The seven steps with which a man kills his conscience. Based on a sermon by Saint John Fisher

 

The Seven Steps to Killing a Conscience

Speaking of "his Majesty's conscience", Bishop John Fisher
had once given a sermon during Lent to Henry VIII's Court from which
the following seven steps are clearly set forth.

Step One: The process starts with the individual facing the temptation of doing a sinful act: it seems to promise pleasure and satisfaction, but the individual knows that, objectively, it is a sin.

Step Two: The individual decides to commit the sin.

Step Three: He or she plans how to commit the sin.

Step Four: She commits the sin.



Step Five: She enjoys it so that much she commits the sin again and again with no regret or repentance.

Step Six: She faces a choice: repent and seek reconciliation from God and the Church or convince herself that the sinful acts are not sinful at all. She or he develops a habit of mortal sin and the will succumbs to the repetition of the habit; he ignores the voice of God in his conscience and the intellect decides that what he knew before was wrong is now right. He has killed his conscience, the voice of God. As Blessed John Henry Newman would say in the 19th century, he has adopted the right of self-will as his guide.

Step Seven: Now he wants others not only to accept his sin as being no sin at all, but also to partake of his sin as a good thing that leads to pleasure and satisfaction.

The Martyrdom of St. John Fisher for his Defense of Marriage against Divorce

Liturgical Collect Prayer:

O God, who in martyrdom have brought true faith to its highest expression, graciously grant that, strengthened through the intercession of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, we may confirm by the witness of our life the faith we profess with our lips. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.