I’d like to share part of an article written by Gary DeSantis who posts on the Meadville, PA Tribune website.
He recently penned an article entitled, “Don’t Let Abuse Scandal Make World Blind to Good Works of the Church”.
DeSantis admits that the faith of many in the Church has been both shakened and diminished as a result of the homosexual abuse of young males by Catholic Clergy. He goes so far as to compare the present crisis to what Saint John Chrysostom referred to as “the dark night of the soul”.
But he suggests that Catholics need also remember how important and positive the Church has been over the course of the past Century.
Why he limits such a consideration to only the past 100 years is a bit surprising, to me at least. But nonetheless....
He goes on to list a plentitude of activities or services in which the Church has engaged to provide a better world in which to live: care of the poor, feeding the unfortunate, creating hospitals and orphanages, tending to the care of prisoners and migrants -- all works which are patently virtuous and give life and flesh to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
But what DeSantis (along with many a post-modernist) misunderstands is that the Church was not created to make this world a better place, though that should be the fruit which disciples of the Lord bring forth in their lives and the lives of others.
Rather, the primary mission of the Church was to continue the REDEMPTIVE MISSION of the Lord Jesus. The mission of the Church is that of Christ Himself: to reconcile sinful humanity through the confession of personal sin and acceptance of Divine Forgiveness.
The Church’s mission is not to build hospitals and orphanages, but to be the prophetic voice of Jesus which inspires human beings and human institutions to express the Divine Love Jesus proclaims in the concrete works of virtues the message itself inspires.
History has shown that private, sometimes even public, secular entities are far more effective in providing modern conveniences and technological advancements the Gospel itself could never have inspired or imagined.
But the Church was not given to us to compete with the work of such institutions but to inspire us to do these things within the context of the Divine Mind and Will Itself, that is, to serve with the same sense of love and affection Our Heavenly Father has for us individually and for all His children.
When the prophetic voice of the Church is weakened or damaged by the hypocrisy of those entrusted with the mission and duty to be the Christ’s living Presence in the world, then humanity is deprived of the very message which gives cause to the works DeSantis is so eager to boast.
That’s largely what even the Bishops themselves have forgotten.
In their eagerness to provide for humanity’s material needs, they have forgotten their primary mission is to provide nourishment for their souls, forgiveness of their sins, and a call to conversion through penance and prayer.
The Bishops are supposed to remind the faithful and all those who will listen how weak and frail we are, to understand that left to our own devices we can do no more than perpetuate the brokenness which our weakened natures introduce into the intended harmony of the Divine Creation in the first moments of our existence.
The Bishops are supposed to be reminding us that, when we bring the Grace of Forgiveness and conversion which the Word of God and the Sacraments of the Church provide, then and only then are all things possible for good.
The mission of the Church is to speak the Truth of Jesus Himself, challenging us to confront the demons within and about us, inspiring us to turn away from self-indulgence by way of a firm purpose of personal amendment, and turn toward the Lord as we experience him within the contexts of our individual experiences.
The Bishops have clearly forgotten the mission and compromised the message.
They seem to be more concerned with being executive officers of the corporate Church rather than the Pastors and Shepherds of Christ's flock, who are prone to scatter when the wolves are near.
That’s the crisis that is causing the Body of Christ so much suffering and misery: the Bishops have lost the sense of their Divine Mission and the supernatural faith that must always accompany it.
Until they and DeSantis understand and admit this, the crisis will continue and deepen within the ecclesial community.
Who knows how long it may take for the Church to experience a revival of faith and truth.
In the meantime, millions will suffer a sense of abandonment and betrayal at the hands of the very Pastors the Lord intended would shepherd and guide His followers.
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