Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire!

 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The practice of fraternal correction assumes several factors.   First, a sin has been committed and it can be identified. Second, a person of goodwill and moral rectitude comes forward to make the correction. Third, other persons and the Church must be willing to intervene if called upon. Fourth, the Church has the courage to remove a recalcitrant sinner from   the   ranks of   the faithful   until   the sinner   repents.   Clarity   of  thought, purity of intention and courage to take the right (and at times difficult) course of action will help sinners repent of their transgression and lead souls to Christ.   'In the end, action must be taken because all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.' - Edmund Burke Father Jerome Magat 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) If I tell the wicked man “O wicked one, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, he [the wicked man] shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.   Ezekiel 33:8

Today we Dominicans joyfully remember our beloved sister, St. Catherine of Siena.  (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) What a treasure St. Catherine of Siena is! One does not become a Doctor of the Church by being fearful to express, teach and live God's Truth in its entirety.  How ill-advised we are to discount, ignore or try to nuance the wisdom God has shared over the centuries through such faithful servants as she.  Less likely would we be to commit this error if our primary concern was the salvation of souls. No wonder those who wish to only tickle our ears and destroy our consciences ignore these great spiritual writers, abandoning God's Truth for a less demanding and counterfeit one. The following words  Jesus shared with St. Catherine in the 14th century are clear and unambiguous directions to his shepherds - not only those living then but for those among us today. May we and they be given the grace, humility and wisdom to hear and...

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) How can we answer to ourselves for the souls who have in our times lived and died in sin; the souls that have been lost and are now waiting for the judgment, seeing that for what we know, we were ordained to influence or reverse their present destiny and have not done it? Blessed John Cardinal Newman

In a society where many people lack moral courage, the authentic practice of fraternal correction is more urgent than ever. Our society cringes at the thought of confrontation or contradiction for fear of “offending” another person or seeming “judgmental”.     In other cases, so many people have lost a sense of sin that they become unable to clearly recognize evil. In other instances, there is simple indifference to sin itself. The Gospel mandate for fraternal correction expresses Jesus’ desire for us to fight against the aforementioned tendencies… Our Lord mandates that we owe each other, as a matter of justice, the charitable act of correcting each other out of love for God and the salvation of the soul of the person who has committed a wrongdoing or shown a lack of good judgment… (Father Jerome Magat)