Dear
Parishioners,
The
Sunday readings these past few weeks, focusing on Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse (John,
Chapter 6), have been of great comfort to
me during these times of difficulty and resurfacing scandal in the Catholic
Church. I focus particularly on last week’s
(21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B) conversation between the Apostles, St.
Peter and Jesus:
Jesus then said to the Twelve,
"Do you also want to leave?" Simon
Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are
the Holy One of God."
It
might be the immediate reaction of some to walk away from the Catholic Church,
at times like these, as many did in Jesus' day.
Who can I trust? They are all a bunch of hypocrites in the Church! Even the bishops and cardinals (and pope?) are
corrupt! I dare not try to defend
the indefensible actions of those who were horribly wrong, deceitful and guilty
of moral and criminal actions. I am
hurt, disillusioned and offended as much as any of the trusting, faithful laity
and dedicated, obedient clergy are.
What
I must state clearly is this: The evil
perpetrated by some, at various levels in the Church, does not diminish
the salvific action of Christ on our behalf.
Christ suffered and died for us and for our salvation. He has
the words of eternal life. He is the way, the truth and the life. This never changes. It never will. Christ is faithful to the end.
However,
those in ministry who choose defiantly not to live by His teaching, who bring
disgrace upon the Church, and who undermine the credibility of the Gospel and
Church teaching must take certain immediate actions. They need to repent of their sinful actions (like Peter did after his denial of Christ),
turn to the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness, and, for the sake of their own salvation and the good of the people
that they serve, step down form any positions of Church authority that they may
currently hold. Power, prestige, and honor
are all worldly things. Eternal salvation is much more important.
Yes,
we are all sinners. Sometimes even generally good people make grave, sinful mistakes. Afterwards, the genuinely sorrowful will choose
repentance and amendment of life. They will
make a heart-felt confession of their sins.
However, to choose deliberately a secretive, hidden lifestyle that
is in direct opposition to the teaching of Christ and His Church, to be
unrepentant, to justify, cover-up and lie about wrongdoings, to mislead the
faithful, etc. are actions that continue down the same path as Judas who is seen as a betrayer (see Mt. 26:46)—not a follower—of
Christ.
With
the current public accusations of the former Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Vigano, towards members of
the Church hierarchy, there needs to be a thorough, objective investigation of
these matters by predominantly competent, professionally-trained laity
(since it might be difficult or even impossible to know how bad the corruption
is through some hierarchal self-monitoring process). One should never fear the truth,
even if it is initially painful. It is
the only way to rid the Church of the cancer
that she now faces. Continuing lies and
deception will only bring us back to this point sometime in the future.
Pray
to St. Michael the Archangel, emphasize the deliver
us from evil when you pray the Our Father,
fast and pray for the faithful clergy in the trenches fighting the
battle, and, most importantly, seek the continual intercession of the Blessed
Virgin Mary by praying the rosary.
Be
faithful to Jesus and His Church. Don’t
leave the Church but encourage (demand) its genuine reform from within.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor