Abstract

Conscientious discernment—which involves the ability to see right and wrong clearly—is an important task that all people must undertake on a daily basis. It is difficult to properly form one’s conscience, which is not a feeling or a mere moral intuition. To the contrary, it is rooted in object truth and reason; and through conscience, a person recognizes the morality, or immorality, of an act. As a result, moral education—teaching the difference between virtue and sin—is a crucial responsibility of parents. But young people are highly sensitive to hypocrisy, so we must live as examples, resisting complacency and continuing to form our consciences throughout our lives.