Today is 9/11. In our day it is a moment seared in our memories as we recall the events of September 11, 2001. Our priests were on retreat that week, as we are this week. The word came and we found a tv and were glued to it, not believing what was transpiring in New York, Washington, and very near us in Shanksville. We stopped to offer Mass with the staff of our retreat center and to pray as we had seldom prayed before.
The attack on 9/11 was for so many of us a crisis of faith and trust in our security. It was a time of unbelievable sorrow and pain for countless thousands and heart-wrenching pain for the rest of us. Anger filled our hearts and our emotions were running on empty. It was the punch in the gut that doubled us over. What would tomorrow bring?
For an earlier generation, December 7, 1941, was such a day. As FDR called it, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a day that will live in infamy. The distance from Hawaii to us mattered little as we struggled with the events of that day and our subsequent entry in to WWII.
In both of those moments of crisis we roused the best of our spirits and courage as a nation, and we took a knee in prayer to the Lord for his love and strength, his compassion and mercy, and for help in ways that we could not even put into words. And we survived … and we regrouped … and we rebuilt and hopefully grew stronger. And, as is so important, we remember. When we forget, we falter and fall.
As a Catholic, as a priest, as a member of the Church, I see August 14th's Grand Jury Report publication as our spiritual 9/11. Let me assure you that I am not comparing this crisis within the Church to those other two devastating moments, but there are similarities.
The victims who suffered abuse at the hands of abuser priests have also died - in countless ways. They have struggled and suffered with betrayal and self worth. Memories are hard to heal, and healing can be illusive. Add to that the mistakes of the Church in handling many of these situations, and Faith itself is often shaken. They need our love and support, and most especially our desire for forgiveness from them for the failures of the Church. We are that Church.
The Church suffers from the attacks from both within and from without - from those hostile to religious faith and the institutional Church. The suffering from within involves shame and failure to stand vigilant in preserving the dignity of every child of God. Not only are the actions of the Church leadership called into question (which they rightly should be) but there is a calling of their motives into question - as if this were a planned, coordinated, sinister plot to not care about the victims. I find this to not be the case, at least in my experience.
As I have said before, the vast majority of our priests are faith-filled, faithful, loving servants of the Lord, whose love for those entrusted to them is deep and abiding. We suffer when the priesthood is described as being vastly predatory and we are labeled by association. And to those who have been falsely accused in the past or whose accusations have not been substantiated, there is a feeling of abandonment. We used to say that you were innocent until proven guilty. That is a thing of the past.
And as I said in my last post, the Lord requires that we pray for our persecutors, that we love our enemies, that we forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. This is the most difficult, most challenging aspect of being loved by Christ. He died for us, but he died for all of us - sinners and saints alike. And he promised to be our strength as we pray for those who have sinned against us. Only then can we begin to heal, can we begin to rebuild, can we begin to reflect the glory that is ours as Children of God - redeemed and sanctified in the Blood of the Lamb.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
A Call To Prayer
Three weeks ago today the PA Grand Jury issued its report on child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in six dioceses over the last seventy years. It was a blistering and sobering report that has been heard around the world. These three weeks have been for me a whirlwind of emotions and sorrow, but also a time of strengthened Faith. The darkness of this moment of facing our sin and failures as individuals and as Church will give way to the bright promise of grace and future immortality for those redeemed by Christ.
Remembering that the Church was instituted by Christ to bring grace, and that the Church consists of all of the Children of God, united with Christ as one body, guided by shepherds that he has chosen, some of whom have sinned grievously against his people and led by others who have made grave mistakes, we are a family in need of tremendous forgiveness and healing. We must be in an attitude of total submission to the mercy and grace of God so that renewal and restoration may help us heal and be strong.
The response of our diocese has been thoughtful, reasoned and sincere. More needs to be done ... and will be done. But the Lord has laid it upon my heart that what we also need is a grassroots response of prayer - a "call to arms" or rather a "call to take a knee". Every single Catholic and those of our brothers and sister from other Faiths who will join us need to beseech heaven for forgiveness and healing within the Body of Christ. I believe that we need to pray for four things in particular: a) for the victims of abuse both within the Church and in society at large [this is a crisis much larger than the Church] ... they have suffered greatly and have had their trust betrayed; b) for the Church, the People of God, who are also suffering and are confused and struggling to understand this failure to their trust; c) for the overwhelming majority of good and faithful priests who have and continue to serve the Lord and his people with unwavering fidelity, including those whose accusations are unsubstantiated; and lastly [and this is the hard part, but necessary if we are to be faithful to Christ] we need to pray for those men who have sinned and for those who have made mistakes in dealing with them, for Christ has come to call not only the saint, but the sinner as well.
Since we saw "our cross" on a Tuesday, Might I suggest making Tuesdays a day of pray and fasting for healing and forgiveness. Go to Mass that day, if possible, or spend time before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer. Pray the Rosary for these specific intentions, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet or the Liturgy of the Hours. Fast. Intentionally endeavor to meet the needs of the poor and lonely.
How long should we respond in this way? It will take more than the commitment of a week or two ... it may take a lifetime for hurt to give way to forgiveness and healing find completion. But we need to begin NOW!
And as we say as we address Mary in her prayer: "... pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." Amen
Remembering that the Church was instituted by Christ to bring grace, and that the Church consists of all of the Children of God, united with Christ as one body, guided by shepherds that he has chosen, some of whom have sinned grievously against his people and led by others who have made grave mistakes, we are a family in need of tremendous forgiveness and healing. We must be in an attitude of total submission to the mercy and grace of God so that renewal and restoration may help us heal and be strong.
The response of our diocese has been thoughtful, reasoned and sincere. More needs to be done ... and will be done. But the Lord has laid it upon my heart that what we also need is a grassroots response of prayer - a "call to arms" or rather a "call to take a knee". Every single Catholic and those of our brothers and sister from other Faiths who will join us need to beseech heaven for forgiveness and healing within the Body of Christ. I believe that we need to pray for four things in particular: a) for the victims of abuse both within the Church and in society at large [this is a crisis much larger than the Church] ... they have suffered greatly and have had their trust betrayed; b) for the Church, the People of God, who are also suffering and are confused and struggling to understand this failure to their trust; c) for the overwhelming majority of good and faithful priests who have and continue to serve the Lord and his people with unwavering fidelity, including those whose accusations are unsubstantiated; and lastly [and this is the hard part, but necessary if we are to be faithful to Christ] we need to pray for those men who have sinned and for those who have made mistakes in dealing with them, for Christ has come to call not only the saint, but the sinner as well.
Since we saw "our cross" on a Tuesday, Might I suggest making Tuesdays a day of pray and fasting for healing and forgiveness. Go to Mass that day, if possible, or spend time before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer. Pray the Rosary for these specific intentions, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet or the Liturgy of the Hours. Fast. Intentionally endeavor to meet the needs of the poor and lonely.
How long should we respond in this way? It will take more than the commitment of a week or two ... it may take a lifetime for hurt to give way to forgiveness and healing find completion. But we need to begin NOW!
And as we say as we address Mary in her prayer: "... pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." Amen
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