Well said, Fr. Blake!

 

Fr. Ray Blake has recently written a very good post concerning our bishops, in general, being 'too nice'.

I quote the following, in particular:-

"Niceness means being all things to all men, being willing to burn incense before a pagan god, gathering into the big Catholic tent people whose lifestyle choices and whose theology in any other age would exclude them.
Radical orthodoxy would suggest that we proclaim teaching loud and clear wherever we can."
 

I would suggest we should all be careful not to fall into this subtle trap. Christianity is not about being nice to everyone: it is about doing God's will. Love is not about letting people do as they want: it is about seeing that they get what is best for them. The greatest love we can show towards others must involve wanting them to receive the ultimate reward of Heaven, and doing what we can to ensure that they get this. This may often have to be 'tough love': not letting them have their own way if this is a danger to their souls, helping them to overcome that which puts their souls at risk. Is it really an act of charity to be nice and accomodating towards someone, encouraging them to live their life any old how, regardless of morality and Our Lord's wishes, only to end with their immortal soul consigned to the flemes for eternity? Surely to do so would be putting our own souls at risk. It is not a case of 'I'm O.K., you're O.K', otherwise very soon neither of us will be O.K.

Here is a clip of one of Venerable Fulton Sheen's talks, in this case about 'Youth and Sex', where he points out (with his typical simplicity and humour) our need for boundaries and limits and training in what is right, and without which we are never happy. The part I would focus on is from the start up to about 2 minutes, 50 seconds. I would, however, commend the whole of this talk to you (it is on Youtube in four parts - this clip is the second part), and indeed any of Fulton Sheen's talks and sermons.