Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. John Paul II while we also wrestle with a man who was convicted of capital murder in the death of his child by what authorities now say was “junk science.” John Paul II was the first pope to speak out unequivocally against capital punishment. Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that it’s important to note that he didn’t say capital punishment was wrong as he knew we scripturally have the right to practice it. But John Paul II said, in conceding this, that we shouldn’t do it because Jesus calls us to something higher, namely, to forgive sinners and not execute them. That’s magnanimity, being bigger than the moment we’re caught up within. In his moral astuteness, St. Thomas Aquinas said something can be a sin for someone big-hearted, even as it is not a sin for someone who is petty and small of heart. His example was to write that it’s a sin to withhold a compliment from someone who genuinely deserves it because, in doing so, we are withholding from that person some of the food upon which they need to live. Thomas was clear that this is a sin only for someone who is big-hearted, magnanimous, and at a certain level of maturity. Someone who is immature, self-centered, and petty of heart is not held to the same moral and spiritual standards. How is it possible that it isn’t a sin, irrespective of the person? Whether or not something is a sin or not and the seriousness of a sin depends upon the depth and maturity within a relationship. Imagine this: A man and his wife have such a deep, sensitive, caring, respectful, and intimate relationship so that the tiniest expressions of affection or neglect speak loudly to each other. For example, as they part to go their separate ways each morning, they always exchange an expression of affection as a parting ritual. Should either of them neglect that expression of affection on an ordinary morning where there’s no special circumstance, it would be no small, incidental matter. Something large would be being said. Conversely, consider another couple whose relationship is not close, where there is little care, affection, respect, and no habit of expressing affection upon parting. Such neglect would mean nothing. No slight, no intent, no harm, no sin, just lack of care as usual. Yes, some things can be a sin for one person and not for another. We’re invited both by Jesus and by what’s best inside us to become big enough of heart and mind to know that even though biblically we may do capital punishment, we still shouldn’t do it and to know that we’re better human beings when we are bigger than any slight we experience within a given moment.