Lobster a la Yuck!

The next time your wallet feels a little light and your dinner guest starts eyeing the "surf and turf" section of the menu, you might casually mention the fact that lobsters are taxonomically related to spiders. In colonial times, lobsters were regarded as worthless, and were fed only to slaves!

What appears elegant in one context can become repulsive in another. This becomes distastefully apparent, for instance, to missionaries who first observe African tribesmen relishing as a consummate "delicacy". the scooped-out guts of the giant buffalo beetle. Our world is replete with such vagaries of subjectivity. 

This subjectivity relates not just to such things as gourmet food, but, more significantly to individual consciences that have been formed or malformed by environment or culture. To conform subjective norms to true objective norms in matters of conscience requires a "base line" of morality - natural law -  "law...written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness" (Rom 2:15). But for more problematic issues, more is needed: God's revealed truth.

But God's revelations - including his expressed will spelling out more detailed applications of natural moral law- is not yet wildly known. Natual law says murder is evil; yet not everyone knows that this included euthanasia, suicide, and abortion. We must "Teach what is right" (Lk 20:21), but to avoid rash judgment, remember that ultimately, "it is the Lord who judges" (1 Cor 4:4). 

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net