a) What are freedom and conscience?
Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and therefore to do deliberate actions. When we choose to do good, we exercise true freedom and become more free. When we choose to do evil, we misuse freedom and make ourselves slaves of sin.
Conscience is the judgment that one makes, through which one acknowledges the goodness or badness of a concrete action carried out in the past, present, or future. One should always follow the correct judgment of one’s conscience.
b) Why should an Altar Server understand what freedom and conscience are?
The right to exercise freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is part of our human dignity. This does not mean that we can say or do whatever we want to, but rather that we have the right and duty to say what is true and to do what is good.
A lifelong task, forming our conscience will help us judge correctly and do good, and thus guarantees our freedom and peace in our hearts. Our Mother the Church, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, is our sure guide in assimilating God’s Word into our faith, prayer, and actions.