The field hospital analogy is simply absurd. I am not buying that narrative! And I think that there are holy souls on this forum.
“In his call to configure himself to Jesus Christ as servant, a deacon is a link between the ordained and the laity. May all of us here, learn, love, and defend the truth, but also ask the Holy Spirit where He wants us to get our hands dirty in the temporal order:” This, I think, is what we are all trying to discern. At least, what I’m trying to discern. Those of us who have wittnessed first hand the “Sins of the fathers”, have been waiting for literally decades for the church to correct these issues...to be the church authority in these matters....to no avail. Many laypeople took these matters to church authorities for years...and years. Innocent and nieve, they believed that their stories of deviant and illegal corruption with the walls of the church and outside the church would be addressed and corrected. But they were not. I personally know of numerous instances where the church authorities were made aware of these crimes and they covered them up. Sometimes, because the very church authorities themselves were guilty of the same. So I am asking, in light of the worldwide sexual church scandal crisis that we are witnessing today,....in light of the sexual summit that refused to address the root cause of the crisis,....just how long are we to wait for the church to self correct? They are incapable of self policing, that’s been proven. Do we now sit and wait for the church to collapse under the weight of the sinful, corrupt clergy? How many more abuses do we accept while we sit back and wait upon the Vatican...to do what they’ve been doing for decades...nothing. It’s not like this crisis just erupted...it’s been in full swing for decades. Just how many more decades do we sit back, keep our mouths closed and allow this diabolical crises to continue? How many more victims do we allow until this is fixed? How many more lives are ruined? I know of four men who took their own lives because of the unchecked abuse from clerics...they are dead...their abusers...who knows where they are. One we know is a greeter at Disney World....living the life. When do we say enough is enough? I’m just asking.....
I actually hope that the civil authorities now get involved. Please God, the police and courts will now deal with the corrupt Bishops and Cardinals who covered up for the perverts. Seems to me that that is the only solution that is going to work to purge the church of this malignant cancer.
Sadly, I’ve witnessed so much of this that holding my tongue seems sinful itself. I had no idea that this behavior was all along a global crisis. I thought it was my diocese...with stories of others here and there. But no...it’s the norm! I just don’t think Our Lord would expect us to sit on our hands and not correct this. After all, if we look to His example of what He did in the temple....because of how His temple was abused, He took very aggressive decisive action. He overturned the tables of those who defied His Holy house. Yes, we need to pray. But to only pray seems wrong to me. If I was witnessing a child being abused, should I just sit back and pray that the abuses stop? No, I act to stop the abuse. Logically, how do we see crimes in the house of God and simply just pray they end? I’m asking....
Since the PA grand jury report, I hear that diocesian paper shredders are working overtime. I don’t have trust or faith in the government, but clearly the church had their chance to fix this mess...and didn’t. Now we are at the mercy of the government to intervene.
I wondered reading your post Terry if God intends things to breakdown before they can be truly fixed. My car sometimes would not start. I brought it to auto electricians but no one could tell quite why. Then there was a cold snap and it would not start at all. They finally found out it was the battery and I bought an expensive new one and it runs like a dream. The Church is breaking down now, less and else people going to Church. Even people who convert to the Faith leave after trying it for a short time. We are having our faces rubbed in it that things are just not working. The car just won;t start, The same old, same old won't work. We're being forced to start all over. 1`
We must keep the faith alive in our own hearts. In the interior castles of our soul -- All around us is falling apart - the storm is intensifying and the church will be eclipsed for a season -- But our faith is not in physical structures but on the rock that is Christ the author and perfecter of our souls.
Yes Padraig, we are in need of a reboot.... It is in God’s hands, through our prayer, to bring this about. I do not think for a second that we ever abandon prayer or our church...it is OUR church. I think we take every necessary step as laypeople to right the wrongs...be it civilly, canonically etc. to that end. Having done everything within our power to preserve OUR faith, we wait upon the Lord to preserve Holy Mother church...His church.
My advice to anyone scandalised by the abuse crisis. Do not leave the Church -stay, pray the Rosary, make sacrifices for the body that we are all part of. Offer your daily work and sufferings for the body so scourged by the sins of impurity and disloyalty. Implore the intervention of the Church triumphant, the angels and the saints and most importantly Our Lady.
Amen! Keep the faith. We are in the storm...take shelter in our faith.....no matter what happens. We know how the book ends!
I would truly like to find an argh menu here but I cannot. The truth lies where it lies and anyone that cannot see this after knowing all these things might be considered dangerous. Good reply but a sad truth. God bless... Gary
The concept of the church as a field hospital is a good one but that sure isn't what is happening. Might need a field hospital in the vatican for cardinals and bishops first. I know for sure there are numerous holy souls on this forum, and I wouldn't qualify as one. My only point is the value of prayer over repeated threads about the obvious. God isn't asleep, I trust He will cleanse His church even without MOG threads. How does anyone actually think it was going to be purified? It's going to be messy and it has barely begun. I think the thing that bothers me the most about all these threads (which are for the most part true) is it tells lukewarm catholics or people searching for faith and finding this forum that you really don't want to be a part of this church, it's messed up. Sure won't save souls that way. But the core of this wonderful church isn't messed up at all. The mass, sacraments, holy priests and bishops, a real unity of faith with fellow believers and ultimately salvation etc. That is the real church and I would encourage people to come and see what it really is all about and not hesiatate to encourage joining. The people in charge arn't the church.
I think God is doing with the Church what he has done with many of us and many souls throughout history who have thought we can do things on our own without his help. He is letting us go our own way until we hit rock bottom and then He is going to turn everything around when all seems lost, just like with the Crucifixion. How many of us here abandoned the Church and lived a materialistic life? Focusing on the things of the world and not the things of God? How many of us ruined our lives by doing just that? Many churchmen and laity now are doing just that. God will respect our free will and let us do these things if we want, but He loves His children and will always stretch out a Hand when we have fallen to our lowest points. He often will wait until we have bottomed out, then sweep in and save us. God likes dramatic turn arounds!
A purified church will become a field hospital -- in the future -- but the present church (in my opinion) is incapable of fulfilling the mission of Christ -- I wrote the first post in this thread as soon as I woke up this morning as a response after praying and reflecting on the recent Vatican summit on child abuse. It was a water-shed moment for me. I cannot remain silent because I hear the cries of the abused and cannot condone cover up any longer. Enough is enough. And that summit left me spitting fire. That the the Church cannot police itself or purge itself of this evil is a clear sign of the times. I am blowing the trumpet as a warning for all to respond with prayer and sacrifice -- great darkness has obscured the light of faith in the church so it is up to us to make reparation as best we can. I am actually preaching to myself as I have not sacrificed enough and that is a sin of omission on my part. It is a rallying cry for the members of the forum to step up a gear but I must begin with myself first! For those who have ears to hear we must all step up a gear!!
We do it our way and not His way and everything goes wrong, always has, always will. But with God bad works for good in the end. God cannot loose. God bless...gary
I agree with what you have said Praetorian, however I think few understand that this time the faith does not return as God intended it to be, until the purification is finished and the era of peace comes. The evil we see both in our beloved church and the world at large will not turn back to God on its own this time. A renewal is in order and only God can make this happen. We are at the time when like Sodom and Gomorrah, God cannot find enough just people who love him and his laws of love. It was no different in the time of Jesus, except there was not 8 billion people in the world, so a whole lot more people will end up in hell now than perhaps the whole of population in the past 6000 years, if they do not respond to his merciful Warning forthcoming. That is why our time is so critical. The Antichrist will not spare any souls for Gods kingdom to come on earth where his will shall be done as it is in heaven (the era of peace). He wants all 8 billion to serve him through his world of sin and end up where he will love out all eternity. After all his master is the prince of this world.
You share the sentiments as I. Yes I say pray your heart out to God and keep praying. God works so much through people. But by the same token I dont think He expects us to do nothing at all. We have a voice and we can use it respectfully and with purpose. I know that if enough people got together on this that things would have to change. Well anyways that was a good statement you have said. God bless. ..Gary
