Act of mercy or occasion of scandal?

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Look at the title of your thread…I don’t see any “occasion of scandal” in the facts you presented and agree with those who find your friend’s gesture to take “Jack” in to be one of a generous friend, not that of a woman with a loose morals. Anyone petty enough to speculate or gossip clearly doesn’t have enough to do with their time and isn’t worth worrying about.

**I took her first post in a totally different way. I saw it as her being concerned about what others would think of her friend if she were to take this man in to her home.

After all, the sin of scandal is against others…usually strangers or people not privy to the details of our personal lives. Like if this woman has nieces or nephews and all they hear is that auntie so and so is living with a man who is not her husband.

I think it is good to be a bit concerned about scandalizing others. But there are so many varying opinions… probably best for the OP’s friend to take the issue to a trusted, orthodox priest. And maybe get that same priest to talk to her mother (if he ok’s the living together)**

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

.I don’t see any “occasion of scandal” in the facts you presented

**since I am still not very clear on the sin of scandal, what would you define as a scandalous situation? I would assume that two Catholic, unmarried, opposite sex adults of the approximate same age living together could certainly be cause for worrying about scandalizing others… **

 

[CarrieH]

Look at the title of your thread…I don’t see any “occasion of scandal” in the facts you presented and agree with those who find your friend’s gesture to take “Jack” in to be one of a generous friend, not that of a woman with a loose morals. Anyone petty enough to speculate or gossip clearly doesn’t have enough to do with their time and isn’t worth worrying about.

I personally am not the least bit scandalized by Jill’s idea of taking Jack in to her home, and I have no reason to believe that she has ever had loose morals. But what about those who may not know the situation and who only know that Jill goes to Mass every Sunday and even sings in the church choir, but has a man who is not her husband living in her house? Sure, it’s none of their business and it’s their sin if they gossip and pass judgment on her, but even so, the situation still has the potential to damage Jill’s reputation. As Feanaro’s Wife said, scandal is a public thing. It is about the appearance of sin, whether the person in question is actually sinning or not.