George Matulaitis Journal

78 particular individuals. Let us not imagine that we can attract anyone to the Catholic faith by tolerating or overlooking errors, by sacrificing the tiniest particle of genuine truth. Only by giving people the whole truth, our holy Catholic doctrine in all its breadth, depth, beauty, and purity, can we hope to draw them toward our Church. It is important to learn how to defend the truth. We must be able to stand up for the truth in such a way that even its adversaries, if any, would come away convinced that its defender is filled with love and respect for them. We must be careful, then, never to say anything that may insult, wound, or embitter an adversary because these things will repel him from the Church. Even when we are refuting an error, we should avoid terms of derision or ridicule. It is much better to present the teaching of the Church in all its splendor and thus to demonstrate the fallacy of other doctrines. I have always preferred the positive to the negative approach. We must be very cautious about new ideas and opinions: we should not embrace novelties too quickly, but examine them first to see if they are in harmony with the traditional teaching of the Church. On the other hand, we need not be too hasty to reject everything that is new if the Church has not condemned it. We must be careful to investigate and study the matter and wait until the Church makes a pronouncement about it. However, that does not mean that we cannot study the matter and try to demonstrate whether it does or does not agree with traditional Catholic doctrine. “Probate spiritus”—test the spirits. l Whenever several brothers have been assigned or sent together to some particular spot, they should find time either in the morning or in the evening to discuss among themselves how they may spend the day most profitably, what tasks each is to be responsible for, and so on. They should never be without plan or purpose. We must definitely introduce the practice of fraternal correction among our brothers. From time to time (every week or two) each one should request his monitor or a fellow religious to point out honestly all his defects, errors, and lapses in everyday life—in his work, conversation, and relationships with those around him. This would be a service of true 1 Cf., 1 Jn 4:1. This may also refer to St. Ignatius’s famous doctrine of discernment of spirits.