Following Our Consciences

When I was about 9 or 10 years old…back in the 1950s, I remember a great lesson I learned from my dad.  I was in scouting at that time and one of the scouts in our troop died.  I didn’t know him well, but he was part of the bigger group.

He was a Lutheran.  And his funeral was at a local Lutheran Church in Waterford. Our Pastor said that no one could go to his funeral because we were Catholic and we couldn’t go into other churches.

My dad disagreed.  He said that it didn’t matter what religion the boy was, we were going to his funeral.  So we went.

In the 1950’s that was a radical thing to do.  Looking back at it, dad’s decision had a significant influence on my conscience.  He taught me that rules aren’t always the most important things. I’m so glad that I had the dad that I did.     

Pope Francis insists that we must follow our consciences even when they put us at odds with others.  (Jesus did that often with the Scribes and Pharisees.) And Pope Francis also makes it clear that our consciences need to be well-formed.   

Name people who helped form your conscience. Do you always follow it?