First Reading - Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Gospel - Luke 9:7-9
Conscience, as stated by St. Augustine, is the voice of God speaking to us from within. Our conscience is a gift of God's presence in us that corrects and directs our actions. However, it's our responsibility to keep the purity of our conscience by obeying it and not acting against the inner voice. The readings of today invite us to keep watch over our conscience whether that is right or is perverted due to our irresponsibility and pervertedness.
The passage from the first reading is a thought provoking passage that reminds about the vanity of everything. Apparantly, it sounds pessimistic in tone but is ridden with vast experiences of life. The passage branches out into four major thoughts; impermanence of life, monotony in nature, insatiability of the senses (desire), and lack of newness (monotony). The author is keen to counsel his readers and hearers of his wisdom that is not to waste valuable life after things that can't give sense of fulfillment in the end. The first reminder is that life is not permanent, and the second reminder tells that our senses (desires) are insatiable, hence quenching every thirst of it is impossible and the last reminder tells that there is nothing that can be considered new because it was already there but either it was forgotten or not noticed. It discourages our pride of being equal with God by taking pride of creating and finding new things. In short, the first reading tells us that we should mould our lives in such a way that we should not run after the futility of life but a life that is satisfactory and fulfilling. This requires a good conscience to discern what is right and proper for life.
The gospel passage presents the lax conscience of Herod who heard about Jesus and was perplexed. Herod had a lax conscience because he was blinded by his sins though it was pointed out by John the Baptist. However, the beheading of John the Baptist certainly shocked him but didn't change him. He failed to see his sins in his sinful acts. The rumours about Jesus came to him as surprise as some called him John the Baptist and others Elijah. The curiosity to see Jesus rose in Herod but not for any change but to see John alive in Jesus. The right conscience of Herod was silenced by his indifference to it and also the voice of John the Baptist to him.
Dear friends, we have a moral guide, our conscience. If we keep our conscience intact and unaffected by our indifference and pervertedness, and always listen to it, we will never go wrong. In fact, God speaks and guides us through our conscience. When we make mistakes, our conscience corrects us and pricks us lest we make the same mistakes. In the gospel, we heard about Herod who turned his deaf ears to his conscience and didn't change his ways, though often challenged by John the Baptist. The first reading invites to keep the conscience pure so that a wise choice is made in life. Today the readings are the voice for us to invigorate our conscience. We are warned today to not make our conscience lax like Herod but strong and firm. We are encouraged by the readings to let our conscience remain firmly rooted in God by attending to it everyday by the Examination of Conscience. The examination of conscience will help us watch over our conscience whether it is still a right and delicate conscience or lax, scrupulous and perplexed conscience etc.
Today we are invited by the readings not to allow our conscience to go dead by constantly acting against it but we are to listen to it as God's voice and act accordingly.
May God help us keep our conscience pure and right.
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