"Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips..." (Isaiah 6:5) Who am I to speak to others, to rebuke one man or praise another?
Abortion is a serious topic, one that requires serious discussion. It is also one that requires incredible compassion. The Catholic Church strongly opposes abortion, a stance of which I believe most people are aware. The objective stance is the easy part, but most people like myself know someone close to us, a friend, sister, wife, daughter, mother, who has had an abortion. When speaking of abortion then it is so important to be compassionate. We must hear the words of Saint Paul, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal." Not just hear it but live it. It can be that we get so passionate about the cause.We are upset at this crisis that is happening in our country. We forget that these are people like us, people who have been wounded, maybe even by the Church itself. In the same way that when speaking about abortion we must remember they are individuals, they are people with God given dignity. When speaking about the Church, we (myself included) who make up the Church are sinners. Anger, addictions, sloth, envy, the list can go on, we the Church suffer from it. So when we rise up in anger about the laws on abortion and demand the Church make an example of them, calling for excommunication and condemnation screaming "moral sin!". Who am I to demand that? I am but a sinner! I deserve the condemnation! Condemn me! We must remember these are individuals out there. Christ died for them too! Pray for the conversion of hearts and while you're at it the conversion of your own. That we might be like Ananias in the conversion of Saul.
After Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, God sent Ananias to him. And Ananias knew what Saul had been doing, killing Christians like himself. When Ananias entered the house where Saul was, the first thing he said to him was, "Saul my brother." Let us pray that we have that kind of compassion, and that kind of forgiving heart. It is only love that will drive out hate. I couldn't care less about changing a law if it didn't turn hearts. On the contrary if the hearts turned there would be no need for the law.
I was listening to the local Catholic Radio, which is 94.5 on the FM dial if you are in Sioux Falls, SD. And they were discussing the excommunication and mortal sin. They discussed that in this day excommunication should not be used as some sort of weapon against people. Also that in excommunicating someone we separate the person from the sacraments, the channels of grace that of which they(we) are in need. Moral sin also has three requirements to it. First it must be grave matter. Second the person must have full knowledge that what they are doing is wrong. And third they must freely consent to do what they know is wrong. As we do not know many of the individuals, we do not know how they were raise or what they were taught, for us to call out and condemn with mortal sin is not right and is not compassionate.
There is no one straight formula, one way that works to approach everyone. Each individual is unique, with many different experiences and wounds. Many people take offence these days; It isn't about that, we are all wounded in many different ways. You or I am not about to solve anyone in the comments section of any blog or social media post. But your friends, family and community, you can actually be with them; serve them and love them. You can avoid taking offence and instead humble ourselves and serve.
I am guilty of many things, I must recognize my wrong doings and correct them. If I'm busy only seeing all the wrong others are doing, I will not see myself. Make excuses for others but not for yourself. Remember that everyone else's cross is twice as big as your own. I pray when the time comes and I stand before God to give an account for my life, God may have mercy on me, but I will be measured by how I measure. This means I must act with mercy now, I must have a compassionate heart. I must act with love.
Abortion is a serious topic, one that requires serious discussion. It is also one that requires incredible compassion. The Catholic Church strongly opposes abortion, a stance of which I believe most people are aware. The objective stance is the easy part, but most people like myself know someone close to us, a friend, sister, wife, daughter, mother, who has had an abortion. When speaking of abortion then it is so important to be compassionate. We must hear the words of Saint Paul, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal." Not just hear it but live it. It can be that we get so passionate about the cause.We are upset at this crisis that is happening in our country. We forget that these are people like us, people who have been wounded, maybe even by the Church itself. In the same way that when speaking about abortion we must remember they are individuals, they are people with God given dignity. When speaking about the Church, we (myself included) who make up the Church are sinners. Anger, addictions, sloth, envy, the list can go on, we the Church suffer from it. So when we rise up in anger about the laws on abortion and demand the Church make an example of them, calling for excommunication and condemnation screaming "moral sin!". Who am I to demand that? I am but a sinner! I deserve the condemnation! Condemn me! We must remember these are individuals out there. Christ died for them too! Pray for the conversion of hearts and while you're at it the conversion of your own. That we might be like Ananias in the conversion of Saul.
After Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, God sent Ananias to him. And Ananias knew what Saul had been doing, killing Christians like himself. When Ananias entered the house where Saul was, the first thing he said to him was, "Saul my brother." Let us pray that we have that kind of compassion, and that kind of forgiving heart. It is only love that will drive out hate. I couldn't care less about changing a law if it didn't turn hearts. On the contrary if the hearts turned there would be no need for the law.
I was listening to the local Catholic Radio, which is 94.5 on the FM dial if you are in Sioux Falls, SD. And they were discussing the excommunication and mortal sin. They discussed that in this day excommunication should not be used as some sort of weapon against people. Also that in excommunicating someone we separate the person from the sacraments, the channels of grace that of which they(we) are in need. Moral sin also has three requirements to it. First it must be grave matter. Second the person must have full knowledge that what they are doing is wrong. And third they must freely consent to do what they know is wrong. As we do not know many of the individuals, we do not know how they were raise or what they were taught, for us to call out and condemn with mortal sin is not right and is not compassionate.
There is no one straight formula, one way that works to approach everyone. Each individual is unique, with many different experiences and wounds. Many people take offence these days; It isn't about that, we are all wounded in many different ways. You or I am not about to solve anyone in the comments section of any blog or social media post. But your friends, family and community, you can actually be with them; serve them and love them. You can avoid taking offence and instead humble ourselves and serve.
I am guilty of many things, I must recognize my wrong doings and correct them. If I'm busy only seeing all the wrong others are doing, I will not see myself. Make excuses for others but not for yourself. Remember that everyone else's cross is twice as big as your own. I pray when the time comes and I stand before God to give an account for my life, God may have mercy on me, but I will be measured by how I measure. This means I must act with mercy now, I must have a compassionate heart. I must act with love.
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