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Naturally, the needs ofeach individual willdetermine the answer tothe question. The ritualindicates that the sickhave a right to "receivethe Eucharist frequently,even daily" (# 72).Tosecure this level of pas-toral care, most commu-nities would require a

fully developed lay min-istry.Illness sometimesaffords the sick a greatopportunity for spiritualSrowth. Skilled pastoralcare ministers will helpthe sick to center thatgrowth in a solideucharistic piety.

Communion of the sickshould be seen as a min-istry of spiritual forma-tion, as well as one ofhealing and nurture. It isnot unusual for a personto develop a significant-ly deeper appreciationfor the Eucharist duringa serious illness. And, astheir appreciation grows,

so may their hunger forthe Eucharist and theirrequests to receiveCommunion withgreater frequency.Reverend Robert D.Druggar\ is pastor of SaintRose of Lima Parish,Gaithersburg, Maryland.

,IJAI'ES F. KEENAIIQuestion If you thinkit's right (but it isn't) andyou do it, are you bad?What am I asking? Am Iproposing a way out ofirresponsible activiry anexcuse? Am I proposingsome clever Jesuiticalexercise so that y,ou candeny or cover up what-ever you intend to do?No. I am posing a ques-tion that presumes sin-cerity and reiects deceiior fraud- I(s a questionwe can ask of anyone inany situation, anyone,that is, who sincerelytries to do the right butfails.We can ask it of the physi-cian who tries to make theright prognosis, but doesnot. Consider the teacherwho does not knowwhether she ought toapproach her studentwith tough love or sup-port, and somehow picksthe wrong approach.Consider the spouse whodoes not know whether topry or to let alone thespouse who has not com-

municated well in days.Consider the student witha dominating roommateor the panent with thetroubled child or the childwith an isolated parent.These are all ordinarycases, the very kind weoften encounter but moreoften overlook. Theirimportance is that theydemonstrate how wethink and judge morallyin ordinary times.Sorne readers may beasking, Who is to saywhat is wrong? That isnot the question underconsideration here; how-ever.Consider the ordinarycase: a person tries to getsome task dght and endsup doing it wrong. Thephysician errs in herprognosis; instead ofhealing, she actuallyharms the paiient. It is anordinary error involvingno rare disease andrequiring no extraordi-nary knowledge. Despitethe physician's effort, shestill did not find what

another physician mighthave. She made a mis-take. Likewise the teach-er who decides to exer-cise tough love. Evenbefore the sparks fly, oth-ers can see that in thisparticular instance toughlove is inappropriate.The same with the stu-dent who capitulates tothe manipulative room-mate, when it is obviousto any observer that sheShould be assertive.Instead, in the name ofharmony the studenteroneously lets theroommate have her way.In each of theseinstances, the agent getsit wrong, despite effortsto get ii righi.It is like those few butdreadful moments whenwe arrive home and ourchild, spouse, parent,friend, or communitymember greets us at thedoor with "She meantwell," "He did it out oflove," or "He reallydidn't mean it." Suchphrases tell us that some-one tried to do right, butdid not. Warned, weknow that disaster liesbeyond the portal.Acting in ConscienceThe question I am askingis key because in such sit-uations each person ispresumably following his

or her conscience. Afterall, trying to find theright way of acting is pecisely what one who actsin conscience does. In theexamples cited, we havesomeone following herconscience, but still get-ting it wrong. We mightpresume that she askedsomeone for advice aboutwhat to do,6ut that shestill made her own deci-sion in conscience andacted. Of course, she isobliged to follow her con-science. She makes thedecision in conscienceand still errs.One could conjecture thatshe should have followedthe other person's advice.Presumably she listenedto it, but believed (cor- .rectly) ihat she still hadto act the way her ownconscience dictated. Itiold her, commanded her,io act as she did. She wasand is bound to follow it.Does Conscience FreeUs?Too many people associ-ate conscience with free-dom, as in "I am free tofollow my conscience."In one way that remark iscorrect; in another IVay, itis not. It is true to say "Iam free to follow my con-science" in the sense thatno one should force meto do otherwise. In the

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United States, for exam-ple, we are'allowed tofollow our consciences solong as we do not causeor do any harm. in thechurch, too, we are freeto follow our consciences;the church does not wantus to go against our con-sciences.In another way, though, Iam not fre. I am not freeb{ore my conscience, todisobey or ignore it. Noram I free to "not form"rny conscience.Theological writing rabout conscience rarelyconcems freedom.Usually it speaks aboutthe "dictates" of con-scince or the lldemands"of conscience. Conscienceobliges or binds us.Thomas Aquinas askedin lhe Summa lheologicawhether anyone can evergo against one's ownconscience. He answered,"never," adding thatevery time one does, onesins. His reasoning wassimple: if we disobey ourconscience what altema-tive is there for claimingthat we are tTying to findthe dght?Is it Bad to Be Wrong?Given that, what.do wemake of people (our-selves included) who fol-low their consciences,who mean well and actout of love, but get itwrong? Are ihey bad? Ifsin means badness (and itdoes) then we are in alose-lose situation if wesay that someone whodoesnit follow her con-science sins and thatsomeone who does, butgets it wrong, also sins.In our examples, then,the agent would be

damned if she does anddamned if she doesn't.Thomas raised that ques-tion, too. He called it thequestion of the erroneousconscience: if someonefollows her conscienceand gets it wrong, is shebad? Thomas suggestedthat the rcason why theperson got the activitywrong is because she wasignorant. Thomas isright. . . t,'.

their lives and recognizernistakes they made-notbecause they lacked loveor effort or sincerity-butfor lack of experience andthe wisdom that comeswith it. They had been"ignorant," iust like thepeople in the cases wecited.Aquinas's AnswerThomas answers thequestion, Is she bad.when she was ignorant?

may be asking whatsome call the Hitler (orStalin) question: if yousay that a person whofollows her consciencenot bad, couldn't youargue that Hitler andStalin were not bad, ifthey claimed that theywere following their cosciences? It is really a terible hypothesis.I have pointed out thatfollowing consciencemeans trying to find ouwhat is right. Can weactually believe it possble to claim to be lootinfor the right way of acting while at the sametime killin& not justonce, bui for years, andkilling not iust a dozenpeople, but millions? Cwe actually believe thaHitler acted "in con-science?" The enormityof his crimes againsthumanity, and the timethey took, suggests t.hawe ridicule conscienceeven to entertain thequestion. We can look awhat ihose two figuresdid in this century andsay with ceftainty thatconscience was not opeative. Their conduct wanot from an erroneousconscience, but frommany yeals of failing torecognize that there is acanscience, one thatneeds to be formed andthen obeyed. The Hitlerquestion ought to be lato rest,We know that manytimes we seek to do theright and, despiteadverse consequences,we are good. Yet when-ever we fail to search.fothe right, regardless ofthe consequences, weare bad.

In all the examples wecited, the person did notknow something. Itwasr/t because she diiln-ttry or didn't care ordidn't make an effort. Itwas because she didnitunderstand or recognizesomething about a symp-tom, or behavior, oranother's needs, orhuman nature.When giving talks, Ioften ask parentswhether there ever was atime they really tried toget something right buididn't. Ali the hands goup. They can look back at

with another question:Why was she ignorant?He adds, if the persontried to understand butcouldn't, then that is notsin. If, however, the per-son did not bother tolearn what she shouldhave known, she sins.Here Thomas gives usthe key to the moral life:we must fry to under-stand, to learn, to knowwhat is the right and iodo it. Otherwise, weare bad-Before discussing what itmeans to strive to knowthe right, some readers

It's all ight zaith me, as long as I getequal iliaifle ights!

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