First Reading: Eccl 1:2-11; Psalm: 90. R. v. 1; Gospel: Lk 9:7-9

THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

“Don’t say those words that will hurt people. Don’t do those things that will hurt people. The things you say today will come and haunt you tomorrow. The things you do today will come and haunt you tomorrow” (An excerpt from Lucky Dube’s “Shut up”)

The human conscience is a beautiful gift from God. It is the voice of God within us that guides our actions. It is a judgment of reason that enables us to determine whether an action is right or wrong. The conscience warns us like a teacher but punishes us like a judge. Evil actions are always premeditated. During the thought process, if we listened to ourselves, we would hear that voice inside of us reprimanding us not to take a wrong action. But at times we do not listen and our conscience comes back to judge us.

If we knew that an action was evil and went ahead to do it, we cannot be the same again. Our knowledge of the rightness or wrongness of an action is already a guide and at the same time a judge to us. The human conscience speaks to us of this knowledge. Why was Herod so disturbed on hearing about Jesus and all the good things he did? Why did he feel perplexed about the opinion of the people that this could be John whom he killed? Our past has a way of haunting us. If Herod hadn’t killed John, he wouldn’t have felt this way.

The formation of the Christian conscience is an essential part of our faith training. The Church through her teachings rooted in the gospel trains us to have a good moral conscience. This is to guide us on God’s will for us. Every believer of the gospel should pay attention to what God is saying in our intending actions. This voice of God can be heard deep within from the human conscience. Why we often feel worried, ashamed and unhappy in our relationship with God is because we failed to listen to God. We can only find our peace in God. And if we want to achieve this, then we have to listen to God.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, guide us to make the right choices in life. Amen.