When you know better, you do better!
A few days ago I was watching Oprah Winfrey’s show when she said something that I thought sounded quite profound and almost Catholic in its philosophy and theology. She said “When you know better, you do better!” How true!
The catechism gives us examples of how one can fall into error and make mistakes in judgement.
1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one’s passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.
1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.
1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man “takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin.” In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.
1793 If – on the contrary – the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
Jesus tells us:
Matthew 5:48“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I do not believe that this is an impossible command. But how are we to become perfect like the Father? First we must know what the perfection is. We must acquire wisdom of God and of how he wants us to live holy lives. I believe that the best way to do that is the way Jesus showed us – by watching, listening, following and learning from holy men and women who love the word of God and have had some experiencing in living a Christian life through good times and hardship.
The Catechism gives us some clues on how to achieve this.
133 The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.
2208 The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor.
2825 “Although he was a Son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered.” How much more reason have we sinful creatures to learn obedience – we who in him have become children of adoption.
Scripture gives us this example.
Sirach 6
If you are willing, my son, you will be taught, and if you apply yourself you will become clever.
33
If you love to listen you will gain knowledge, and if you incline your ear you will become wise.
34
Stand in the assembly of the elders. Who is wise? Cleave to him.
35
Be ready to listen to every narrative, and do not let wise proverbs escape you.
36
If you see an intelligent man, visit him early; let your foot wear out his doorstep.
37
Reflect on the statutes of the Lord, and meditate at all times on his commandments. It is he who will give insight to your mind, and your desire for wisdom will be granted.
If the first part of doing better is knowing better, than it behooves us to follow, the teachers who really have the life experience of walking in the footsteps of righteousness and the wisdom to apply that experience when trauma and turmoil happen, as they inevitably will. This can be a scary even humbling experience, but remember that only fools despise wisdom and discipline (Prov 1:7)
But I think “Knowing better” means more than just doing better. It also means to instruct others and to become wise teachers ourselves. Yes, AMEN! God is kind and merciful and will forgive us or our sins, even our sins of omission and ignorance. But to know better also means to help and steer others from our mistakes. In some ways, I think that just might be harder to do because it requires admitting we weren’t perfect, that we made mistakes. To admit that we were wrong can be the hardest thing to do sometimes. But to truly be sorry for those past sins, and for Catholics making a good confession, it’s imperative.
The reward for all of this however helps us to achieve that perfection and holiness that Christ calls us to. Then we can “walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.