1 Kings 19:9, 11-16 / Matthew 5:27-32
In the moral sense, a person's conscience is the sense of right and wrong, and with that it can be said that it is a guide to one's behaviour.
But of course, what is right and wrong depends on how a person is formed in the moral aspects and what are his moral guideposts.
So as much as there is objective morality, the tendency can be that we might want to see how far we can go before it becomes obviously wrong.
But morality is not about how far to the edge we can go before we fall off the cliff. Rather it is about knowing where the edge is and keeping away from it.
In referring to the commandment about not committing adultery, Jesus did not just stop with what is obviously wrong, He also went into what is not obviously wrong.
So impure thoughts can be as dangerous as the wrong act, but because no one can "see" our thoughts, we may think it is not as bad as the act itself.
But purity of mind and heart is both spiritually and morally important, because thoughts can lead to actions.
The voice of conscience can be said to be the voice of God telling us what is dangerous or what is wrong.
The voice of God often comes to us like the sound of a gentle breeze, and as we heard in the 1st reading, the prophet Elijah heard that sound and knew it was the voice of God calling out to him.
In the midst of this noisy world, let us take time to be quiet and listen to the voice of God.
The voice of God speaks into the depths of our hearts so that we will know the way that God wants us to live our lives.