Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.--Matt 18: 4 - 6



The Fifth Commandment: The Sin of Scandal
Nihil Obstat V.F. O' Daniel, O.P. 1921

Having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may, by the good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation.--I PETER ii. 12

INTRODUCTION. When St. Peter wrote this Epistle a revolt of the Jews against the Roman authority had just broken out, and it was difficult for the Romans to distinguish between their Christian and Jewish subjects. In consequence both the one and the other fell under the frown of Rome and were regarded as evil doers and criminals. St. Peter, therefore, addressed this letter to the Christians of Asia Minor admonishing them to refrain from all lawlessness and disorderly conduct, and to edify their Gentile brethren by their good lives and actions. How well the advice of St. Peter was heeded by his readers we know from the fact that in Asia Minor, as elsewhere, the conversion of the pagan world was due in large measure to the spotless lives and shining examples of the early Christians. Would to God that Catholics nowadays were always as careful to edify, by their good lives and example, those outside the Church!

I. The meaning and kinds of scandal, 1. Scandal is any word, act, or omission which is the occasion of another's committing sin. For scandal it is not necessary: (a) that the thing done be really sinful, so long as it has the appearance of evil; (b) that the person scandalized be good and innocent; (c) that the person scandalized fall into the sin. 2. Scandal is of two kinds: (a) Direct when the scandal giver expressly intends to lead others astray, as when he counsels or commands what is wrong; (b) indirect when he does not wish to lead others into sin, but does or says what he knows will be an occasion of sin. Examples of this latter kind of scandal are: Immodest dressing in women who wish merely to conform to fashion, bad language, neglect of religious duties, and other evil examples on the part of parents and superiors.

II. The malice of scandal, 1. Scandal in itself is an exceedingly grave sin, (a) because it is most injurious to our neighbor--the murderer kills the body, the scandal giver kills the soul; (b) because it is one of the most far-reaching of sins, continuing from one person to another, even after the scandal giver is long in his grave, e.g., Martin Luther, Voltaire, and the like; (c) because the scandal giver, doing the work of Satan, undoes the work of Christ. Dreadful, therefore, is the malediction pronounced by our Lord against the scandal giver (Matt, xviii. 6, 7). 2. The gravity of scandal is greater or less, according to three things: (a) the intention--he who intends scandal is naturally more guilty than he who does not; (b) the position of the scandal giver--scandal is greater in those whose position of rank or authority obliges them to edify: (c) the evil which results from it.

LESSONS: 1. We are not obliged to abstain from good and necessary duties, because others will maliciously take scandal from our actions; but if persons of good faith out of weakness and ignorance take scandal from our good actions, we should omit the actions, if possible or explain their lawfulness (i Cor. vi. 12; viii. 9; I Thess. v. 22; Matt. xvii. 26). 2. It is sinful to imitate the scandal giver. To preserve ourselves against this we must avoid, (a) all occasions of sin that we can (Matt, xviii. 9; i Cor. xv. 33; Rom. xvi. 17) ; (b) we must remember that we shall be judged not by the actions of others, but by our own actions. 3. Those who have given scandal are obliged to make reparation, (a) by removing the cause of the scandal; (b) by doing their best through good example, advice, or other means, to correct the evil done; (c) by praying incessantly for the conversion of those they have scandalized.

God is our Father by creation, by preservation, by redemption. He made us to His own image and likeness, He destined us for eternal glory, He adopted us as His children; "But you have received the Spirit of adoption of sons whereby we cry; Abba (Father)" (Rom. viii. 15). We are His children; "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called and should be the Sons of God", (l John i. i). Our first duty is to God; "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God. This is the greatest and the first commandment" (Matt, xxxiii. 37, 38). Children owe love and obedience to their carnal parents, if they hope for long life; they must love and serve their Heavenly Father, if they desire eternal bliss.

Our second obligation is to our brethren; "And the second is like to this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt, xxxiii. 39). This law was inscribed on the tablets of the law and is written on man's heart by the finger of God. The Lord made man a social being, with certain duties towards his fellow man; truthfulness in words, justice in action, charity in all things. He commanded him to respect his neighbor's goods and fame, He forbade him to injure his possessions or his reputation. Yet the things of earth are only transitory; the soul is the precious jewel entrusted to man's care. As children of the Father, we must aid our fellow man to safeguard that priceless inheritance. Every creature is responsible for his own soul, but he must not neglect the salvation of his brother. "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. iv. 9) was the response of Cain to the Lord's question. He had taken his brother's bodily life, he had not killed his soul. Yet he was driven into exile with the stigma of murder on his brow. The selfish brother who thinks only of his own soul, is not a true son of God. "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why then doth every one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers" (Matt. ii. 10) ? The scandalous brother who kills the soul of his brother is not a child of God, but a son of perdition and merits eternal damnation. "It were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck and that he should be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matt xviii. 9).

We are brothers likewise, through the brotherhood of Christ. By the Incarnation He made Himself our Brother. He called Himself, the Son of Man, and styled His disciples His brethren. "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt. xii. 50). As His brethren we are heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. "For the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii. 16-17). Worldly honors, fleeting triumphs are effaced, we are all members of one, great family, under God as our universal Father. Christ so loved us that He established His Church to guide us and instituted the Sacraments to console us. He shed His Precious Blood that all might obtain eternal life. On Calvary's cross He made the supreme sacrifice, the perfection of fraternal affection. "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John xv. 13). To impress on His brethren the sacred obligations they must fulfill, He reduced the law and the prophets to two commandments; to love God, to love fellow man. As He immolated Himself to save His brothers, from sin and to bring them to eternal glory, so His brethren must aid the weaker members to attain the same reward. They must show good example, bear patiently their frailties, lighten their burdens, encourage them to piety and good works, so that one day, they too, may enjoy the happiness merited for them by Christ, their Brother.

Christ came to save His brothers from damnation and to lead them to heaven. During the silent years at Nazareth He taught the lessons of humility and obedience, living a simple life in the bosom of a truly Christian family. In His public career, He explained by word of mouth the truths He had taught by example. He was the Good Shepherd rescuing the lost sheep, the loving father welcoming the prodigal. His humility, His kindness, His piety, His sacrifice, drew all suffering hearts to Him. A look brought contrition to the soul of Peter; a word consoled the fallen woman; a prayer converted the dying thief. The afflicted, the poor, the reprobate were His dearest friends. He strove by voice and deed to wean the sinner from his evil ways and to restore him to the friendship of the Father. Reproof and criticism were reserved only for the hypocrite and the Pharisee. Even these were not abandoned. A tear of sorrow would blot out their iniquities and restore them to His brotherly affection. He prayed for His betrayer, He forgave His executioners, He loved his enemies. The old Jewish formula: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," was superseded by the law of Christian charity. To His Apostles, to His brethren of all ages He gave a new commandment: "That you love one another as I have loved you" (John xv. 12).

The Apostles went forth to convert a cruel and corrupt world. The oft repeated words of St. John were the keynote of their message: "My children, love one another: this is the precept of our Lord, and if this be done, everything will be done" (St. Jerome). All nations were groaning beneath the sinful tyranny of Rome. The simplicity of the republic had yielded to the luxury and immorality of the empire. The army, the people, the senate were subservient to a monarch, clothed with divine honors, while ambition, corruption and flattery surrounded the throne. The slave was "not a person but a chattel" with no civil rights, no marriage obligations, no soul. Woman was only an instrument for the lust of a depraved master, marriage merely a passing agreement. The gods were no longer worshiped, philosophy furnished consolation only to the few. The luxury and effeminacy of the East, the crimes and vices of the conquered races, flourished in the hovel and the palace of the Imperial City.

To this orgy of misery and sin, came the poor fishermen, rustic and unlearned, bringing the heavenly message of charity and love. They taught that all men were sons of God and brothers of Christ; they promised eternal happiness as a reward for temporal sorrows; they replaced idolatry with its bloody sacrifices and riotous pageants by a spiritual worship of One God, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient; they restored woman to her true position, as man's spouse and the mother of his children; they rejected the dissolute libertinism of paganism and substituted the austere morality of Christianity. The entire community was united by ties of deep and sweet affection, unknown to the ancient races. Rank, position, race, country, were no obstacles to this brotherly spirit, and patrician and plebeian, bond and free, were brothers in Christ. In their public and private lives, they eschewed all excesses and frivolities, and even refrained from the appearance of evil lest they scandalize the pagan world or their brethren. "It is good not to eat flesh and not to drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother is offended or scandalized or made weak" (Rom. xiv. 13-21). The widow and the orphan were succored, the slave urged to obedience, the master exhorted to charity, the sinner encouraged by kindness, the pagan converted by good example. Their edifying lives, their glorious example, astonished and charmed even their persecutors. "They assembled on an appointed day before sunrise, and sang alternately the praises of Christ as a Divine Being. They bound themselves by oath not to commit any crime, but to abstain from theft, and adultery, to fulfill their promises, and not to deny the trust confided to them" (Pliny the Younger to Trajan). The fortitude of the confessor, the purity of the virgin, the heroism of the martyr, were new and striking developments and their example was contagious. Master and slave, rich and poor, philosopher and peasant, became brethren in the household of the Lord. The power of Rome was invoked to destroy this new cult, but Christ was with His Church. His doctrines won all hearts, and the example and piety of His followers aided materially in the spread of Christianity. They drew their inspiration from the words of the Saviour: "So, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your father who is in heaven" (Matt. v. 16).

The Church has never deviated from the teachings of Christ. Throughout the centuries, she has taught His doctrines and by her example has drawn nations and individuals to His fold. Her missionaries have achieved success not alone by preaching, but also by the humility and purity of their lives. "Example" says St. Leo, "is the most telling and persuasive eloquence." "Who does not know that example is more powerful than precept" says St. Augustine. The piety and perseverance of St. Helena converted the mighty Constantine and made him the emancipator of the Church and her staunchest advocate. The prayers and patience of St. Monica, the piety and eloquence of St. Ambrose, made the heretic and libertine, the great Doctor of the Church. The apostolic zeal of an Augustine, a Boniface, a Patrick, enrolled nations and peoples under the banner of Christ. The devotion and abasement of an Aloysius, a Catherine, a Francis de Sales, brought multitudes beneath the sweet yoke of the Redeemer. The labors and trials of an Alphonsus, a Dominic, a Francis, an Ignatius, reclaimed the prodigals who had wandered in strange paths. Even the humble monks and hermits, in their solitude and exile, proclaimed the glory of God and the sweetness of His service.


Among the laity, unknown and unhonored, except in the annals of the recording angel, are legions of true Christians who know the power of good example and by their fervent lives, draw souls to Christ. They are not content to live alone, to wrap themselves in their own virtues, and to save their own souls, they realize their obligation to assist their brethren. They are members of one community, children of one family, unwilling to live in selfish isolation, and burning with zeal for their neighbor's salvation. They may conceal their good works, they may pray and practice penance in secret, yet they are shining lights leading souls to heaven, exercising on saint and sinner alike, a direct, visible, and important influence. As St. Francis and his novice, walking silently through the streets of Rome, preached an eloquent sermon by their modesty and humility, so they who hear the word of God and keep it, attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying fervently, observing the commandments scrupulously, are sowing the seed of the Gospel and drawing souls to Christ, as did the Apostles in primitive years.

"It is not to be expected that the Church should be free from all scandals. She has to do a difficult work with unpromising material. She has to deal, not with the perfect, but with very imperfect man, weak, beset with temptations, struggling painfully from the lower to the higher life" (Bishop Belford). The Lord has warned us of this danger. "For it must needs be that scandals come, but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh" (Matt, xviii. 7). Even in Apostolic days, ambition, ignorance, pride and sensuality inspired men to deny or to corrupt the teachings of Christ and to lead countless souls into error and unbelief. 'The ambition of an unworthy bishop, the vices of a dissolute emperor led the great Eastern Church, with its wealth of Apostolic tradition, into open and enduring heresy. The irreligious upheaval of the sixteenth century again devastated the Church of Christ. An unscrupulous and immoral monk, a gloomy and fanatical cleric, an adulterous and avaricious king, aided by weak priests and corrupt nobles, plunged Germany, France and England into despair. Their evil example encouraged other rulers and ecclesiastics until almost all Northern Europe deserted the true Church. Ambition, greed, lust, pride, divided the seamless robe of Christ until today, millions of His brethren are living in error and sin, many devoid of faith, degraded by the unholy practices and vices which disgraced pagan Rome. Thus the bad example of the few has led to the spiritual ruin of the many.

The evil conduct of some Catholics frequently drives weak souls from the true fold, or retards others from embracing the religion of Christ. Scandal, by word, deed, or omission, has sent multitudes of our brothers to perdition. Some wretches, as if inspired by Satan, deliberately tempt their associates to sin. Happily such monsters, allies of the powers of darkness, are few in number. Others by carelessness and indifference, cursing and swearing, immoral words and actions, calumny and detraction, weaken the faith of their co-religionists and repel seekers of truth. Others neglect Mass, prayer and the Sacraments, disregard and disrespect the commandments, disdain and question the advice of God's messengers. Even sincere Christians frequently give scandal by apathy or neglect, forgetful of their obligation to edify their brethren in Christ. Occasionally weak or malicious characters will scent scandal in indifferent acts, or even in the good works of the pious Christian, as did the Pharisees of old in the miracles and doctrines of the Saviour. Such persons usually seek palliation for their own excesses by condemning the sincere worshiper. Yet even to these we must show charity, as Christ did, when He paid the tribute to Caesar, rather than scandalize the hypocrites.

The malice of scandal is enormous. "Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and wound their weak consciences, you sin against Christ" (I Cor. viii. 12). It kills the soul created by God for Himself; it undoes the merits of Christ on the cross; it endures for ages and is far reaching in its results; it continues to flourish when the body of its author has crumbled into dust. "It is enough to say, that those who give scandal, rob God of a child, and murder a soul for whose salvation He has spent His Blood and His Life" (St. Alphonsus Liguori). The Saviour pronounced dreadful maledictions on the scandalous brother; "But he that shall scandalize one of the little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged around his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matt xviii. 6). He is not a child of God nor a brother of Christ, but a son of perdition and a brother of Satan. On the day of reckoning, his malice will be revealed to the whole world; branded like Cain, he will wander throughout all eternity, as a murderer of the souls redeemed by the blood of Christ, his brother.

Yet those who have scandalized their brethren may obtain pardon by penance and sorrow. "For there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a redemption for all, a testimony in due time" (i Tim. ii. 5-6). Reparation for their evil deeds, good example in public and private, fervent prayers for their former victims, will restore them to God's family. As the tears of Peter brought forgiveness and reward, so contrition will bring pardon to the vilest sinner. For God sent His only Son to suffer and die for all men, and His Precious Blood will wash away every stain from the soul of the sinner and restore him to the friendship of his Heavenly Father.

Eternal glory with God, our Father, and Christ, our Brother, is the reward promised to those who lead souls to heaven. "And they that instruct many to justice (shall shine) as stars for all eternity" (Dan. xii. 3). They have kept the commandments, they have followed the precepts of the Master. "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven" (Matt v. 16). By their example they have won souls for God. They have shown themselves, true sons of God, true brothers of Christ, and their reward will be eternal bliss, in the mansions of the Father.

Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, with true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment, while with deep affection and grief of soul, I ponder within myself, and mentally contemplate Thy five Most Precious Wounds, having before my eyes that which David, the Prophet, spoke of Thee, my Jesus: "They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones."