What is good or bad may seem to be relative and subjective to many. There are countless and varying individual, personal interpretations about what is good, what is bad. Then, as we see in the media created by society, there is the secular world's definition too. To the slimming companies, being slim is something good and all people who aren't should go to their centres to lose weight. And so it applies, too, to the gyms and fitness centres. To the top-notch restaurants, satisfying the taste buds is a privilege we need to pay a great deal for. The list goes on.
For Catholics, there is no confusion or disparity. We have one united teaching of good and bad. By whose standard and benchmark do we follow? It is not ours but that of Christ. Being Christians, we take our example from Jesus Himself. He is our perfect role model for goodness. What He does not advocate, is naturally bad. But as finite creatures, we cannot entirely know the full extent of His goodness. We can only slowly discover as we get to know Jesus more through prayer and meditation. By the granting of the Holy Spirit upon us, we have a conscience to tell us what is right and wrong. We take the examples of the saints and holy people whose lives touched many and converted sinners to followers. We take the examples of Jesus Himself and also we learn from His teachings to tell apart right from wrong. The dilemma faced with is more of the obedience and discipline to do what's right and not do what's wrong rather than a lack of knowledge of it.
The tricky thing about our conscience is that while God has implanted it into all our hearts, over time, we can choose reasons to justify our wrong acts or excuse our misdeeds. This dilutes our conscience bit by bit. E.g. telling a white lie to prevent someone from getting hurt. Lying is wrong. There is no exceptions. Lying is hiding the truth in the dark for whatever "good" intentions we may have. What is hidden and kept in the dark cannot see the light. We are responsible for revealing truths. It is the other person's responsibility to handle the truths and we can assist the person in our support, encouragement and acceptance. When the conscience is diluted, we can only reform it by repentance, constant prayer and the pure intention to want to do good.
Perhaps we need to make a stand for ourselves. We need to make a firm decision on what and whose standards of goodness we are following. Is it the world's, ours, someone else's, our family's or God's? Without a firm and right stand on this, we are not equipped to face the moral challenges of the world we live in. We will be fishing with a broken net, or like a child learning to ride a bicycle without the 2 supporting wheels. We are bound never to catch anything; we are bound to fall, to fail.
28 July 2010
12.39am
Once we have ascertained our commander, the next step is to ensure we constantly follow his commandments. With our own resolution and strength, we will fail, but with the realization that we must ask for strength, we will succeed.
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