I donât think there was anything uncharitable about his post. I read it several times. Iâve personally never liked the eye-rolly smiley, but come onâŚthatâs not gonna push anyone away from the Church.
What I believe is that we have to present things
the way they are. Some people are super-sensitive and some people just donât want to hear the truth no matter how much we sweeten it up. I agree with Fr. Corapi and those whoâve brought him up in this thread so far. We need *more *fire and brimstone talk in our churches if anything, not less. Itâs never, ever charitable to confirm someone in their sin.
Think about itâŚif someone comes to you and says that they are masturbating with impunity or using ABC or cheating on their wife, etcâŚhow exactly would you propose we speak to such a person, Serap? What do we say? Whatever the response, kindness and grace is a given, I think.
Christ told us to admonish the sinner and to instruct the ignorant, and that these are works of mercy; of love. He didnât say to âsweetenâ the truth to make it easier to swallow.
AC Claire, please re-read EasterJoyâs post. She put it so wellâŚthis is what this thread is all aboutâŚ
If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Cor. 13:1-7
We can word things strongly without being unkind, impatient, rude or self-inflated.
This is not a matter of being âniceâ or trying to âsweeten the truthâ or make the truth more attractive than it is. The truth is sweet to the wise, and bitter to the foolish, and there is no getting around that.
It is a matter of expressing things with a certain amount of humilityâŚnot because humility is attractive, but because humility is a more accurate reflection of what our place is in the grand scheme of knowledge and grace.
Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, âWhoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.â 1 Cor. 1:26-31
A Catholic who has the attitude that they are made of different stuff than other men may mean well, but is missing the point, all the same. It is a wrong attitude, Iâm sure youâd agree with that. That attitude is what the thread is about, I think. It is not that we shouldnât be trying to do good things. It is that we shouldnât think we are less in need of mercy if we do. It is because of mercy that we succeed in anything worth doing. We canât ever forget that, nor talk as if we have.
Speaking of Jesusâ willingness to speak hard truths, try this little Bible search: Did Jesus use his harsh words on people who were failing miserably, the prostitutes and the tax collectors, on the people who were too tolerant of the sins of others, or were those harsh words used on people who were serving God by a combination of doing everything right and unfailingly condemning those who werenât?
Just asking.
)
â⌠. .
Not healthy. I become what I loath.