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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.

Bishop Accountability
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

National Catholic Reporter
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.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

An Undignified Silence

Sunday January 16, 2011

I met Anne at St. Virgil’s where she gave a presentation during the height of the abuse scandal. Anne is measured and moderate in all her dealings with people in her profession. I was honored and humbled to have been cited by her during her presentation. Anne was the second president of the National Review Board appointed by the US bishops. I was also pleased to be invited among one hundred other advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse to be interviewed by the board in 2003. She served well but was eventually disillusioned by the lack of openness on the part of the bishops. On this day on which we celebrate the great deeds of Martin Luther King, Jr. who championed the rights not only of African Americans but of all oppressed people, how appropriate that Anne’s reflections be shared. Those who spoke up for the abused were continue to be treated with an undignified silence. But silence will not be the final ‘word.’ Father Lasch

Keep faith in the truth
Guest blog by Anne M. Burke
Supreme Court Justice, State of Illinois

Truthfulness is as critical a component of my professional life in the legal system as it is an indispensible part of my everyday life. This virtue and value comes from my family and my faith growing up, and it sustains me today in the light of the sex abuse crisis.

Truthfulness, I learned growing up Catholic, is more than not lying. It is a way of engaging the world with sincerity and honest realism. The Sacrament of Penance enabled us take an honest look at our life. The sin was not about just saying a bad word; it was not caring about the feeling of others. I was not just speaking true words, I was being honest about my intentions and motives. That was pretty heady material when you start at seven years old. I thought about that every time I walked up the aisle to Holy Communion. I was uncomfortable with short cuts; half-truths; and fibbers. I did not want them around me. I still don’t.

Since I left the National Review Board, I have found it difficult to distance myself from the clergy abuse issue. Every time I hear the Holy See make a botched attempt to clear things up or see the half-hearted attempt by bishops to appear forthright on the subject, I am confronted by the anger of ordinary Catholics to such mis-starts and un-truths.

Most recently, Wikileaks revealed how devious the machinations were of higher-ups in the Holy See. I must admit that I was saddened to discover in the release of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that the Holy See was more worried about its own “sovereignty” than about the sexual abuse.

The same people who said that the ordination of women as priests was equal to the crime of the sexual abuse of children believed that any intrusion by any legitimate government into the affairs of the Vatican, an “independent nation” of .17 square miles only since the 1929 Lateran Treaty signed with Benito Mussolini, was a moral outrage. Protection of the Holy See, not the safeguarding of innocent children, was the priority of the “government” of Benedict XVI. Is there any limit to the sanctimonious and self-righteous self-protection of the world’s only man-state?

It is heresy to pretend that the man-state and the church are one and the same. When we were young with fresh families we saw a place for us beginning to emerge in the church. As we find ourselves with new grandchildren we worry that our own children find little meaning in the signs and symbols of our cherished faith.

When all is said and done it seems that truth-telling is even more important than ever. From the Pope on down the clerical ladder, truth has been made a victim. Every empty pew; each angry Catholic; every antagonized family; each hurting follower of Christ has a right to the truth. We have the promise of that from the Savior Himself, who has announced that He is the Truth.He had a lot to say about that, but little to say about the man-state formed in 1929.

Instead of ejecting women from the sanctuary, silencing discussion among the baptized, or blurring the lines between the earthly Vatican City-State and the Body of Christ, let’s tell the truth. Let’s focus on not fibbing for the sake of the Kingdom of God and not lying for the sake of the One who died and now is Risen. Let’s leave the clerical theocracy behind and trade it for the Kingdom of God; let the grace of our sacramental life carry us further than we can see. A good dose of dignity and truth would do us all good.