In his Friday morning Mass, Pope Francis said that celebrating the mistakes of others, moves one away from God.
Correcting the mistakes of others is necessary, said the Pope, but it must be done with compassion.
POPE FRANCIS
'If you're not able to do this with love, charity, truth and humility, you will offend, you will destroy the heart of that person. You will add to gossip that hurts, and you will become a blind hypocrite. Just as Jesus says: You hypocrite, first take the wooden beam out of your own eye... Hypocrite! Recognize that you are more sinful than the other, but you, as a brother or sister, must correct one another.â?
The Pope also described 'fraternal correction' as something that's essential to cure the Body of the Church.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY:
Source: Vatican Radio
The Pope was reflecting on the Gospel passage where Jesus warns against noticing the splinter in our brotherâ??s eye but failing to see the wooden beam in our own. This inspired him to return to the subject of fraternal reprimand. First, he said, the erring brother should be reprimanded with charity.
'You cannot reprimand a person without love and charity. [Just like] you cannot perform surgery without anesthesia: you cannot, because the patient will die from the pain. And charity is like an anesthetic that helps you to receive treatment and accept reprimand. Take him to one side and talk to him, with gentleness, with love'.
Secondly, - he continued - we must speak the truth: 'Do not say something that is not true. How often in our community are things said about another person that are not true: they are slander. Or if they are true, they destroy the personâ??s reputation'. 'Gossip - the Pope repeated - hurt; gossip are a slap in the face of a personâ??s reputation, they are an attack on the heart of a person. 'Sure - he observed - 'when they tell you the truth is not nice to hear, but if it is spoken with charity and love, it is easier to accept'. Therefore, 'we must speak of other peopleâ??s defects' with charity.
Thirdly, we must reprimand with humility: 'If you really need to reprimand a little flaw, stop and remember that you have many more and far bigger!'
'Fraternal reprimand is an act that heals the Body of the Church. There's a tear, there, in the fabric of the Church that we must mend. And like mothers and grandmothers, who mend so gently, so delicately, we must do likewise when we want to reprimand our brother. If you're not able to do this with love, charity, truth and humility, you will offend, you will destroy the heart of that person, you will add to gossip, that hurts, and you will become a blind hypocrite, just as Jesus says. Hypocrite, first take the wooden beam out of your own eye. ...'. Hypocrite! Recognize that you are the more sinful than the other, but you, as a brother must help to reprimand the other'.
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