THE VALUE AND ROLE OF CONSCIENCE AND DISCERNMENT IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY-AS-FAMILY

Abstract

The article conveys the invaluable part that our conscience as well as discernment plays in decision-making in religious communities and in individual lives in general. Our conscience as Christians and as religious must be very much active and alive, if we are to be functional in every area of life and if we are to uphold our dignity. We can keep our conscience alive when we unite our spirit with God’s spirit through the process of discernment. Through discernment, we will know the right thing to do or the best decision to  make since at the moments of discernment, God’s will is spoken to our hearts through our consciences. The article also presents that decision making is a process that is all-encompassing. It involves our daily lives and every living person at one point or the other, makes decisions on what he/she wants. Even though everyone, especially adults, have the right to decide, the members of religious Communities do not exercise such right completely since they are bound by the vow of obedience to listen and accept the will of God through their Superiors, Hence the Superiors, who are responsible for decision-making in the communities, should make the truth their focal point and this can only be possible when they are discerning, as St. Paul puts it. The Constitutions and the examples of our Founders should be our yardstick for judgment.   When a religious community abides by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, it becomes a family of God.