How to be merciful without compromising the Truth
We live in a time of many flaunted and shamelessly displayed sins—from alcohol and drug abuse to promiscuity and homosexuality. And we, as sound-minded Catholics, when we see these sins proudly practiced by our priests and fellow lay faithful, are oftentimes tempted to be enraged at their unorthodox and immoral lifestyles—lifestyles they oftentimes do not repent of but instead desperately try to justify. They, however, differ from those who commit these sins and yet, deep in their hearts, desire to overcome them. Now, how should we respond to either of them? For starters, we must turn to Sacred Scripture, the Catechism, the Traditions, and the Magisterium of our Catholic Faith to reform not just others, but ourselves as well. These determine how we must reform our lives to conform to God's will. If we then know all about these—or at least have some knowledge of them from reading, studying, and attending Holy Mass—then we can separate the wheat from the chaff, which, in the Catholic...