Our Lady of Good Success and her Warning to the World

What if someone predicted accurately what would happen next week or next month. If it was something common, "The sun will rise next Thursday at 5:30 a.m." of course you would not be impressed. We all know that, short of the end of the world, the sun will rise. [For those literally minded, we are well aware that the sun doesn't "rise" but the earth rotates giving the illusion of the sun rising as different parts of the earth are exposed to her rays.] But suppose the person told you something unusual, that seemed unlikely, and it came to pass. Perhaps they predicted a tragedy was about to take place, a train would be derailed or you would be diagnosed next week with a terminal disease despite the fact that you had no symptoms and seemed to be in the pink of health. 

Sincerity...important, but not enough in moral decision making

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for us.

I recently read a great article on sincerity by Dr. Dennis McInerny, a professor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Lincoln, NE. [N.B. I could not find it online.] His article reminded me of another I read several years ago which began by examining the derivation of the word sincerity which comes from two Latin words, sine cera, "without wax." Odd eh? 

Not really. In Roman times sculptors sold all kinds of statuary for rich people's homes and gardens. The honest ones sold statues that were exactly what they appeared to be. The dishonest ones sold statues that were flawed, but they filled the flaws with wax. When the statue stood in the sun, the wax melted and all the flaws appeared. So the word sincere came to mean something that was what it appeared to be, honesty, or freedom from duplicity.

A sincere person speaks without deliberate deception according to his understanding. He tells you what he believes to be the truth. However, one can be sincerely wrong. So sincerity is not enough in the realm of moral decision making - which is were Dr. McInerny's article comes in: