SPIRITUAL  GUIDELINES

When the faults committed are in themselves venial, the scandal is venial.  The gravity of a scandal increases in proportion to the harm caused by it, the number of persons scandalized, and the importance of the people who commit it.

Scandal may be given by the words we use, or by the example we give.  God demands an account of the harm caused by the scandals given both by words and by example. Alas for that person who gives scandal.  A scandalised soul cries for justice and revenge.

Whatever one does, good or bad, always makes a good or a bad impression on those who hear what one says or see what one does. Words stir people, but examples drag them along.  Blessed are they who are the cause of good, but alas for those who cause harm.

Those who love, do good to everyone always and in whatever way they can.  Those who hate do evil.  Those who love have God's spirit abiding in them, but those who hate have an evil spirit which can never make anyone happy neither here on earth nor after death.

It is imperative to repair the harm one has committed to one's neighbour.  This implies the harm done both to the soul and to the body, both to the spiritual and to the temporal life.  Many do not convert because they find reparation much too difficult.

From the Writings of St.George Preca, the Maltese Saint.