Tuesday, October 12, 2021

 Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 1:16-25; Luke 11:37-41)

Conscience has been called “the voice of God.”  Even when it is not formed by moral teaching, one’s conscience tells the person what is good and bad.  Everyone knows that seducing another person’s spouse is wrong and stopping to help a person in distress is good.  It is not far-fetched to conclude that God forms all people to make these determinations.  For this reason St. Paul indicates in today’s first reading that God makes his will known to humans through what He has made.

Jesus’ criticism of Pharisees in the gospel follows from what Paul writes.  He recognizes that Pharisees often pretend that they keep God’s law with pious practices that the Law does not even specify. Meanwhile they judge others harshly for not following those unnecessary practices.  Or, worse, they may extort others who think that they are good.  These sins are similar to hustlers on the street who approach tourists with friendly greetings and offers of assistance, only to lead them astray.  Both Pharisees in the gospel and hustlers on the street know that what they are doing is wrong because their conscience tells them so. 

As the voice of God, conscience deserves our full attention.  Sometimes giving it is difficult because our consciences are not well-formed.  Let us pray, study, and meditate so that we may accurately discern what God is saying to us through our consciences.