Speak charitably without watering down the truth

In a 2010 address to young people and families in Palermo, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI clearly defined God’s role in the family: “Divine love, which unites a man and woman and makes them become parents, is capable of generating in the hearts of their children the seed of faith, that is the light of the deep meaning of life.”
 
Recently, during an interaction before a Bible study group, an elderly woman posed a question that I’ve never been asked before: “What do you think is wrong with the world in which we live today?” I exclaimed to myself, How do I answer this question, and where do I begin? After a pause I simply replied, “We are living in times where, in general, people are afraid of speaking the truth!”
 
Given today’s social climate of being canceled or ostracized for speaking one’s mind on a political or social matter, I can confidently say that all of us, either subtly and unconsciously or perhaps in a somewhat cowardly way, have reflected a bit before commenting on similar questions. We know how to answer truthfully, but we want to be sure we are charitable. That does not mean we water down the truth; rather, it means we must deliver the truth gently but with a sense of passion.
 
We cannot let today’s culture of death influence our children and families. Parents must be proactive as the primary home educators and influencers of their children. This task cannot be taken lightly: it should be the family’s top priority if we are to secure a life for our children that is rooted in the transcendentals of truth, goodness, and beauty!

As parents, we ought to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth as best and as humanly possible. The family has the greatest responsibility in providing an environment for children where the parents are living an exemplary life rooted in the gospel. Parents bear witness to their families and children by creating a home where tenderness, kindness, respect, fidelity, and forgiveness are practiced daily.
 
The home is where we can best cultivate the virtues necessary to allow children to grow into adults who know the difference between subjective ideas and objective truth. We must teach our children what Jesus really meant in Mark 12:31: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus certainly did not mean to love your neighbor by way of pacifying or patronizing. He meant love your neighbor in truth and charity.
 
One cannot truly love another by merely being agreeable or indifferent just because that is what society promotes under the guise of “love.” We must be on guard against these false teachings and protect our families from this falsehood that is leading our world into an abyss of darkness that strips persons of their human dignity and obscures the true meaning of life.

CHEF NEIL FUSCO
is founder of Cucina Antica Foods, Corp., 
a specialty Italian food-products company. Raised on a farm in San Marzano in southern Italy, he learned his family’s farm production and cooking. His 2017 cookbook, May Love Be the Main Ingredient at Your Table, presents amusing and heartfelt stories about faith, family, and recipes from his Old World childhood.