Lesson/Topic: Moral Conscience in Vatican II

Learning Objectives: at the end of the lesson, the students should be able:
1. Discuss how does Vat. II discuss moral conscience.
2. To value the voice in our conscience as the voice of God
3. To practice meditation as one way to discover the voice of God in the depths of our
conscience.

Concept/Digest:
Vatican II states that in the depths of our conscience, the human person detects a law
which he does not impose on himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning
him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience can, when necessary, speak to his heart
more specifically: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God. To obey it is
the very dignity of the person; according to it he will be judged (Gaudium es Spes 16).
The prophet Jeremiah, centuries ago, also spoke about this law written in the human
heart. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says
the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God
and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). This law does not literally refer to a set of
enumerated rules or laws laid down by God on stone tablets. This is more internal, rather than
external, spiritual rather than physical. This natural inclination in the heart of every person to
live in perfect peace and harmony with Self, Others, Nature and God (SONG). This is the SONG
that we all need to sing. Doing something contrary to this SONG will lead to destruction,
fragmentation, unhappiness, and loss of direction.