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We are all well aware of the sex abuse crisis that the Church has been going through. There is certainly no defense for those who committed these crimes or those who did anything to try to cover them up. Their actions have done tremendous damage to both the victims of these crimes and their families as well as to the faithful people of the Church at large. Many are left wondering things like: “How can I believe in a Church that would do such things?” or, quite frankly, “What do I do now?”
In a sense, the answer is simple…but simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy. It is simple because our faith must always be rooted in Jesus Christ anOKd the Church that we know He founded, with the Eucharist at the center of all that we are and all that we do. Remember Peter’s words to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). The Catholic Church gives us the True Presence of Jesus through the sacrifice of the Mass…and that is where our focus must always remain. Our faith is not ultimately in any particular priest or bishop, thought we do have the right to expect them to do what God has called them to do through their vocation and what they promised they would do: to serve and offer sacrifice; to take care of those that they are assigned to serve; to be the face of Jesus…the presence of Jesus in the world. Certainly not to break the trust that has been given to them for their own selfish purposes.
Sadly, we will probably be hearing more about this as time goes on, not because there are new cases…the Church has done it’s best to put forth guidelines and restrictions made to protect all children… but because old cases will continue to be revealed.
As I said, the answer may be simple…and that is to continue to put our faith in Jesus and the Church He founded despite the failing of some of those entrusted with its care. However, that won’t always be easy to do. Many people are upset and angry, and rightly so. Some are also confused and that is also understandable. What makes it particularly difficult is this: generally, when we have a problem or a crisis that we are going through, we turn to our faith for the answer. But what do we do when our faith is the problem? Where do we go? Again, we listen to St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And so we will do just that. On Tuesday, October 9th (the Feast of St. Denis) we will have a Holy Hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament: for the victims, for all people affected by this and for the Church…that it can be healed so that it can continue to do the good works that it has always done for all people. Please join us that evening from 7-8pm so that we can all pray...and begin to heal…together. -
Back in July I attended the Steubenville Youth Conference at St. John’s University in Queens, NY. These conferences have been going on for more than 40 years and are a great experience for all those who attend them, youth and chaperones alike. St. Denis has participated for at least 20 years, probably longer.
These conferences consist of talks and music that are geared towards the young people who attend them as well as an emphasis on the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are among the highlights for most of those who attend, and rightly so. As a priest I spend much of the weekend on the other end of the Sacramental presence there…hearing confessions. As many of you have heard me say before, this is my favorite thing to do as a priest. Helping people to unburden themselves of the sins that weight them down and keep them at a distance from God’s Presence in their lives is a great privilege and a responsibility that I take very seriously.
Each year at the conference (and other times that I hear confessions, as well) I am struck by the amount of pain in people’s lives…especially our young people. A lot of it (though not all, of course) is of our own doing. When will we learn that what God asks of us…though difficult at times… is what is best and will ultimately make us happiest? All of this other stuff…the things that we think will make us happy (but don’t)…the things that we use as an escape (but only seem to dig us in deeper)…the things that are simply diversions from the path that is right for us… do nothing more than cheapen our existence and leave us wondering why we’re still not happy.
I would like to share with you the story of a young man who came to me that weekend to make himself right with God. His name is Justin. Obviously I am not going to share the details of his confession. Rather, I would like to tell you about him. This young man really impressed me even though we only spoke for a few minutes. There was something different about Justin. He stuttered…and no, that wasn’t what made him so memorable, at least not directly.
There were two other things about him that touched and inspired me. First, throughout the confession Justin smiled. Not because he wasn’t taking this seriously. Actually, just the opposite. And second, throughout the confession, while he stuttered in confessing his sins to me…and while I had to wait for him to finish a sentence more than a few times and listen carefully so I didn’t miss anything and sometimes ask him to repeat himself or explain something…and while someone else might have become frustrated with me and/or with himself because of all of this….Justin never did. He just kept smiling and patiently saying and repeating and/or explaining what he needed to say until he finished and I understood.
As I sat there with him…as I looked at his smile….as I saw his determination to confess his sins I was struck by how important this was to him. He got it. He understood the power of Confession and the difference it would make for him. Going to Confession wasn’t a painful experience for Justin, but an uplifting one. He wasn’t smiling because of the things that he was telling me but because he knew that freeing himself of them would help him to once again experience God’s love the way that we are meant to…free from the walls and obstacles that our sins set between us and Him.
As I thought of Justin afterwards I thought about myself and my lack of patience in certain situations. This young man lives with a condition that would frustrate many people…those that have it, but maybe more so those that don’t but have to interact with someone who does: a waiter trying to take an order; a sales person trying to explain an item or product; being on the other end of an emergency phone call knowing that every second counts and so on. I imagine that it can be very difficult. I only spent a few minutes with Justin and had to listen intently and even ask him to repeat himself a few times so I made sure I understood. And yet, he never got frustrated with me…or with himself…and he never lost that smile. This is simply a way of life for him…a life that might frustrate some…but also inspire others. And I’m sure that I’m not alone in that second category. In those few short moments it was very evident that this is one special young man.
We all have things that we have to deal with in life…things that frustrate us…or others; things that make it difficult for us to fit in; things that hamper our ability to communicate whatever it is that we want or need to say. And I think that Justin can help us all to learn something in this regard. Sometimes we just need to accept what is and do the best that we can with it. We don’t need to be perfect or live up to what others expect or find convenient. We don’t need to fit into the mold that people try to put us in. We don’t have to let things get to us and frustrate us... especially those things that are out of our control.
What we do need to do is simply the best that we can…whatever that might be at the moment. We need to be patient and understanding, with others as well as with ourselves. We need to do whatever we can to keep our relationship with God as strong as it can be, because nothing matters more.
And a smile wouldn’t hurt, either.
Thanks, Justin. -
Homilies