My burden and yours

Shea Rowell
MSMU Class of 2019

(10/2018) As a young person and member in the Catholic Church, what is there to say? What could words do to heal the breach in trust that the sexual abuse scandals have caused? Many have responded with hope, rightly reassuring the laity that the offending priests and bishops do not represent the majority of loving clergymen who have not only lived without offense, but also work tirelessly to repair the damage done by others. Others emphasize that our faith does not depend on the holiness of priests, but on Christ as our hope and sustenance, to whom we direct ourselves in renewed prayer and devotion.

As a layperson, it is easy to point a finger at the guilty priests and bishops, expecting that the matter will be resolved when they are removed from their clerical offices. While this is a necessary step, we must go further to achieve true healing, acknowledging the responsibility we, laypeople, have for the welfare of our communities. True, the church is not comprised of that handful of priests and bishops who have hurt the vulnerable in their care and hidden their crimes; it is comprised of all of us. All of us, therefore, have failed.

In a homily just weeks after the allegations were exposed, a Norbertine priest in Western Pennsylvania shocked me by saying that each person in the church shares some part of the responsibility for creating the culture in which such crimes can exist. My first thought was, "How could I be responsible for so much pain and sorrow?" As an individual, I am not; as a member of Christ’s flock, however, it is my responsibility and yours to notice our companions when they go astray. The lost sheep, injured, hurt, and mourning, are my brothers and sisters, and I have been blind to their pain.

In the Gospels, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of the time, for the same failures we have fallen into. A Jew Himself, Jesus did not discredit their faith, their laws, or even the authority of Pharisees as leaders. Instead, Jesus criticizes their priorities: the Pharisees cared more about the appearance of holiness than holiness itself. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus warns the Pharisees, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you" (Luke 11:39-40).

This passage speaks to the situation we face today. Instead of caring for others with the true love of Christ, we have turned our focus on our reputations. By hiding the evils which we have committed, we have put forth an image of piety to the world, all the while allowing sin to consume us from the inside. As dark as this seems, there is hope. When Jesus censured the Pharisees, he gave them a second chance, the opportunity to change their ways. The criticism of Christ here is not a condemnation, but an invitation to accept the redemption of repentance and change.

This is the challenge all Catholics must embrace if the Church is to heal. We must direct our focus, more intensely than ever, to the sacraments that can heal: reconciliation and the Eucharist. Christ is calling us not only to wear our flaws, failures, and scars publicly, but to dedicate ourselves vigorously to repentance. Reconciliation will bear fruit in a variety of ways. First, it is a public admission of imperfection. While the words spoken in confession may never be repeated elsewhere by the priest, the simple act of walking into the confessional testifies to our fallen nature as human beings and the flaws we have chosen as individuals. Second, it is a message of hope. No one walks out of confession in despair, as the sacrament is a fountain of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Such an experience unites us to God’s love and gives us the grace and inspiration to resume the fight against sin, confident that Christ is beside us on the battlefield. Finally, it allows humility to spur our actions instead of pride. By receiving the sacrament of confession, we admit that the only way we can hope to unite ourselves with Christ is to do what He did: "For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). We acknowledge our sin, unite it to Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, and hope that, through forgiveness, we might spread His goodness.

For all Christians, Christ’s teachings are the center of our lives, His life is an example for us to follow, and His death is our only hope to rise. In these times, when sin and evil surround us so openly, we must turn to Christ’s precious Body and Blood as the source of our redemption. The sacrament of the Eucharist unites us to Christ and to the community of the faithful – there’s a reason we call it "communion!" In Christ, we are united, and we give ourselves to Christ and to each other by receiving the incarnation of His love. Communion is where we go to meet each other in our joys and share the burdens of our sufferings. Communion is where we heal, and where we find consolation in the pure and personal love Christ has for each of us.

As the members of Christ’s Church, we cannot go on without looking at ourselves and acknowledging our own sin and failures. We cannot ignore the pain our brothers and sisters are suffering, and we have a responsibility to take part in their healing through loving friendship and prayer. Today, we are called to repentance; today, we are called to communion. Today, we call out to Christ, seeking now more than ever His healing love and mercy.

Read other articles by Shea Rowell