Nowadays, we can get all sorts of comments, opinions and information about certain church teaching or certain church practices. But the reality is that truth and church teaching has to be definitive and absolute. Otherwise, we may end up in relativism, where anything and everything goes, as long as it fits in with a certain culture, society, or historical context. This is why those of us who are teachers of faith and morals, including clergy, religious and even lay persons, have a heavy responsibility to ensure that matters concerning faith and morals are taught faithfully according to what the church teaches, not according to one’s preference, opinion or way of thinking.
In today’s reading, St. Paul cautions us: “Take great care about what you do and what you teach; always do this, and in this way you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” Having an opinion or preference about a matter concerning faith and morals is fine, it is not wrong. But it becomes a problem one begins to treat one’s opinion or preference as truth, and one begins to teach one’s opinion or preference, instead of what the church teachers. Let us therefore be responsible in what we teach, and teach the truth, not what we like or prefer.