21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

A crisis often forces a decision.  The more upsetting the crisis, the more urgent is the decision.  Yet, St. Ignatius of Loyola counseled that a decision ought not be made when one is not at peace.  It would be similar to trying to turn a ship around in a storm.  There is too much danger that the ship could go down.  One would do better to wait out the storm and then change course, if need be.

Joshua is calling on the people of Israel to decide again to serve the Lord in the first reading.  Paul, in the second reading, exhorts couples in marriage to decide to love each other as Christ loves the Church.  And some followers of Jesus decide to leave him because what he has said is too hard for them to accept.  It is decision making time in all three readings.  Coincidentally, for many of us, the recent reports of sexual abuse by priests and consequent cover-ups and lies by bishops, have created a painful crisis that forces us to consider whether we can still choose to be members of the Church. 

As a priest who has seen all of this from a front row seat, I judge no one for leaving the Church.  Some young people took their lives as a result of what they suffered at the hands of some sick priests.  Some priests have taken their lives, unable to face the future after what they had done. Some bishops have considered the reputation of the Church to be a higher priority than the health and happiness of young people and have lied and misled others as a result.  The enormity of the evil that has surrounded us for many years now has caused unspeakable sadness.  When faced with all of this, some will be unable to walk into a Church again.

Now is the time for decisions in the Church.  It is a time for action for all of us.  The pope has to act.  The bishops have to act.  It is a time to repent, to turn back to the Lord, and to rid the Church of the sinfulness that has so devastatingly damaged the Church.  It is a time to bring things into the light and to speak the truth.  There are more dark days ahead.  Things will get worse before they get better.  We walk the way of the cross again, but there is no other way to new life on the other side.

As a son of St. Ignatius, I trust his advice to wait out the storm.  As a priest whose life is centered in the Eucharist, I cannot walk away from the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present with us in the Church.  Like Peter, hot-headed, fearful and sinful at times, I have no other place to go.  I have decided to stay with Jesus, which means, for me, staying in the Church.

All of us have decisions to make.  And while we consider where we should go, we also think about what we should do.  God will guide us, in different ways, no doubt.  What is important is that we seek God’s will and once we are sure we know what that is, we carry it out.  In the meantime, we wait and pray and cling to the Lord, who alone can bring us peace.