Between scrupulosity and laxity

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We have to do our best to have the right conscience which

is where we can hear the voice of God who guides us all throughout our

life. We should not just depend on our own light, no matter how

brilliant and smart we think we are. We have to realize that God is

always guiding us with the Holy Spirit’s constant promptings that we

should learn to discern quickly and correctly in our conscience.

            Simply relying on our own estimation of things will most

likely lead us to fall into some extreme cases of scrupulosity on the

one hand, or laxity on the other. Both extreme cases are clear signs

that we have not understood the promptings of God, or worse, that we

have ignored him completely.

            To have a scrupulous conscience is to be too severe or

unduly strict with ourselves as a result of our misinterpretation of

what is true, right and moral as taught and shown by Christ, and now

taught by the Church. It is to be too focused on our weaknesses and

sinfulness that we miss the all-powerful mercy of God.

            To be scrupulous is to have a perfectionist attitude,

overly sensitive to the unavoidable weaknesses and mistakes of people

in general, including his own self. A scrupulous person is usually

rigid in his character, often afflicted with the obsessive-compulsive

disorder, and with a strong urge to control others and things in

general. This makes him uptight most of the time. He tends to

over-think and over-react.

            He usually gets stuck with the letter of the law while

missing the spirit of the law. He can be very judgmental as he

projects his own fears, doubts, limitations and weaknesses on others.

He finds it hard to deal with others as they are. He wants them to be

like him.

  

            A lax person, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. He

may appear to be carefree, but he knows that his life is quite empty

and that it is simply following the ebb and flow of his emotions and

moods. He is quite shallow and merely reactive to the different events

of his life. We cannot expect him to have a long-term plan, or any

plan at all.

            With respect to his religiosity, he tends to unduly rely

on God’s mercy without giving due importance to the effort he has to

make to correspond to God’s love for all of us. He is quite

presumptuous in this regard. He forgets that while God is always

merciful, he wants us always to “enter by the narrow gate.” (cfr. Mt

7,13)

            He often cherry-picks only those parts of Christian life

that are convenient to him. Like the scrupulous person, the lax person

is quite self-centered also. He is mostly indifferent to other’s

affairs and concerns. The worst scenario is when he loses the sense of

sin.

            If ever they come to a lax person’s mind, the promises,

vows and commitments are usually not taken seriously. They may be good

and hot at the beginning, but they cannot maintain that state for

long. As they say, they are good only at the start. They only give the

appearance of fulfilling their promises but their heart is not in

them.

            We have to try our best to stay away from these two

extremes. God is always merciful but he wants us also to do our part,

because we are supposed to be like him. He only wants what is good for

us, but he does not impose it on us. We have to accept it freely and

lovingly and act accordingly.

  

            To do the right thing, we have to have a personal,

intimate relationship with God, studying the doctrine of faith and

morals, developing the virtues, engaging in a lifelong ascetical

struggle, availing of the sacraments like confession and Holy

Communion, having spiritual direction, etc.