Bible-Snatching - Thievery with a Halo?

From bookstores and libraries countless books are shoplifted every year, as you know. But guess which is stolen most? Right - it's the Bible - the Good Book that says, "Thou shalt not steal"!

This paradoxical situation manifests an all too common kind of conscience distortion - the moral heresy that " the end justifies the means" - that an evil act is acceptable if the ultimate purpose is good. This warped idea is the rartionale for an endless array of sins: unethical business deals, euthanasia, abortion, genocide, "ethnic cleansing," and other atrocities far worse than Bible-swiping.

"An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention, " says St. Thomas Aquinas (Dec Praec. 6). "One may not do evil so that good may result from it," says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1756, 1789). Thus, a desire to end a war doesn't entitle a country to atom bomb noncombatant civilians. Those "who suppress the truth...are without excuse" (Rom 1:18-20).

By usurping priestly functions for a "good motive," Saul sinned (see 1 Samuel 13:12); also in "glorifying God" by sacrificing forbidden spoil (15::21). Aaron's idolatry was to quell a rebellion (see Exodus 32:22-24). Mankind's first sin was for a "good intention" - to gain wisdom (see 33 Genesis 3:6). Ever since, man has found excuses for sin.

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net