Forming Conscience

Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
“Do not conform yourselves to this age.” Virtually everyone in this country would agree that we face many challenges as a nation. The bishops of the United States summarize it this way: “We are a nation at war, with all of its human costs; a county often divided by race and ethnicity; a nation of immigrants struggling with immigration. We are an affluent society where too many live in poverty; part of a global community confronting terrorism and facing urgent threats to our environment; a culture built on families, where some now question the value of marriage and family life. We pride ourselves on supporting human rights, but we fail even to protect the fundamental right to life, especially for unborn children.” (The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007) “Do not conform yourselves to this age,” St. Paul tells us today. There is much in this age that would lead us away from God, that would lead us away from family-centered communities, that would lead us away from any understanding of the common good. This is an age of individual rights that trump basic human dignity. This is an age in which convenience is the chief virtue. This is an age of personal success at all costs. St. Paul is right to remind us not to conform ourselves to this age.

But what do we do? Faced with these challenges, in the midst of a heated presidential election campaign, what do we do? St. Paul continues – he tells us to renew our minds, to transform our lives, to discern the will of God. Put another way, we are called to form our consciences through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In this age, it is difficult to make decisions. The challenge of living in a world of instant communication is that it is often difficult to separate truth from opinion, and it is especially difficult to distinguish well-informed opinion from not-so-well-informed opinion. Just this week, a prominent Catholic politician said that centuries-long debate about when life begins has produced different opinions, and she seemed to suggest that the Catholic Church has not come to a conclusion on origins of human life. A well-formed conscience knows that this is not the case. A well-formed conscience knows that the Church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception, and we must treat that life with all the respect that is given to a child of God. That is what the Church teaches, that is what we believe, no matter what any politician might say; but it takes a well-formed conscience to know that. To form our conscience is to develop the virtue of prudence, to wisely listen for the voice of God through Scripture and tradition, to carefully deliberate all knowledge and alternatives, and to have the courage to act on our convictions. To form our conscience – to be transformed by the renewal of our minds – is a fundamental responsibility of all people, and it must be an important part of our own lives especially over the next two months.

Some people say that politics and religion should never be mixed. But our faith has much to say to inform our politics, and in the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue and participation in political life is a moral obligation. We have a duty to be a moral witness, to so form our consciences that our participation in society helps to advance the common good and protect the dignity of the human person. It is not an option, it is not an opinion, it is our call. “Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12.2)