'Conscience' controversial topic

Retired Monsignor Paul Byrnes, former pastor at St. Michael Catholic Church in Frostburg, Maryland, caused quite a stir in our third-week "Why Catholic" session Thursday this week.

Father Byrnes revealed his pride in being one of the 72 Baltimore diocesan priests who signed a letter of dissent in response to Pope Paul VI's decision in 1968 to uphold the traditional Catholc Church's teaching against contraception. The priests then published the letter with their signatures in a full-page space in the Balitmore Sun newspaper, he said. In the ad, he said, the priests instructed their parishioners who had been practicing contraception, whom they had advised to follow their consciences and contracept if their consciences told them to do so, to continue to contracept.

Current Baltimore Achbishop Edwin F. O'Brien presents a concise history of this saga (another that can be attributed to the workings of Vatican II) in his September 4, 2008, column in the Catholic Reivew titled "How the Cafeteria Opened." Bishop O'Brien writes his column to mark the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae."

Father Byrnes' presentation was all about "conscience" being innately infallible, an undeniable force from within that must be obeyed, regardless of the circumstances, motivations or consequences and regardless of authority from any civil or moral law.

His presentation was quite controversial. His viewpoint is considered authoritatively to be heretical. Read more about it in my posts from October 23 and October 24.

Freedom and salvation: God's greatest gifts

Freedom is a gift from God, as is salvation. How we employ our freedom in action or choose to accept our salvation is our prerogative: That's free will.

In our second session in this thrid year in the "Why Chatolic?" series, Monsignor Thomas Bevan at St. Patrick Church in Cumberland, Maryland, discussed with us the topic of "Freedom and Responsiblity of Human Acts." Father Bevan opened his presentation with a quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1745: "Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him." Summary: Freedom = Choice + Ownership = Responsibility.

Father Bevan stressed the words "properly" and "voluntary" and made the point that the difference between freedom and license is human responsibility. Summary: Freedom - Ownership = Choice - Responsibility = License (aka Chaos).

It is in exercising Freedom -- in thoughtfully considering the constraints and assuming responsibility for our actions, in properly utilizing our free will (with respect given to limitations) to make right decisions and purposeful choices -- where we acknowledge God's grace (and the beauty of other people) in our lives and accept His generous offer of salvation for our flawed human souls.

It's simple: 1) Think before you act. 2) Have proper motives in mind. 3) Abide by the rules and laws -- those formed by the courts of the land and those handed down by God from heaven. 4) Act with consequences in mind -- like preserving or destroying your precious salvation. 5) Offer the results for the glory of God, especially when you suffer, to supplement Christ's redeeming grace for the salvation of the world and of those around us.

When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, slavation is infused into our souls: God writes there that name known only to Him and to us (Rev 2:17). From that time on, we make choices that either take us closer to Him, or divert us from our goal (joining God in heaven), or remove us eternally from God's saving grace and condemn us never to see His face.

Salvation is assured for those of us who accept it and take efforts to treasure and defend it. Salvation can be lost, however, sometimes temporarily (as in the case of a sinner who flounders but ultimately repents) or irretrievably (as in the case of a sinner who rejects God or defies His commands to the end of his mortal life).

Salvation is not earned or bought; and it's not relative to an individual's lifestyle or station in a community. God gave us Ten Commandments. Jesus gave us a list of Beatitudes. The Kingdom of God has been proclaimed clearly and ultimately, definitively and infinitely. It will not be revised. And it will not be reversed. There's one Messiah. He will be our Judge.

Are you ready? Jesus says in Matthew 22:1-14 that the kindgdom of God is like a wedding feast. Those who have received the invitaiton (baptism in the Holy Spirit) may choose not to come; or worse, they may revile or violate the Host. Those who know not the invitation (Christ's saving grace) will be extended the opportunity to enter into the feast. Whoever chooses to come, though, to God's great celebration of salvation must be ready to recognize, greet and honor the Host. Do you keep your invitation current and handy? Do you prepare daily for the time of the feast to arrive? Love God. Love neighbor. Choose wisely. Act conscienably.

by Nancy E. Thoerig 10-20-08