REMEMBER St. Paul saying that
“charity bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things?” (1 Cor
13,7) We better be prepared to live by that injunction, always asking
for God’s grace and constantly cultivating virtues, as we go through
the many tricks and snares of the devil and the world.
Recently, I must confess that I was taken aback when I
read in the news that Pope Francis said it was better to be an atheist
than to be a Christian hypocrite. My spontaneous reaction was, “Oh,
Pope Francis again and his big mouth!”
Who is not a hypocrite, I asked myself? We all are, at one
time or another, or even up to now. Hypocrisy is a constant threat,
given our human condition. That is why we need to struggle against it
all the time. But it turned out that my reaction was exaggerated.
Yes, I have been victimized many times by pieces of fake
news distorted by all sorts of biases and spins. And every time I get
to see the whole picture, I realize that my reaction was unwarranted,
I had to rectify myself and say sorry, and make a resolution to be
more restrained and prudent in my reactions. But then, I fail again
from time to time.
In that Pope Francis atheist-and-hypocrite statement, it
turned out that he did not actually say it, but was simply relating
what some people say or how they react when they see Catholics not
consistent with their faith. The style of Pope Francis is anecdotal
and giving concrete examples while conveying the doctrine.
I suppose such is life. We cannot help but slip from time
to time. What is important is that we react as soon as possible, stand
up immediately and move on. Let’s not waste too much time lamenting
about our mistakes. It can only show we are proud.
Thus, it’s important that we be sport and game in this
life. We need to be charitable all the time. and let’s continue to
struggle that it be so, or at least that we recover as soon as we can
after a slip or a fall.
And charity means that we also have to understand and be
merciful to the offender. In the case of the sources of the fake news,
we should also be quick to understand and forgive them, even as we try
to clarify the issue. Let’s see to it that our clarifications are free
of bitterness, sarcasm, irony and like. Charity is not lived when
these elements are present in our reactions.
Obviously, to be charitable as we should be, we have to
learn to suffer. On this, we already have been amply warned by Christ
himself. And yes, we can learn to suffer as long as we do our part to
correspond to God’s grace that will always be given to us in
abundance.
Let’s just consider these episodes of being victimized by
fake news as concrete occasions to deepen and strengthen our charity,
making it more identical to that of Christ—a charity that knows no
bounds.
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things?” (1 Cor
13,7) We better be prepared to live by that injunction, always asking
for God’s grace and constantly cultivating virtues, as we go through
the many tricks and snares of the devil and the world.
Recently, I must confess that I was taken aback when I
read in the news that Pope Francis said it was better to be an atheist
than to be a Christian hypocrite. My spontaneous reaction was, “Oh,
Pope Francis again and his big mouth!”
Who is not a hypocrite, I asked myself? We all are, at one
time or another, or even up to now. Hypocrisy is a constant threat,
given our human condition. That is why we need to struggle against it
all the time. But it turned out that my reaction was exaggerated.
Yes, I have been victimized many times by pieces of fake
news distorted by all sorts of biases and spins. And every time I get
to see the whole picture, I realize that my reaction was unwarranted,
I had to rectify myself and say sorry, and make a resolution to be
more restrained and prudent in my reactions. But then, I fail again
from time to time.
In that Pope Francis atheist-and-hypocrite statement, it
turned out that he did not actually say it, but was simply relating
what some people say or how they react when they see Catholics not
consistent with their faith. The style of Pope Francis is anecdotal
and giving concrete examples while conveying the doctrine.
I suppose such is life. We cannot help but slip from time
to time. What is important is that we react as soon as possible, stand
up immediately and move on. Let’s not waste too much time lamenting
about our mistakes. It can only show we are proud.
Thus, it’s important that we be sport and game in this
life. We need to be charitable all the time. and let’s continue to
struggle that it be so, or at least that we recover as soon as we can
after a slip or a fall.
And charity means that we also have to understand and be
merciful to the offender. In the case of the sources of the fake news,
we should also be quick to understand and forgive them, even as we try
to clarify the issue. Let’s see to it that our clarifications are free
of bitterness, sarcasm, irony and like. Charity is not lived when
these elements are present in our reactions.
Obviously, to be charitable as we should be, we have to
learn to suffer. On this, we already have been amply warned by Christ
himself. And yes, we can learn to suffer as long as we do our part to
correspond to God’s grace that will always be given to us in
abundance.
Let’s just consider these episodes of being victimized by
fake news as concrete occasions to deepen and strengthen our charity,
making it more identical to that of Christ—a charity that knows no
bounds.
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