WHEN YOU LABEL SOMEONE "POLARIZING"

A MESSAGE FOR CHURCH LEADERS (ALL OF US)

[I originally posted this on Facebook. It took off like wildfire. Clearly, it merits the attention of all to whom it is addressed.]

DEAR PEOPLE OF FAITH,

Particularly bishops, priests, pastors, and leaders, please consider the lives of Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David, all the first popes and followers of Jesus Christ, St Joan of Arc, and St. Maximilian Kolbe. Consider why we honor these. Note that every single one was regarded as "polarizing."

Particularly by the religious class.

THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE between instigating division and recognizing where consequential truth is at stake and taking a stand. And more than just in easy moments. More than when you find support.

We speak truth because we are of the fabric of Truth. Because there is no other Way. Because it is the Gospel. Truth we cannot presume to determine, but in Whom we are determined. The pavement to eternal life. And our sacred trust.

EVEN THE MOST SECULAR medical institutions address the real physical dangers of all immoral activity. Such punctuates the relevance of the truth we profess. With the greater concern for the eternal life of a soul, what if in this Year of the Eucharist clergy persistently communicated with clarity and loving conviction the scope of mortal sin and what's at stake in our receiving Jesus unworthily? What if every church was fundamentally ordered to help us navigate from sin to renewed, healed, transformed salvation in Jesus Christ? Is this not the primordial purpose of a shepherd? Is there anything more important? SOUL EXAM: https://bit.ly/SoulExam

IN THIS DAY ETERNAL LIFE-DETERMINING Truth is at stake. Its verdict for so many is in your hands. So speak it. Always. Whether convenient or inconvenient. (2 Tim. 4:2) Because we are in the “final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church.” (St. John Paul II) Because "[s]ilence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act as to act." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

LORD JESUS CHRIST,

We repent of the ways we've given in to cowardice. The ways we've made excuses for not speaking truth. Awaken us to the power of your Holy Spirit. Transform us. Heal us. Revive us. Strengthen us. And flood us to overflow to claim your Kingdom, all for Your Glory!