The Eyes and Ears of Conscience

The wide domain of human experience is a mixture of good and evil, light and darkness, or, in religious terms, grace and sin. Moral dilemmas abound. In the face of this reality, we can only be grateful that we are endowed with a conscience. It is the God-given ability to steer a course in our moral life, one that guides us in our judgements and decisions. Conscience not only urges us to avoid evil but helps us to recognise opportunities for goodness, justice, compassion and love and urges us to act on them.

There are, however, many complexities to conscience. It has its bright and dark sides, intertwined as it is in areas of conflict, sin, failure and hope, mercy, moral beauty, unbelief, honest mistakes and, above all, redeeming grace and the courtesy of God. The ongoing formation and development of conscience is a life-long task for which this book will be an invaluable aid.

Thomas Ryan SM brings the Church’s teaching on conscience to life in an exciting, challenging, and fruitful way. His unique combination of reflectiveness and clarity, infused with examples from Scripture, daily life, history, and popular culture, speaks to both the heart and the mind. It will be of enormous value in the formation of lay people, ministers, educators, and theologians alike.

Dr Daniel J Fleming, Head of Ethics for St Vincent’s Health Australia and Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame, Australia.

As we make other people part of our lives and recognise how others and all creation are integral to our living, we are engaged more and more as moral beings.  It is conscience that opens our hearts, draws us beyond ourselves, invites forgiveness and compassion, ever making us more ‘conscious’ of our world and present to it. Tom Ryan offers a compelling guide to conscience understood within mystery and love.

Professor Gerard Moore, Principal BBI The Australian Institute of Theological Education 

Thomas Ryan SM, a Marist priest, was involved in tertiary theological education and adult faith education for many years. He has held honorary positions in theology at the Australian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has authored numerous papers published in books and theological journals, both nationally and internationally. His recent books are Shame, Hope and the Church: A Journey with Mary (St Pauls Publications, 2020) and The Reasoning Heart: John-Claude Colin and the Marist Spirit (ATF Press, 2021).