When admonishment is merciful and compassionate

Apr 15, 2016

By David Gibson
The inmates Pope Francis visited in a Mexican prison Feb 17 were encouraged by him to consider “the possibility of writing a new story” in their lives and to believe “that things can change.”

Speaking in a penitentiary located in Ciudad Juarez near the U.S. border, a city once known as the murder capital of the world, Pope Francis hoped to inspire prisoners to believe that “the power of divine mercy” can make all things new.

“You suffer the pain of a failure,” he remarked to them. But he added immediately, “If only we all would suffer the discomfort of our concealed and cloaked failures.”

Pope Francis did not state explicitly in his prison speech that he had come to “admonish sinners,” thus carrying out one of the seven spiritual works of mercy. It could be argued, though, that his prison visit was all about this work of mercy and what it involves.

What seemed especially noteworthy was how he did this — his way of clarifying what this work of mercy looks like in action. That, surely, was all to the good, since this particular work of mercy appears easy to misunderstand.

The word “admonish” in English often implies a somewhat harsh tone. To admonish others, it may be thought, is to scold them in no uncertain terms.

Though admonishment certainly can refer to advice and encouragement that is expressed gently in a patient conversation, it often is understood more in terms of stern disapproval.

The Pope’s tone with the Mexican prisoners, however, was not harsh or angry.

Pope Francis did not intend to speak to them “like someone wagging his finger from on high,” he explained. Instead, he spoke “from the experience of (his) own wounds, mistakes and sins.”

He spoke, he said, as someone well aware, that without God’s grace and his own continued vigilance, he “could repeat the same mistakes.”

The Pope also took care not to separate words of admonishment from words of mercy. Perhaps he meant to show plainly, that if admonishing sinners is a work of mercy, it must be carried out in merciful ways.

The mercy of Jesus “embraces everyone,” and there is “no space or person it cannot touch,” Pope Francis told the prisoners. Divine mercy, he stressed, “can reach you in the hardest and most difficult of places.”

Pope Benedict XVI spoke about this work of mercy in 2012, affirming that “Christian admonishment … is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern” for another’s good. “All of us,” he wrote, “are weak and imperfect.”

He pointed out that St Paul highlighted the spirit of gentleness that ought to characterize this work of mercy. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians says that “even if a person is caught in some transgression, you, who are spiritual, should correct that one in a gentle spirit” (6:1).

This spiritual work of mercy may, indeed, be somewhat easily misunderstood, especially when it involves someone whose actions are greatly disturbing, disruptive or truly harmful. But when all the spiritual works of mercy are viewed together, they have a way of casting light on each other.

Thus, one spiritual work of mercy calls for bearing patiently “those who do us ill.” Other spiritual works of mercy call for forgiving offences and comforting the afflicted.

Patience, forgiveness and comforting gestures, however, do not tend to characterize those who look down on others self-righteously or who approach them in a finger-wagging way.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle discussed the spiritual works of mercy at the outset of the Church’s current Year of Mercy. In considering these works, he wrote, “we ask for the grace never to be condescending or judgmental. Otherwise, we approach others with the intention to ‘fix’ them. That is a far cry from leading them to an encounter with Jesus.”

In certain situations, he said, “we might be called to point out the error of someone’s ways, but we do so humbly, and only after prayer, as fellow sinners who rely on God’s mercy ourselves.”

Pope Francis hoped to inspire the Mexican prisoners he visited to believe in a different kind of future for themselves. Does that indicate that admonishment in the Christian vision encompasses an effort to inspire others, whether through words or the example of our actions?

The Pope did not talk down to the prisoners, nor did he patronize them. Instead, he described himself as someone at one with them. He spoke gently, moreover, in assuring them that they could grow and change.

All of this suggests that, to admonish others and to urge them to believe that they can make important changes in their lives, it is essential not to lose sight of their human dignity.

It is essential to remember also, as Pope Francis said when he formally proclaimed the Year of Mercy in April 2015, that everything about Jesus “speaks of mercy” and “nothing in him is devoid of compassion.”