Catholic Faith and Reflections

It is very tempting for us to have our idols in life, you know, those things or activities or ideas or people we consider perfect and worthy of our all. We would want to think of them as without blemish or possibility of corruption or limitation. So we defend them with all our vigor and we invest a great deal of emotional energy in doing so.

The danger is always that all these idols will fail us in some way, and we find our faith shaken and we become unanchored and drift about, tossed by the ups and downs of our emotional reactions. We will seek someone to blame.

I am thinking of this because of recent events in Church news and the deep emotions many are experiencing because of it. No one deserves to be put on a pedestal so high that the only option for him or her is down. Such pedestals are always unsteady because the base on which they stand is limited by its very nature, and the platform on which we put these individuals is far too high up to be sturdy and solid. It tips and sways, and dumps its contents off to a long fall downwards. It also makes them easy targets for ne’er-do-wells.

There is a Facebook page for anyone wanting to pray for Fr. Corapi. Here is the link: Facebook Page.

As those of us in the mental health profession know so well, an accusation of sexual misconduct ruins your reputation regardless of guilt. The accusation alone does it. There have been many in clinical social work and other helping professions who have been wrongly accused, been found faultless, yet their careers damaged and their hearts wounded deeply. If this is what has happened with Fr. Corapi he needs our prayers. If the accusations are true, he needs our prayers. The person making the accusations needs our prayers for he/she is also hurting and needs healing and fair treatment.

I believe most if not all of you are aware of Father John Corapi, SOLT, a priest who has tremendous preaching ability and who is heard regularly on Relevant Radio and other Catholic news sources.

He is being accused by a former employee of various things including drug addiction and sexual “exploits,” with adult women according to his website Fr. Corapi. As a result, he is being put on administrative leave.

In reading his comments about this, he states the allegations are false and asks for prayers for all concerned. I also sense his hurt and anger.

Let us pray for him, the former employee who has filed these allegations, and all who will be investigating.

I have been rather quiet lately. Writer’s block of sorts. I haven’t found much to write about in a weblog format and have been busy preaching and ministering – the former at the parishes, the latter in the clinic and various other locations in the local cities. More to be done than to be written.

We continue to hear of the sad news from Philadelphia regarding sex abuse charges against over 20 priests. We have been inundated (no pun intended here in any way) by the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Japan. Perhaps it is a time to step back a bit in silence and reflect on what all this means for the Church.

Some will interpret the news from Philadelphia and Japan as some form of communication from God, either directly in these events or as fulfillment of a revelation from the Blessed Mother, regarding lack of faith and sin. I have always been repelled by such talk. Sex abuse is a moral evil, a psychological problem and a crime that cries to God for justice. Natural disasters are just that; you could call them a natural evil.

For me the real question is: “How do we see these events as definitive of the Church? How do we not dis-identify with them? How do we respond in a way that reflects the presence of God and His love for all mankind, yes all of creation? The victims and the victimizers are us. How we respond says a lot about how we see ourselves.

Sinners we are, yes; but redeemed we are too. Far from God we are at times, yes; but God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Catholics we are, yes; but all are called to holiness and salvation. Criminals they are, yes, those who abuse our young and God’s justice will be swift in His own timed; but we all will be sentenced justly for our many sins and crimes. I challenge anyone to claim they have not hurt another citizen through the breaking of just laws of some sort.

We are the Church. We must look out for one another.

We must love one another. We must not cling to our material possessions when so many lack the basics of life.

That, my friends, is the sin for which many of us will need to answer at our judgment – that and judging those who do things we instinctively abhor.