The whirlwind of coming back from vacation into the buzz of parish ministry can be a little bit overwhelming at times…add to this the beginning of the parish school year and the many other items surrounding this can be a little bit stressful. Dump on all the normal things the continued revelations and discussions about the abuse and misconduct by priests and bishops and it almost makes you want to not get out of bed in the morning. The reality of the energy draining nature of the sadness of the sins of bishops and priests. The weight, the hurt and sorrow it places on the hearts of so many and the sobering realization that this may only be the beginning (again) is depressing.
How do we live the “Joy of the Gospel” with the weight of these sins upon our shoulders? I use “our shoulders” on purpose because as members of the Catholic Church we bear the weight of our brothers and sisters in both the good and the bad. This is why throughout the story of God’s revelation there is a constant and unmistakable call to the healing of the community and the gathering of what has been scattered. God’s desire is to unite and heal in love. Satan’s desire is to separate and wound ever deeper in hate. This is why the call to unity and faithfulness at this time is so very important. God heals sin. God heals the hurts of those who have been sinned against. God heals the sinner. Once more, please believe me when I say the perpetrators of these sins/crimes must face the legal and civil ramifications of their actions and must repent and choose to abandon their sins and be joined to God’s healing mercy once more. That is our Christian hope. And, our Christian hope is hard to desire at times like these when we would rather see punishment and wrath reign down from heaven on those who acted in such evil that it is hard to describe.
How do we live the “Joy of the Gospel”? Well, we begin as I wrote last week: with prayer and fasting for the healing of the victims and the purification and sanctification of all bishops and priests (and the entire Church for that matter). Many people have loudly complained at this answer and rightly say: Why should I pray and fast? I didn’t do anything wrong. And they are correct in their claims of innocence…but…here is the Christian part…both victim and perpetrator are our sisters and brothers in Christ…we can’t get away from this truth. If we deny this truth, then we begin to deny Christ. How do we know this? Look at the cross. Jesus chose to die for my sins and the sins of the world so that I and the world may be saved. This isn’t marshmallow every thing is okay Jesus. This is the Jesus who carries a cross knowing the sins and unafraid to call them for what they are, acts of evil destroying the Body of Christ.
Praying…the first step…(yes I will talk briefly about prayer) calls us to reach out and be unified. Even when we are screaming and cursing at God in full throated anger at the situations that press upon us we are reaching out to be unified. It is only when we begin to ignore and make God distant that we cease to pray in reality. God is intimate with us as desires us to bring everything…even our full throated roaring. And believe me I have done it many times and God always waits for me to find his silence and to rest in him as he heals and soothes the brokenness that consumes our world. Please pray…please, please, please pray. Don’t give into the ignoring of love.
Fasting prepares us to accept the cross we carry. It empties and strengthens our will to be able to do the saintly, the holy, the remarkable in the world. It allows us to speak against the evil and stand in the face of the winds of hatred seeking to consume the truth. We fast so we may be ready to hold the broken, comfort the grieving and bless those hurt and robbed of innocence.
Please pray for our Catholic Church. Please pray for those victims of abuse. Please pray for the purification and sanctification of our bishops and priests. Please pray for me.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
Attached are three things.
Fr. Mike Schmitz video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdR8eyaDCHg
Fr. Mike talks about the scandal from a priest’s point of view
Catching Foxes Podcast http://www.catchingfoxes.fm/154
Two young adult Catholic’s talk about their feelings and effect of the scandal news
3. Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s letter http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/bishopsletters/7730-letter-scandal.html