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AMERICA Magazine
A balanced Catholic weekly magazine published by the jesuits of the United States for an intelligent Catholic readership. Go online to subscribe.

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

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Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

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A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

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Daily Scripture

+ Ascension Thursday

There is no proof; there are only witnesses.

Readings: Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:14-23 Luke 24:46-53

You are witnesses of all these things. And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high. [Luke 24:50-51]

In an age of technology and scientific progress, we have an explanation for everything or at least the promise of the same. Yet, there are still truly human experiences – both positive and negative—that defy human explanation. Death is one such experience. Doctors know the medical reasons for death but an autopsy doesn’t tell the whole story. Conversely, who can explain the field of energy that binds lovers for life?

During his life on earth Jesus created a field of energy that changed the course of history and it did not cease at his death or even at his resurrection. It continues to this day – locally and globally. Or else how explain the heroism of the saints of yesterday and the saints of today? Women and men, energetic witnesses who have said ‘yes’ to unconditional love under any and all circumstances continue to change the course of history in the face of those who attempt to chain the Word of God. No, most of them are not formal preachers or even religious teachers per se, but people who live the message of the Gospel of Jesus day in and day out.

The gospel today is typical of the departure of a hero. We might even consider it the conclusion of a hero story. Jesus assures his disciples that he is not abandoning them. Not only that but he will send an advocate who will empower them to continue his mission. “You will be clothed with power from on high.” They will be clothed with the mantle of Christ just as the ancient Elijah was clothed in the mantle of Elias before Elias departed in his chariot to the heavens. It’s metaphor and allegory, of course but the underlying truth of Jesus mission will continue to be proclaimed as Good News for all.

But hang in there until Pentecost when the gifts of the Spirit will be renewed and we will be empowered once more to preach the Good News—using words only when necessary.

We Remain Steadfast in Faith

Wednesday December 15, 2004

This message was to be delivered during the Candle-Lite Vigil in front of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark immediately following my opening prayer but time constraints, I decided to defer to others whose messages needed to be heard.

Wherever people of faith and good will come together, the ground becomes sacred and the breath of God is in the air.

Our coming together this evening is not in protest but to give witness to the truth in the face of denial and even deceit.

Though our faith has been shaken beyond measure and though our good will tested to the limit, we remain steadfast in faith and determined in our efforts to pursue justice without rage in the face of the outrageous.

We have looked to our shepherds for help to heal; we have asked for bread not for our bodies, but bread for our souls. We have received baskets of stones. We wanted to build bridges of understanding but faced walls of silence.

We have been told to “get over it” and “get on with our lives;” pull ourselves up by the boot straps and when we attempted to do just that, they rebuffed us with legal gymnastics that tested our endurance rather than empower our will to heal.

We are victims of sexual abuse because we trusted those to whom we looked for guidance and light but we were led into caves of darkness, doubt and despair.

Some of us have not survived. Many have despaired of finding a place at the table again. But we are here this evening as survivors who still want a place at the table. We have been through Gethsemane with Jesus and we want to continue to break the bread of our lives with all our brothers and sisters who still want to be liberated from the memory of the abuse that has so handicapped them.

I am here this evening as a pastor in a Church I love. I am here to invite my brother pastors and priests to take on the wounds of humanity; to feel the pain of those who have been hurt by our brothers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, blinded by their desire for power and their lust for innocent souls.

The Church was once defined as “a juridically perfect society” accountable to no earthly power, to no human entity, only to God. But in 1963, the Vatican Council changed that and redefined our Church first and foremost as “a people of God.” The Church is not the possession of kings or earthly rulers but neither is it the possession of ecclesiastical princes who lord it over the faithful.

We challenge the faithful who remain in the pew to hold our shepherds accountable for their stewardship of the gospel and of your generosity.

Prior to the Dallas Meeting, I addressed the bishops in these words, which were hand delivered by Buddy Cotton to Archbishop Harry Flynn, the Chair of the Dallas Conference. I received no reply.

“As you listen to the stories of victims and reflect on the insights of experts of every persuasion, please do not limit your deliberations to political, legal and yes, even morally correct measures to prevent sexual abuse. Assure us that you are courageous enough to accept responsibility for the failures of the past by naming them. Be brave enough to challenge those among you who out of culpable ignorance or worse, allowed and in some cases, sanctioned the public and private ministry of pedophiles, ephebofiles and other sexually dysfunctional persons, to step down from office as a sign of true compunction and compassion.”

“Please do not treat us like children. Open your hearts as well as your minds to our concerns. Was it not St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who said, ‘In addition to the fact that I am a Christian and must give God an account of my life. As a leader, I must give God an account of my stewardship.’”

This is what I wanted to hear from our bishops at Dallas:

“We stand naked before you and before the world. Never in our lifetime, have we been so conscious of what it must have been like to be crucified with Christ as one of the thieves. We cry out to you, ‘We are justly condemned but this man has done no wrong.’ We identify strongly with the penitent thief. We are saddened that it has taken a crisis as grave as this to awaken us to the fact that, in the words of our young parishioners, ‘we have not been there for you!’ In the course of time, we have assumed the role of administrators, fiscal managers and attorneys at law instead of ‘servant’ shepherds. We have been more concerned about our titles of honor than about your entitlement to wellness. We are ashamed that we have listened to those who tried to exempt us of the responsibility to care for those who were so brutally exposed to wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

“We accept this crisis as an opportunity, indeed, as a most serious challenge to open the door of our hearts to you, Beyond this, we want to confess our negligence in turning a deaf ear to so many other areas of concern to you and promise that we will put aside our preoccupation with structures and institutions so that we may concentrate on the pure work of the gospel.”

“We are sorry and we ask your forgiveness.”

Please do not send us awary from the table emptyhanded.