My expansions on writers’ spiritual insights

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The Catholic Messenger (July 23 edition) contained some intriguing spiritual insights.

“God loves us whether we are good or bad,” writes Father Ron Rolheiser. Then comes the natural question, “Why be good?” He explains: “Love, understood properly, is never a reward for being good. Instead goodness is always a consequence of having been loved. We aren’t loved because we are good, but hopefully we become good because we experience love.”

Read the entire article and seriously reflect upon it.

God gives us a conscience — a mind to know the truth and a will to choose the good. As adults, he expects us to use our conscience in making decisions.

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Father John Dietzen refers to Pope John Paul II who quotes the Second Vatican Council document on religious freedom, which “treats human freedom very seriously.” The pope continues: “Man cannot be forced to accept the truth. He can be drawn to the truth only by his own nature, that is, by his own freedom.”

According to the pope, “Cardinal John Henry Newman did not proclaim anything new in the teaching of the church when he placed conscience above any outside authority, civil or religious.”

Teaching the use of conscience begins when children are young. Parents explain to them what is right and wrong with words and minor restrictions. As teenagers, reasoning predominates. Hopefully, when they leave home, young adults are capable in making their own decision. Do you rely upon your conscience in making decisions?

Father Joseph Rogers

Davenport


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