Generally speaking, most of us can easily identify when things are right or just. A trivial example would be that we know it is wrong when we see someone doing 100 mph on an urban expressway. Nonetheless, how many of us are comfortable enough in our judgment to do something about it? In other words, if we see someone doing 100 mph, would we call it in to the police?
This is an important issue because it is just as much of a sin to not take action (when we are able) as it is to actively commit some form of evil. After all, in the Penitential Rite of the Mass we ask forgiveness for what we have done and for what we have failed to do. We may think of speaking up as being intrusive or being a "busy-body," but in fact, if something is truly wrong, the evil will persist — and perhaps even snowball — as long as it is allowed, and we become cooperators with evil if we sit back and do nothing.
As President John F. Kennedy used to say, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Copyright © 2010, Deacon Carl D. Smith. All rights reserved. Reprint permission granted to parishes for use in Sunday bulletins. (http://bit.ly/16p8ws)
