“Primacy of Conscience” debunked

Every time we recite the creed, we proclaim our belief “in the Holy Catholic Church.” Every time we receive Holy Communion, we count ourselves faithful members of Christ’s unified body. Every time we renew our baptismal vows, as we will this coming Easter Sunday, we re-commit ourselves to Christ and his Church.

So why is it that so many well-intentioned, faithful Catholics, openly reject the Church and dissent from her teachings; whether over a hot-button issue like gay marriage, abortion, or women in the priesthood or something less “political”, like whether lay people should be permitted to serve in this or that ministry, or if certain “ministries” should even exist!

We all know at least one mass-going Catholic…

…who is just hanging on for the day that the “homophobic” bishops will finally give up their condemnation of gay marriage.
…who deeply desires that abortion remain an option for victims of rape and women who suffer through difficult and dangerous pregnancies.
…who wishes the Church would be less exclusive and recognize the subjective truth of all world religions!
…who voted for Obama, believes in Karma, is vegetarian for the sake of animals’ feelings and loves liturgical dance… and the list could go on.

Such unabashed dissent is arguably one of the greatest problems the Church faces today.

And it’s awful! Not only does it cause serious scandal, remaining Catholic by name while desecrating the truth of the faith with submission to worldly thinking and practice; it also seriously compromises one’s relationship with Christ, the bridegroom of the Holy Church.

Imagine you were friends with a married couple, but over time you came to dislike, perhaps even hate the wife. Surely, your relationship with the husband – who still faithfully adored and treasured his spouse – would suffer. Your friendship would undoubtedly change if you rejected the person with whom he was one flesh through marriage. So the same goes for Christ and His bride, the Church. You cannot love  Jesus completely, without loving His Church completely.

A deep-seeded root of this problem is a misunderstanding of “primacy of conscience.” Lots of dissenting Catholics point to the Catechism’s instruction that “A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience” (CCC 1800). And so they say, “My conscience tells me that gays should have the right to marry…that women should have the right to choose,” etc.  However, many fail to acknowledge the Church’s complementary teaching that one’s conscience is not the final arbiter of morality; Christ’s Divine Law is. But they defend their rejections of the doctrines of the faith with an obvious misunderstanding that the Church has somehow endorsed their freedom to act against her.

The true nature of our conscience is that it serves as a situational alarm system. In any particular situation, you are obligated to acknowledge and act upon “red flags” to avoid sin and evildoing. For example, if you are in a burning building, an alarm system should tell you to quickly evacuate to stay safe. Logical, right? However, let’s say the building you’re in catches on fire and the alarms don’t go off. Does it mean that there’s no danger? That it’s safe to stay inside? Of course not.

You must maintain your alarm system! You must inform your conscience by seeking to truly understand Divine Law. The Catechism says, “A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful” (1798).  As Catholics, we acknowledge one truth in the faith. Just as the sky cannot be both blue and green, we cannot label something both sinful and non-sinful. This misunderstood “primacy of conscience” says nay, it can be both. Someone may hear the alarm bells ringing, while another hears nothing, but the danger of sin definitively exists there, or it does not – not both. It’s impossible!

If  you trust that the Holy Catholic Church was able to carry on the succession of the priesthood, so that on Sunday, you have a Holy Mass to attend, which is not just a worship service at some fellowship community church of the mountain valley forest of living water, but a miraculous sacrifice in which Christ actually becomes present before you in the Blessed Sacrament, you must trust that the Church – without which you would have no living Christ to sustain you – is sacred, holy and TRUE.

And she will help you get to Heaven, if you trust her.

Sidewalk counseling: a first experience

For many years, I’ve been involved in the pro-life movement – from hosting baby bottle & diaper drives with my campus Students for Life club, all the way to Marching for Life in Washington DC. Just recently, though, I began to more deeply consider the reality of abortion. Being married and so deeply desiring my own children & family, it struck me how horribly tragic it is that so many would-be adoptive parents (such as my husband & myself) remain childless as thousands of babies are aborted every day.

And so we were inspired, for the first time in our pro-life lives, to stand on the sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic last Saturday morning, to do more than just pray as we ordinarily have, and to actually reach out to those facing a crisis pregnancy.

After just a few emails and a handful of phone calls, our decision to take to the street came to fruition much faster than we could have anticipated, and there we were, in front of the clinic on Saturday at 7:45 a.m. We scheduled to meet at that time with Holly, a post-abortive mother turned sidewalk counselor (and now mom of 7!)  to speak for just a short while before she anticipated that the girls would start arriving. She offered what humble advice she could, reminding us that there are no magic words to keep anyone from going inside.

A handful of other counselors arrived before cars started pulling in.

And immediately I was awe-struck. Car after car stopped in the driveway and rolled down their windows, openly accepting our invitation to speak with them. I was absolutely shocked at how many were willing to listen. But as our time there carried on, the encouragement I first found in all those conversations began to subside, as couple… after couple… headed into the clinic anyway.

Our experience that day ranged from the very-expected to the dumbfounding. But one couple in particular will unquestionably remain in my mind and on my heart forever.

It was an 18-year-old high school student that was 8 weeks pregnant, with her 19-year-old boyfriend and her friend who drove them to the clinic that day. They had stopped in the driveway, as others had, and listened as Holly pleaded that they not go forward with their plan to abort their child. A few minutes passed and the friend, who was driving, pulled forward and parked her car. The three got out as Holly and others begged them not to go inside. The two girls headed for the door, as the boyfriend stepped the opposite direction, heading toward us on the sidewalk, seeming so… torn.

Then her friend got hostile. She screamed at him, demanding him to get inside and to ignore us. And so he did. But only to reappear outside again, perhaps only 10 minutes later, holding his crying girlfriend in his arms. Again, we could do nothing but shout over the heavy traffic behind us and across the parking lot in front of us, begging them to acknowledge the reality of their parenthood and the preciousness of their baby – even offering to adopt their poor child, in danger of imminent death.

But back inside they went. Her boyfriend came outside again a short while later, and my husband asked why they couldn’t just give up the baby for adoption. “Because we couldn’t just give away our child,” he answered. “So you’re going to kill it instead?” He realized the wrong in his reasoning and headed back inside with intentions to get his girlfriend to reconsider the abortion. All the while, in and out of the clinic, the friend went – for a short time, blasting music in her car and screaming the lyrics directly into the face of the boyfriend – as if desperately trying to distract him from the reality that his child was being killed inside.

The hours passed and everyone packed up before we made the decision to head home: a tough decision in that we had watched so many women go inside that day and still hadn’t seen a single one come out. And as we drove away, we passed by that young man once more and we pulled off to the side of the road to ask if he needed to talk. He declined, saying that they had learned it was too late to abort the baby and that they were going to keep him or her. Too late… at 8 weeks pregnant? It seemed terribly suspicious (considering 92% of abortions happen up to 13 weeks) and we still wonder if he wasn’t being truthful, just trying to shake us off. Although, he did continue, saying something which struck me profoundly… “I’m just scared,” he said. “I have my own family now. I’m scared to be a parent.”

It hit me that our culture is so good at instilling this false sense of maturity when it comes to having sex, while simultaneously promoting a terrible fear of parenthood. Young people are confident in their “maturity” in choosing to have sex, but cling to their childishness when faced with the consequence of becoming a parent – which society teaches is an optional, difficult, and costly investment that anyone under age 30 without a college degree is ill-equipped for. And this young man and the mother of his child, along with their passionately pro-abortion friend, gave face to this very real and very disturbing problem.

At that point, not knowing the true fate of their baby, we could do nothing but offer prayer. So we asked for their names to do just that. We shook hands with Anthony and learned his girlfriend’s name, Michelle, and then we drove away.

That morning when we had arrived before anyone else, I had turned to my husband, anxiously confessing my nervousness that we were about to do something which seemed so daunting. “We’ve done this before,” he said. “No, we haven’t!” I practically cried. “We’ve only prayed outside clinics before.” But he reminded me: “It’s God doing the work either way.”

May God protect poor couples like Anthony & Michelle, deceived by the Culture of Death. May God bless their hearts that they may recognize the sanctity of life. And may God bless every person like Holly, who takes every last desperate opportunity to reach out to abortive couples from the sidewalks of abortion clinics.

The goodness of godparents

A few months ago, we were thrilled to find out my husband’s sister was expecting her 6^th child! She made quite an adorable announcement – on Thanksgiving day. Over the phone, she told us how many friends and relatives were crammed into their home to share a turkey dinner, but that in addition to the crowd present that day, there would be one more next Thanksgiving!

Soon thereafter, we learned that after 3 consecutive boys, she would be having a baby girl!

And last week, we received even more news, or rather, an invitation – to become their new baby’s godparents!

First, we were honored. My husband and I both were so excited to able to serve as godparents for a little girl we haven’t even met yet, but who is already so special to us.

But as a first-time godparent to be, I suddenly had reason to question everything about godparenting. Why are godparents designated at Baptism? Are they necessary? What are the expectations?

With new shoes to fill; I figured I had better know how to walk in them! And what I learned was this…

Godparents are essential (at least one, anyway)

Traditionally known as a “sponsor,” a godparent must “present an infant at the baptism, help the baptized lead a Christian life in harmony with baptism, and fulfill faithfully the obligations connected with it,” according to the Code of Canon Law (No. 872).

At baptism, an infant or adult only needs one sponsor, but may have two – one male and one female. Or, in cases of emergency such as imminent death, no sponsor is needed.

Godparents must be Catholic… faithfully Catholic

Although a faithful Protestant may serve as a “Christian Witness” to a baptism, they cannot fulfill the role of a godparent, who is responsible for the religious education and spiritual formation of the baptized. Unfortunately, a non-Catholic Christian cannot attest to the teachings of the Catholic faith and therefore cannot be entrusted the task of helping to catechise.

It just makes sense that if you are responsible for helping someone fulfill the responsibilities of baptism, you must also be striving to do so, having received the sacraments of baptism and confirmation yourself. A godparent should love their Catholic faith and the Holy Church, in order that they may be an example to the baptized, as well as provide informed instruction on the faith.

Godparents should serve as sponsors for Confirmation as well

Godparents are witnesses to the baptized coming into the Church and the Sacrament of Confirmation is a seal of consecration by the Holy Spirit, which safeguards the graces conferred at Baptism. It only makes sense that a single, strong sponsor should see to fruition, the spiritual journey of the baptized, from Baptism to Confirmation. And the Church recommends it!

A few extra considerations

• A godparent must be at least 16 years old, unless otherwise permitted by the bishop or an exception made by the pastor.
• A child’s own father and mother cannot serve as godparents.

Every godparent is entrusted with a critical task: to be a witness to the faith in order to help their godchild attain salvation. The decision of choosing a godparent is not to be taken lightly, just as the honor of being called to godparenthood requires equally important discernment. What a gift it is, but what a responsibility.

May God grant all godparents the will to serve Him in their sponsorship of the baptized!