Dear St. Rita Families,
Well, it was a wild week! As you have heard, a thief decided to take advantage of your devotion and generosity, and of our desire to provide a place for you to pray. Both of our poor boxes and candle boxes were stolen from the Church at various times this week, and on Wednesday night, the thief actually broke into the Church after hours to take the last one. Fortunately, however, the police were able to assist us in tracking down some of the stolen items, and we have recovered three of the four lost boxes. We had emptied the last two boxes after the first two were stolen, in order to minimize the ill-gotten gains. I will keep you updated on the investigation as I can.
In the meantime, I ask that you pray for the thief and his conversion, and for us as we set about making repairs and finding a more secure way to mount the boxes. Until that happens you can either bring candle and poor box donations to the parish office, or you can donate to those line items via Parish Giving.
The incident also affords us a great opportunity to reflect on punishment. Punishment is not a pleasant experience, nor is it meant to be. Punishment is an act of restorative justice, to right a wrong not just externally but hopefully internally as well. This was the goal of those types of jails called “penitentiaries” – penance by and reform of the criminal – and justice in society, whether writ large, the society of your family, or anything in between, still has this purpose on some level.
The punishment due to sin that each of us has earned by means of our failure comes from the Heart of our Merciful and Loving Father. Likewise, punishment at our hands must also reflect the Heart of God. We can say that there are three main purposes of punishment: to restore justice, to reform the sinner, and to deter future failures. We can look at them each quickly.
Restoring justice may suggest images of some cosmic scale of justice that has lost a bit of weight on one side. It would be better to consider it in terms of justice for the individual. We merit, very objectively, punishment due to sin, and administering a punishment ensures that “no one is above the law,” to borrow a phrase that has been tossed around often enough recently. This purpose of punishment ensures that all are treated equally, that no one is a victim or recipient of favoritism, and that the one whose responsibility it is to administer punishment is not affected by less noble motives. It is an impartial equalizer, so that each person who has merited punishment can receive the just recompense of his actions.
Reforming the sinner, or correction, is the second purpose of punishment. It is important to learn in this life that doing evil is not worth the fleeting pleasure it brings. Punishment emphasizes this truth, and it helps to keep the perpetrator from falling back into the same offense again later. Punishment both inflicts a certain unpleasantness on the offender, and it also helps him to see the consequences of his offense. Both of these effects serve as motivation not to offend again. In this way, punishment is an act of charity towards the offender. We should be desirous of our neighbor’s repentance and healing, not just for our own sake, but for his sake, too.
Finally, punishment serves as a deterrent so that others do not commit the same offense. In this way, those in authority take responsibility for all persons in their care and for society as well. And, while the threat of punishment does not deter all offenses, and it shouldn’t be the primary motivator for us to do good. But, it does help sometimes, and it can encourage someone to advance along the path of virtue.
So, do not be afraid to give proper punishment to those in your charge! You will do much good in their lives, and it will help you grow in charity as well. Remember that our goal is to get to Heaven, and to bring as many people along with us as we can!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen