Kindness and Truth Shall Meet

Gospel Reflection for July 14, 2024 - Mark 6:7-13

And he called the twelve; and began to send them two and two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.

And he commanded them that they should take nothing for the way, but a staff only: no scrip, no bread, nor money in their purse,

But to be shod with sandals, and that they should not put on two coats.

And he said to them: Wheresoever you shall enter into an house, there abide till you depart from that place.

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you; going forth from thence, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony to them.

And going forth they preached that men should do penance:

And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. (Mark 6:7-13 DRA)

While listening to today's readings at Mass or studying them privately, it could be difficult to see how they fit together. The first focuses on the rejection of Amos as a prophet; the Psalm expresses the harmony of mercy and justice in God; the Epistle, one of the most complex passages in St. Paul's writings, explains the deification of man through adoption into the family of God and the inheritance of salvation by the redemptive sacrifice of Christ; and the Gospel describes the first mission of the apostles, sent out as pairs by their King to evangelize through preaching repentance and performing miracles.

What's the connection between these readings?

Many interrelated themes could be identified and explored, such as the prophetic character of the Christian vocation, the nature of salvation as offered by the Church and accepted voluntarily in faith as a form of adoption and inheritance, etc. For this reflection, however, I would like to focus on a common theme stated explicitly in the Psalm, which I mentioned above as the harmony of mercy and justice: “Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss,” as St. David writes. This theme is one key to each of the readings, as God offers the mercy of salvation to Israel through Amos and later through the apostles, both according to the saving mission of Christ explained by St. Paul.

At the same time, God also proves His justice, making clear that salvation requires the correction of repentance, interior conversion and the humble acceptance of the Gospel; otherwise, as Christ instructs the apostles, they are to shake off the dust from their feet, what St. Paul elsewhere describes as “[t]o deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 5:5) - allowing those who refuse correction to suffer the penalty of their choices, even if this may mean eternal damnation.

Mercy and Truth

This dynamic of kindness and truth, peace and justice is familiar to everyone. Parents know that it is not enough only ever to correct and punish children; they must also be forgiven and shown kindness when they fail and then encouraged to do better. However, if children are raised permissively, allowed to do as they please without consequence, they will become vicious (in the proper sense of afflicted with vices), lacking virtue and self-discipline even into adulthood while believing that they are entitled to the same accommodation from others as they received from their parents. Either type of parenting - harsh severity or permissive indifference - signify a lack of love, which instead desires the good for children and therefore requires both mercy and justice.

While parents tend to find this dynamic somewhat easier to grasp, it can be harder in relations between adults. In modern times, we tend to believe that mercy and justice are irreconcilable. This usually involves one of two extremes: either that truth should be sacrificed to preserve people's feelings even if it means ignoring their wrongdoing, or that kindness is irrelevant and the truth should be given without any prudence, moderation or respect for the dignity of others. Both approaches are wrong and contrary to Christian morals. Even if the first seems so popular and even enforced by “woke” society today, mired as it is in relativism and liberalism, the second can also lead to an “ends justify the means” mentality which misrepresents authentic evangelization and violates St. Peter's command to “sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you. But with modesty and fear, having a good conscience: that whereas they speak evil of you, they may be ashamed who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” (1 Pt 3:15-16) Ultimately, we must follow the guiding principle given by St. Paul which is the foundation of Christian morality: we should never say, “let us do evil, that there may come good”. (Rom 3:8) As St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) wrote,

Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth! One without the other becomes a destructive lie.

One of the greatest problems in the world today is not so much the rise of secularism and atheism, both of which are indeed problematic, but even worse is the fact that so many Christians today are indistinguishable from non-Christians. Guided by the false belief that mercy equates to permissiveness or liberal “tolerance” and should be prioritized to the exclusion of truth and justice, they are willing to approve of even the gravest sins, including the murder of children in the womb, sodomy, bodily mutilation or heresies and false religions, sacrificing the truth of the Deposit of Faith and betraying their baptismal vocation. Christ gave a dire warning to these false disciples: “Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 10: 32-33) The great scandal of blessing sin, of “Pride Masses,” of self-proclaimed Catholic politicians and celebrities brazenly extolling the public violation of God's law and of ordinary Catholics who act as though all religions are the same or that a same-sex “couple” can somehow constitute a true family, all lead the world farther from Christ, and for this we will be called to account before God on the Day of Judgement.

May these readings and the consistent voice of Scripture and Tradition bring the Christians back to true fidelity and their rightful place as beacons of Christ, who is “the light of the world.” (Jn 9:5)