{"id":16961,"date":"2014-10-31T02:25:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T08:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=16961"},"modified":"2017-04-17T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T02:00:00","slug":"the-thin-line-between-mercy-heresy-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-thin-line-between-mercy-heresy-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thin Line Between Mercy & Heresy – Part I","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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IN <\/strong>all the controversies that unfolded in the wake of the recent Synod in Rome, the reason for the gathering seemed to have been lost altogether. It was convened under the theme: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” How do we evangelize<\/em> families given the pastoral challenges we face due to high divorce rates, single mothers, secularization, and so forth?<\/p>\n

What we learned very quickly (as proposals of some Cardinals were made known to the public) is that there is a a thin line between mercy and heresy.<\/p>\n

The following three part series is intended to not only get back to the heart of the matter\u2014evangelizing families in our times\u2014but to do so by bringing to the forefront the man who is really at the center of the controversies: Jesus Christ. Because no one walked that thin line more than Him\u2014and Pope Francis seems to be pointing that path to us once again.<\/p>\n

We need to blow away the “smoke of satan” so we can clearly identify this narrow red line, drawn in Christ’s blood… because we are called to walk it ourselves<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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PART I – RADICAL LOVE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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PUSHING BOUNDARIES<\/p>\n

As Lord, Jesus was the law himself, having established it both in the natural law and the moral law of the Old and New covenants. He was the “Word made flesh,”<\/em> and so wherever He walked defined the path that we are also to take\u2014every step, every word, every action, laid like paving stones.<\/p>\n

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By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:5-6)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, He did not contradict himself, blazing a false path contrary<\/em> to His word. \"\"But where He went was scandalous to many, as they did not understand that the whole purpose of the law was fulfilled in love<\/em>. It’s worth repeating again:<\/p>\n

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Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom 13:19)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What Jesus taught us is that His love is infinite, that nothing, absolutely nothing, not even death\u2014essentially what mortal sin is\u2014could separate us from His love. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Rom 3:38-39<\/span><\/span>