This is the last of my coloring pages on the Works of Mercy: Admonish the Sinner. So I’m happy to have coloring pages for all the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, especially during this Year of Mercy that Pope Francis has instated.
Download the Admonish the Sinner Coloring page
(For the best results, download and save the file to your computer. Open it in a pdf viewer program like Adobe Acrobat and print).
Admonish is a big word for little ears. How do you explain this to little kids? Well, we admonish them all the time, hopefully every time (or almost every time) they do something wrong, mean, hurtful, sinful, or even something that could lead to sin. It’s simply bringing to their attention that what they are doing is wrong, and how to correct it. Jesus called us to admonish the sinner, first one-on-one. Talk to your friend/brother/sister etc in person and alone to explain how they may be sinning, and do it in a patient and loving way. If that doesn’t work, bring a mutual friend with you to talk to the person in the wrong. And if that doesn’t work, we’re supposed to get the church to help us out.
Check it out in Matthew: “Jesus said, ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’” (Mathew 18:15-18).
Of course, this is in dealing with adults, not with children. So I don’t recommend any of you exile your children. But I know sometimes with older kids, it can be helpful to have other respected adults help out with correcting behaviors. But really, we’re getting into a whole can of worms in child-rearing, which is not what this blog is about. So enjoy the coloring page, teach your kids about the spiritual works of mercy, and how to lovingly correct others in sinful behavior.
When they get mad that you are correcting their behavior- just remind them it’s a work of mercy you’re doing!
Thanks!
Kristen
