We became victims of scandal when we acquired, rationalized, and compounded our addictions as the result of the uncharitable witness of others, typically loved ones who violated our trust in one way or another. The harm they inflicted gave birth to fear, confusion, and pain within us. We subsequently adapted to these difficult and sometimes traumatic circumstances by ironically adopting the very same addictions of the perpetrator(s), or by conjuring up our own unique compulsion(s), futilely seeking safety and fulfillment in substances, behaviors, and persons where such could never be found in any lasting or ultimate sense. We became trapped in the cycle of addiction, becoming the very thing from which we sought sanctuary, and thereby found ourselves on the road to spiritual death.

As a consequence of our metamorphosis into addicts, we also unwittingly became perpetrators of the very same sins of scandal that so wounded us, becoming complicit in the generational transmission of addiction and loss of faith. We committed spiritual violence against loved ones through our deception, manipulation, isolation, absence, theft, emotional volatility, and abusive speech and behavior, all of which stemmed from the tyranny of our narcissism. We lost our innocence in more ways than one when we selfishly drove others onto the same road of spiritual death.

The only hope for breaking free from the cycle of sin, scandal, and spiritual death is God’s mercy. God alone is the only power in the universe who can unravel the twisted knots of our scandalous sins with His life-saving grace! As Catholics in recovery, we learn that redemption comes with humility, honesty, and repentance, with frequent reception of God’s grace through the sacraments and prayer, in recovery fellowship and sponsorship, and in service by offering spiritual and corporal works of mercy. We learn, in doing our inventories, to identify the perpetrators of scandal in our lives and, most importantly, in the very image of Christ Himself, to forgive them. And we similarly learn to make and live amends with the victims we created and harmed by taking responsibility for our own scandalous sins and becoming living witnesses to Christ’s mercy and love. Like Saint Catherine of Siena, let us dedicate our lives in recovery to the love of God and neighbor, to making reparation for sins of scandal, for those we have harmed, and for those who have harmed us.

Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us!

Reflection Questions

• How have you been a victim of the sin of scandal?
• How have you been a perpetrator of the same?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Acts 4:32-37
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5
Gospel: John 3:7b-15

Reflection by Pete S.