Fr. Kettenring at Red Mass: Judge actions, not people

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Part of the human condition is the challenge of forgiving others, but Father Mike Kettenring, a former television executive in New Orleans and Nashville, told members of the legal community Oct. 5 at the annual Red Mass that a worthy goal for judges, lawyers and elected officials is to judge “actions” instead of “people.”

In his homily at the St. Louis Cathedral Mass marking the opening of the judicial year, Father Kettenring reflected on the first reading from the Book of Jeremiah (31:33-34) in which the prophet says God’s compassion is so great for his people that he “will forgive their iniquity and no longer remember their sin.”

“He doesn't just forgive – he forgets,” Father Kettenring explained. “He does what we humans don't have the capacity to do. We like to say we forgive and forget – and I hope we forgive – but we don't forget. But we should remember that as the foundation of conscience.”

The Gospel passage from John (14:15-17, 25-27) related how Jesus, being crucified with thieves on either side, declared that the “good thief” (St. Dismas) would be with him “in paradise” that very day.

“Pay attention to the verb,” Father Kettenring said. “The good thief doesn’t say, ‘Forgive me’; he says, ‘Remember me.’ And Jesus leans over to him and says, ‘Today you will be with me in heaven.

“So, God the father says not only forgive, but forget. And God the son’s compassion and forgiveness are so great that he gives a man a one-way ticket to heaven – a man who had just admitted deserving to be crucified.”


Father Kettenring, a widower who was ordained to the priesthood in 2001, gave a personal account of how he began to look beyond the externals and judge others as children of God.

After moving to Nashville in the 1970s to become a news director of a successful television station, he was ordered by the owner to fire the sales manager who, while he was successful, was “fat” and gave the station a “bad” image.

He struggled for months until working out a mutual agreement with the sales manager that he could use the next six months to quietly look for a job while still remaining on staff. However, Father Kettenring recalled having bad feelings toward the person (named Goose) he had to hire to replace the sales manager.

“Goose was a touch arrogant, and partially – maybe largely – because I understood how Goose got the job, I resented Goose,” Father Kettenring said.

He took those resentments to his Saturday morning small faith group, and one of his friends suggested: “Goose is as much a child of God as you are. My recommendation is that every time you see Goose, deliberately think ‘God.’”

“This was close to my mind because we saw each other a number of times a day, and I put the plan into practice and it worked,” Father Kettenring said. “Goose and I never became great friends, but I began to see him as a child of God, and it changed my attitude. I was no longer judging him by any criteria other than he was a child of God.”

Father Kettenring suggested doing that with street people whose appearance and mannerisms might be jarring or distasteful. 

“It’s OK to judge – that’s part of our job,” he said. “I hear lots and lots of confessions. But we judge actions, not people. All people are our spiritual sisters and brothers. If God the father said ‘forgive and forget’ and God the son gave the great gift to the good thief, then we can stop judging people and begin judging just actions. If we want heaven, we must see Goose and think God.”

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