Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Glendale recently issued the following announcement on Sept. 6.

It’s all about reconciliation and conversion, not punishment. Relationships are not static adventures but wonderful gifts that continue to develop, grow, change, and mature. We are meant to be social beings, so isolating ourselves from others is rarely helpful. But, because human beings are on the one hand tremendously gifted, talented, and blessed creations, they are on the other also flawed, broken, and sinful. We all need to humbly admit that we are works in progress and not only capable of enriching each other’s lives but causing deep hurts and wounds as well. Hence, we always need to be reconciled. We are always growing, changing, and expanding our knowledge of who we are and how we are meant to share life together.

Because reconciliation and conversion are always part of the mix of life, honesty is crucial. Without honesty, we can easily find ourselves living a lie and causing more harm than good. Being able to freely share our feelings, especially those involving pain and hurt, is a charism necessary to pursue and an art to learn. When we are wronged or wrong someone else, we do not enjoy the confrontation that can and needs to come. We are taught to keep our feelings to ourselves, especially when they are negative, and we tend to avoid difficult conversations. Hence, we never really learn how to confront another, successfully resolve conflict, find reconciliation, and welcome conversion. When we hurt or wrong someone, it does not mean that we are a bad or sinful person who deserves only punishment and excommunication. Quite the opposite! We are simply a human person who can make poor choices and sin and can be forgiven. We can restore and deepen the relationship that has been affected and find our way home again.

Jesus clearly wants to avoid shame because it has no purpose in achieving reconciliation and conversion. All broken relationships deserve a chance at reconciliation. Every person has room for growth and a need for conversion. We have to learn to be okay with honesty and not be afraid to hear and process what someone needs to say, even if it is difficult for us to hear. Severing a relationship, both personally or with the church community as a whole, ought to definitely be a last resort and only pursued when all else has failed.

Original source can be found here.