance of His guidance, providence and purpose for each of us.
Tag Archives: Catholic Spirituality
One onto Myself
One onto my self and one among many is consistent with conventional thinking. Presuming a democracy and free market system, an individual can move freely from one societal structure to the next. Being any part of a household does not preclude one’s status in the economy, the political structure, the denomination or general social setting. On the other hand, one onto my self and one in the body of Christ, His Church, becomes paradoxical. Saint Paul uses the analogy of the human body to better explain this paradoxical interconnection. Yes, the eye is one onto itself, and yes, it is a unique entity, yet the eye only has substantive meaning within the context of the body; it is what it is because it is in the body and the body is what it is because the eye is what it is. All this gibberish is to utilize functionality, unity and the comprehensible distinction between the worldly and transcendental. Using parody as our model we can conceivably better understand paradox as analogy.
We Would Be Wise
We would be wise to take ourselves out of the equation; this idea speaks to the heart of paradox. Considering there is no greater worldly aspiration than to live and love in the presence of the Lord, then why take ourselves out of the equation? Sounds counter intuitive not to be part of the greatest aspiration. For me, this calls to mind some common clichés, as well as the most profound teachings. At the center of Christianity is Christ Jesus praying, pleading, sorrowfully crying and joyfully praising that His will, be put aside, and the will of God His Father be done. Simply put, don’t stand in your own light, get out of the way and let the Light shine through. Although simply put, not so simply accomplished, certainly never completed. However, the first step seems to be, to see yourself as God sees you. Leave your baggage behind, walk away from the tracks which can only take you as far as they go. Take what you know and make it what you believe. If I’m not judging myself, it would never occur to me to judge others.
Is Sin
Is sin about using our intelligence in ways that distort the Truth, or is it about not using our intelligence to form our conscience? I am suggesting we drop Truth from the conversation and focus on a more manageable process of prayer, discernment and contemplation. Self-improvement has become an art form. From physical training, to yoga, to therapy or prosperity consciousness, it’s all about making our free choices with targeted results centered on individuals and what’s best for them. By its very definition, Christian morality is about the horizonal relationship we have with others based on the vertical relationship we have with Christ Jesus. Once again, the psychological aspect of freedom has collided with the spiritual facet of liberty. Freedom being the choices made in circumstances, times, places and events to fulfill expectations, and liberty being in complete control of everything we say and do. Once the confusion and conflict have been resolved by surrendering the ego to Christ for His will, purpose and fulfillment, sin cannot enter. If it does, then the psychological process begins. We recognize, experience and release the thoughts which are not consistent with Christ Jesus and we choose liberty over freedom.