Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, said in a pastoral letter to families that “we know that Truth and Love can never be separated.”
He explained:
For both to be authentic, they must find unity in the One who is both Truth and Love: only Jesus. I am told that parents often feel pressure from peers and even from professionals to “love” their children by affirming all their choices. But not all choices can be affirmed. The dignity of the person is what we affirm. The immeasurable offer of grace that Jesus is constantly offering is what we affirm. Likewise, His open invitation to return to Him whenever we have sinned, and then to return again and again, is what we need to affirm.
We witness to this by our own acceptance of our limitations, our own reliance on the grace that leads to conversion, our own willingness to grow from mistakes. This more nuanced approach to parenting is far too rare in our relativistic society.