Annunciation Catholic Church in Altamonte Springs shared a recent reflection from the Rev. Ivan Olmo about resolving conflict as a follower of Christ.

“We tend to think of perfection in terms of never making a mistake,” Fr. Olmo said in the church's Sept. 6 bulletin. “We see ourselves as flawless or even faultless. However, perfection from God's perspective means being holy as God is holy.”

Being perfect, however, is acting as God would act and trying to be like him in every way. This means that we must never seek to put our blame on someone else.

“Shifting the blame towards another does not make us error free or perfect," Olmo said. "It just means that we managed to draw the attention from ourselves to another's faults."

We see the perfect example of this in the Book of Genesis when God asked Adam if he ate the fruit, and Adam instantly turned to Eve and said that it was because she gave it to him. The same exchange occurred when Eve blamed the serpent for giving her the fruit.

“How easy it is for us to steer the blame in another direction or to another person in order to keep our own faults hidden,” Olmo said.

Looking at our own shortcomings is difficult, yes; but it is not acceptable to blame someone else for our actions.

“Jesus reminds us that if someone sins against us then we should pull that person to the side quietly and privately and then share the fault that caused us hurt, distress, despair, frustration, [or] confusion," Olmo said. "It would be good to commend to our heart and mind that fraternal correction requires charity on both sides."

This reminder is important now more than ever, because sometimes what we are saying matters far less than how we are saying it.

“So if someone sins against you, privately tell them their fault," Fr. Olmo said. "But remember that a gentle correction most likely will elicit a favorable response."