Dealing with the clergy abuse scandal as a Catholic school
08/22/2018
Ezekiel 34:1-11 The word of the
Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, in these
words prophesy to them to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the
shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds,
rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and
slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured. You did not
strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. Therefore,
shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: I will claim my sheep from them and put a
stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture
themselves. I will save my sheep,that they may no longer be food for their
mouths. For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
This morning I need to address a
subject that I feel a little nervous about. The reason I feel nervous is
because I do not want to say too much, but I also want to avoid saying too
little. The subject is the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal, and some of
you know a lot about it, while others are scratching their heads wondering
what’s going on. Here’s the funny thing about what people know. Usually, young
people know a lot more than adults think they know, and adults know a lot more
than young people think they do. So, I am going to assume most of you know more
about this than I wish you did, and I apologize to those of you for whom this
is breaking news, the first you are hearing of it.
First let me share with you a few
facts about what happened. On Tuesday, August 13 – which was two days before
school started – a grand jury in Pennsylvania issued a report stating that over
a period of 70 years 300 priests had sexually abused over 1,000 minors.
“Minors” means someone younger than eighteen. As I hope you know by now, sexual
intercourse is reserved for marriage, even though people treat sex casually and
carelessly in our modern culture. Modern Americans may laugh at us Christians,
but we believe sex is sacred. That is one reason why priests – who should be
the sworn guardians of the sacred – sexually abusing children is a sin and a
scandal of the most notorious nature. You should also know – if you don’t
already know – that this was not something new because in 2002 in the
Archdiocese of Boston, a culture of cover-up of priests who had abused minors
came to light. The Catholic Church in the United States has been vigorously
fighting this clergy abuse scandal ever since. And we will not stop fighting
it. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church has also been reeling from these revelations,
and the faith of many Catholics has been faltering. Maybe as you hear this
today, you are beginning to wonder about your faith and your Church, and you
may not know what to do. That’s why I am talking about this.
Our first concern, however, should
not be about ourselves, but about the victims of this abuse, the minors and
young adults who have been hurt in a way that will leave a life-long wound. As
hard as this story is for us to hear, it is still a story. But for the victims,
it is not a story in a newspaper that they can fold up and throw away, and go
back to business as before. This is the story of their life; and their
life-story reads like a tragedy. Pope Francis issued a “Letter to the People of
God” on this sad subject on Sunday, August 20 (two days ago). He spoke of the
shattered lives of the victims and our solidarity with them, that we should
stand with them. Pope Francis wrote: “The pain of victims and their families is
also our pain, and so it is urgent that once more we reaffirm our commitment to
ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.” In other words, we
can never forget the victims; they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, our
spiritual family. We should feel like this scandal has hurt one of our own
family members. We will pray for the victims at the petitions during Mass
today. And we should pray for them every day.
Why am I telling you this as we are
about to embark on a new school year, with so many wonderful things happening
at Trinity? Why can’t we just talk about cheer and dance, tennis and fall
football and how hard Mr. Bruce’s class will be? Some may say: let’s just talk
about the good stuff. But I need to tell you this for two reasons. First, in
junior high you are beginning to see the world as it really is, and it is not
always very pretty. To be sure there is a lot of breath-taking beauty all
around us, but sadly there is also a ton of heart-stopping evil all around us.
In elementary school we sought to protect you but in junior high we seek to
prepare you. And you cannot be prepared for what you do not know. To be
ignorant of what is happening is to leave you powerless to protect yourself.
So, our first job is to tell you the truth, and as Jesus promised in John 8:32:
“The truth will set you free.” You need to know the truth about what is
happening in the Church today, and tragically that truth is terribly ugly.
There used to be a cartoon on television called “G.I. Joe” and at the end of
every episode, G.I. Joe would teach a safety lesson. He would conclude by
saying: “Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.”
The second reason I want to tell
you about this scandal has to do with the “other half of the battle,” namely,
how to win the battle. Our mission as a Catholic school is to help you succeed
in life, so we need to give you the tools of the trade of life. What are those
tools? First and foremost, we introduce you to Jesus. The more you know Jesus,
the happier you will be. That’s a fact. But we also give you intelligence for
your brain, we teach you to care for each other and for the poor, we want you
to love God’s creation and the environment. In other words, we do not just want
you to do well at Northside and Southside, at Subiaco and at Future School; we
want you to do well your whole life. This is the reason your teachers jump out
of bed every morning and drive to Trinity: to help you hit a homerun in the
baseball game of life. And this homily is also to help you hit a homerun, and
so you won’t strike out staring at this scandal.
Boys and girls your generation is
growing up fast – faster than we wanted – and you are facing a brave new world.
Your generation must shoulder this scandal in a way that my generation and your
parents’ generation did not have to. But don’t feel sorry for yourselves, because
this is not the first time Americans have risen to a challenge and faced
overwhelming odds. The Americans who grew up in the 1930’s and 1940’s were
called “the Greatest Generation” because they faced the daunting Great
Depression in the 1930’s and they fought fearlessly in World War II in the
1940’s. In your own way, you will be a great generation depending on how you
stand up and shoulder this great scandal. As I look into your eyes, I gotta
tell you: I feel a lot of confidence in the future of this country and in the
future of Christianity. You guys are ready for this challenge.
Let me conclude with how I am
personally dealing with this scandal, and maybe it will help you. I wear my
priest-collar everywhere I go. So when people see me, they see a priest, and
maybe they think about God. And I wear that collar with pride. What a privilege
it is to be a Catholic priest! But lately, I have been feeling more paranoia
than pride. What do I mean? Well, I feel paranoid because I wonder if people
look at me now and think, “There goes one of those priests we saw on the news.”
I gotta tell you, it is hard, but I am not going to hide my vocation or my love
for Jesus. You know, I did not think this would be my cross, but it is. You
don’t get to choose your cross; your cross chooses you.
Boys and girls, people may look at
you funny when they see your Trinity uniform or know you go to a Catholic
school. Catholics are on everyone’s brains these days, and they don’t think
highly of us. That reputation may make you feel like hiding your Trinity
identity, or concealing your Catholicism. But don’t run and hide from this
challenge. Rather be the next greatest generation and shoulder your cross and
stare down this scandal. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the only One who can truly make
you happy. If you do that, I promise you that you will start to feel a lot less
paranoia, and a little more pride in who you are.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment