When I reflect on the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), thankfulness for God’s mercy wells up within me. Perhaps because I’ve been away from my home in Christ in the past, it’s easy to remember what it was like to trust in the world and seek its pleasures instead of trusting in Jesus. I was searching in “a distant country” for happiness. Far from Christ, I was indeed a lost sheep.
Reflecting on just how He has saved me (repeatedly!) I see a direct parallel in how He has so gently called me to Him and how the prodigal son was called back to his father: through the conscience. The Church teaches that conscience is the inner voice of natural law in our hearts. It’s the voice of God Himself judging, admonishing, and guiding us to do good and avoid evil. “When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking” (CCC, 1777).
That’s the key: we must listen to and follow the voice of God speaking directly to our hearts. This is the voice of the Good Shepherd, the One who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes after the one wandering in the desert (Luke 15:4). When I was lost, Jesus sought me out and spoke gently to my conscience. I came back to myself and repented, like the prodigal son (Luke 15:17). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid me like a lamb on His shoulders and carried me back to the fold (Luke 15:5).
St. John Henry Newman called the conscience “the aboriginal Vicar of Christ” in the soul. It’s the ancient yet present voice of Christ, our King and our Good Shepherd. Christ speaks directly to each person’s heart as “behind a veil.” It “teaches and rules us,” but only if we listen to it. Our consciences call us to repent when we have done something against God’s will. They exhort us to let go of sin and turn away from whatever is keeping our hearts from loving and being loved, be it sin or woundedness. It’s Christ Jesus, who “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Jesus, my Good Shepherd, thank you for searching me out and saving me. Thank you for being present to me in my conscience. Help me listen to and obey You always. Bring me gently home when I fail and wander away.