When to Admonish the Sinner?

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I work with and know guys who have a very unhealthy view/attachment to their heterosexual identity! It’s bizarre… They feel the need to proclaim their manliness and wretched sexapades constantly! It’s very sad. I never hear about aspirations or solutions to world problems. They’re fixated on scoring another woman or getting drunk at the bar.

People gotta get their heads out of the gutter and make a difference!
 
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Cruciferi said:
I work with and know guys who have a very unhealthy view/attachment to their heterosexual identity! It’s bizarre… They feel the need to proclaim their manliness and wretched sexapades constantly! It’s very sad. I never hear about aspirations or solutions to world problems. They’re fixated on scoring another woman or getting drunk at the bar.

People gotta get their heads out of the gutter and make a difference!
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I believe all this modern emphasis on sexuality, ‘gender issues’, &c is a delusion sent by the Enemy to distract us and keep us from focusing on our real problems that need solving.
 
Admonish the sinner is definitely the favorite corporal act of mercy!
 
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Now that’s the Truth and I’m sticking to it!
 
Cruciferi said:
However, I don’t believe it’s good for ANYONE to overly emphasize or define themselves by their sexual inclinations.
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For many gay people, they were first defined by their sexuality by other people. They were called f*gs or qu**rs by other children at school. And if all the LGBT people out there had remained in the closet, they would also have remained politically powerless and all the laws protecting them from discrimination in employment, housing, etc. would never have been passed.
 
jesusalright4me said:
So my question is, when do we know to admonish the sinner, or instruct the ignorant? Would this be a good time to? Pray for me as I discern this.
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The Old Catholic Encyclopedia actually articulates the answer to this very well. It says one is only required to correct another under pain of sin under the following conditions:
  • the delinquency to be corrected or prevented is a grievous one;
  • there is no good reason to believe that the sinner will adequately provide for himself;
  • there is a well-founded expectation that the admonition will be heeded;
  • there is no one else just as well fitted for this work of Christian charity and likely to undertake it;
  • there is no special trouble or disadvantage accruing to the reformer as a result of his zeal.
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It doesn’t sound like you have any expectation that your “admonition” would be heeded. I’d let it go. I’m with Cruciferi. Issuing “correction” over social media—particularly directed towards people who are more casual acquaintances rather than good friends—generally goes over like a lead balloon. That is not the most effective way to evangelize.

If it troubles you greatly, then make a point to develop a better friendship with that person, show them you love them, and share the Good News of God’s love and mercy with them in a way that is attractive rather than repellant. Then you will have earned the ability to bring up your reservations about what posts they are sharing.

If that sounds time consuming, it is. There are no shortcuts in evangelization. If you want them to be receptive to what you are saying, you have to put in the time.
 
Arbovirus said:
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whyeyeman:
What makes you think you know better than Thomas Aquinas, moron?
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What did St. Thomas Aquinas say about pride? What did Jesus say about calling your brother “fool”?
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Matthew 5:22:
But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
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Maybe more simply put:
Admonish the sinner privately and lovingly if the situation calls for it.

In any social media where you are considering posting for religious reasons ask yourself, will what I am about to say win hearts for Christ? Could it do the opposite?
 
TheOldColonel said:
The art of gentle persuasion many times surpasses harsh correction in such matters.
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Or as my sainted grandmother was fond of saying, ‘You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.’ I have had the truth of this proven in my life, time without number. It is only my selfish pride and ego that prevent me from applying it in every circumstance. Sometimes I allow a bad mood, a stomach ache or just garden-variety orneriness to enter the equation, thus effectively sabotaging my own efforts. God help me.
 
DisorientingSneeze said:
In any social media where you are considering posting for religious reasons ask yourself, will what I am about to say win hearts for Christ? Could it do the opposite?
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Beautifully stated. Thank you for the inspiration.
 
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Admonishing a sinner usually has to be done privately, with gentleness and there has to be a relationship with the person.

I always think of the bible verse in proverbs 18

An offended (or wounded) friend (or brother) is harder to win back than a fortified city.

Using this scripture : When we admonish, we have to be full of love and do our hardest to not offend or wound them (if possible)
 
jesusalright4me said:
Some background: in terms of politics, this friend is quite liberal. He identifies as Christian I believe, though his social teaching opinions, especially those on things like same sex marriage, are not orthodox.

A part of me really wanted to point out that, put simply, Fr. Martin is only presenting half of the truth here, that the Church teaches homosexual acts to be a indeed sinful, and that this post, as well as a Catholic’s presence at an LGBT event, could truly be scandalous. I have typed this all out in my notes app, in a way worded charitably yet to the point. I have not posted it yet, though.

I wonder if I should. On one hand, I fear that those who see the original post could get the wrong impressions of Church teaching if I don’t comment. Another part of me says that, if I do comment, it should be in a PM. And yet, a third part of me says to hold off. Put simply, because we aren’t the closest of friends. Yet, I see potential opportunities to get closer to him in the future. I fear that if I say something over the Internet, he could take it quite offensively, destroying a relationship and thereby ruining any future chances at any sort of potential to present him with the fullness of the Catholic truth in the future.

So my question is, when do we know to admonish the sinner, or instruct the ignorant? Would this be a good time to? Pray for me as I discern this.
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As many of us know the infamous Father Martin is not fully aligned with the Magisterium on EVERYTHING he shares publicly.😐

If your correction is to your FRIEND, not to Father on a Public Forum; then by all means DO share the teachings of the RCC… We should avoid as much as is possible, public corrections of our Ordained.

God Bless you,
Patrick
 
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I avoid everyone. But scripture doesn’t say I have to be friends with them either. I don’t think it would be good know any of them, but for different reasons.
 
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I only have like two friends.
 
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This might be good advice here overall. I would tend to agree. It also might be an option if your concerned to write a short email to his bishop rather than a public admonishment. This would maintain privacy, and I believe it might be the bishops place to admonish…, I’m not certain how that works. Admonition can be tricky as you don’t know his intent was in writing what he did.
 
I actually didn’t pick that up at all, I thought the OP worded it well and didn’t catch any negative intonation there. Just how I read it anyway. But it brings up a good point, that is you have to be very careful with written language as we miss a good percentage of the non-verbal communication and it can lead to misunderstandings.
 
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This is one of those situations where we need to pray for the courage and insight to admonish the sinner where it will do good, to be silent when it would be useless and for the wisdom to know the difference.
 
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