DARK DAYS IN THE BUCKET

THEY ARE BAD SHEPHERDS WHO PASTURE THEMSELVES
"Thus says the Lord God: I swear I am coming against these shepherds....I will save my sheep,that they may no longer be food for their mouths." (Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 34:1-11)

When I sat down  to write this blog, I wanted this to be about the PAW SOX going to Worcester or about more poets whom I love and who changed their worlds.

No, those would be  fun and interesting topics-- baseball and poetry with may be an aside on the ongoing delights that they are dishing out  daily in the races at Saratoga.

 I cannot go there today because my heart and spirit are weighed down by the recent  disclosures about PEDOPHILIA  in the CLERGY of the Roman Catholic  Church.

Then I read the  Epistle in today's Mass-- read from every altar-- but I wonder how many chose to speak about it from that altar which many have  tarnished.
The Epistle today is from the prophet EZEKIEL and is a harsh judgement against those who use their position as  shepherd to fatten themselves and abuse their sheep.

I do believe that we are at a crossroad for the Catholic Church.  I think the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis  was a recognition of the coming upheaval, God was sending reinforcements.

I believe that Pope Benedict  saw the corruption around him and knew that he was too old and tired and sick to bring about  meaningful change. So he made a strange move--he resigned and retreated to a  life of prayer.

 Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit the College of Cardinals elected  Pope Francis.  He was a breath of  fresh air  bringing a simplicity and  humility  to the post and an enormous sense of empathy for the sufferings of the poor, the sick and the imprisoned.  But he had inherited a  situation that would try and tax even his talents. 

 The emergence and the growing parameters of the pedophilia scandal show how deeply the  priesthood has been compromised.
To change this situation  will require  extraordinary courage and deep changes in  practices that are seeking to destroy the sanctity of the Church  from within.

IF GOLD RUSTS, WHAT WILL SILVER DO?

I do not  write  out of any personal sense of outrage I did not experience any abuse  from the priests of my childhood. 

I found the distance between the clergy and the laity really repugnant and I disliked  the way that the nuns seemed to fear the pastor. And I noticed how the priests  enjoyed the company  and favors of the richest in our parish.

 I think they label this strange divide "Clericalism". It can only be altered  by making deep changes:

1. Immediately allow all deacons who wish to be ordained as priests--married and unmarried--to do so,

2.  Allow all  nuns and brothers to become deacons. 

3. Start new  training programs to create steps to bring members of the laity into the clergy.

4. Remove that fake and harmful barrier that prevents  lay people from knowing and scrutinizing the actions of the clergy. Let the laity  help govern and not just be in work crews.

5. Learn how ro support married priests --both men and women from the Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish practices.

The Church will become a secret sad sect if they do not begin  to move in those directions. Ordain women, let priests male and female marry, and  bring the lay people into the Church governing circles.

Pope Francis must embrace and  instigate these movements. I pray that he does. I do not find his recent  words very encouraging.  I will watch very carefully what he says and does in his visit to Ireland this weekend.

I will pray and I ask all to join  me in asking that  Pope Francis finds inspiration in the example of the Saint whose name he chose and was the  first Pope to do so.--- Saint Francis of Assisi.

Remember it was  Francis who in a dream was  directed to rebuild  and repair a derelict  Church.  AND HE DID.

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