What role does conscience play in our spiritual lives?
The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.Show Notes
What is moral theology, and where does it fit in our spiritual lives? Fr. James Martin, S.J., asks these questions to James Keenan, a Jesuit priest and one of the world's leading Catholic moral theologians on “The Spiritual Life” podcast. He is the Canisius professor of theology at Boston College, where he also serves as director of the Jesuit Institute and Vice Provost for Global Engagement. He has written and edited over a dozen books, covering everything from church leadership to moral life to bioethics, and more.
Together, they discuss:
- Moral theology in practice
- The role of conscience in our daily lives
- What happens when conscience and church teaching disagree?
Chapters:
00:00 Who is Fr. James Keenan, S.J.?
4:15 Mercy and vulnerability
6:10 Sin is "not bothering"
9:10 What sins are Jesus concerned with?
10:35 Becoming a moral theologian
15:15 Morality and birth control
18:40 What is moral theology?
22:30 What is conscience?
26:23 Conscience and church teaching
30:05 Understanding the Good Samaritan
41:00 Fr. Keenan's spiritual practices
45:10 Audience question: Conscience in difficult decisions
Spiritual advice column for this episode by Maggi and Fr. Jim: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/10/06/father-james-martin-keenan-conscience-spiritual-life
Other links:
The liberating work of mercy: Banning ‘servile work’
Pope Leo’s powerful lesson in vulnerable leadership
James F. Keenan, S.J., on guidance for the LGBTQ Catholic conscience
Focusing on the individual is not enough to face today’s crises. We need collective moral agency.
The Moral Life
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