As I’ve previously discussed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church includes in its definition of conscience three different times in which a person is called upon to recognize the moral quality of a chosen act: before it is performed, while it is being performed and after it has been performed.

Understanding conscience as being future orientated makes sense because it is often in the process of weighing options that we most readily recognize it at work. Fair enough. However, its role doesn’t end once those options have been weighed and I’ve chosen to act.

The real challenge may be to ensure that it remains engaged at the other times mentioned as well — each of which presents its own unique challenges. Therefore, it may be helpful to look at some of these.

Even though I may have spent time evaluating how best to act, and come to a conclusion, sometimes in the moment I begin to question whether or not my choice was really good after all. Such hesitation may be either helpful or not.

It often comes down to what is causing that hesitation. Is it actually being caused by my conscience? Or is it being caused by something else?

If I begin to see that my choice was not quite as good as I originally thought, or if I see other elements to that choice that I did not originally see, which now call into question the goodness of the act, then prudence would dictate that I not proceed until I’ve at least considered these unforeseen elements.

I should not proceed simply because I had previously made up my mind it was OK to do. New information may require further moral reflection. This is difficult. At times, it may mean that I end up in an awkward situation.

How many of us have done something wrong simply to avoid the awkwardness which may accompany a better moral choice, especially if it was something I was already determined to do? Probably most of us.

But when we stand before God one day He will be far less concerned about us having avoided awkwardness than having avoided that which we knew was evil. Our conscience is given us to avoid evil — even when, and especially when, it may be difficult to do.

But there is a flip side in attempting to listen to our conscience in the moment. Sometimes we can confuse the voice of our conscience for our personal fears.

We may be determined to do something good, but begin to question whether or not we should when it actually comes time to act. We hesitate not because it appears wrong, but more because it appears uncomfortable.

We may even attempt to convince ourselves that something good, isn’t actually good. Such attempts can be our way of trying to avoid a sense of guilt later for not acting.

Fear can be a huge obstacle to carrying out morally good actions. We are determined to do something our conscience has clearly told us is morally good, but in the moment fear creeps in, and we hesitate.

For example, I may be convinced that I should share my concerns about a fellow employee who I believe is struggling with a substance abuse problem. I may know that this is ultimately in his or her best interest. But, I hesitate, perhaps out of fear of what the repercussions to me may be. I may begin to come up with reasons why I should not intervene.

Such hesitation and subsequent rationalization is not the voice of conscience, it is much more likely simply the voice of my fears. In this case, listening to conscience in the moment means following through with the morally good choice I had previously determined to do.

Listening to conscience in the moment can be challenging, but so can listening to conscience after we’ve acted. These challenges will be discussed in my next column.