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August 19, 2018We are all upset about the continuing tragedy of sexual abuse in the American Catholic Church. In our Diocese we went through this back in 2003 and spent time in bankruptcy court as we dealt with our history of abusive priests going back to the 1940s. In the news now are the dioceses of Pennsylvania that did not deal with these issues sixteen years ago. Far more troubling are the allegations about the leadership of Theodore McCarrick, formerly a cardinal. Obviously, there is a reckoning coming in Pennsylvania. If you saw my email on Friday, you know that the American Bishops have promised to take what action they can. As for allegations against Bishops, that is a matter for law enforcement, if it is criminal behavior, and Pope Francis, if the matter involves immoral behavior. In any event, the Body of Christ continues to suffer from the action of abusive priests and bishops. I believe God is in all of these events and is working to purify his people. That is a Eucharistic faith; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
My experience began in Yuma when I was the associate at Immaculate Conception parish. Fr. Juan Guillen, a priest there for twenty years, was taken out in handcuffs in front of a school yard full of children. He has since been convicted, served his time, been released on parole and disappeared. I cried when I had to tell Immacualte Conception parish. I had been a priest a short time, the pastor was back in Ireland and it was very difficult. I had a panic attack for the first time in my life in the middle of the night. The staff was in grief. One man slowed down as he drove by me, rolled down his window and spat at me. He missed. Our diocese was put into bankruptcy, I was interviewed by the police and deposed by plaintiff's attorneys. I knew nothing. It was a complete shock to me.
Following our diocesan bankruptcy the bishops met and adopted the Dallas Charter essentially imposing zero tolerance on priests and parish volunteers. That is why our diocese has a safe environment program. The bishops were not included in the Dallas Charter because no bishop has authority over another bishop except the Bishop of Rome. That is why Theodore McCarrick was forced to give his red hat back. Good!
What Pennsylvania is going through is what we went through 16 years ago. Back then, those dioceses refused to do what Bishop Kicanas made our diocese do; out the perpetrators of sexual abuse of minors. Our numbers looked roughly like the numbers of the individual Pennsylvania diocese. I checked. They should have done this back then when we did it. There list goes back to the 1940s, just like ours did. We outed our offenders becuase Bishop K decided that we should. The Pennsylvania bishops refused to that is why the Pennsylvania Attorney General did it for them. Good!
This is a hard thing, but it is a good thing. Those who covered up for McCarrick feared I am sure, a lot of things. They did not, however, fear the Lord.
Proverbs: What is Wisdom?
The first reading from the Book of Proverbs describes Wisdom. “Wisdom” is the practical knowledge that leads to success, happiness, fulfillment. Proverbs personifies sanity and stupidity as two goddesses. Both those goddesses, Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly, compete for our attention and loyalty. Each offers us her invitation to come in and enjoy a banquet. Answering the invitation of Woman Wisdom leads to life; the seduction of Woman Folly gets you locked into a tomb. Lady Wisdom’s offer is that “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.” Fear of the Lord is not cowardly terror but rather faith in the Creator as our maker and sustainer, the giver and nurturer of our life.
“Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding." Prov. 9:1-6.
If a crime has been committed the wise thing is to tell a cop, not a priest. If a parish employee. volunteer or clergyman is engaged in criminal or immoral behavior report it to our director of safe environment, Dr. Rosemary Celaya-Alston.
St. Paul: The Holy Spirit is Wisdom
Real wisdom leads us to understanding. St. Paul, preaching of the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gives says, “Do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Eph. 5:15-20. Paul portrays the Spirit as the real answer to hunger and thirst. Quenched, we no longer “act like fools and wallow in ignorance.” The Spirit inebriates; it does not debauch. It unlocks the voice in grateful song: “Give thanks to God the Father always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph 5:15-20
The Gospel of John: The banquet of Divine Wisdom
Jesus told the crowd, “I am the living bread come down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Invited to render his words symbolic, Jesus reaffirmed that he is the bread of life. ”Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him” Jn. 6:51-58. The Sacred Meal that is the Eucharist is not a metaphor, but a sacrament, a mystery that communicates God’s divine wisdom.
We have been working through the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. It began with a meal on a mountaintop and is drawing to a close with the sacramental meal of Divine Wisdom. A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. Relationship with God is not a purely mental activity, food and drink are involved. A personal relationship with Jesus is an organic relationship. He becomes part of our bodies when we consume the Eucharist. Later in this Gospel he built on this understanding when he told his disciples that he is the vine and we are the branches. Jn. 15:1-17 The bread and wine of the Eucharist is the sap that roots us in Divine Wisdom and Life.
In our Catholic faith, we teach that the Real Presence is real food. When St. Thomas Aquinas used the word “transubstantiation” he meant that the ultimate “substantia” of the bread and wine is what is most real in our lives, God. What is at stake is what we believe to be most real in our lives. ‘Substantia’ describes the ultimate reality that is our true nourishment; the deepest reality that abides through all flux of external appearance or change.
Divine Wisdom: The Ultimate Reality of our Life
The story of salvation begins with a bad meal shared by Adam and Eve and ends with the meal of Divine Wisdom that our Lord invites us to. Today's scriptures are good scriptures given the news. The ultimate substance or reality of our life is participation in the reality of God. Even in the midst of an evil that strikes at the priesthood of Jesus Christ in the form of the sexual abuse crisis, we ought to remember that God is the ultimate maker and sustainer, the giver and nurturer of our life.
My life is not based on faith in any priest, bishop or pope, but in the Risen Lord. That these events strike directly at the altar is demonic. My dedication to our community is founded on my belief that we are His Body and Blood; we are the branches and he is the vine. The allegations that have come out in Pennsylvania and against Ted McCarrick are old news coming to light for the first time. I know that our Diocese has been very wise in actively promulgating our program of Safe Environment. That must be a fixture in Church life. Our diocese is a much safer place than it was sixteen years ago. A program, however, cannot replace the vigilance of Catholic parents and volunteers that must report criminal acts to the police.
As to bishops who don't protect young people: Pope Francis took Theodore McCarrick's hat back. He forced the bishops of Chile to give him their resignations and has begun to accept them. He has done the same in other countries. The problem is bigger than the United States Bishops and Rome has not, until recently, been helpful. The USCCB is doing what it can. The ball is in the Pope's Court when it comes to disciplining bishops. Lets see what happens! I am hopeful.
