Today’s first reading from the book of Colossians talks about the alienation and hostility that occurs because of sin. It goes on to say that we have been reconciled to God though, through the body of Jesus Christ, so that we will be clean, holy and worthy to stand before the throne of God one day.
This is something that might be worth thinking about today. If we were called before the Lord right now, what is the state of our soul? Could we stand before Him with a clear conscience and no guilty feelings? Does our conscience convict us of anything?
Sometimes we are so stubborn in our beliefs that what we are doing isn’t wrong, that we won’t budge. A person’s conscience knows though, if something is wrong or not. The natural law is your conscience. If your conscience convicts you, even if it is something little, go to confession – hopefully today. Most parishes offer confession on Saturdays. If your conscience does not convict you, and even if other people accuse you of committing a sin, but your conscience says otherwise – then listen to your conscience.
The natural law is written in the heart of every man. You instinctively know right from wrong. We were created that way. Trust your instincts.
I think that is what Jesus is saying in today’s gospel. The Pharisees accused Jesus and his disciples of doing something wrong, because technically it was a clear violation of their rules (the ten commandments) to pick grain on the Sabbath. This didn’t bother Jesus at all though. Just because the Jewish people felt that it was a sin to pick grain on the Sabbath, He didn’t think so. Why? Because he loved his disciples and they were hungry. Jesus was more concerned about their hunger! Love triumphs the rules sometimes. The rules were created for man to have a better life, yes, but rules do not come before love.
King David did the same thing Jesus did. He ignored the rules and did the right thing, because his companions were hungry. However, it is worth noting that Jesus and King David were rulers and were in charge of others and had the power to do so. The average person probably couldn’t have gotten away with breaking one of the ten commandments, which made up their law. These verses in the gospel does not mean we can pick and choose when to break a rule, but there are occasions when love should be take precedence, not the man made rules.
The main criteria for what is right and wrong is your conscience. Your conscience will not fail you, unless it has been malformed by some other teaching or influence, especially as a child. Parents can teach their children the wrong things by their words and example causing a child’s conscience to become malformed. The criteria for mortal sin is “full knowledge” though. Without full knowledge, even if it is a grave sin, it becomes a venial sin.
The thought for today’s scriptures is pretty straight forward. Trust your conscience in discerning the right thing to do. If you question or doubt your actions though, it’s best to bring it up in confession and allow your soul to find peace.
