The Priest at Prayer, May 2

The Priest and the Eternal Truths
Mortal Sin in the Priest

Fifth Meditation

Malice of Scandal in the Priest

I. Nature of scandal

Another poisonous fruit of mortal sin in the priest is usually scandal.

Let us define scandal with theological accuracy:
Dictum vel factum minus rectum praebens alteri occasionem ruinae spiritualis - Something said or done which falls short of moral rectitude and which provides for another the occasion of spiritual ruin.

It may be a case of simply providing the opportunity, that is: a certain facility, greater than the ordinary, for sinning, in response to the mere presence or knowledge of the thing said or done which bears the appearances of evil. Or a person may be in some way the cause of sin, for example: by praising, persuading, or coercing another with regard to evil.

Your scandal will be indirect if you reasonably fore­see that another will be moved to sin because of your words or actions, even though you may not intend it; and direct if you intend another person to sin, either for the sake of satisfying your own passions or for the delight - the fiendish delight - of seeing your neighbor offend God and lose his soul.

II. Malice of scandal

Indirect scandal is a sin against charity, and even against justice, if the person giving scandal is bound ex officio to avoid it; for example, a parish priest or a prelate, whose office it is to edify, to "build up" the souls that God has entrusted to him.

Direct scandal, besides being against charity, offends against the virtue or commandment which the scandal induces to transgress; for instance, scandalising against holy purity will contract a twofold malice: one against charity for others, and the other against the sixth com­mandment.

The scandal will be more or less grave according to the greater or lesser spiritual ruin brought about, or to the more or less strong influence and effectiveness which we exercise for evil by our evil word or deed, or the more or less direcdy we foresee or seek the commission of sin by another.

Who but God will weigh and measure the evil pro­pensities awakened in other hearts by the atmosphere of my life so unworthy of my priesthood? And for how many was this a decisive force for plunging them into the vortex of sin?

III. Malice of scandal from the priest

To scandalise is to kill. the divine life of grace in souls, a life more precious than all natural life, quoniam melior est misericordia tua super vitas. (Ps. LXII, 4.) It is to wrench them away from God their Father and to make them incur eternal loss. Do you know of any­thing more opposed to the idea we all have of what a priest of Christ should be?

A priest giving scandal! What a paradox! Salt that corrupts and rots, light that darkens, water that stains and bemires, a shepherd who scatters and slaughters the flock, a father of souls who murders them with his own hands and throws them like carrion into the cesspool of hell; Christ - sacerdos alter Christus - who re-sells for a trifle souls purchased with divine Blood and throws them back to the devouring jaws of Satan.

Resolution
With all the force and zest of my love for my priestly vocation and for Jesus Christ my Lord and God I shall detest scandal, the poisoned weapon of the spirit of darkness for overcoming the Redeemer of men and for annulling the supernatural action of the Catholic priest­hood. With acts of heartfelt contrition at least, I shall wipe out the cursed trail of evil left by my transgressions real or apparent.

Henceforth, nobody shall find in my life a basis for delinquency; I do not want any Christian, when sinning, to be able to point to my sinful life and claim the slightest justification imd excuse, repeating the verse from one of Seneca's tragedies: Quid divos decuit, mihi turpe putem? which we might translate: "What is good enough for the priest is good enough for me."
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Adapted from The Priest at Prayer
by Fr. Eugenio Escribano, C.M. (© 1954)
Translated by B.T. Buckley, C.M.

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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood!