When Archbishop Adam Exner was Archbishop of Vancouver, he did something that really stuck in my mind. Vancity Banks had a program with the Catholic Schools and Vancity Banks started openly promoting same sex union in their advertising and so Archbishop Exner cancelled the program with them. The Archdiocese was heavily criticized and threats were even made on the Archbishop’s life. Archbishop Exner, in an interview in the Vancouver Sun about it, said that the Church will hold to the truth on the matter and he said as an archbishop it was his duty to teach the truth and also that people have a right to hear the truth. Isn’t that wonderful, that people have the right to hear the truth, even inconvenient truths? One thing about Archbishop Exner was that he did not preach so as to stick it to the people, for the purpose of making them feel bad, but rather he told people of the truth so they could be converted.
The Gospel teaches us today of the Christian virtue of correction. This whole correcting thing and being a beacon of truth has become such a serious issue today. In this matter of correction, we must understand that the Church is always a Church of paradox, meaning that she holds two seemingly contradictory things together and always has. The Church, as Chesterton the great Christian apologist said, hates pink. She is all for the white ideal – her moral law – and she is passionate about those moral laws. But she is just as passionate about mercy when we fail in these areas. She will not mix them and make pink and say we don’t need morals or mercy. She holds us to the standard of our dignity yet, at the same time, offering us mercy when we have fallen beneath it. When the Church corrects, she is not saying you have sinned so go to Hell. She is saying you have sinned so seek repentance. She says no to sin because it hurts the people involved. She wants forgiveness and a new life for the sinner.
I believe Pope Francis has really focused on this in his papacy. We correct to give hope. We correct out of love. We not only tell the sinner the error but we offer mercy and a way out. One of the main members of Journey Canada (an organization the helps people with same sex attraction) said that when he decided to leave the active gay lifestyle, he used to pray in a Church for hours and this old priest would sit there and ask him if he could help him and he would always say no. One day he told the priest his story and after it was all done, the priest said, “I am not sure how to help you but I will journey with you through this all.” Now the man is married with four children and helps others in that situation. You see, as a Church we are not trying to send people to Hell, we are called to journey with and correct those that are wrong. If we don’t, we share in their sins and their downfall.
I admit correcting is challenging and most times very scary. Perhaps we do not always know what we
are to do. Here are some pointers:
- Try not to correct someone when you are angry with them or out of spite for them. Spend some time praying and check your heart and motivation. Pray for the grace to love the person you are correcting.
- Most times it is not a good idea to correct a person from an area of superiority. Know your own faults and use them to show the people how you have failed too. St John Paul II was famous for correcting priests and then handing them a stole and asking them to hear his confession in order to show them he was not perfect either and he also needed God’s mercy.
- If you can’t find the right time, ask God to set it up for you.
- Try not to come up with a pile of arguments. Simply make your point and ask God to guide you through it.
- Correction is a loving act, not a hating act.
- Spend time praying for the person before and after. It is good to check in on a person afterwards to see how they are doing.
- Try not to correct in public. Sometimes writing the person is a good option and you can check in later to see how they are doing.
- Finally, as you are getting ready and you keep thinking of the situation, every time it comes to your mind give it back to God.