Smart but shameless

The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen once celebrated Mass for a group of prisoners. Before delivering his homily, he looked at them and said, “The only difference between you and me is this: You were caught.”

- FR, ROLANDO Y. DELA ROSA, 0.P.

Sheen’s remark was not meant to trivialize crime or downplay its destructive consequences. He wanted the prisoners to know that he did not see himself as morally superior. He stood before them not as a judge, but as a fellow sinner. By acknowledging his own moral vulnerability, he invited them to believe in the possibility of forgiveness and conversion, gifts that God offers to us regardless of our past.

If Sheen were alive today and witnessed the glaring double standards in how justice is often served, he would have added: “You were caught, and unfortunately, you did not have shrewd lawyers.” This would be a biting commentary on the many high-profile criminals who escape justice, thanks to expensive legal counsel and manipulative tactics. Sheen would surely cringe at the veil of respectability they wear to mask their shamelessness and utter lack of remorse.