The conscience is like the captain of a ship who needs maps and reference points to navigate safely. The conscience cannot invent its own rules of morality. It needs a stable reference point independent of any individual’s whim or caprice. It needs to know what is truly good and what is truly evil so that it can judge correctly.
During this week of Lent, let us gladly receive the Father’s embrace for each one of us, perhaps through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, rejoicing in the fact that we were dead and have come to life; we were lost and we have been found.
Note the emphasis on personal confession and absolution. Christ, the Good Shepherd, always tends his sheep one by one.
We Catholics know we are sinners. We believe that the Catholic Church has the means to forgive our sins. A faithful Catholic seeks forgiveness and healing. A faithful Catholic goes to confession.